Miniaturized, Vertically Polarized, Pattern Reconfigurable Dielectric Resonator Antenna and Its Phased Array for Wide-Angle Beam Steering

This article presents a novel metamaterial-inspired, miniaturized, vertically polarized (VP), pattern reconfigurable dielectric resonator (DR) antenna/phased array for sub-6 GHz fifth-generation (5G) beam-steering applications. The proposed antenna is miniaturized by creatively loading the mushroom structure on the DR, and the beam steering/scanning function is realized using a pattern reconfigurable configuration. Owing to the extra loading capacitance and inductance from the VP mushroom, the resonance frequency of the DR shifts to the lower region. Based on the classical Huygens radiation principle and image theory, a novel miniaturized Huygens form with a tilted pattern is developed. Then, by exploring a switchable magnetic current source, a pattern reconfigurable Huygens design is proposed and studied. For verification, a pattern reconfigurable DR antenna with eight beams and a low-cost 4 $\times4$ wide-angle beam-scanning phased array using the reconfigurable DR cells for 5G microcell and macro-base station demands are fabricated and measured, respectively. The measured −10 dB impedance bandwidth and peak gain are 3.30–3.75 GHz (12.8%) and 4.8 dBi, respectively. Also, the proposed 2-D phased array can scan up to ±60° and supports a 3 dB beam coverage up to ±80° in each region. The proposed beam-steering antenna/array is a promising candidate for 5G microcell and macro-base station applications.