Design process of a miniaturized reconfigurable antenna for 5G sub-6 GHz and diverse applications

Atul Varshney; Duygu Nazan Gençoğlan; Ahmed Jamal Abdullah Al-Gburi

doi:10.1016/j.jnlest.2025.100337

Journal of Electronic Science and Technology ›› 2025, Vol. 23 ›› Issue (4) :100337 DOI: 10.1016/j.jnlest.2025.100337

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Design process of a miniaturized reconfigurable antenna for 5G sub-6 GHz and diverse applications

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^a Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Gurukula Kangri (Deemed to Be University), Haridwar, 249404, India

^b Electronics and Communication Engineering Department, Graphic Era (Deemed to Be University), Dehradun, 248002, India

^c Faculty of Engineering, Adana Alparslan Türkeş Science and Technology University, Adana, 01250, Turkey

^d Center for Telecommunication Research and Innovation, Faculty of Electronics and Computer Technology and Engineering, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka, Melaka, 76100, Malaysia

^* E-mail addresses: atulgkvright@gmail.com (A. Varshney),

dngencoglan@atu.edu.tr (D.N. Gençoğlan),

ahmedjamal@utem.edu.my (A.J.A. Al-Gburi).

Atul Varshney was born in Agra, India in 1984. He received the B.Tech. degree from Uttar Pradesh Technical University, Lucknow, India in 2005, the M.Tech. degree in microwave from Adhav Institute of Technology & Science, Gwalior, India in 2008, and the Ph.D. degree from Gurukula Kangri (Deemed to be University), Haridwar, India in 2023. His research interests include Microwave transitions, components, reconfigurable, metasufaces/FSS, antennas, breast/brain tumor detection, shark-fin antennas, and interdisciplinary research.

Duygu Nazan Gençoğlan was born in Ingolstadt, Germany in 1990. She received the B.S. degree from Çukurova University in Adana, Adana, Turkey in 2013. She received the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Adana Alparslan Türkeş University of Science and Technology, Adana, Türkiye in 2017 and 2023, respectively. Her research interests include ultra-wideband (UWB) antenna design, antenna parameter optimization, machine learning techniques in antenna applications, reconfigurable antennas, and metamaterials-inspired antenna designs for 5G and IoT applications.

Ahmed Jamal Abdullah Al-Gburi (Senior Member, IEEE) received the M.Eng. and Ph.D. degrees in Electronics and Computer Engineering (Telecommunication Systems) from Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM), Malaysia, in 2017 and 2021, respectively. He is currently a Senior Lecturer with the Faculty of Electronics and Computer Technology and Engineering at UTeM. He has authored and co-authored numerous papers in high-impact journals and international conference proceedings. He also serves as the Deputy Head of the Microwave Research Group (MRG) under the Centre for Telecommunication Research and Innovation (CeTRI) at UTeM. His research interests include microwave sensors, metasurfaces, metamaterials, and MIMO antennas. He is a registered member of the Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM), the Malaysia Board of Technologists (MBOT), and the International Association of Engineers (IAENG). He has received the Best Paper Award from the IEEE community and has earned several gold, silver, and bronze medals in both international and local innovation competitions. In 2023, 2024, and 2025, he was recognized among the world’s top 2 % of scientists by Stanford University, as published by Elsevier.

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Abstract

This article presents a compact crab-shaped gain-reconfigurable antenna (CSRA) designed for 5G sub-6 GHz wireless applications. The antenna achieves enhanced gain in a miniaturized form factor by incorporating a hexagonal split-ring structure controlled via two radio frequency (RF) positive-intrinsic-negative (PIN) diodes (BAR64-02V). While the antenna is primarily designed to operate at 3.50 GHz for sub-6 GHz 5G applications, RF switching enables the CSRA to cover a broader frequency spectrum, including the S-band, X-band, and portions of the Ku-band. The proposed antenna offers several advantages: It is low-cost (fabricated on an FR-4 substrate), compact (achieving 64.07 % size reduction compared to conventional designs), and features both frequency and gain reconfigurability through digitally controlled PIN diode switching. The reflection coefficients of the antenna, both without diodes and across all four switching states, were experimentally validated in the laboratory using a Keysight FieldFox microwave analyzer (N9916A, 14 GHz). The simulated radiation patterns and gain characteristics closely matched the measured values, demonstrating an excellent agreement. This study bridges the gap between traditional and next-generation antenna designs by offering a compact, cost-effective, and high-performance solution for multiband, reconfigurable wireless communication systems. The integration of double-split-ring resonators and dynamic reconfigurability makes the proposed antenna a strong candidate for various applications, including S-band and X-band systems, as well as the emerging lower 6G band (7.125–8.400 GHz).

Keywords

BAR64-02V / Crab-shaped / Gain reconfigurable / Miniaturization / PIN diodes / Reconfigurable antenna / Sub-6 GHz

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Atul Varshney, Duygu Nazan Gençoğlan, Ahmed Jamal Abdullah Al-Gburi. Design process of a miniaturized reconfigurable antenna for 5G sub-6 GHz and diverse applications. Journal of Electronic Science and Technology, 2025, 23(4): 100337 DOI:10.1016/j.jnlest.2025.100337

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