A simple and compact antenna with a switchable beam for millimeter-wave communication is proposed in this paper. The antenna has a planar structure, and the design evolution is discussed. The beam switching functionality was achieved by incorporating two PIN diodes in the ground plane of the antenna. By switching ON either of the PIN diodes, the inverted L-shaped stub becomes connected to the ground plane and behaves as a cavity, which causes the dispersion of the radiation pattern. Therefore, a wide-angle (±18∘) beam-switching property can be achieved using a simple and low-cost technique, without the necessity to implement additional conventional circuits. The proposed antenna is characterized by a good performance in terms of return loss, bandwidth, measured gain up to 7.95 dB, and radiation efficiency up to 84%, making it a proper candidate for IoT technology and millimeter-wave 5G devices.
A Simple Monopole Antenna with a Switchable Beam for 5G Millimeter-Wave Communication Systems