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Date of publication xxxx 00, 0000, date of current version xxxx 00, 0000.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/ACCESS.2022.DOI

Multi-Band Reconfigurable Antennas For

5G Wireless and CubeSat Applications:
A Review
KEBONYETHEBE RAMAHATLA1 , (Student member, IEEE), MODISA MOSALAOSI2 , (Member,
IEEE), ABID YAHYA.3 , (Senior Member, IEEE) AND BOKAMOSO BASUTLI4 , (Member, IEEE)
Department of Electrical, Computer and Telecommunications, Botswana International University of Science and Technology, Palapye, Botswana
Corresponding author: Kebonyethebe Ramahatla (e-mail: [email protected])

ABSTRACT The rapid development of wireless technology has sparked interest in multi-band recon-
figurable antennas as devices and satellites are innovating toward miniaturization. With limited space,
reliable and efficient high bandwidth antenna systems are needed for current and next-generation wireless
technology as well as for the revolutionary small satellites. The fifth generation of mobile communi-
cation technology promises high data rates, low latency and good spectrum efficiency. One of the key
enablers of this technology is the integration of satellite technology-particularly CubeSats with terrestrial
communication technologies. Next-generation antennas that can meet functional requirements for 5G and
CubeSat applications are therefore of fundamental importance. These antenna systems should have large
bandwidth, high gain and efficiency and be compact in size. Reconfigurable antennas can provide different
configurations in terms of the operating frequency, radiation pattern and polarization. Tuning reconfigurable
antennas can be done by changing the physical parameters of the antenna elements through electronic
switches, optical switches and the use of meta-materials. The most popular implementation method for
reconfigurable antennas for wireless and satellite communication is the electronic switching method due
to its high reliability, efficiency, and ease of integration with microwave circuitry. In this article, different
techniques for implementing reconfigurable antennas are reviewed, with emphasis on two main application
areas; 5G wireless communication and CubeSat application. Different reconfiguration techniques have
been studied for application in various wireless communication systems such as satellite communication,
multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems, cognitive radio and 5G communication. It has been found
that reconfigurable antennas have favourable properties for next-generation wireless technology and small
satellites. These properties include low cost, less volume requirements and good isolation between wireless
standards.

INDEX TERMS microstrip antenna, multi-band, reconfigurable antenna, frequency reconfigurable, radia-
tion pattern, CubeSat, nanosatellite, circular polarization, reflection coefficient, 5G, RF-switches.

Nomenclature EPS Electrical power system.

4G Fourth generation. GSM Global System for mobile communications.
1U One unit of a CubeSat. HFSS High-frequency structure simulator.
5G Fifth generation. IoT Internet of things.
S11 Reflection coefficient. ISS International space station.
ADCS Attitude determination and control system. LEO Low earth orbit.
COTS Commercial off the shelf. LHCP Left hand circular polarization.
CP Circular polarization. LTE Long term evolution of 4G.
CPW Coplanar waveguide. LWA Leaky wave antenna.
CST Computer simulation technology. MEMS Micro-electromechanical system.
DCS Digital cellular systems. MIMO Multiple input multiple output.
DRA Dielectric resonator antenna. mMTC Massive machine type communication.

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Kebonyethebe Ramahatla et al.: Multi-Band Reconfigurable Antennas For 5G Wireless and CubeSat Applications: A Review

PCS Personal communication system.

PIFA Planar inverted F-antenna.
QoS Quality of service.
RF Radio frequency.
RHCP Right hand circular polarization.
RL Return loss.
SAR Synthetic aperture radar.
SDR Software defined radio.
SIW Substrate integrated waveguide.
TTC Telemetry, tracking and control.
UHF Ultra high frequency.
UMTS Universal mobile telecommunication system.
FIGURE 1. Some of the 5G use cases.
VHF Very high frequency.
VSWR Voltage standing wave ratio.
WiMAX Worldwide interoperability for microwave access. and telecommunication operators serve markets and commu-
WLAN Wireless local area network. nities that were previously hard to reach with conventional,
terrestrial communication thereby addressing some of the
I. INTRODUCTION important 5G challenges. These includes; to extend service
HE fifth generation of wireless communication (5G)
T offers a significant improvement from 4G network as
an effort to meet the ever-growing demand in data and
coverage in currently under-served areas, ensure service
continuity, provide connectivity to massive machine type
communication and IoT devices, as well as scaling up and
connectivity of today’s modern world [1, 2]. It also solves scaling down of network capacity in response to the varying
some of the problems brought about by the implementation traffic demands [10].
of the previous network generations such as high energy
consumption, spectrum scarcity, poor coverage and poor
quality of service (QoS) by providing multi-Gbps data rates
with low latency of about 1 ms, greater capacity, global
coverage, increased availability and adaptability [3].

For 5G to meet the required performance which supports

a broad range of use cases for addressing both local and
global market needs, it has to integrate available communi-
cation technologies, taking advantage of their strengths to
form a large heterogeneous network [4]. These technolo-
gies includes terrestrial mobile communication as well as
satellite communications. Satellite communication networks FIGURE 2. 5G network attributes.
are critical to the realization of the 5G vision of global
connectivity as they provide highly efficient, effective and The emergence of nanosatellites has proven that conven-
expedient network deployments, leveraging it’s intrinsic tional satellite structures can be miniaturized into a very
advantages in broadcasting capabilities, global coverage, small form factor [11, 12]. The technological advances
reduced reliance on terrestrial infrastructure and high security on miniaturization techniques for electrical and electronics
[5]. Integrating these features of satellite communications components has also enabled that satellite systems which
into the 5G network can lead to a wider range of improved were once large, complex, time consuming and extremely
use cases using an integrated 5G satellite-terrestrial network high costs may now be developed in small, less costly
as opposed to relying only on terrestrial-based solutions [6]. satellite structures with less development time. These small
These use cases include providing communication service miniaturized satellites are called nanosatellites, of which the
to rural under-served, remote areas while also serving dense Cube Satellite (CubeSat) is most common [13, 14]. CubeSats
urban areas such as on-premise local networks, content use a standardized form factor called one unit (1U) which is
acquisition and distribution, highly distributed IoT networks a cube-shaped structure measuring 10 cm ×10 cm ×10 cm
and private mobile and nomadic deployment [7, 8]. Some of [15]. This design concept is a modular design which can be
the use cases are shown in figure 1. scaled to other units such as 3U, 6U, 12U or even 24U. The
design of the CubeSats is also made less complex due to the
Attributes that are unique to satellites, which can support availability of commercial off the shelf (COTS) components.
5G includes; ubiquity (global coverage), mobility, broadcast-
ing as well as security [9], as displayed in figure 2. The The use of conventional satellites in the 5G communi-
integration of these attributes in 5G will also help vendors cation network, has proven to be advantageous due to its
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Kebonyethebe Ramahatla et al.: Multi-Band Reconfigurable Antennas For 5G Wireless and CubeSat Applications: A Review

coverage, ubiquity and security [16]. However, the downside used onboard the satellite is updated to improve performance.
to using traditional satellites in 5G communication is the On the other hand, most hardware components on the satellite
fact that they are very expensive and time consuming to are only limited to the current software release and may not
develop, requiring specialized expertise and infrastructure for meet the specifications for the update. Other actions while
design, development and testing [17]. The use of satellites for the satellite is in orbit include the transition from armature
IoT and massive machine type communication (mMTC) in radio frequencies to commercial radio frequencies [26]. In
the development of next generation communication systems some cases, commercial frequency license applications may
including 5G and 6G communication necessitates that they take years before approval, the satellite may therefore have
be placed in low earth orbit (LEO) to achieve low latency to operate first in the armature frequencies and later switch
[18, 19]. They must also be able to communicate with to commercial, following the approval. Hardware compo-
each other in constellations to ensure global coverage and nents especially antennas, that allows for switching of radio
mobility. These large, conventional satellite constellations frequencies from armature to commercial, together with the
take years to build at very high costs, which could delay the ability to handle in-orbit software updates are of fundamental
roll out of 6G which is expected to begin in 2030 [20]. importance in nanosatellites [27]. This adaptability however
is very limited especially in commercially available antennas.
Nanosatellites, due to their small structure and low devel-
opment and launch cost can be used to meet the requirements A study of different antennas such as spiral antenna, wire
of satellite-terrestrial 5G networks in LEO. Their launch is antennas, parabolic reflectors, refletarrays and microstrip
relatively low cost as they can be launched in ride sharing antennas and also intelligent reflective surfaces in [28], has
missions alongside a bigger satellite or can be launched from shown that the microstrip antenna provides better perfor-
the international space station (ISS). Because they are much mance in terms of the gain, frequency adaptability and that
more convenient and cheaper to develop and launch than it has a low volume with the ability to be flush mounted.
bigger conventional satellites, nanosatellite constellations Microstrip antenna also meets the adaptability requirements
can also be designed and launched as they offer improved as its design can be tweaked to address each application need.
performance in terms of low latency, robustness, security and Microstrip antennas can also be designed in an array form
global coverage [15, 21]. Furthermore, new-space companies to increase the directivity, gain and efficiency as required
like One Webb and SpaceX have invested billions of dollars in 5G communication. Other functionalities such as phased
to develop such small satellite-constellations for fast 5G array structure reconfigurability, beamforming abilities and
internet as well as to connect the unconnected populations massive MIMO systems can also be achieved by microstrip
in rural areas all over the world. antennas [29, 30].

