Circularly polarized planar antenna with axially symmetric beamwidth reconfigurability

This contribution presents the design of a compact circularly polarized antenna featuring beamwidth reconfiguration in both the horizontal and vertical planes. The observed radiation patterns in each of the reconfigurable states present axial symmetry and circular polarization. The antenna is based on an arrangement of microstrip patches that can serve a dual purpose as a conventional array and as a fed central element with 4 parasitic elements. The reconfiguration is attained by switching the input signal towards either the parasitic or the conventional array. A particular design demonstrating a beamwidth reconfiguration in Delta theta(3dB) - {38 degrees,105 degrees}, with circular polarization and axial symmetry is presented.