Compact Wideband Pattern Reconfigurable Antennas Inspired by End-Fire Structure for 5G Vehicular Communication

Aiming for 5G-NR vehicular applications, this paper proposes two miniaturized wideband pattern reconfigurable antennas with different pattern steering capabilities. They are inspired by an end-fire structure that could be easily mounted on cars. This newly proposed planar pattern reconfigurable end-fire structure is firstly presented and studied by current distribution and equivalent circuit analysis. By turning the ON / OFF state of the PIN diodes on the passive dipole, a planar reconfigurable antenna with one omnidirectional and two end-fire beams is implemented. Additionally, a low-profile pattern diversity antenna with a compact size of 0.311 λ
₀
× 0.244 λ
₀
× 0.106 λ
₀
is implemented by loading a reactive metasurface, its main lobe can be steered in the broadside direction (35°, 0°, and −35°). Both antennas achieve a wideband response over 3.30 to 4.20 GHz (24.0%) range and good radiation efficiency of 84.0%. They feature the advantages of a miniaturized size (low-profile), structurally simple and fabrication friendly design, wideband, good radiation efficiency (low-loss), and flexible multi-beam switching capability, which are well suited for the coming sub 6 GHz vehicular applications in different scenarios.