One of the challenges in developing small satellites is

that, the available, COTS components may not meet the
design and performance requirements for specialized high
speed and high data rate satellite missions. Subsystems of
the nanosatellite system includes; communication antennas,
electrical power system (EPS) module, onboard computer
& transmitter and attitude determination and control system
(ADCS) module [22, 23]. The antenna, which is part of the
radio frequency (RF) front end, is of particular importance
as it transmits RF waves between space and earth and also
establish a connection to other satellites in a constellation.
Satellite antennas are required to support communication
bands that offer both high speed links (such as S-band,
X-band, Ka- and Ku-bands) for data downlink as well as FIGURE 3. Satellite bent-pipe communication architecture.
low data rate link for telemetry, telecommand and control
data such as very high frequency and ultra high frequency As shown in [28], microstrip patch antennas, especially
(VHF/UHF) [24, 25]. The antenna structures are required to array microstrip antennas offer better performance in terms of
be small and align with CubeSat specifications while also gain, circular polarization (CP), conformity to the structure,
meeting the requirements for the satellite mission. no deployment mechanical movements, reconfigurability,
gain dynamics etc. Therefore, in this article, emphasis will
The other challenge with the design of small nanosatellite be made to the microstrip patch antenna as used in nanosatel-
antennas is the lack of hardware adaptability to keep up with lite and constellations for 5G communication and space to
the software updates and improvements. Software generally ground bent-pipe communication (figure 3). More attention
adapts quickly as companies or organizations focus on im- will be given to the reconfigurable and multiband versions of
proving their product performance. Occasionally, software these antennas. They are studied in detail to find out how
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Kebonyethebe Ramahatla et al.: Multi-Band Reconfigurable Antennas For 5G Wireless and CubeSat Applications: A Review

exactly they operate for both terrestrial and nanosatellite This paper studies multi-band and reconfigurable antenna
communication. designs for 5G and CubeSat applications. Design specifi-
cations for these antennas are closely looked into in order
The basic microstrip antenna consists of a ground plane to evaluate the performance of such antennas for possible
and a patch separated by a substrate, as seen in figure 4 [31]. improvements in terms of gain, radiation pattern, efficiency
The patch antenna can take any geometrical shape. The most as well as increasing the number of frequency bands covered.
common ones however, are the rectangular, triangular and Different reconfiguration techniques are studied in this paper,
circular ring shapes. These shapes can be modified by adding with emphasis made particularly on electrical reconfigurabil-
slots, inserting stubs or arranging the patches to form arrays. ity. Particular focus is given to frequency and radiation pat-
tern reconfigurable antennas because of the need to increase
coverage for applications such as 5G and small satellites,
by increasing the number of frequencies covered as well
as a single antenna with multiple possible radiation pattern
configuration.

A. RELATED WORKS
1) ANTENNAS FOR 5G WIRELESS COMMUNICATION
There is ongoing research work in the area of reconfigurable
FIGURE 4. Basic structure of a microstrip patch antenna and microstrip line
feed
multi-band antennas for wireless communication for current
and future communication systems. In [39], the concept of
There are a number of substrates that can be used in the reconfigurable antennas is explained in detail and the authors
design of the microstrip antenna with dielectric constants also expand on the different methods used for implementing
ranging from 2.2 < εr < 12, where, εr represents the dynamic, reconfigurable antennas. These methods include
relative dielectric constant. Some of the commonly used electrical and mechanical switching which are also extended
substrates are the RT- duroid, rogers, FR−4, alumina, epoxy, and looked into closely by the authors of [40]. As stated
etc. Research has shown that a thicker substrate leads to in [40], electrical reconfiguration through the use of PIN
an increased radiation power, reduced conductor loss and diode alters the flow of current in the antenna geomet-
improved bandwidth and efficiency which are some of the ric structure, which modifies it’s electrical characteristics.
most important system requirements for 5G communication Reconfigurable patch antenna design articles are reviewed
[32]. Radiation from microstrip antennas occurs from fring- in [41]. The antennas studied reduce the complexity and
ing fields between the open circuited edge of the microstrip the antenna size through reconfigurability. A more detailed
antenna conductor and the ground plane [33]. review of antennas for future wireless communication which
provides information on the various types and approaches to
Microstrip patch antennas can be fed using different feed- reconfigurable antennas and antenna arrays as they can be
ing techniques such as; coaxial, microstrip line, aperture cou- used in future generation wireless communication systems
pling, proximity coupling and coplanar waveguide (CPW) is provided in [42]. In [43] a review of frequency reconfig-
feed [34]. Coaxial feed and microstrip line feed methods urable microstrip antennas for 5G application is provided.
are the most commonly used in microstrip patch antennas. Furthermore, a dedicated survey on switching techniques for
Coaxial feed is widely used because of its advantages like; reconfigurable antennas is outlined in [44]. Implementations
low spurious radiation and ease of matching. Other feeding of these techniques have been studied specifically to be used
methods like proximity and aperture coupled methods are in the various wireless communication systems. Possible ap-
not widely used because they require multilayer fabrication plications for the next generation antennas include cognitive
which leads to a complex fabrication process [35]. The radio, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) applications,
microstrip line feeding technique is also shown in figure 4. mobile terminals, software defined radio (SDR) as well as
CubeSat communication.
According to [36], some of the research outputs in mi-
crostrip antennas include; reconfigurable designs, improved
bandwidth designs, miniaturization, as well as array designs 2) ANTENNAS FOR NANOSATELLITES
[37]. Microstrip antennas are used in many different applica- One of the most critical component of the CubeSat spacecraft
tion areas like mobile and wireless communication, satellite that has attracted tremendous research attention is the an-
communication, cognitive radio, radar systems and wireless tenna system, which is used to provide a strong communica-
local area networks [38]. The requirements for designing tion link between the satellite and the ground station. In [45],
a basic microstrip antenna are; substrate, shape of patch, a comprehensive review of antennas used for nanosatellites
dimension of patch, feeding technique, resonant frequency was provided. The paper details both currently operational
and substrate thickness. antenna systems as well as those that are still under devel-
opment for future missions. Planar antennas proposed for
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Kebonyethebe Ramahatla et al.: Multi-Band Reconfigurable Antennas For 5G Wireless and CubeSat Applications: A Review

use in CubeSats were discussed father in [46]. The survey antennas which can be used for the design of 5G and Cube-
gives details of planar antennas (microstrip patch and slot Sat antennas. Different, novel designs for 5G reconfigurable
antennas) used for picosatellite cross-link communication. A antennas are also examined in detail, focusing on their design
qualitative comparison of CubeSat antennas was also carried specifications and performance. Antenna systems used on
out in terms of their mass, gain, size, steerability, return previous CubeSats missions are studied and their advantages
loss, polarization and operating frequency. The paper further and disadvantages analyzed in order to understand antenna
describes in detail the techniques for miniaturization, high requirements for successful CubeSat missions. Designs of
gain and wide bandwidth, that are applied to microstrip and reconfigurable antennas for CubeSats are also presented with
slot antennas as well as an evaluation of the effects of the their performances. This paper therefore presents the missing
CubeSat body on the antenna performance. link of reconfigurable 5G and nanosatellite antennas.

In [47], various types and applications of antennas for C. PAPER STRUCTURE

picosatellites are presented. Design challenges of such anten- The rest of this paper is organized as follows; Section II
nas are considered together with possible innovative methods discusses CubeSat antennas, section III discusses the basics
used to solve the space and power limitations in these com- of multi-band and wide-band antenna, then reconfigurable
pact satellites. Small satellites contain more than one antenna antennas are described in detail in section IV, specifying
for different functions. Authors in [48] give details of some of different types of reconfiguration for microstrip patch an-
the most advanced satellite antenna systems available so far tennas. Section V discusses reconfiguration techniques, from
in practice. Designs of antennas onboard satellites need to be electrical reconfiguration to material change reconfiguration.
optimized because they directly determine the performance Detailed literature survey then follows, with section VI,
of the spacecraft. One of the satellite application that needs discussing designs of multi-band antennas for 5G technology
innovative antenna design is the synthetic aperture radar and section VII discusses dual- and multi-band reconfig-
(SAR) technology which requires antennas to have multi- urable antennas for CubeSats in detail with examples of some
ple operating frequency bands, dual polarization, electronic reproduced results. Section VIII is the discussion section
beam steering, high efficiency compact size as well as low which describes similar and future trends in this area of
mass and low power [49]. research as well as the limitations and mitigating measures
for reconfigurable antennas. Finally, section IX gives the
Despite the amount of literature on antennas for 5G com- conclusion of the paper.
munications and nanosatellites in general, there is still room
for more research specifically on multi-band and reconfig- II. CUBESAT ANTENNAS
urable antenna design. Reconfigurable antennas can be use- The rapid development of electronics technology has made
ful for limited space satellite designs and also for satellite the miniaturization of satellites possible. This means that
missions that require more than one operating frequency or complex systems like conventional satellites which are very
that require a dynamic radiation pattern. The next section large, about the size of a minibus weighing 500 to 1000 kg or
discusses contributions of this paper. more could be designed to fit into a small volume equivalent
to a shoe-box at a lower cost such that, university students, re-
B. CONTRIBUTIONS search groups and enthusiasts could develop and launch them
This paper provides a comprehensive review of reconfig- [50]. A class of small satellites called nanosatellites, mainly
urable antennas for 5G and nanosatellite applications. The the CubeSat were born from this technological development.
only other paper that presents reconfigurable antennas for CubeSats are standardized nanosatellites which has a volume
both wireless and space application at the writing of this pa- of 10 cm3 and mass not exceeding 1.33 kg for a single unit
per is in [27]. The paper however does not exhaust the subject (1U). It is a modular design, based on a single unit, which
and also it is not based specifically on current generation means that more units can be added to form 2U, 3U, 6U, and
5G antennas or CubeSat antennas. It is rather generalized 12U [51].
to space and wireless applications of up to the fourth gen-
eration technology. Furthermore, it was published in 2012, CubeSats are miniaturized satellites that can be used for
which means that, current designs for CubeSat antennas scientific research, technology demonstration, space weather
that evolved between then and now were not covered. The research as well as deep space exploration. This techno-
contribution found in this research therefore explicitly gives logical development however, produces a challenge to the
details on the designs for both 5G and CubeSat antennas design of the communication system, of which antennas are
together with some reproduced simulation results. This is an integral part of. The efficiency of communication between
to help prepare for the implementation of next generation the ground station and the satellite depends on the commu-
technology (5G and 6G) which requires the integration of nication link budget estimate [52]. The communication link
terrestrial technology with satellite technology, especially budget depends on the performance of the antenna. Antenna
low earth orbiting (LEO) satellites. This paper therefore parameters that determines the efficiency of this link are; the
presents design techniques for multi-band, reconfigurable gain, operating frequency, steerability, polarization, radiation
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Kebonyethebe Ramahatla et al.: Multi-Band Reconfigurable Antennas For 5G Wireless and CubeSat Applications: A Review

