Low-profile Tunable and Steerable Fabry-Perot Antenna for Software Defined Radio Applications

Software Defined Radio (SDR) is a flexible radio architecture programmed through software, which is reconfigured depending on the usage scenario. SDR consists of a programmable hardware base that is controlled through software [1]. The key attraction of SDR is its ability to support multiple standards on the same processor by changing the software only. SDR technology is also evolving to cognitive radio which is a new technology that allows spectrum to be dynamically shared between users. It offers the potential to change the way spectrum is used in systems and to substantially increase the amount of spectrum available for wireless communications. However, for this to be possible, it is necessary to have also an appropriate hardware. From the antenna design perspective, it is necessary to have a wideband coverage and a high level of reconfigurability [2]. Depending on the application it is also required high-directivity. Wideband antenna design, both low and high gain, are available but they does not guarantee the reconfigurability of the radiation pattern with a low-cost setup. In this context a novel active design of the Fabry-Perot antennas is proposed showing that a wideband tunability range (one octave) and strong capabilities of beam shaping and beam steering can be achieved.