Design and analysis of hybrid fractal frequency-band reconfigurable metamaterial antenna for multi-standard wireless applications

• Innovative Hybrid Fractal Design: Introduces a novel hybrid fractal antenna incorporating Moore and Koch curves, achieving frequency-band reconfigurability for multiband wireless applications. • Metamaterial-Enhanced Performance: Employs a metamaterial-inspired Split Ring Resonator (SRR) cell on the ground plane, enhancing impedance matching, current distribution, and overall radiation performance. • Multi-Standard Wireless Support: Supports seven wireless communication standards, including S band, C band, X band, Ku band, and K band, along with 5 G NR bands (n48, n77, n79, n104). • Compact Form Factor: Achieves compact dimensions of 29.5 × 22 × 1.6 mm³, suitable for modern communication devices. • Reconfigurable Resonance: Features a PIN diode switching mechanism, allowing frequency-band reconfigurability to cater to diverse wireless standards. • Broadband and Multiband Operation: Offers fractional bandwidths of up to 46.65 % in key bands, enabling efficient multi-standard operations. • Experimental Validation: Verifies simulated results through extensive measurements in an anechoic chamber, ensuring reliability and consistency. • Radiation Stability: Exhibits stable radiation patterns, omnidirectional characteristics in the H-plane, and low cross-polarization (< −15 dB). This paper presents a frequency-band reconfigurable hybrid fractal multiband antenna incorporating Moore and Koch curves for multi-standard wireless applications. The antenna features a PIN diode as a switching element, a radiating slotted patch, and a modified partial ground plane inspired by metamaterial Split Ring Resonator (SRR) cells. Designed on an Flame Retardant 4 (FR4) epoxy substrate (1.6 mm thickness, εr = 4.4), the compact 29.5 × 22 × 1.6 mm³ antenna supports multiple wireless communication standards, including S-band (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)), C-band (Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Local Area Network (LAN), Amateur Radio), 5 G NR bands (n48, n77, n79, n104), X-band (terrestrial and space communication, radar), Ku-band (direct broadcast satellite, spectroscopy), and K-band (astronomical observations, automotive radar). The proposed design resonates at 3.5, 6.95, 8.89, 10.75, 14.74, 15.68, and 19.78 GHz, demonstrating stable radiation characteristics, gain, and efficiency. The optimized gain and efficiency at resonant frequencies reach 4.23 dBi and 86.23 %, respectively, with an average radiation efficiency exceeding 70 % across all operational bands. The proposed antenna offers an efficient and compact solution for advanced wireless communication systems.