pattern etc. The antenna should also occupy less real estate III. RECONFIGURABLE ANTENNAS
in the limited space of the CubeSat structure [53]. The use of reconfigurable antennas is extensively found in
multi-band systems due to their dynamic spectrum restruc-
Antenna design generally determines the performance of turing. Conventional antennas cover only a single band,
all wireless systems including; telemetry, tracking and con- this means that with an increase in wireless communication
trol (TTC), high-speed data downlink, navigation, intersatel- services, more antennas will be needed [61]. This leads to a
lite communications, intrasatellite communications, radars large device, complex circuitry and narrow bandwidth [62].
and sensors [54]. CubeSat antenna design is one of the most This is where reconfigurability comes in. Reconfigurable
challenging tasks for design engineers as they have to deesign antennas aim to reduce the number of antennas in a given
antennas with very strict constraints such as less space, less device by integrating the frequencies of those antennas into
mass and less power. a single antenna [63]. In [61] two PIN diodes are used in a
frequency reconfigurable antenna for WiMAX and WLAN
1) Requirements for CubeSat antennas applications.
Antennas are needed primarily for two main functions in
CubeSats; for telemetry, tracking and command (TTC), and Antenna reconfiguration is the ability to dynamically
for high data rate payload data downlink [54]. In case adjust antenna parameters to adapt to the changes in system
of a constellation, antennas may be used for inter-satellite requirements [64]. Antenna parameters that can be reconfig-
communication. Different types of antennas may be used ured include; frequency, polarization, and radiation pattern.
for satellite communications [55]. These includes; dipole Moreover, hybrid reconfigurable antennas have the capability
and monopole antennas, helical antennas, slot antennas, mi- of altering atleast two of its fundamental parameters. Fre-
crostrip antennas, reflector antennas, reflectarray antennas quency reconfigurable antennas are those which can operate
etc. Some CubeSat missions may require large antennas like at more than one frequency. This can be achieved using slots,
the RainCube mission which required a 0.5 m antenna. For stubs and radio frequency switches like PIN diode, varactor
these missions, the antennas must be stowed in a sufficient diode and radio frequency micro-electromechanical system
volume of the CubeSat and later be deployed when they (RF-MEMS). Figure 5 shows a reconfigurable antenna with
reach the desired orbit [56, 57]. There are some important one switch on its structure. The antenna operates at 2.45 GHz
parameters that needs to be taken into consideration to en- (Wi-Fi), 5.4 GHz (WLAN) and 3.4 GHz (WiMAX) when
sure good communication link between the satellite and the the switch is in ON and OFF states, respectively [65]. The
ground station; PIN diode is most commonly used due to its fast-electronic
• Operating frequency: CubeSat antennas are required switching ability and low loss rate [66].
to operate at certain frequency bands as per the re-
quirements; very high frequency (VHF) and ultra high
frequency (UHF) bands are normally used for telemetry
and tracking functions while higher frequency bands
like S-band, X-band and Ka-band are used for payload
data downlink as they allow for high data rate transmis-
sion in a short time [58, 59].
• Gain: Gain requirements vary depending on the satellite
altitude and mission.
• Polarization: Circularly polarized (CP) antennas are typ-
ically used in satellite communication applications due
to their ability to receive randomly polarized signals FIGURE 5. Reconfigurable antenna using switches [65].
better than linearly polarized antennas [56]. They are
capable of reducing losses in the long distance links In [67], a hexa-band frequency reconfigurable planar an-
between space and earth. tenna was designed and fabricated on a 1.6 mm thick FR−4
• Radiation pattern: Directional radiation pattern anten- substrate with a truncated ground plane. The frequency bands
nas are required in deep space CubeSat antennas to covered by this antenna are; WiFi (2.45 GHz), WiMAX
minimize the losses. For inter-satellite links, omni- (3.59 GHz), WLAN (5.2 GHz), Military/NATO (4.5 GHz)
directional pattern is preferred [60]. and C-Band (6.22 and 6.27 GHz) with a VSWR of less
• Size compactness and deployability: The size of the than 1.45 for all the six bands. A planar inverted F antenna
antenna mainly determines the gain. CubeSat antennas (PIFA) for wireless wide area network (WWAN) mobile
often have to be stowed during launch, then deployed phones is proposed in [68]. The antenna uses a PIN diode
once they reach the intended orbit. to achieve reconfigurability. The antenna geometry can be
The following section discusses reconfigurable antennas, seen in figure 6. It has the ability to operate at GSM850,
giving relevant examples as applied to wireless communica- GSM1800, GSM1900 and UMTS bands in the ON-state
tions. and GSM900 band in the OFF-state. More reconfigurable
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Kebonyethebe Ramahatla et al.: Multi-Band Reconfigurable Antennas For 5G Wireless and CubeSat Applications: A Review

antennas are presented in [44, 69]. hand circular polarization (LHCP). A coplanar waveguide
fed antenna with the ability to switch between left-handed
circular polarization and right handed circular polarization is
presented in [79]. In [80], the antenna radiates in vertical and
horizontal polarization modes depending on the feed being
used.

D. HYBRID RECONFIGURATION ANTENNAS

Hybrid reconfigured antennas can change more than one
characteristic at the same time e.g. radiation pattern and
frequency to achieve a certain desired configuration [39]. In
[81], PIN diodes are used to achieve frequency reconfigu-
ration while truncated corners of the patch are for enabling
linear to circular polarization reconfigurability. Using var-
actor diodes and orthogonal feed points, frequency and po-
larization reconfigurability is achieved in [82]. Other hybrid
reconfigurable antennas are stated in [83].
FIGURE 6. Geometry of the antenna proposed in [68] (a) top layer (b) bottom
layer.
There are many techniques used for achieving reconfigura-
bility in antennas. The following section details these tech-
A. FREQUENCY RECONFIGURABLE ANTENNAS niques as applied in the design of reconfigurable antennas.
Frequency reconfigurable antennas use RF-switches to
switch between different frequencies as required. Some of
the applications of frequency reconfigurable antennas include IV. RECONFIGURATION TECHNIQUES
cognitive radio systems, satellite application, MIMO systems The antenna designer is responsible for choosing reconfigu-
and biomedical applications [39, 70, 71]. The frequency ration techniques (also called switching techniques) based
reconfigurable antenna in [71] is designed for cognitive radio on the design constraints. Reconfiguration techniques are
application. This antenna is able to reconfigure between a the means through which reconfiguration in an antenna is
wide operating band of 3.0 GHz − 10 GHz and six different achieved. Some of these techniques are; electrical reconfig-
narrow band frequencies operating from 5 GHz to 10 GHz. uration, mechanical reconfiguration, material change recon-
The authors of [72] designed an antenna that can reconfigure figuration as well as optical reconfiguration [84]. Electrical
between multi-band mode (2.4, 3.5, and 5.2 GHz) and wide- reconfiguration is the most popular among these because it
band mode (2 – 6 GHz) by adjusting the switch state. uses switches, which are efficient, reliable, and relatively
easy to integrate into microwave circuits [85].
B. RADIATION PATTERN RECONFIGURABLE
ANTENNAS
Radiation pattern reconfigurable antennas can modify its
radiation pattern while maintaining a fixed frequency of A. ELECTRICAL RECONFIGURATION TECHNIQUE
operation. A novel design of pattern reconfigurable antenna RF-switches are used to alter the surface current distribution
was introduced in [73] for millimeter wave operation. The in the antenna patch which in turn changes its fundamen-
proposed antenna system can provide beam-steering capabil- tal characteristics like frequency, polarization and radiation
ities covering the 360° azimuth plane with a maximum gain pattern. These switches include; PIN diodes, varactor diodes
of 4.2 dBi. Other radiation pattern reconfigurable antennas and RF-MEMS [44]. In [86], one RF MEMS switch was
are investigated in [74, 75, 76]. used in the design of a dual-band antenna. Two operating
modes were achieved with central frequencies of 718 and
C. POLARIZATION RECONFIGURABLE ANTENNAS 4960 MHz. Authors in [87] presents the design of a compact
These antennas have the capacity to change their polarization frequency reconfigurable antenna using PIN diodes. These
orientation while maintaining a fixed radiation pattern and radio frequency switches have different properties which
frequency. In [77], a circular polarization technique is pre- make them suitable for different applications. Deciding fac-
sented for operation in 5G wireless communication systems. tors for the switch − choice are the switching speed, insertion
It can operate in the right-hand and left-hand circular polar- loss, reliability and power requirements. Table 1 outlines the
ization mode using two PIN diodes. Authors of [78] presents advantages and disadvantages of the switches based on these
a square patch antenna, fed by a microstrip line feed which factors.
uses two independently biased PIN diodes to switch polariza-
tion between right hand circular polarization (RHCP) and left
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Kebonyethebe Ramahatla et al.: Multi-Band Reconfigurable Antennas For 5G Wireless and CubeSat Applications: A Review

