CN114245954B

CN114245954B - Dielectric resonator antenna and dielectric resonator antenna array

Info

Publication number: CN114245954B
Application number: CN201980099366.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 尹鑫; 魏宇哲; 赵怀成
Original assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd; Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy
Current assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd; Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy
Priority date: 2019-06-14
Filing date: 2019-06-14
Publication date: 2023-03-24
Anticipated expiration: 2039-06-14
Also published as: CN114245954A; WO2020248289A1

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to DRAs and DRA arrays including the DRAs. The DRA includes a ground layer and a dielectric resonator disposed on the ground layer. The dielectric resonator includes at least one aperture extending from a top surface of the dielectric resonator toward a bottom surface of the dielectric resonator. At least a portion of the wall of the hole is covered with a metal layer. The metal layer is electrically isolated from the ground plane.

Description

Dielectric resonator antenna and dielectric resonator antenna array

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to the field of telecommunications and, in particular, to Dielectric Resonator Antennas (DRAs) and DRA arrays including the DRAs.

Background

A massive multiple input multiple output (mimo) antenna array is one of the key components in fifth generation (5G) mobile communication systems. DRAs have received great research attention due to their small size, low profile, high radiation efficiency (due to the absence of surface wave losses and ease of excitation). Thus, the DRA may be used as an antenna element in a MIMO antenna array.

Disclosure of Invention

In general, example embodiments of the present disclosure provide a DRA and a DRA array comprising the DRA.

In a first aspect, a DRA is provided. The DRA includes a ground layer and a dielectric resonator disposed on the ground layer. The dielectric resonator includes at least one hole extending from a top surface of the dielectric resonator toward a bottom surface of the dielectric resonator. At least a portion of the wall of the hole is covered with a metal layer. The metal layer is electrically isolated from the ground plane.

In some example embodiments, the at least one hole comprises a single hole formed at a center of the top surface of the dielectric resonator.

In some example embodiments, the single hole is formed as a through hole.

In some example embodiments, the single aperture is configured to have a circumference in the range of forty percent of the operating wavelength.

In some example embodiments, the metal layer has a shape of a strip.

In some example embodiments, the band has a width in the range of ten percent to twenty percent of the operating wavelength.

In some example embodiments, the metal layer is made of at least one of: copper, silver, chromium and nickel.

In a second aspect, an antenna array is provided. The antenna array comprises a plurality of dielectric resonator antennas according to the first aspect.

In some example embodiments, the plurality of dielectric resonator antennas includes at least a first row of dielectric resonator antennas and a second row of dielectric resonator antennas separated by a first distance, any two dielectric resonator antennas in each of the first row of dielectric resonator antennas and the second row of dielectric resonator antennas separated by a second distance, each of the first distance and the second distance being within forty percent of the operating wavelength.

In some example embodiments, the first distance is equal to one-half of the operating wavelength and the second distance is equal to seventy percent of the operating wavelength.

In a third aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device comprises an antenna array according to the second aspect.

It should be understood that this summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the embodiments of the disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become readily apparent from the following description.

Drawings

Some example embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1A illustrates a top view of a conventional DRA array;

fig. 1B illustrates a perspective view of an antenna element in the conventional DRA array of fig. 1A;

FIG. 2 illustrates an equipotential contour of the electric field distribution of a subarray of the conventional DRA array of FIG. 1A;

figure 3A illustrates a co-polar pattern of antenna elements in the sub-array of figure 2;

