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Malfajani, R.S.; Damansabz, R.; Bodkhe, S.; Therriault, D.; Laurin, J.J.; Sharawi, M.S. (2024). 3D-Printed Encapsulated Dielectric Resonator Antennas With Large Operation Frequency Ratio for Future Wireless Communications. IEEE Open Journal of Antennas and Propagation 2024.3416399.

Shared aperture antennas are versatile structures that can fulfill the demand for multi-band compact antennas in multi-standard emerging communication systems. However, the requirement of operation at widely separated frequency bands, such as sub-6-GHz band and mm-wave band in 5G, poses a challenge. This paper introduces a novel Encapsulated Dielectric Resonator Antennas (E-DRAs) designed for operation at sub-6-GHz and mm-wave bands for 5G and beyond applications. The DRA part of the antenna consists of an array of small cylindrical DRAs (cDRA) encapsulated in a larger cylinder. At mm-wave band, the small cDRAs are radiating elements while the larger cylinder acts as a lens to enhance the gain and provide beam switching at discrete angles by switching the feed between the small cDRAs. At sub-6-GHz band, the large cylinder is the main radiator. The antenna is realized with a 3D printing process using two distinct ABS materials with different infills. Measurements of the fabricated antenna show a maximum gain of 7.8 dBi at 3.35 GHz and 19.7 dBi at 27 GHz. The measured bandwidth is 20.2% centered at 3.45 GHz and 28.7% centered at 28.5 GHz. The array of small cDRAs with five elements enables beam switching within ±30.

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