Reconfigurable CRLH‐inspired antenna based on Hilbert curve EBG structure for modern wireless systems

Abstract

AbstractThis paper presents a novel antenna design with an enhanced gain‐bandwidth product for modern communication networks, including 5G systems. The design is consistent with 17 unit cells of a composite right/left‐hand (CRLH) structure with an electromagnetic band gap of Hilbert inclusions. Therefore, the resulting design occupies an area of 40 × 200 mm2 of a Taconic RF‐43 substrate. The maximum antenna gain is 16 dBi at 5.5 GHz, which is very applicable for long‐range communication systems. Nevertheless, the antenna performance is controlled with optical switches of light‐dependent resistors (LDR) technology. Therefore, the antenna performance is tested with different switching seniors to investigate the possibility of reconfiguration scenarios at various frequency bands. However, the antenna gain is highly affected by changing LDR switching status; for example, at 5.5 GHz, the antenna gain is varied between 7 and 16 dBi. Thus, the proposed antenna is an excellent candidate for direct amplitude modulation. Finally, the antenna simulation results and measurements agree very well with each other.