TABLE 1. Comparison of the most commonly used RF switches V. MULTI-BAND RECONFIGURABLE ANTENNAS FOR
Component Advantages Disadvantages 5G TECHNOLOGY
PIN diodes Reliable Poor quality factor There is already an immense literature in the area of recon-
Low cost Non-Linear
Low Driving Voltage High DC bias
figurable antennas for current and next generation wireless
High tuning speed technology. In this section, design and implementation of
High power handling ca- dual and multi-band reconfigurable antennas for 5G technol-
pacity
ogy are discussed. The designs are categorized into two; fre-
Varactor diodes Small current flow Non-linear
Continuous tuning Low dynamic range quency reconfigurable and radiation pattern reconfigurable.
Ease of integration Complex bias circuitry
RF- MEMS Low insertion loss Poor reliability
High linearity High control voltage
Low power losses Slow switching speed 1) Frequency reconfigurable designs
Good isolation Limited lifecycle Multi-band antennas for 5G technology operates with multi-
Wide impedance band- band capabilities in frequency bands allocated for the fifth
width
generation of mobile technology. These frequency bands
include the sub-6 GHz bands as well as the millimeter wave
frequency bands. The antennas designed for 5G may also
B. OPTICAL RECONFIGURATION TECHNIQUE have the ability to operate at other frequency bands and for
Photo-conductive switches are used for optical reconfigura- other applications like 3G, LTE, UMTS, Wi-Fi, WLAN as
tion. When a laser light comes in contact with a semiconduc- well as satellite communication [94]. The following includes
tor material’s surface (silicon, gallium arsenide), an optical some of the designs that support multi-band and reconfigura-
switch forms. It has a very fast switching speed, which is bility in wireless technology, with emphasis on 5G.
a desirable feature for reconfigurable antenna [88]. Eight
operational states have been achieved through the use of a A frequency reconfigurable patch antenna with 3 operating
photoconductive switch in [89]. Optical loading was varied modes is proposed in [95]. PIN diodes are placed between
in order to tune the frequency using < 60 mW of power. the inner and outer patches to achieve reconfigurability. In
order to increase gain and directivity, six parasitic patches
were added to the antenna structure. Simulation results show
C. MECHANICAL RECONFIGURATION TECHNIQUE that the impedance bandwidth of the optimized antenna for
The authors in [90] discuss physically reconfigurable an- mode−1, mode−2, and mode−3 are 0.7 GHz, 1.11 GHz, and
tennas that use actuators to move the radiating elements 0.8 GHz, respectively. A 50 Ω coaxial cable is used to excite
of the antenna patch. A mechanically reconfigured antenna the antenna.
changes the antenna’s physical composition to change the
desired antenna characteristics. This method however, limits In [96], a frequency reconfigurable antenna for wireless
the flexibility of the antenna as compared to other switching applications is proposed. This antenna is printed on one side
methods. A rotatable circular conductor with five microstrip of the substrate, uses 6 PIN diodes for reconfiguration and
patches of different shapes radiating at different frequencies offers a selection choice between 36 operating frequencies.
has been presented in [91] for use in cognitive radio applica- The observed operating frequencies range from 2.35 to 3.43
tions. GHz with peak gain and efficiency of 4.3 dBi and 73%. The
return loss is more than 10 dB at all the operating frequencies.
Peak gain and efficiency of 4.26 dBi and 71% were measured
D. MATERIAL CHANGE RECONFIGURATION
at 2.35 GHz. Figure 7 shows the simulated and measured
TECHNIQUE
reflection coefficient for this antenna.
Smart tunable materials like ferrites and liquid crystals can be
used to achieve reconfiguration in antennas for various appli- In [97], a compact frequency reconfigurable dielectric
cations. The authors of [61], presents a reconfigurable planar resonator antenna (DRA) able to operate at frequencies
inverted F antenna (PIFA) which can be tuned using piezo- suitable for GSM, LTE and 5G applications is proposed.
electric material (PZT) switched elements. The antenna can The proposed antenna structure consists of three rectangular
produce eight combinations of possible switching positions. dielectric resonators, DR1, DR2 and DR3. Reconfigurability
The phase changing property of vanadium dioxide material is achieved by the use of two PIN diodes placed on the
was used in [92] to achieve reconfigurablity for a frequency microstrip line. For the ON−ON state, the antenna is tuned
of 4.68 GHz and 4.58 GHz based on the temperature change to an operating frequency of 1.81 GHz for GSM application.
of the material. Vanadium dioxide material was also used For the ON−OFF state, the antenna operates at a frequency
in [93], to design a frequency reconfigurable, fast switching of 2.6 GHz for LTE application. The OFF-OFF state tunes the
antenna. antenna to an operating frequency of 3.6 GHz for the lower
5G frequencies.

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Kebonyethebe Ramahatla et al.: Multi-Band Reconfigurable Antennas For 5G Wireless and CubeSat Applications: A Review

the other one is a millimeter wave multi-band antenna. The

authors used an insert feed method to excite both antennas in
an FR−4 substrate. Slots in the patch are introduced in both
designs to achieve multi-band properties. The reflection coef-
ficient of the antennas was found to be less than −10 dB with
VSWR values ranging between 1 and 2 which demonstrates
that this antenna has good impedance matching. Maximum
gain of 6.28 dBi was observed for the sub-6 GHz multi-band
antenna. Operating frequencies obtained for this antenna are;
2.48 GHz, 2.89 GHz, 4.19 GHz, and 5.5 GHz. The millimeter
wave antenna has achieved three resonating frequencies at
14.6 GHz, 23.3 GHz and 28.9 GHz. The return loss at 14.6
GHz and 28.9 GHz frequencies are −37.82 and −30.44
respectively. Maximum gain for this antenna is 5.44 dBi
which, according to the authors can be improved by using
RT Duroid 5880 substrate instead of FR−4 because of it’s
FIGURE 7. (a) Simulated and (b) measured reflection coefficient [96] high dielectric constant of 10.

Sukanya Baruah et al. in [102], presents a CPW fed U-

A coplanar waveguide (CPW) fed compact antenna of shaped antenna with the capability of operating in the band
dimensions 0.22λ0 × 0.11λ0 × 0.012λ0 (where λ0 is the of 2.8 GHz to 6.1 GHz for cognitive radio applications. The
free space wavelength) for portable devices is presented in novel antenna is proposed to operate using the interweave
[98]. Three PIN diodes have been used to achieve frequency protocol for cognitive radio. Both the sensing and the recon-
reconfigurability for this antenna. The proposed antenna figurable antenna have omni-directional radiation properties.
displays a maximum gain of 5.4 dBi and efficiency of 86% Two PIN diodes are used to achieve four cases of frequency
in the passband region while still maintaining its compact- reconfigurability depending on the states of the switches.
ness, making it suitable for portable devices that require S11 results for the four cases are shown in figure 8. These
operation at different frequencies between 2 GHz and 10 four frequencies are; 4.6 GHz, 2.3 GHz, 4.7 GHz and 5.7
GHz. Applications covered by these frequencies include; Wi- GHz. The antenna can be used as a sensing antenna or a
MAX, WLAN, 5G Sub-6 GHz, S- and X-band and it can be reconfigurable antenna according to the requirements.
implemented in devices like laptops and cell phones.

HFSS software was used in [99] to design and simulate a

compact (44.09×44.09×3.2 mm3 ) frequency reconfigurable
antenna for wireless applications. The proposed antenna has
an omnidirectional radiation pattern. It is proposed for smart
phone application hence, the omnidirectional property of the
antenna is desirable. The proposed antenna can reconfigure
using PIN diodes at eight different frequency bands between
2.60 and 3.91 GHz with peak gain, efficiency and bandwidth
of 7.4 dBi, 98% and 186 MHz respectively.

The triangular antenna designed in [100] is energized

using a micro-strip feed line method. The antenna dimensions
allows it to radiate at different, multi-band frequencies. The
reflection coefficient at resonant frequencies of 43.9 GHz,
61.8 GHz, 75.8 GHz and 94 GHz is −19.2 dB, −28.202 dB, FIGURE 8. S11 results for all the four cases (1-4) considered in [102].
−41.89 dB and −19.035 dB with bandwidth of 3.255 GHz,
7.132 GHz, 7.721 GHz and 8.434 GHz respectively. This In [103], Sonal and Anjali proposes a hook shaped fre-
antenna provides a directivity of 7.31 dBi at 75.8 GHz of quency reconfigurable antenna for UMTS, WiMAX, WLAN
which the gain is 4.643 dB. The antenna exhibits a VSWR of and other wireless applications. For this antenna to achieve
less than 2 at the 5G operating frequencies. reconfiguration, two PIN diodes are used. The antenna struc-
ture is shown in figure 9. Two semicircular patches of distinct
Two multi-band antenna structures designed for fifth gen- electrical length yield tri-band with reflection coefficient,
eration communication systems are investigated in [101]. S11 < −10 dB. The middle rectangular patch in the antenna
One is a multi-band antenna for the 5G sub-6 GHz band, and offers 4.8 GHz − 8.6 GHz band, the right and left side of
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Kebonyethebe Ramahatla et al.: Multi-Band Reconfigurable Antennas For 5G Wireless and CubeSat Applications: A Review