FIG. 3B illustrates cross-polarization ratios of antenna elements in the sub-array of FIG. 2;

fig. 4A illustrates a perspective view of a DRA according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 4B illustrates a cross-sectional view of the DRA of fig. 4A;

fig. 5A illustrates a perspective view of a dielectric resonator of a DRA in accordance with some other example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5B illustrates a cross-sectional view of the dielectric resonator of FIG. 5A;

fig. 6A illustrates a perspective view of a dielectric resonator of a DRA according to still other example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6B illustrates a cross-sectional view of the dielectric resonator of FIG. 6A;

fig. 7A illustrates a perspective view of a dielectric resonator of a DRA according to still other example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7B illustrates a cross-sectional view of the dielectric resonator of FIG. 7A;

fig. 8A illustrates a perspective view of a dielectric resonator of a DRA according to still other example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8B illustrates a cross-sectional view of the dielectric resonator of FIG. 8A;

fig. 9A illustrates a perspective view of an example implementation of a DRA, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 9B illustrates an exploded perspective view of the DRA of fig. 9A;

fig. 10A illustrates a top view of a DRA array, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 10B illustrates a top view of a subarray of a DRA array according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 11 illustrates an equipotential profile of the electric field distribution of the sub-array of FIG. 10B;

figure 12A illustrates a co-polar pattern of antenna elements in the sub-array of figure 10B;

FIG. 12B illustrates cross-polarization ratios of antenna elements in the sub-array of FIG. 10B;

fig. 13A illustrates a performance comparison graph in terms of co-polar patterns between an antenna element and a conventional feed antenna element according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure;

figure 13B illustrates a performance comparison graph in terms of cross-polarization ratio between an antenna element and a conventional feed antenna element, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 14A illustrates a radiation pattern of a DRA array at an azimuth angle of 0 degrees, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 14B illustrates a radiation pattern of a DRA array at an azimuth angle of 60 degrees, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure; and

fig. 14C illustrates a radiation pattern of a DRA array at an azimuth angle of-60 degrees, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numbers refer to the same or similar elements.

Detailed Description

The principles of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to a few exemplary embodiments. It is understood that these embodiments are described for illustrative purposes only and to aid those skilled in the art in understanding and enabling the present disclosure, and do not teach any limitation as to the scope of the present disclosure. The disclosure described herein may be implemented in a variety of ways other than those described below.

In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

References in the disclosure to "one embodiment," "an example embodiment," etc., indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but every embodiment may not necessarily include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an exemplary embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.

It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and, similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of example embodiments. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises," "comprising," "has," "having," "includes" and/or "including," when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

As used in this application, the term "circuitry" may refer to one or more or all of the following:

(a) Hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in analog-only and/or digital circuitry), and

(b) A combination of hardware circuitry and software, such as (as applicable):

(i) Combinations of analog and/or digital hardware circuit(s) and software/firmware, and

(ii) Hardware processor(s) with software (including digital signal processor (s)), software, and any portion of memory(s) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a mobile device or server, to perform various functions, and

(c) Hardware circuit(s) and/or processor(s) (such as microprocessor(s) or a portion of microprocessor (s)) that require software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but software may not be present when software is not required for operation.

This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of the term in this application, including in any claims. As another example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also encompasses implementations in which only a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a hardware circuit or processor and/or their accompanying software and/or firmware. The term circuitry also encompasses (e.g., and if applicable to the particular claim element) a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device, or a similar integrated circuit in a server, a cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

As used herein, the term "communication network" refers to a network that conforms to any suitable communication standard, such as a fifth generation (5G) system, long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-advanced (LTE-a), wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), high Speed Packet Access (HSPA), narrowband internet of things (NB-IoT), and so forth. Further, communication between the terminal device and the network device in the communication network may be performed according to any suitable generation of communication protocols, including but not limited to first generation (1G), second generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G), 4.5G, future fifth generation (5G) New Radio (NR) communication protocols, and/or any other protocol currently known or to be developed in the future. In addition, the term "communication network" may also refer to non-cellular communication networks. The communication may comprise direct device-to-device communication, such as (a) base station node to base station node, or (b) mobile device to mobile device, without any interaction of the mobile device (in case a) or the base station (in case b). Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied to various communication systems. Given the rapid development of communications, there are, of course, future types of communication technologies and systems with which the present disclosure may be embodied. It should not be considered as limiting the scope of the invention to the above-described system.

