Reconfigurable dielectric resonator antennas.

Abstract

Dielectric Resonator Antennas (DRAs) have been widely investigated over the past years due to their attractive properties and advantages. DRAs have high radiation efficiency compared to other antennas and can radiate in the entire sphere. They have compact size and are highly flexible in shapes and designs. On the other hand, reconfigurable antennas have also been greatly used in recent years due to the progress of wireless communications systems and applications. Reconfigurable antennas can adapt with different system requirements and increase the overall performance. They can operate on different frequencies, have varying polarizations or different radiation patterns. In this thesis, we present three types of reconfigurable dielectric resonator antennas. We reconfigure the notch frequency, the resonance frequency and the radiation pattern. The new approach in this thesis is that we achieve reconfigurability by the rotation of the Dielectric Resonator (DR) in order to take different positions on the patch of the antenna. The rotation is done through a DC stepper motor connected to the DR. The results are a UWB DRA with a reconfigurable notch in the 3.2-5.1 GHz range that prevents interference to many narrowband systems in this range; a DRA with a reconfigurable resonance frequency suitable for microwave applications and WiMAX applications, and a DRA with a reconfigurable radiation pattern appropriate for pattern diversity applications.