A dual band triangular shaped DRA array for WLAN/WiMAX applications

In this paper, a dual-band triangular dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) array is presented for wireless local area network (WLAN) and worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) applications. Here, two triangular dielectric resonators are used as an array. The DRA array is excited by conformal strip connected to microstrip line which is an effective feed mechanism to obtain dual-band operation. Simulation process was done by using a CST microwave studio. The result shows that the proposed antenna achieves an impedance bandwidth from 3.35 to 3.70 GHz and 4.52 to 5.34 GHz covering 3.5 GHz WiMAX band and 5.2 GHz WLAN band. Parametric studies are carried out by varying the heights of the triangular shaped dielectric resonators and conformal strips. Simulated results show that DRA array has a better resonant frequency for DR height, h_r = 11.5 mm and conformal strip height h_c=10.4 mm. The average peak gain achieved is 7.02 dBi and 8.9 dBi at 3.5 GHz and 5.2 GHz respectively and directivity varies from 6.06 dBi to 9.26 dBi for overall frequency range. The proposed design can also be used for HIPERLAN (high-performance radio LAN) applications which operate at 5.15 GHz to 5.30 GHz. With these features, this design of triangular DRA array is suitable for dual-band wireless communication systems.