As used herein, the term "communication device" refers to a network device or a terminal device in a communication network. The term "network device" refers to a node in a communication network via which a terminal device accesses the network and receives services therefrom. Depending on the terminology and technology applied, a network device may refer to a Base Station (BS) or an Access Point (AP), e.g. a node B (NodeB or NB), an evolved node B (eNodeB or eNB), an NR next generation node B (gNB), a Remote Radio Unit (RRU), a Radio Header (RH), a Remote Radio Header (RRH), a relay, a low power node such as a femto, pico, etc. The RAN split architecture includes a gbb-CU (centralized unit, managed RRC, SDAP, and PDCP) that controls multiple gbb-DUs (distributed unit, managed RLC, MAC, and PHY).

The term "terminal device" refers to any terminal device capable of wireless communication. By way of example, and not limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, user Equipment (UE), a mobile device, a Subscriber Station (SS), a portable subscriber station, a Mobile Station (MS), or an Access Terminal (AT). Terminal devices may include, but are not limited to, mobile phones, cellular phones, smart phones, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, tablets, wearable terminal devices, personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), portable computers, desktop computers, image capture terminal devices such as digital cameras, gaming terminal devices, music storage and playback applications, in-vehicle wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop Embedded Equipment (LEEs), laptop Mounted Equipment (LMEs), USB dongles (dongles), smart devices, wireless client equipment (CPE), internet of things (IoT) devices, watches or other wearable, head Mounted Displays (HMDs), vehicles, drones, medical devices and applications (e.g., tele-surgery), industrial devices and applications (e.g., robots and/or other wireless devices operating in industrial and/or automated processing chain environments), consumer electronics, devices operating on commercial and/or industrial wireless networks, and the like. While the functions described herein may be performed in fixed and/or wireless network nodes in various example embodiments, in other example embodiments, the functions may be implemented in a user equipment apparatus, such as a cellular telephone or tablet computer or laptop computer or desktop computer or mobile IOT device or a fixed IOT device. The user equipment devices may be suitably equipped with respective capabilities as described in connection with the fixed and/or wireless network node(s), for example. The user equipment apparatus may be a user equipment and/or a control device, such as a chipset or processor, configured to control the user equipment when installed therein. Examples of such functions include a bootstrapping server function and/or a home user server, which may be implemented in a user equipment device by providing the user equipment device with software configured to cause the user equipment device to execute from the perspective of these functions/nodes.

The term "mobile device" refers to a device that is capable of moving from point a to point B by any means, such as, but not limited to: by hand, by carrying, by vehicle (driving, flying, sailing/floating in a liquid, etc.), by being worn by a user of the mobile device.

In addition, the term "communication device" may also refer to a fixed or stationary electronic communication device, such as a base station node, which is a device that is fixed at a certain location and does not move.

As described above, since the DRA has many advantages such as small size, low profile, and high radiation efficiency, the DRA can be used as an antenna element in a MIMO antenna array. Fig. 1A illustrates a top view of a conventional DRA array 100. As shown, DRA array 100 includes a plurality of rows of antenna elements 102 that are uniformly spaced apart from one another. Each of the antenna elements 102 comprises a DRA.

Fig. 1B illustrates a perspective view of an antenna element 102 in the conventional DRA array 100 of fig. 1A. As shown, the antenna element 102 is made from a monolithic dielectric material. The dielectric material has a high dielectric constant. Examples of the dielectric material may include at least one of: ceramics, polymers, and polymer-ceramic composites.

Fig. 2 illustrates an equipotential contour 200 of the electric field distribution of a sub-array of the conventional DRA array 100 of fig. 1A. In the example shown in fig. 2, it is assumed that only the antenna element 102 located at the center of the sub-array is fed with an excitation signal, and eight antenna elements surrounding the fed antenna element 102 are not fed with an excitation signal. Hereinafter, for ease of discussion, the antenna element 102 located at the center of the sub-array is also referred to as the feed antenna element 102.

