A trident like antenna with reconfigurable patterns for automotive applications

Abstract

Within the scope of this work, a reconfigurable antenna for automotive applications has been developed and constructed. The concept of planar parasitic array has been chosen due to its size. Furthermore, as an improvement to this concept, the parasitic elements were also used as active radiators. The antenna realizes four reconfigurable patterns that cover the angular regions in and against the driving direction as well as those orthogonal to the driving direction. Additionally a DC feeding network using metamaterials to decrease its influence on antenna characteristics is proposed. The measurement results match the simulated results and maximal gain of about 8.5 dBi is obtained.