semicircular patches yield 1.9 GHz − 2.1 GHz (UMTS) and 2.49 GHz. A 50 Ω coaxial connector is used for feeding this
2.7 GHz − 3.1 GHz (Wi-MAX) bands respectively. The hook antenna and simulation is carried out using HFSS simulation
shaped antenna is fed by a microstrip feed line. Resonant software. For the reflection coefficient of less than −10
frequencies for the tri-band; UMTS, WiMAX and WLAN dB, resonating frequencies of 2.49 GHz and 1.18 GHz are
are 2 GHz, 2.9 GHz and 6 GHz respectively. Reflection observed.
coefficient, S11 of < −10 dB were observed.
A differential frequency reconfigurable antenna based on
dipoles is presented in [107]. Four PIN diodes are used for
reconfigurability. Simulated gain is between 1.5 and 4.2 dBi
with an average gain of 2.85 dBi for operational state 1, and
simulated gain is between 2.2 and 3.7 dBi with an average
gain of 2.95 dBi for operational state 2. Measured gain is
between 1.5 and 3.5 dBi with an average gain of 2.5 dBi for
state 1, and measured gain is between 1.8 and 3.4 dBi with
an average gain of 2.6 dBi for state 2. The slight difference
between simulated and measured values is due to the losses
from PIN diodes, the substrate as well as the metal. This
antenna is suited for operation at frequencies; 3.5 GHz, 5.25
FIGURE 9. Proposed antenna structure (a) front view (b) back view [103]. GHz and 5.80 GHz for WLAN as well as the 5G sub−6 GHz
band applications.
A wide-band printed bow-tie antenna which can operate
at frequencies from 1.4 GHz to 6.2 GHz is investigated in A Ka-band antenna operating at frequencies of 28 and 38
[104]. The proposed antenna can switch between wide-band GHz proposed for use in 5G wireless communication systems
as well as lower frequency narrow-band. Parasitic elements is designed in [108]. An omni-directional radiation pattern
and PIN diodes are used for the design of the proposed bow- has been observed from the simulation results. The maximum
tie antenna. The antenna is printed on an FR−4 substrate gain at 38.75 GHz frequency is observed to be 8.2 dBi. The
of dielectric constant, 4.34 and thickness of 1.6 mm. An overall gain observed shows that the antenna is suited for
insertion loss of −10 dB over 2 to 5.5 GHz frequencies is short range communication.
observed from simulation results with gain varying between
2 dB and 4 dB over the same frequency band. A 30 mm × 30 mm compact multi-band frequency recon-
figurable antenna for 5G application is proposed in [109].
The authors of [105] present a coplanar waveguide fed The substrate used has a high permittivity of 10.2 and a
T-shaped antenna with a dual beam of ±30°. Two variable thickness of 1.9 mm. A microstrip transmission line feed
resistors connected between the ground plane and the stub method is used to feed the triangular shaped antenna. Two
enables reconfigurability. Rogers RT Duroid substrate is used slots were utilized to achieve on-demand frequency recon-
for this design. In the band of 23 GHz − 29 GHz, frequency figurability from wide-band mode to tri-band mode. When
reconfiguration is achieved by varying the resistance of the both the PIN diodes are in the ON state, the antenna operates
variable resistors. The 3 dB beam-width remains conserved as a tri-band antenna and when the diodes are both in the
for this range of operation. The resonant frequency increases OFF state, the antenna operates in the dual band mode.
as the value of the resistance is gradually changed from 100 The antenna shows good impedance bandwidth of 2.11 GHz
Ω to 10 kΩ. While this is the case, at resistance values above with a high efficiency of more than 90%. Figure 10 shows
5 kΩ, there is no considerable frequency change in the return the 2D radiation pattern simulation results for the proposed
loss graph. Along the end-fire direction, the radiation pattern reconfigurable antenna.
is a symmetrical distribution of two beams. At the resistance
value of 250 Ω, the 3 dB beam-width remains the same for An advanced multi-band antenna covering frequency
the whole operating range. The gain of each beam is suitable bands of Wi-Fi, WiMAX and 5G is designed and tested in
for short range communication which is why this antenna [110]. The antenna designed using CST microwave studio
can be used for indoor 5G wireless communication networks shows three distinct multi-band frequencies (2.4 GHz, 7.8
[105]. GHz and 33.5 GHz). At these frequencies, the S11 pa-
rameters plot shows a value less than −10 dB, which is
The frequency reconfigurable antenna designed in [106], suitable for a properly functioning communication system.
finds application in the Indian regional navigation satellite At the Wi-Fi frequency of 2.4 GHz, S11 value is −22.37
System (IRNSS) and it has the ability to switch between L5 dB. This antenna can accommodate multiple channels. For
band and the S-band. Three PIN diodes are used together the 7.8 GHz WiMAX application, the reflection coefficient
with a slot to attain reconfigurability. A directional radiation observed is about −26 dB with bandwidth of 235 MHz.
pattern with gain of 8.51 dB is obtained by this antenna at This enables the antenna to be used in wide-band WiMAX
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Kebonyethebe Ramahatla et al.: Multi-Band Reconfigurable Antennas For 5G Wireless and CubeSat Applications: A Review

FIGURE 11. S11 results for the antenna in [110].

A tri-PRA (polarization reconfigurable antenna) based on

crossed dipole and parasitic elements with an impedance
bandwidth of 48.6% at frequencies of 2.04–3.94 GHz and
maximum gain of 8.2 dBi is proposed in [112]. The proposed
antenna is able to switch between three states; linear polar-
ization (LP), left hand circular polarization (LHCP) and right
hand circular polarization (RHCP). The simulated impedance
bandwidth has a good agreement with the measured results,
reaching 63.5% from 2.04 to 3.94 GHz. In particular, the
measured CP and LP impedance bandwidth are about 80.4%
(1.68–3.94 GHz) and 63.5% (2.04–3.94 GHz), respectively.

FIGURE 10. Simulated 2D radiation pattern at (a) 2.4 GHz (b) 3.5 GHz and
(c) 4.2 GHz respectively for the antenna in [109].

applications. Lastly, at 33.5 GHz millimeter wave frequency

for 5G applications, the bandwidth is 4.5 GHz, which has
capacity to cover more channels having a large bandwidth.
At this frequency, the reflection coefficient is −29 dB. The
VSWR for the Wi-Fi, WiMAX and 5G frequencies is less
than 1.3 which is within the accepted range for a commu-
nication system which is an indication of good impedance
matching. Table 2 summarises the VSWR results at different
operating frequencies. Reflection coefficient, S11 results for
the antenna are displayed in figure 11.

TABLE 2. Simulated VSWR results for Wi-Fi, WiMAX and 5G [110]

Systems Operating Frequency (GHz) VSWR

Wi-Fi 2.4 1.27
WiMAX 7.8 1.11
5G 33.5 1.07

2) Radiation pattern reconfigurable designs

Yihua Zhou et al in [111], proposed a multi-beam antenna
array fed by planar reconfigurable feeding network which
operates at 28 GHz millimeter wave frequency. The proposed
antenna is designed such that it can switch between one- FIGURE 12. Structure of the pattern reconfigurable antenna [113].
beam, two-beams and four-beam states using RF switches.
This design does not use phase shifters, making it less costly. A pattern reconfigurable antenna was considered in [113].
At 2.53 GHz, the following observations are made; by
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Kebonyethebe Ramahatla et al.: Multi-Band Reconfigurable Antennas For 5G Wireless and CubeSat Applications: A Review

exciting port−1, the maximum gain of 2.74 dB is obtained

at θ = 225° degrees in the yz plane. By exciting port−2,
the maximum gain obtained at θ = 225° degrees is 2.73
dB in the xz plane. At 3.55 GHz, exciting port−1 of the
antenna system, gives maximum gain of 1.92 dB at φ = 0°
and θ = 215°. By exciting port−2, a maximum gain of 1.52
dB at φ = 90° and θ = 215° is obtained. The structure of
this pattern reconfigurable antenna is shown in figure 12. The
MIMO system antenna gives a good isolation, good pattern
radiation and high efficiency and is therefore suited for 5G
wireless communication systems.
FIGURE 13. Radiation pattern results for the proposed SIW antenna [116].
In [114], a tunable feeding network is used to achieve
broadside and conical radiation beams through in-phase and
out of phase excitation. A two-port symmetrically fed mi- and the stubs to achieve reconfigurability as seen in figure
crostrip antenna can radiate in two distinct patterns when the 14. The antenna radiates at four frequency bands with a wide
feeds are out of phase or in-phase. At broad-side, with reflec- bandwidth, high gain and good efficiencies. It resonates at
tion coefficient less than −10 dB, impedance bandwidth of 32 GHz with an impedance bandwidth of 6.75 GHz with
60.7% is observed while the measured radiation gain varies respect to S11 < −10 dB when diodes are in the OFF state.
from 7.5 to 10.2 dBi. For the case of conical mode, at S11 less When diode 1 (D1) is ON, the antenna resonates at 30 GHz
than −10 dB, an impedance bandwidth of 72.7% is observed with 6.42 GHz impedance bandwidth. When D1 is in the
with a realized gain of up to 7.7 dBi for frequencies, 1.75 OFF state and D2 ON, the antenna resonates at 32 GHz
to 3.75 GHz. For broad-side and conical beams, efficiencies with a bandwidth of 4.93 GHz. Finally, when D1 and D2
of 80% and 76% are recorded respectively. This antenna can are both ON, the antenna starts to resonate at 28.7 GHz with
properly reconfigure between conical and broadside radiation bandwidth of 6.3 GHz. The antenna demonstrates broad-side
with satisfying gain and efficiency. radiation pattern in the H-plane and a slightly tilted pattern in
the E-plane. The antenna shows a maximum gain greater than
A radiation pattern reconfigurable antenna is proposed 6 dBi over the targeted frequency band with a 97% efficiency.
for 5G mobile radio communication systems at 5.6 GHz This is a high gain and high efficiency antenna suitable for 5G
frequency in [115]. This is a directive, high gain antenna millimeter wave (mm−wave) communication.
for point-to-point communication. The fabry-perot cavity
technique is used to create a radiation pattern reconfigurable
antenna. This technique uses two substrates; a Rogers RO
4730 substrate with 2.7 permittivity as a high impedance
surface and an FR-4 substrate of 4.4 permittivity as a partially
reflective surface. The partially reflective surface consists of
a central patch and other small patches around it which have
been added to it in order to have a directional behaviour. PIN
diodes are used on the high impedance surface to achieve
reconfigurability. At frequency of 5.6 GHz, the main-lobe
direction is 19° with a gain of 15.3 dBi.

In [116], a novel radiation pattern reconfigurable sub-

strate integrated waveguide (SIW) antenna is presented. The FIGURE 14. Geometry of antenna proposed in [117].

proposed antenna is a leaky wave antenna (LWA) based

on a SIW structure which achieves beam scanning at a A hybrid antenna model to achieve spherical beam steering
fixed frequency of 27 GHz. The beam scanning ability is coverage is considered with the intended use in cellular
made possible by exciting the slot configuration electrically. devices [118]. One of the pressing challenges caused by the
The SIW is designed with two slots fed by plated-through inherent mobile device restrictions is integrating millimeter
holes (PTH) technology, with two PIN diodes connecting the wave into the user equipment (UE) because of limited power
ground plane and the top wall. By switching the PIN diode capacity and physical space. In an effort to combat loss
states, the array configuration and the corresponding beam factors like propagation loss and polarization mismatch loss
direction can be changed electronically. The radiation pattern caused by the mobility of terminals, adaptive beam-forming
of this antenna is shown in figure 13. is used. The proposed solution is mm−wave 5G antenna for
future non standalone antenna (NSA) smartphones.
In [117], two PIN diodes are inserted between the radiator
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Kebonyethebe Ramahatla et al.: Multi-Band Reconfigurable Antennas For 5G Wireless and CubeSat Applications: A Review

FIGURE 17. Antenna radiation pattern results with slot cut at the center.