As shown, the sub-array includes three rows of antenna elements 102. The distance between adjacent antenna elements 102 in a single row or in different rows is small. Typically, this distance is equal to half the operating wavelength of the excitation signal.

Because the feeding antenna element 102 is made of a monolithic dielectric material, the electric field formed by the feeding antenna element 102 is substantially uniformly distributed in the feeding antenna element 102. In addition, since the distance between the adjacent antenna elements 102 is small, mutual coupling between the adjacent antenna elements 102 is strong. In other words, part of the energy of the electric field formed by the feeding antenna element 102 can be easily coupled into the antenna elements surrounding the feeding antenna element 102. As shown in fig. 2, the antenna elements adjacent to the feed antenna element 102 have a strong electric field distribution. As a result, the spatial distribution of the electric field formed by the feeding antenna element 102 is disturbed, and the pattern of the feeding antenna element 102 is seriously deteriorated.

Fig. 3A shows a co-polar radiation pattern 300 of the feed antenna element 102, and fig. 3B shows a cross-polarization ratio 310 of the feed antenna element 102. As can be seen from curve 305 in fig. 3A, the gain of the center antenna element 102 has significant attenuation at an azimuth angle of ± 60 degrees. As can be seen from curve 315 in fig. 3B, the cross polarization of the fed antenna element 102 is relatively poor. Specifically, the cross-polarization ratio (CPR) of the fed antenna element 102 at an azimuth of ± 60 degrees is less than 0dB, and the CPR of the fed antenna element 102 at an azimuth of 0 degrees is only 10dB.

To reduce mutual coupling between adjacent antenna elements 102, the distance between adjacent antenna elements 102 may be increased. However, as the distance increases, the scan range of the azimuth angle will decrease. For example, if the distance is increased from half the operating wavelength to seventy percent of the operating wavelength, the azimuthal scan range is only about 25 degrees, which is less than the 60 degree scan range required for a 5G mobile communication system. Therefore, a conventional DRA cannot be used in a 5G mobile communication system.

To address, at least in part, the above and other potential problems, example embodiments of the present disclosure provide improved DRAs. The improved DRA includes a dielectric resonator disposed on a ground layer. The dielectric resonator includes at least one aperture extending from a top surface of the dielectric resonator toward a bottom surface of the dielectric resonator. At least a portion of the wall of the hole is covered with a metal layer. The metal layer may act as an electrical wall to concentrate most of the energy of the electric field formed by the DRA around the metal layer. Thus, a small amount of energy is distributed at the periphery of the dielectric resonator. Thus, the amount of energy that can be coupled into an adjacent DRA is reduced. As a result, the pattern properties of the DRA may be improved.

The principles and implementations of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to fig. 4A through 14C. Fig. 4A illustrates a perspective view of a DRA400 according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown, the DRA400 includes a ground layer 410 and a dielectric resonator 420 disposed on the ground layer 410. The dielectric resonator 420 includes a hole 422 extending from the top surface of the dielectric resonator 420 toward the bottom surface of the dielectric resonator 420. When the dielectric resonator 420 is attached to the ground layer 410, the hole 422 extends from the top layer of the dielectric resonator 420 toward the ground layer 410. Part of the walls of the holes 422 are covered with a metal layer 424.

Fig. 4B shows a cross-sectional view of the DRA400 of fig. 4A. As shown in fig. 4B, a portion of the wall of the hole 422 is covered with a metal layer 424. In this example, metal layer 424 is an upper portion of the wall of hole 422, where the upper portion is adjacent to the top surface of dielectric resonator 420. In other example embodiments, the metal layer 424 may be disposed at other locations on the walls of the holes 422.

The metal layer 424 may act as an electrical wall to collect most of the energy of the electric field formed by the DRA400 around the metal layer 424. Therefore, a small amount of energy is distributed at the periphery of the dielectric resonator 420. Thus, the amount of energy that can be coupled into adjacent DRAs in the DRA array is reduced. As a result, the pattern performance of the DRA in the DRA array may be improved, as will be described later with reference to fig. 11, 12A, 12B, 13A, 13B, 14A and 14B.

