Reconfiguration of Polarized Antennas for WLAN Applications

Wireless technology based on the IEEE 802.11 standard and in accordance with the KEMINFO 2019 regulations requires antennas that can adapt to changing environments. Microstrip antennas are a good solution to meet the current technological advancements because they have several advantages, such as a simple design, lightweight, easy manufacturing, and low cost. When designing a microstrip antenna, bandwidth parameters must be observed. The bandwidth of a microstrip antenna is narrow. In order to work properly, some simple techniques can be used to increase antenna bandwidth. This research proposes a reconfigurable microstrip antenna polarization using a U-slot at a frequency of (2.4 - 2.485) GHz for WLAN applications. The proposed antenna reconfiguration utilizes two (2) switching mechanisms that can be turned on and off individually or simultaneously. The results of the simulation showed that Ant. 1 and Ant. 2 have a linear polarization (LP), Ant. 1 has a bandwidth of 85 MHz (2.399 - 2.484) GHz, and Ant.2 has a bandwidth of 87 MHz (2.398 - 2.485) GHz, both with S-parameter values ≤-9.54 dB. Then, Ant. 3 has a right circular polarization with a bandwidth value of 124 MHz (2.397 - 2.484) GHz, and Ant. 4 has a left circular polarization with a bandwidth value of 87 MHz (2.398 - 2.485) GHz at the Axial Ratio (AR) limit of ≤ 3 dB.