FIGURE 15. Radiation pattern of the 28 GHz end-fire phased arrays at

different scanning angles [118].

The measured input reflection coefficient achieves

impedance bandwidth of 1.67 GHz required to cover the 28
GHz 5G band spectrum. Peak gain of 9.2 dBi is noted at
28 GHz when θ = 0°. The simulated and measured results
FIGURE 18. Radiation pattern results of the antenna when the cut slot is
show that the optically transparent array antenna achieves rotated by −35°.
impedance bandwidth of 850 MHz. The compact end-fire
array (antenna in package) and the optical array (antenna on
display) displays an impedance bandwidth of 1.67 GHz and as shown in figure 16. When the slot is inserted at the center,
0.85 GHz respectively with a 2 : 1 VSWR at 28 GHz. The gain is slightly increased to 6.64 dBi as seen in figure 17.
radiation pattern of the antenna is shown in figure 15. Lastly, when the slot is rotated by −35°, gain of 7.64 dBi is
obtained as shown in figure 18.
In [119], a beam-width reconfigurable antenna with high
gain and wide bandwidth designed for 5G high frequency This section has presented wireless communication anten-
application is proposed. The design is made on a Rogers nas focusing especially on 5G technology. However, some
RT Duroid 5880 substrate. For operating frequencies ranging of these reconfigurable antennas can also be adopted for use
from 26 GHz to 31 GHz, a reflection coefficient of −10 dB is in CubeSat application. These includes antennas with good
observed. The proposed reconfigurable antenna is designed performance attributes such as gain, efficiency, reflection
using three PIN diodes and an added slot. Analysis of the coefficients as well as those which can operate on satellite
antenna was made before and after insetting the slot with frequencies. These antennas are summarized in table 3. The
emphasis made on the gain. Before inserting the slot, the following section is dedicated to presenting antenna designs
antenna radiation pattern shows a 6.2 dBi gain. for CubeSats.
rowyellowyellow

VI. DUAL- AND MULTI-BAND RECONFIGURABLE

ANTENNAS FOR CUBESATS
Dual- and multi-band reconfigurable antenna designs for
CubeSat application are outlined in this section with a
summary of them provided in table 4.

A circularly polarized dual band (L- and S-band), dual

FIGURE 16. Antenna radiation pattern results without the slot in [119]. feed patch antenna for a 3U form factor was proposed in
[120]. The proposed antenna is a three layer stack with two
After the rectangular slot has been added, it is then rotated different views shown in figure 19, which consists of a lower
and simulations done at different slot positions. Impedance band GPS antenna of 1575 MHz resonant frequency on the
bandwidth is enhanced as the slot is rotated. Figures 16, 17 top layer, an S-band antenna which operates at 2200 MHz
and 18 show the antenna radiation pattern and gain without for transmitting satellite downlink data to earth as well as a
a slot, with a slot cut at the center as well as with the slot metallic ground plane embedded with the feed network on
rotated by −35° respectively. At first without the inset slot, the bottom layer. The antenna system has a low profile of 11
a dual-beam radiation pattern with 6.2 dBi gain is obtained, mm and 120g weight. It is mounted on the nadir facing side
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Kebonyethebe Ramahatla et al.: Multi-Band Reconfigurable Antennas For 5G Wireless and CubeSat Applications: A Review

TABLE 3. Summary of existing literature of reconfigurable antennas for 5G wireless applications

Reference Antenna size (in Reconfiguration Frequency Range Reflection Maximum Device
mm3 ) type Coefficient Gain
[95] 16.3 × 12.57 × 0.8 Frequency 9.57 GHz to 5.6 GHz −40 dB and −30 dB N/A PIN diodes
[96] 0.31λ0 × 0.31λ0 × Frequency 2.35 GHz to 3.43 < −10 dB 4.3 dBi PIN diodes
0.015 GHz
[98] 0.22λ0 × 0.11λ0 × Frequency 2 GHz to 10 GHz < −10 dB 5.4 dBi PIN diodes
0.012λ0
[99] 44.09 × 44.09 × 3.2 Frequency 2.60 GHz to 3.91 < −10 dB 7.4 dBi PIN diodes
GHz
[100] 6.22 × 3.80 × 0.5 Frequency 43.9 GHz to 94 GHz −19.2 dB to −41.89 4.64 dBi Structural modifi-
dB cations (Slots and
stubs)
[101] 50 × 45 × 1.6 Frequency 6 GHz to 29 GHz < −10 dB 5.44 dBi Structural modifi-
cations (Slots)
[102] 50 × 50 × 0.6 Frequency 2.8 GHz to 6.1 GHz −24 dB 10 dBi PIN diodes
[103] 20 × 20 × 1 Frequency 2 GHz to 6 GHz < −10 dB N/A PIN diodes
[104] 54.4 × 41.07 × 1.6 Frequency 1.4 GHz to 6.2 GHz < −10 dB 4 dBi PIN diodes
and parasitic
elements
[106] 120 × 120 × 1.575 Frequency 1.18 GHz and 2.49 < −10 dB 8.51 dBi PIN diodes and
GHz slot
[107] 50 × 50 × 1.6 Frequency 3.5 GHz to 5.80 GHz < −10 dB 4.2 dBi PIN diodes
[108] 16 × 16 × 0.0135 Frequency 22 GHz to 40 GHz < −10 dB 8.2 dBi PIN diodes
[109] 30 × 30 × 1.9 Frequency 2.31 GHz to 4.44 −34 dB N/A PIN diodes
GHz
[110] 62 × 50 × 1 Frequency 2.4 GHz to 33.5 GHz −22.37 dB 5.06 dBi Structural modifi-
cation (Slot)
[112] 60 × 60 × 0.03 Polarization 2.04 GHz to 3.94 < −10 dB 8.2 dBi Structural modifi-
GHz cations (stub)
[113] 18 × 5.5 × 4.5 Radiation pattern 2.53 GHz < −10 dB 1.92 dBi Slot and stubs
[114] 140 × 140 × 0.787 Radiation pattern 1.75 GHz to 3.75 < −10 dB 7.7 dBi PIN diodes and
GHz slot
[115] 291 × 91 × 1.4 Radiation pattern 5.6 GHz < −10 dB 15.3 dBi PIN diodes
[116] 100 × 6 × 0.5 Radiation pattern 27 GHz −23 dB 7 dBi PIN diodes and
slot
[117] 7.5 × 5 × 0.762 Frequency and ra- 32 GHz < −10 dB 6 dBi PIN diodes and
diation pattern stub
[119] 20 × 20 × 0.787 Beam-width 26 GHz to 31 GHz < −10 dB 7.64 dBi PIN diodes and
slot

of the CubeSat. Two independent 3-dB branch-line hybrid

couplers have been used to feed the upper and lower band
antennas. Two couplers have been used because they provide
an improved axial ratio (2 dB in this case) compared to
the single feed method. Simulated and measured return loss
is less than −15 dB while the axial ratio is 2 dB at both
operating frequency bands which means that the antenna
achieves a good circular polarization.

In [121], a frequency reconfigurable antenna is proposed

for satellite applications. The proposed circularly polarized
multi-band antenna can operate at a single L-band frequency
and dual S-band frequencies through electronic switching of
four PIN diodes loaded in the feeding branches. Aperture FIGURE 19. (a) Top view and (b) bottom view of the dual-band antenna in
[120].
coupling feed is used for feeding the structure such that
the antenna achieves circular polarization. At L-band, the
antenna resonates in the 1570–1650 MHz range and at 2.145
GHz and 2.660 GHz for S-band. The stacked radiators exhibit based antenna with dual circular polarization and double
an impedance matching of S11 < −10 dB and an axial ratio negative feed is proposed for a 1U nanosatellite application.
of less than 3 dB in all three operating frequencies. The antenna is fed at two places to achieve dual circular
polarization. It’s structure was simulated using the Zeland
In [122], a compact-sized (40 mm× 30 mm) metamaterial- IE3D software. Simulated and measured antenna efficiency
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Kebonyethebe Ramahatla et al.: Multi-Band Reconfigurable Antennas For 5G Wireless and CubeSat Applications: A Review

of 90% have been obtained. The operating frequency of the

antenna ranges from 2.3 GHz to 2.7 GHz with reflection
coefficient of −30 dB at 2.4 GHz. The gain at the operating
frequency of 2.4 GHz is 3 dBi.

