Trifrequency Reconfigurable Linear Irregular Array with Beam Deflection Capability in X/Ku/Ka-Bands

This paper proposes a trifrequency reconfigurable antenna (FRA), which can work in the X-band, Ku-band, and Ka-band, by controlling only two RF MEMS switches. The antenna element has a frequency ratio beyond 3 : 1 and provides a good candidate for the frequency reconfigurable antenna array, since the size of the antenna is reduced by loading multiple metal shorting holes between the antenna radiating surface and the ground plate, and the overall size is only 0.14 λ X × 0.35 λ X ( λ X is the free-space wavelength at 8.6 GHz). Based on the proposed FRA element, a 1 × 16 linear irregular frequency reconfigurable antenna array (FRAA) with beam deflection ability is designed, which effectively addresses the element spacing problem in the optimization of the array. In addition, the close-coupling in X-band and the grating lobe caused by the long distance of array element spacing in Ka-band are comprehensively considered. With uniform amplitude feeding network, the sidelobe level is below −15 dB under beam deflection. Moreover, both FRA elements and FRAA prototypes have been fabricated and measured to verify their superiority. Good agreements are obtained between simulated and measured results, which indicates that the antenna has potential application in the future multifrequency wireless communication and intelligent radar anti-interference fields.