As shown in fig. 4B, metal layer 424 is electrically isolated from ground plane 410. Accordingly, the current generated by the DRA400 will not flow to the ground layer 410 via the metal layer 424 when the DRA400 is fed with an excitation signal, and the energy generated by the DRA400 may be radiated to the outside. The expression "electrically isolated" means that if Direct Current (DC) is applied to flow in the ground layer, it will not flow in the metal layer 424, and vice versa. In other words, there is no electrical connection between the metal layer and any other conductive member or component nearby.

It will be understood that although the dielectric resonator 420 is illustrated as a cylindrical shape by way of example in fig. 4A and 4B, the dielectric resonator may have any shape suitable for radiating energy to the outside. For example, as shown in fig. 5A and 5B, the dielectric resonator may have the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped or rectangular solid. Fig. 5A illustrates a perspective view of a dielectric resonator 520 of a DRA according to some other example embodiments of the present disclosure, and fig. 5B illustrates a cross-sectional view of the dielectric resonator 520 of fig. 5A. In this example, the dielectric resonator 520 has a rectangular parallelepiped shape. As shown in fig. 5A and 5B, the dielectric resonator 520 includes an aperture 522 extending from the top surface of the dielectric resonator 520 towards the bottom surface of the dielectric resonator 520 and thus also towards the ground plane (not shown) when present. Part of the walls of the hole 522 are covered with a metal layer 524. The metal layer 524 is electrically isolated from the ground layer.

For another example, as shown in fig. 6A and 6B, the dielectric resonator may have a truncated cone shape. Fig. 6A illustrates a perspective view of a dielectric resonator 620 of a DRA according to some other example embodiments of the present disclosure, and fig. 6B illustrates a cross-sectional view of the dielectric resonator 620 of fig. 6A. In this example, the dielectric resonator 620 has a truncated cone shape. As shown in fig. 6A and 6B, the dielectric resonator 620 includes a hole 622 extending from the top surface of the dielectric resonator 620 toward the bottom surface of the dielectric resonator 620, and thus also toward the ground layer (not shown) when the ground layer is present. Part of the walls of the holes 622 are covered with a metal layer 624. The metal layer 624 is electrically isolated from the ground layer.

Additionally, it will also be understood that although the cross-section of the holes 422 is shown as cylindrical by way of example in fig. 4A, 4B, 5A and 5B, the cross-section of the holes on the dielectric resonator may have any shape suitable to be covered with the metal layer 424. For example, the cross-section of the hole may have the shape of a cross, as shown in fig. 6A and 6B.

For another example, the cross-section of the hole on the dielectric resonator may have a rectangular shape, as shown in fig. 7A and 7B. Fig. 7A illustrates a perspective view of a dielectric resonator 720 of a DRA according to some other example embodiments of the present disclosure, and fig. 7B illustrates a cross-sectional view of the dielectric resonator 720 of fig. 7A. In this example, the dielectric resonator 720 includes a hole 722 extending from the top surface of the dielectric resonator 720 towards the bottom surface of the dielectric resonator 720 and thus also towards the ground plane (not shown) when present. The cross-section of the aperture 722 has a rectangular shape. A portion of the wall of the hole 722 is covered with a metal layer 724. The metal layer 724 is electrically isolated from the ground layer.

Further, it will be understood that the

holes

422, 522, 622, and 722 are formed as through holes, as an example. That is, the

holes

422, 522, 622, and 722 extend to the bottom surfaces of the

dielectric resonators

420, 520, 620, and 720, respectively. In some other example embodiments of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 8A and 8B, the hole on the dielectric resonator may not extend to the bottom surface of the dielectric resonator. Fig. 8A shows a perspective view of a dielectric resonator 820 of a DRA according to some other example embodiments of the present disclosure, and fig. 8B shows a cross-sectional view of the dielectric resonator 820 of fig. 8A. In this example, the dielectric resonator 820 includes an aperture 822, and the entire wall of the aperture 822 is covered with a metal layer 824. The hole 822 does not extend to the bottom surface 826 of the dielectric resonator 820.