The famous Japanese paper folding techniques called

Origami theory has been adopted for use in the design of
reconfigurable antennas for CubeSats in [123]. The antenna
presented in [124] uses adhesive polyimide tapes and folding
to achieve its design goals. It is a radiation pattern and polar-
ization reconfigurable patch/monopole hybrid that shares the FIGURE 21. S-parameter results for the X-band part of the antenna in [128].
same microstrip ground plane and feed. Reflection coefficient
of less than −10 dB has been obtained in the design with a
maximum gain of 7.7 dBi at 2.4GHz. The antenna can be tions is presented. The overall size of the S and X dual-band
used in CubeSats for next generation communication systems dual-polarized shared aperture antenna is 100 × 100 × 1.6
such as 6G. Other similar designs are found in [125, 126]. mm3 . The antenna operates at an X-band center frequency
of 9.3 GHz and S-band frequency of 3.2 GHz, which are
Another pattern reconfigurable antenna for CubeSat ap- both well-suited for the intended operation in SAR mission.
plication based on Origami technique has been studied in The impedance bandwidth covers a range of 3.12 − 3.42
[127] for operation at C-band. The antenna is pattern and GHz frequencies for S11 < −10 dB and has an isolation of
polarization reconfigurable designed specifically for CubeSat S21 < −20 dB in the entire band.
application based on spatial mapping origami theory. The
pattern reconfigurable antenna can be used for satellite to A hybrid reconfigurable S-band antenna for CubeSat appli-
ground link as well as for inter-satellite link. A maximum cation is proposed in [130]. The antenna system can achieve
circularly polarized gain of 8.07 dBi has been observed at radiation pattern and polarization reconfiguration through
broadside radiation pattern. Axial ratio value of 1.13 dB has port-excitation. Reconfiguring its polarization and radiation
been achieved in this design. pattern, different missions can be satisfied with a single
design. Arlon DiClad 870 substrate has been used for this
The design and simulation of an S- and X-band shared design due to its high reliability characteristics for aerospace
aperture antenna for nanosatellite applications is carried out applications. Patch dimensions have been optimized for
in [128]. The antenna measures 82 mm × 82 mm with a operation at 2.45 GHz with measured and simulated S-
height of 4 mm. It operates at two frequency ranges; an S- parameter results as shown in figure 22. The antenna has
band frequency range of 2.025 − 2.07 GHz shown in figure four rectangular patches which are fed using four different
20 and an X-band frequency range of 7.75 − 8.75 GHz feeding ports. These ports are excited differently through
shown in figure 21. This design has a realized RHCP gain the feed network to achieve the required radiation pattern
of 6 dBi in the S-band and 12 dBi at X-band. The antenna and polarization. The antenna achieves circular polarization
has an impedance bandwidth of 85 MHz and 2.4 GHz at S- when φ1 = 0, φ2 = 90°, φ3 = 180°, φ4 = 270° and linear
and X-band respectively, and has ≤ −25 dB cross coupling polarization when φ1 = 0, φ2 = 90°, φ3 = 180°, φ4 = 90°,
between the two antenna ports. with a radiation pattern maximum in the yz plane at 134°.
The antenna reconfigures between circular polarization and
linear polarization when the patches are 90° out of phase to
each other. The radiation pattern is 57.7° when the antenna is
circularly polarized and 134° when linearly polarized.

An 8-element array antenna has been designed, fabricated

and analyzed in [131]. RT/Duroid 5880 substrate was used
for the array fabrication due to its low loss as compared
to other materials like FR-4 and GML1000. Simulation
and measured results were compared in terms of the S-
parameters, gain, directivity and radiation efficiency. S-
parameter results of −12.492 dB, gain of 14.6 dBi and
VSWR of 1.6 were measured at 10 GHz frequency. The
FIGURE 20. S-parameter results for the S-band part of the antenna in [128]. antenna has a beam-width of 18° degrees at 10 GHz. As
shown in figure 23, the designed antenna has a gain of 11
In [129], a single layer S- and X-band series-fed, shared dBi at 10 GHz working frequency. The high-gain antenna in
aperture antenna for synthetic aperture radar (SAR) applica- this design is for satellite application.
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Kebonyethebe Ramahatla et al.: Multi-Band Reconfigurable Antennas For 5G Wireless and CubeSat Applications: A Review

FIGURE 24. 3-D radiation pattern for the antenna in [132].

FIGURE 22. Comparison of measured and simulated results of the antenna in

[130] at 2.45 GHz.

FIGURE 25. S-parameter results for the 4 by 1 array antenna.

FIGURE 23. Reproduced realized gain pattern for the 8-element array in FIGURE 26. VSWR for the antenna design in [132].
[131].

In [132], the authors present a four by one (4 × 1) larized gain of 10.1 dBi. The realized 3D gain plot of this
microstrip antenna array for use in radar and satellite ap- antenna has been shown in figure 28. This 3D radiation plot
plications. The antenna operates in the X-band frequency shows that the antenna has some side-lobes even though they
range (8 − 12) GHz. An inset feed method optimized to are not too significant. A better visualization of the side-lobes
increase performance is used to feed and match the antenna. is shown in the 2D polar plot in figure 29.
The antenna has a maximum gain of 10.1 dBi at 11.8 GHz
frequency as shown in figure 24. An S-parameter plot for
the antenna is shown in figure 25. At all frequencies, the
S-parameter values are well below the minimum required
−10 dB value. Furthermore, the VSWR values of less that
1.5 are recorded, as shown in figure 26, which indicate good
matching at multi-band frequencies of 10.3 GHz, 11.15 GHz
and 11.8 GHz frequencies.

Authors of [133], presents a 2 × 2 corner truncated an- FIGURE 27. S-parameter plot for the antenna in [133].
tenna array for wireless applications which includes satellite
communication. The patch antennas are truncated at opposite
corners to achieve circular polarization. It has a dual-band VII. DISCUSSION
radiation at two fundamental frequencies of 10.85 GHz and A. ADVANCEMENTS AND FUTURE TRENDS
12.95 GHz. Figure 27 displays the S-parameter values of −21 The technology of reconfigurable antennas in the field of
dB and −19.9 dB at 10.85 GHz and 12.95 GHz frequencies, wireless communications is still up-and-coming. The fu-
respectively. The antenna achieves a realized circularly po- ture of this technology will be driven by the emerging
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Kebonyethebe Ramahatla et al.: Multi-Band Reconfigurable Antennas For 5G Wireless and CubeSat Applications: A Review

TABLE 4. Summary of antenna designs for CubeSat application

Reference Antenna size Frequencies Axial Reflection Gain Polarization Application

(mm3 ) ratio Coefficients
[120] 110×110×3.18 1.575 GHz (L-band) < 2 dB < −15 dB 5.4 dBi (L- Right Hand Cir- Satellite to Earth
& 2.2 GHz (S-band) band) & 6 dBi cular Polarization link and GPS
(S-band) (RHCP)
[121] 124 × 124 × 10 1.570 to 1.650 (L- < 3 dB < −10 dB 5 dBi Circular Navigation and
band) GHz & 2.145 Earth to spacecraft
to 2.660 GHz (S- receiving link
band)
[122] 40 × 30 × 4 2.3 GHz to 2.7 GHz < 3 dB −30 dB 3 dBi Circular Satellite GPS ap-
(S-band) plication
[124] 159 × 152 × 2.4 GHz (S-band) Infinite < −10 dB 7.7 dBi Linear Satellite to ground
3.175 link
[127] 100 × 100 × 0.5 5.8 GHz (C-band) 1.13 dB < −10 dB 8.07 dBi Circular Satellite to ground
link and inter-
satellite link
[128] 82 × 82 × 4 2.025 to 2.075 GHz < 2 dB < −20 dB 6 dBi & (S- Right Hand Cir- Earth to satellite
(S-band) & 7.75 to band) and 12 cular Polarization link
8.75 GHz (X-band) dBi at (X-band) (RHCP)
[129] 100 × 100 × 1.6 3.2 GHz (S-band) & Infinite < −10 dB 8.5 dBi (S- Horizontal and SAR Satellite to
9.3 GHz (X-band) band) & 11 dBi Vertical Earth link
(X-band) dB
[130] 39.7 × 12 × 1.52 2.45 GHz (S-band) < 3 dB < −10 dB 3.7 dBi Circular Satellite to ground
link
[131] 90 × 69 × 1.575 10 GHz (X-band) Infinite −12.492 dB 14.6 dBi Linear Satellite to ground
communication
[132] 110×40×1.575 10.3 GHz to 11.8 < 3 dB < −10 dB 10.1 dBi Circular Satellite to ground
GHz (X-band) link
[133] 79 × 79 × 1.575 10.48 GHz to 12.55 0.17 dB < −10 dB 11 dBi Circular Satellite to ground
GHz (X-band) link

FIGURE 28. The antenna 3D radiation pattern representation.

FIGURE 29. 2-D polar plot representation of the antenna radiation pattern.
diverse application areas in wireless as well as in CubeSat
communications [134]. These applications include hybrid
5G satellite-terrestrial architectures, internet of space things
(IoST), remote sensing applications as well as deep space as shown in [136], a metal-only (all metal) reconfigurable
interplanetary exploration. To continue meeting the commu- metasurface antenna is another candidate for future CubeSat
nication requirements for the mission as well as adhering to missions, particularly in deep space. The absence of a dielec-
the CubeSat standards of a small form factor, low weight and tric material makes the antenna immune to dielectric losses;
low mass, future reconfigurable antennas must work in higher hence it can survive the harsh deep space environment. In
frequency bands such as the mm-Wave, sub-mm-Wave as [137], the authors discuss a metasurface antenna for CubeSat
well as the Terahertz frequencies [135]. Operating at these deep space exploration missions. According to the authors,
frequencies introduces more functionalities in the CubeSat metasurface antennas could potentially also be a good solu-
such as multibeam, as well as beam steering. Furthermore, tion for high gain antennas because they provide the ability
reconfigurable metasurface based antennas at these high to deploy a large aperture antenna without deploying a feed
frequencies (e.g. Ka-band, W-band) can also be designed at a focal distance from the antenna aperture.
and implemented in Silicone-based substrates. Moreover,
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Kebonyethebe Ramahatla et al.: Multi-Band Reconfigurable Antennas For 5G Wireless and CubeSat Applications: A Review

