A Compact Electronically Reconfigurable Dual Frequency Microstrip Antenna for L-Band Applications

A novel design of a compact electronically reconfigurable dual frequency dual polarized single feed hexagonal slot loaded microstrip antenna in L-band is introduced in this paper. Pin diodes are used to switch the operating frequencies considerably, without much affecting the radiation characteristics and gain. The antenna can work with a frequency ratio varying in a wide range from 1.2 to 1.4. The proposed design has an added advantage of size reduction up to 72.21% and 46.84% for the two resonating frequencies, compared to standard rectangular patches. The design also gives considerable bandwidth of up to 2.82% and 2.42% for the two operating frequencies.