Further, as can be seen from fig. 4A, 5A, 6A, 7A and 8A, each of the

dielectric resonators

420, 520, 620, 720 and 820 includes a single hole formed at the center of the top surface of the corresponding dielectric resonator. In this way, the energy generated by each of the

dielectric resonators

420, 520, 620, 720, and 820 may be uniformly distributed around the corresponding metal layer. However, in some other example embodiments of the present disclosure, the holes may be offset from the center of the top surface of the respective dielectric resonator.

Further, it will be understood that although each of the

dielectric resonators

420, 520, 620, 720, and 820 is illustrated as including a single hole, at least one of the

dielectric resonators

420, 520, 620, 720, and 820 may include a plurality of holes. In such example embodiments, the plurality of holes may or may not be uniformly distributed over the top surface of the respective dielectric resonator.

In an exemplary embodiment where the dielectric resonator of the DRA includes a single aperture, the perimeter of the single aperture may be in the range of forty percent to the operating wavelength of the excitation signal.

In some example embodiments of the present disclosure, at least one of the metal layers 424, 524, 624, 724, and 824 may have a strip shape. In some example embodiments of the present disclosure, the width of the band may be in the range of ten percent to twenty percent of the operating wavelength of the excitation signal.

In some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, the metal strap is distributed near a midpoint between the top and bottom surfaces of the dielectric resonator 420, and has first and second non-metallic portions of the wall above and below the metal strap. Also, the metal layer or strip may be closer to the ground plane 410 than the top surface of the dielectric resonator 420.

Because a single aperture has a circumference that is less than the operating wavelength of the excitation signal, or the band has a width that is less than the operating wavelength of the excitation signal, the impedance bandwidth of a DRA according to the present disclosure will be substantially the same as the impedance bandwidth of a conventional DRA.

In some example embodiments of the present disclosure, each of the metal layers 424, 524, 624, 724, and 824 may be made of at least one of, and is not limited to: copper, silver, chromium and nickel. It will be understood that metal layers 424, 524, 624, 724, and 824 may be formed on the walls of

holes

422, 522, 622, 722, and 822 using any known method. For example, in an exemplary embodiment where metal layer 424 is made of silver, metal layer 424 may be formed by coating the walls of holes 422 with silver. Of course, coating is merely one example way to form a metal layer and is not taught to limit the scope of the present disclosure thereto, and any other suitable method may be employed.

In some example embodiments, at least one of the

holes

422, 522, 622, 722, and 822 is completely surrounded by dielectric material provided by the dielectric resonator. In other words, the hole is not a notch or cut-out at the edge of the dielectric resonator.

In some example embodiments, a bottom surface of at least one of the

holes

422, 522, 622, 722, and 822 may be covered with a metal layer. Thus, the size of the holes is smaller than the size of the holes with the bottom surface uncovered.

Fig. 9A illustrates a perspective view of an example implementation 900 of the DRA400 as illustrated in fig. 4A. As shown in fig. 9A, the exemplary implementation 900 includes a ground plane 410 and a dielectric resonator 420 disposed on the ground plane 410. The ground plane 410 is disposed on the substrate 910. The feeding structure 920 is disposed on the bottom surface of the substrate 910. Fig. 9B illustrates an exploded perspective view of the example implementation 900 of fig. 9A. In the example implementation 900, the feed structure 920 employs a slot-coupled configuration. As shown in fig. 9B, in the slot-coupled configuration,

slots

412 and 414 that cross each other are formed on ground layer 410. The feed structure 920 includes a first feed opening 922 and a second feed opening 924. The first feed port 922 and the second feed port 924 can receive excitation signals from active circuitry. The dielectric resonator 420 may be excited by an excitation signal through the

slots

412 and 414 in the ground plane 410.

