A Novel Switched Parasitic Array and Diversity Scheme Using Horizontally Polarized Linear Antennas

Switched Parasitic Arrays (SPAs) are proposed as an attractive alternative to fully adaptive arrays, due to their compact size and significantly lower cost of development. The main concept of SPAs is the deployment of switches on parasitic elements, which can be properly adjusted, in order to effectively control the radiation pattern of one active element. Conventional SPAs consist of circular arrays of vertically polarized dipoles and parasitic elements. In this paper, a novel SPA design is proposed, which is based on multiple switches employed on the body of horizontally polarized elements (one active and two parasitics). Design considerations are discussed and numerical results are illustrated. Furthermore, a simple diversity scheme is proposed, based on the novel SPA design. Superior performance of the proposed array, relative to simple non-diversity reception schemes, is indicated by simulation results. Stelios A. Mitilineos was born in Athens, Greece, in 1977. He received the Diploma in electrical and computer engineering from the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), Greece, in October 2001. He is currently working towards his Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering at the same university. His research interests include antennas and propagation, smart antennas and mobile communications, channel estimation and location detection algorithms, MIMO systems and microwave components. Anna E. Andreoudi was born in Thessalonica, Greece, in 1977. She received the Diploma in electrical and computer engineering from the National Technical University of Athens, in 2004. Her research interests include electromagnetic waves propagation and scattering, antenna design and adaptive arrays, wireless communications and wireless mobile networks. Christos N. Capsalis was born in Nafplion, Greece in 1956. He received the Diploma in electrical and mechanical engineering from the National Technical University of Athens in 1979 and the B.S. degree in economics from the University of Athens in 1983. He obtained the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from NTUA in 1985. He is currently a Professor at the department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in NTUA. His current scientific activity concerns satellite and mobile communications, antenna theory and design, and electromagnetic compatibility.