Beam-Tunable Low-Profile High-Gain Dielectric Resonator Antenna Array for Wireless Backhauling

A low-cost, low-profile, high-gain dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) array with flexible beam steering is investigated. By developing a far-field phase-controllable DRA element using varactors, a low-profile beam-tunable antenna array can be realized with low cost. Specifically, two varactors are integrated into the feeding line of the DRA element. The phase of the antenna element can be continuously adjusted within 141° by tuning the capacitance of the varactors with a biasing voltage. A stacked DRA is utilized to obtain a low profile, high gain, and wide bandwidth. Furthermore, the compact phase-reconfigurable DRA is extended to an 8×8 array to enable continuous beam steering. Finally, the proposed antenna array simultaneously exhibits a low profile, high gain, and continuous electronic beam-steering capability, which makes it suitable for wireless backhauling.