An Air-Gap-Based Frequency Switching Method for the Dielectric Resonator Antenna

Author

Apperley, Thomas ; Okoniewski, Michal

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Univ. of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada

Volume

13

fYear

2014

fDate

2014

Firstpage

455

Lastpage

458

Abstract

The dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) has several advantages over metallic antennas, which may include low loss and compact design. However, few frequency reconfiguration methods exist for the DRA. This letter proposes, designs, and validates a new frequency-reconfigurable DRA that exploits the air gap effect. Here, air-filled channels are inserted between the DRA and the ground plane, and resonant frequency can be lowered by sliding metallized dielectric slugs under the resonator. The proof-of-concept prototype had a measured switching range of 24.7% and operating frequencies of 21.4 and 16.7 GHz.

Keywords

dielectric resonator antennas; air gap effect; air-filled channels; air-gap-based frequency switching; dielectric resonator antenna; dielectric slugs; frequency 21.4 GHz to 16.7 GHz; frequency reconfiguration; ground plane; metallic antennas; resonant frequency; Couplings; Dielectric resonator antennas; Dielectrics; Frequency measurement; Prototypes; Resonant frequency; Switches; Dielectric resonator antennas; reconfigurable antennas;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1536-1225

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/LAWP.2014.2309332

Filename

6754157