A Frequency-Reconfigurable Filtenna for GSM, 4G-LTE, ISM, and 5G-Sub 6 GHz Band Applications

This paper presents the design and realization of a flexible and frequency-reconfigurable antenna with harmonic suppression for multiple wireless applications. The antenna structure is derived from a quarter-wave monopole by etching slots. Afterward, the high-order unwanted harmonics are eliminated by adding a filtering stub to the feedline to avoid signal interference. Lastly, frequency reconfigurability is achieved using pin diodes by connecting and disconnecting the stubs and the rectangular patch. The antenna is fabricated on the commercially available thin (0.254 mm) conformal substrate of Rogers RT5880. The proposed antenna resonates (|S(11)| < –10 dB) at five different reconfigurable bands of 3.5 GHz (3.17–3.82 GHz), 2.45 GHz (2.27–2.64 GHz), 2.1 GHz (2.02–2.29 GHz), 1.9 GHz (1.81–2.05 GHz), and 1.8 GHz (1.66–1.93 GHz), which are globally used for 5G sub-6 GHz in industrial, medical, and scientific (ISM) bands, 4G long-term evolution (LTE) bands, and global system for mobile communication (GSM) bands. The simulated and measured results show that the antenna offers excellent performance in terms of good impedance matching with controllable resonant bands, high gain (>2 dBi), stable radiation patterns, and efficiency (>87%). Moreover, the conformal analysis shows that the antenna retains its performance both in flat and bending conditions, making it suitable for flexible electronics. In addition, the antenna is compared with the state-of-the-art works for similar applications to show its potential for the targeted band spectrums.