Novel Utilization of the Dielectric Resonator Antenna as an Oscillator Load

For the first time, the idea of using the dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) as an oscillator load, named as DRAO, is presented in this paper. Unlike the conventional dielectric resonator oscillator (DRO), where the DR was merely used as a resonator, the DR here serves as both the radiating and oscillating loads. In addition, a compact tri-function hollow DR that incorporates the packaging function to the above dual function is demonstrated. The design procedures of the dual- and tri-function DRAOs are discussed. For demonstration, the DRAOs are designed at 1.85 GHz, which is used in the popular personal communications system (PCS). The return losses, input impedances, antenna gains, signal spectrums, phase noise, and radiation patterns of the two DRAOs are presented. It is shown that the loaded Q
_L
factor of the DRA can be increased by internally embedding a compact metallic cavity to the DR. It is found that with a higher loaded Q
_L
factor, the phase noise of the antenna oscillator using the hollow DRA (tri-function DRAO) is better than that using a solid DRA (dual-function DRAO).