Pattern reconfigurable quasi Yagi antenna with Origami inspired magic spiral cubes for dynamic indoor IoT applications

This paper presents a novel deployable antenna design with reconfigurable radiation patterns suitable for various indoor Internet of Things (IoT) applications. Inspired by origami, the antenna comprises a central monopole patch housed on a magic cube (MC-2) and two other modular units comprising stacks of magic cubes (MCs). In compact form, i.e., State-1, the antenna occupies a space of 50 mm, whereas in other states, it occupies a maximum of 150 mm space. Pattern reconfigurability is achieved by simply folding or unfolding these units. The antenna operates in four different states. For example, when both MC-1 and MC-3 are folded, the antenna exhibits an omnidirectional pattern (State-1). When either MC-1 or 3 are folded, the antenna shows directional behavior (States 2 and 3), offering ± 90° beam switching, whereas when both MC-1 and 3 are unfolded, the antenna exhibits bidirectional behavior (State 4), directing the main beam toward 88° and 92°. The antenna operates in the 2 GHz band and exhibits peak gains ranging from 2 dBi to 9 dBi. The excellent agreement between the simulated and measured results validates the design. This cost-effective, reconfigurable antenna presents a promising solution for diverse indoor IoT applications because of its cost-effectiveness and reconfigurable nature.