A Conformal Reconfigurable Antenna Array for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

A <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$\mathbf{4}\times \mathbf{4}$</tex> conformal frequency reconfigurable antenna array for UAV is presented. The proposed array is tuned by varactor diodes. Simulated results show that the operating frequency of the proposed array in the bending case can vary within 4.7-5.4 GHz. A <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$\mathbf{4}\times \mathbf{4}$</tex> array prototype was fabricated and measured. Both simulated and measured results show that the realized gain of the prototype can reach more than 17 dBi. Moreover, the proposed array can achieve a gain of more than 10 dBi over a 20° range and the cross polarization ratios are all higher than 25 dB. The measured results preliminarily verified the expected performance of the design scheme.