| dc.description.abstract | With the rapid evolution of modern and smart communication technologies such as 5th generation of
mobile network (5G), (internet of things) IoT, Autonomous Vehicles, Aviation Technology, etc., the
need for reconfigurable radio frequency (RF) components cannot be emphasized enough. Thus, the
rationale for plethora of research carried out in the design and development of
reconfigurable/tunable RF components and devices. This work focuses on the design of a polarization
reconfigurable and beam-steerable substrate integrated waveguide-slot (SIW-slot) antenna using a
novel technology, field programmable microwave substrate (FPMS). At first, the antenna is optimized
to operate at 4 GHz on a Duroid 5880 substrate with six slots rotated at 5° towards the center of
the waveguide. This follows the integration of optimized FPMS unit cells on the slot radiators.
While varying the capacitance values of the unit cells, close attention is paid to the impedance
and radiation performance of the antenna. Initial results presented here show a beam steering of
±40°. In addition, the antenna is also seen to provide gain modulation in maximum steered
direction. Interestingly, as the antenna radiation is steered, the polarization of the antenna
switches from E (maximum at 0) to Eθ (40). This makes the design an excellent candidate for
end-to-end secured communication with minimum interference in applications such as aircraft RADARs.
Thus, the antenna performance
metrics show the promise of the unique FPMS technology in designing of smart RF components. | en_US |
