A novel electronically tunable rectangular patch antenna with one octave bandwidth

Abstract

A novel design for a microstrip antenna with a large tuning range is presented. The layout of this antenna consists of a rectangular patch antenna divided into two sections and connected using varactor diodes (or capacitors). A sample microstrip antenna using the new design is fabricated and tested. The experimental results of the resonant frequency is similar to the theoretical values, and the radiation pattern is also similar to that of a simple rectangular patch antenna.