It will be understood that the slot coupling configuration for the feed structure 920 has been described by way of example, and that the feed structure 920 may take other configurations. For example, the feed structure 920 may employ a microstrip feed configuration, a coaxial feed configuration, or a coplanar waveguide feed configuration.

Fig. 10A illustrates a top view of a DRA array 1000 operating at a center frequency of 5GHz, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown, the DRA array 1000 includes a plurality of rows of antenna elements 1002 that are evenly spaced apart from one another. Each of the antenna elements 1002 may comprise a DRA as shown in fig. 4A, 5A, 6A, 7A, or 8A.

In the example shown in fig. 10A, the size of the substrate of each antenna element 1002 is 30 × 42 × 0.526 (mm) [ length × width × height ], and the size of the DRA array 1000 is 504 × 240 × 0.526 (mm) [ length × width × height ]. To facilitate assembly, the size of the DRA array 1000 may be increased to 524 x 270 x 0.526 (mm).

Fig. 10B illustrates a top view of a subarray 1010 of a DRA array 1000 according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown, sub-array 1010 includes three rows of antenna elements 1002. Each of these rows includes three antenna elements 1002. Adjacent rows of antenna elements 1002 are separated by a first distance D1. Adjacent antenna elements 1002 in each of the rows are separated by a second distance D2. The first distance D1 may or may not be equal to the second distance D2. In some example embodiments of the present disclosure, the first distance D1 is in a range of forty percent to the operating wavelength of the excitation signal, and the second distance D2 is in a range of sixty percent to the operating wavelength of the excitation signal. In some other example embodiments of the present disclosure, the first distance D1 may be equal to half an operating wavelength of the excitation signal and the second distance D2 may be equal to seventy percent of the operating wavelength.

It will be understood that the values of the first and second distances have been described by way of example, the first and second distances having any suitable value based on the deployment of the DRA array.

Fig. 11 illustrates an equipotential contour 1100 of the electric field distribution of a sub-array 1010 of the DRA array 1000 of fig. 10A. In the example shown in fig. 11, it is assumed that only the antenna element 1002 located at the center of the sub-array 1010 is fed with an excitation signal, and eight antenna elements around the fed antenna element 1002 are not fed with an excitation signal. Hereinafter, for ease of discussion, the antenna element 1002 located at the center of the sub-array 1010 is also referred to as the fed antenna element 1002.

The fed antenna element 1002 (and its neighboring non-fed elements of the sub-array) may receive electromagnetic energy or signals from another source (e.g., another communication device) via ethernet/air, and the fed antenna element 1002 may transmit the electromagnetic energy or signals by coupling the fed antenna element 1002 to a transmitter circuit, such that the fed antenna element 1002 and its neighboring non-fed elements together form a radiation pattern for transmission. "non-fed element" should be understood as being indirectly fed or parasitically fed by the fed antenna element 1002 using electromagnetic coupling.

As shown in fig. 11, most of the energy of the electric field formed by the feeding antenna element 1002 is concentrated around the metal layer of the feeding antenna element 1002. Only a small amount of energy is distributed around the periphery of the fed antenna element 1002. The antenna elements adjacent to the fed antenna element 1002 have a weak electric field distribution. As a result, the pattern performance of the fed antenna element 1002 in the sub-array 1010 is improved.

Fig. 12A shows a co-polar radiation pattern 1200 of a fed antenna element 1002, while fig. 12B shows a cross-polarization ratio 1210 of the fed antenna element 1002. As can be seen from curve 1205 in fig. 12A, the gain of fed antenna element 1002 is approximately 3dBi at ± 60 degrees azimuth. As can be seen from curve 1215 in fig. 12B, CPR of the fed antenna element 1002 is better. Specifically, the CPR of the fed antenna element 1002 at the azimuth of ± 60 degrees is higher than 14dB, and the CPR of the fed antenna element 1002 at the azimuth of 0 degrees is higher than 19dB.

