Single element steerable beam antenna using micro actuators for wireless communication

A fully integrated solution providing scan-beam capability with a single antenna is presented in this paper. The proposed system includes a reconfigurable rectangular spiral antenna with a set of MEMS switches, which are monolithically integrated onto the same substrate. The system is based on a single-arm rectangular spiral antenna, capable of changing its radiation pattern using radio frequency-micro electro mechanical system (RF-MEMS) switches. The rectangular spiral and RF-MEMS switches are monolithically integrated on a conventional microwave substrate printed circuit board (ε_r = 3.27 and tan δ = 0.004). The spiral is made out of multiple lines, which are interconnected by RF-MEMS switches strategically located along the spiral. On activating these switches, the spiral overall arm length is changed and consequently its radiation beam direction is changed. The antenna radiates right hand circular polarization (RHCP). The gain of the antenna varies between 3 ∼ 6dBi, and satisfy the 3-dB axial ratio criterion at their operating frequency band, 10 GHz. The excellent performance of the proposed system emphasizes the importance of being able to integrate MEMS switches into the same low loss substrate for antenna applications. This technology pioneers the design of arbitrarily shaped reconfigurable antennas including the design of reconfigurable antenna arrays.