Reconfigurable antennas of the future, whether frequency, 1) Phased array antennas

radiation pattern or polarization pattern reconfigurable must Phased array antennas have found a wide application area due
have the ability to accurately adapt to their ever-changing to their high gain and beamforming capabilities. By shifting
environmental properties as well as achieving a well-defined the phase of individual elements, antenna arrays can direct
and energy efficient communication link. Reconfigurable an- their main beam from one direction to another. Phased arrays
tennas for futuristic nanosatellites should be multi-functional can open a wide variety of new possibilities by allowing for
and software-controlled (i.e with the ability to be software- electrical beam steering [143, 144]. They can also be em-
defined) to detect and react to their changing RF envi- ployed in pattern reconfiguration of satellite communication
ronment. Applications of the future reconfigurable antenna antennas. An example of a phased array antenna that achieves
should be implemented based on a new generation of wireless this function is outlined in [145]. The antenna in this article is
systems and communication protocols [138]. proposed to work in Ka-band designed for two-dimensional
scanning. In the area of polarization reconfigurable antennas,
As stated in the article, [139], future trends for antennas a phased array antenna integrated into the solar panel of the
in small satellites includes making them smaller, smarter CubeSat has been designed in [146].
cheaper as well as faster. This can be implemented in part
by using antenna reconfiguration technology and employing A pattern reconfigurability phased array antenna designed
software defined radio to make the antennas smarter and in [147] demonstrates the ability to steer the beam direction
faster. Another option to make antennas small is to move by applying specific phases across the elements of the array.
to higher frequencies such as Ka- band, V-band and the As seen in [148], phased array antennas can also be used
THz band. Shared aperture multiband antennas also saves to achieve frequency reconfigurability. The antenna being
on space and includes multi-functional properties. Another studied operates in L and S band for satellite communication.
technique is to develop reconfigurable antennas with multiple
functions integrated. To make the antennas smarter, the 2) Reflect array antennas
antenna needs to be electronically reconfigurable in radiation Reflect array antennas leverage on the advantages of phased
pattern, polarization, and frequency bands of operation. It arrays and reflectors to implement high gain antennas. They
is also necessary to investigate low loss tunable materi- can be classified into fixed beam reflect arrays as well as
als (ferroelectric thin films, piezoelectric materials, liquid reconfigurable reflect arrays. In reconfigurable reflect arrays,
crystals etc.) and their integration with antennas for form- the beam can be dynamically reconfigured or scanned by
ing low-cost beam-steerable antennas. Besides the above- introducing controllable mechanisms at the element level
mentioned reconfigurable concepts, other emerging research to change the phase shift and to reconfigure the beam
areas includes the exploitation of microfluidics [140], optical [149]. The reflect array antenna has been adopted for use in
controls, and graphene [141, 142] in reconfigurable antennas. CubeSats for remote sensing missions such as the Integrated
Solar Array and Reflect Array (ISARA) CubeSat and the
In a nutshell, researchers are working toward miniaturiza- RainCube CubeSat. They can also be used for deep space
tion using reconfigurable antennas for CubeSat applications. applications as previously demonstrated by the Mars-bound
These include operating in higher frequencies, making the twin 6U CubeSats called Mars Cube One (MarCO) mission
antennas smarter by integrating software defined control so [150, 151]. One of the reasons why this antenna has gained
that they can adapt to changing environments. Reconfig- popularity in CubeSats is because it offers an increase in
urable antennas can also be developed using special materials bandwidth and the possibility to be integrated with the
such as graphene and ferroelectric materials which can also solar array [152]. Reconfigurable reflect arrays have also
be adapted and employed in use for deep space CubeSat been targeted for use in space communication for the new-
applications. generation satellite mega constellation [153].

B. SIMILAR TRENDS 3) Massive MIMO

In spite of the ongoing research and innovation in recon- Massive MIMO technology is used in conventional satellites
figurable antennas for 5G wireless communication and for and 5G networks to mitigate the lossy nature of millimeter
CubeSat applications using RF switches, tunable materials waves. Thanks to the small wavelength at mm-wave and THz
and the geometrical structure of the antenna, there are other frequencies, the size of antenna arrays can be significantly
antenna designs that can also achieve reconfiguration. These reduced. More antenna elements can fit per unit area of
antenna designs have attractive properties that are attractive the array, enabling new massive and ultra-massive MIMO
and are similar to properties of reconfigurable antennas such communication schemes [154]. Massive MIMO increases
as beam shifting and scanning. These includes phased array throughput and capacity in a communication channel and
antennas, reflect array antenna, as well as massive MIMO provides beam shifting, beamforming and beam-steering ca-
designs in which beam shifting and switching techniques can pabilities. Some of the examples of using massive MIMO
be done in their structures to reconfigure the performance. in satellite communication is for the 5G satellite-terrestrial
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Kebonyethebe Ramahatla et al.: Multi-Band Reconfigurable Antennas For 5G Wireless and CubeSat Applications: A Review

network in [155] to improve throughput and solve the cov- radiation at more frequencies to accommodate more wireless
erage and availability problem. Because the massive MIMO applications without using more weight or occupying addi-
consists of multiple antennas and radios, it consumes more tional space. Furthermore, high dielectric constant materials
power and demands more space on the CubeSat structure like Rogers substrate can be used to enable operation at
which would otherwise be used for other components on the high frequency millimeter wave frequencies. Hybrid recon-
CubeSat. figurable antennas can also be further investigated in order to
increase operational possibilities. Following the observation
C. CRITICAL LIMITATIONS AND MITIGATING that there is still a gap in the application of reconfigurabil-
MEASURES ity to antennas in CubeSat communications, this paper has
The techniques used in reconfiguration have both positive presented designs of reconfigurable antennas which are well
and negative effects on the overall antenna design and qualified for use in satellite communications by providing
performance. Negative effects introduces a limitation in reconfigurable polarizations and radiating patterns. This re-
some performance characteristics. Cutting slots, adding stubs search has also provided literature on 5G reconfigurable an-
and adding switches in the antenna structure affects the tennas in detail which can also be scaled for satellite commu-
electrical distribution and hence the antenna performance. nications, particularly for use in the nanosatellite application.
Switches require a biasing network; therefore, this increases Future designs include the scaling of reconfigurable antennas
the complexity of the system and at times adds to the amount and their arrangements into arrays. Moreover, antenna feed
of losses in the circuit. networks can be used to achieve reconfigurability in these
reconfigurable antenna arrays. Based on the concepts and
While reconfigurability in antennas increases system func- design examples in this article, high gain, directive antennas
tionality and performance, there are some limitations and providing a large bandwidth for high speed link between a
drawbacks to using methods such as tuning antennas using CubeSat in orbit and the ground station are required for max-
shifting physical structures as well as reconfigurability using imum performance of the CubeSat communication down-
radio frequency switches such as PIN diodes, varactor diodes link. Therefore, a design of reconfigurable antennas array
and MEMS switches. Switches in the antenna structure tend for CubeSat communication will be designed and analyzed
to increase the cost and the power loss. An example of following this survey. The antenna will be reconfigurable in
this is shown in the pixel antenna in [156] which allows frequency, covering the S- and X-bands.
for switching in frequency band and also polarization re-
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 This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI
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Kebonyethebe Ramahatla et al.: Multi-Band Reconfigurable Antennas For 5G Wireless and CubeSat Applications: A Review

KEBONYETHEBE RAMAHATLA is a gradu- BOKAMOSO BASUTLI is a Professional En-

ate engineer registered with the Engineers Reg- gineer registered with the Engineers Registration
istration Board (ERB) in Botswana. He received Board (ERB) in Botswana. He received his Ph.D.
his Bachelor of Engineering in Computer and Degree in Electronic, Electrical, and Systems en-
Telecommunications in 2020 from the Botswana gineering from Loughborough University, U.K.,
International University of Science and Technol- in 2016. His Doctoral Thesis titled “Distributed
ogy (BIUST). He is currently pursuing his MEng Optimisation Techniques for Wireless Networks”,
in Computer and Telecommunications in BIUST. dealt with using economics models to optimize
His research interests include RF and microwave resource allocation in wireless cellular networks.
engineering, wireless technology, reconfigurable His research interests include convex optimiza-
and multi-band antenna technology, 5G antenna technology as well as tion, resource allocation, wireless communications, space technology and
satellite technology. Kebonyethebe is also a member of IEEE. game theory. From 2008 to 2010, he was an Installation Engineer and a Lead
Engineer with Singapore Technologies Electronics (Info-Software Systems),
respectively. He was a Senior Telecommunications Engineer with the Civil
Aviation Authority of Botswana (CAAB), from 2010 to 2012. He joined the
Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST) as
Founding Teaching Instructor, in 2012, where he is currently working as a
Lecturer with the Department of Electrical, Computer, and Telecommunica-
MODISA MOSALAOSI received his Bachelor tions Engineering. He is currently leading the Signal Processing, Networks,
of Science in Electrical Engineering in the year and Systems Research (SPNS) Group. In January 2019 and 2020, he was
2009, MSc Eng. and PhD degrees in Electronic elected as the Vice-Chairman and Executive Member of IEEE Botswana
Engineering in the year 2015 and 2017 respec- Sub-section. He is also serving as in Frontiers Editorial Board as a Review
tively, all from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Editor on the Editorial Board of Signal Processing for Communications
Durban, South Africa. He is currently a Lecturer at (Specialty section of Frontiers in Signal Processing) and Editorial Board of
the Botswana International University of Science IoT and Sensor Networks. He is also a reviewer in IEEE Communication
and Technology (BIUST). His research interests Letters, IEEE Access, IET Communications, IET Journal of Engineering.
include, power line communication, RF and Mi-
crowave propagation, free space optics and green
power technologies. Mosalaosi is a member of IEEE and IEEE-HKN Mu
Eta Chapter.

ABID YAHYA began his career on an engineer-

ing path, which is rare among other researcher
executives. He earned his bachelor’s degree from
the University of Engineering and Technology,
Peshawar, Pakistan, in Electrical and Electronic
Engineering, majoring in telecommunication. He
earned his Ph.D. and MSc degrees in wireless
and mobile systems from the Universiti Sains
Malaysia, Malaysia. Currently, he is working at
the Botswana International University of Science
and Technology. He has applied this combination of practical and academic
experience to a variety of consultancies for major corporations.

Prof. Abid Yahya is a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical

and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), USA, and a Professional Engineer
registered with the Botswana Engineers Registration Board (ERB). He has
many research publications to his credit in numerous reputable journals,
conference articles, and book chapters. He has received several awards and
grants from various funding agencies and supervised several Ph.D. and
master candidates. His recent four books, 1) Emerging Technologies in
Agriculture, Livestock, and Climate by Springer in 2020; 2)Mobile WiMAX
Systems: Performance Analysis of Fractional Frequency Reuse published
by CRC Press | Taylor Francis in 2019, 3) Steganography Techniques
for Digital Images; 4) LTE-A Cellular Networks: Multi-Hop Relay for
Coverage, Capacity, and Performance Enhancement, published by Springer
International Publishing in July 2018 January 2017 respectively and are
being followed in national and international universities.
Prof. Yahya was assigned to be an external and internal examiner for
postgraduate students. He has been invited many times to be a speaker or
visiting lecturer at different multinational companies. He sits on various
panels with the government and other industry-related boards of study.

26 VOLUME 4, 2022

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