Passively Reconfigurable Antenna Using Gravitational Method

Abstract This paper proposes a passive reconfigurable antenna by using liquid metal and gravity mechanism. When the antenna rotates to different angles, the liquid metal will flow to the lowest point of the container due to gravitational force, thereby acting as a reflector to redirect the main antenna radiation pattern at predefined angles at 5.8 GHz (ISM band). The upper section patterns can be maintained when antenna is tilted at 45°, 90°, 135°, 225°, 275° and 315° whereas the rotated antenna at 0° and 180° causes a forward radiation. More importantly, additional directors surrounding the main patch can be used to increase the directivity of these radiation patterns. Simulation results in terms of reflection coefficient, radiation patterns and gain indicate that the proposed antenna operated passively with a consistent bandwidth of approximately 400 MHz.