Fig. 13A illustrates a performance comparison graph 1300 of a co-polar radiation pattern between a fed antenna element 1002 according to the present disclosure and a conventional fed antenna element 102. Fig. 13B shows a performance comparison graph 1310 in terms of cross-polarization ratio between a fed antenna element 1002 according to the present disclosure and a conventional fed antenna element 102.

As can be seen from the curve 305 in fig. 13A, the gain of the fed antenna element 102 has significant attenuation at the azimuth of ± 60 degrees. As can be seen from curve 1205 in fig. 13A, the gain of fed antenna element 1002 is smooth at azimuth angles of ± 60 degrees.

As can be seen from the

curves

315 and 1215 in fig. 13B, the CPR of the feed antenna element 1002 at the azimuth angles of ± 60 degrees and 0 degrees is greater than the CPR of the feed antenna element 102.

Fig. 14A illustrates the pattern of the DRA array 1000 at an azimuth angle of 0 degrees, fig. 14B illustrates the pattern of the DRA array 1000 at an azimuth angle of 60 degrees, and fig. 14C illustrates the pattern of the DRA array 1000 at an azimuth angle of-60 degrees. As can be seen from fig. 14A, 14B and 14C, the pattern performance of the DRA array 1000 is excellent.

It will be noted that embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in software, hardware, or a combination thereof. The hardware portions may be implemented by dedicated logic; the software portions may be stored in a memory and executed by a suitable instruction execution system, such as a microprocessor or dedicated hardware. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the above-described apparatus and methods may be embodied in computer-executable instructions and/or in processor-controlled code, and that such code is disposed, for example, on a carrier medium such as a programmable memory or an optical or electronic signal carrier.

By way of example, embodiments of the disclosure may be described in the context of machine-executable instructions, such as in program modules, included in a device executing on a target physical or virtual processor. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. In various embodiments, the functionality of the program modules may be combined or split between program modules as described herein. Machine-executable instructions for program modules may be executed locally or within a distributed facility. In a distributed arrangement, program modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage media.

Program code for performing the methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. The program code may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that the program code, when executed by the processor or controller, causes the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks to be performed. The program code may execute entirely on the machine, partly on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the machine, partly on a remote machine or entirely on the remote machine or server.

In the context of the present disclosure, computer program code or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier, such as an apparatus, device or processor that may perform various processes and operations as described above. Examples of a carrier include a signal, computer readable medium, and the like. Examples of signals may include electrical, optical, wireless, acoustic, or other forms of signal broadcast, such as carrier waves, infrared signals, and the like.

A computer readable medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable medium may include, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of a computer-readable storage medium would include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

Further, while operations of the methods are depicted in the drawings in a particular order, this does not require or imply that these operations must be performed in this particular order, or that the desired results can only be achieved by performing all of the operations shown. Rather, the order of execution of the steps described in the flowcharts may be changed. Alternatively, or in addition, some steps may be omitted, multiple steps may be combined into one step, or one step may be split into multiple steps for execution. It will be understood that features and functions of two or more devices according to the present disclosure may be implemented in combination in a single implementation. Conversely, various features and functions described in the context of a single implementation may also be implemented in multiple devices.

While the present disclosure has been described with reference to various embodiments, it is to be understood that the disclosure is not limited to the disclosed example embodiments. The disclosure is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A dielectric resonator antenna comprising:

a ground layer disposed on the substrate;

a feed structure disposed on the substrate and configured to receive an excitation signal; and

a dielectric resonator disposed on the ground layer and excited by the excitation signal, the dielectric resonator including at least one hole extending from a top surface of the dielectric resonator toward a bottom surface of the dielectric resonator, at least a portion of a wall of the hole being covered with a metal layer, the metal layer being electrically isolated from the ground layer.

2. The dielectric resonator antenna of claim 1, wherein the at least one hole comprises a single hole formed at a center of the top surface of the dielectric resonator.

3. The dielectric resonator antenna of claim 2, wherein the single hole is formed as a through hole.

4. The dielectric resonator antenna of claim 2, wherein the single aperture is configured to have a circumference in a range of forty percent of an operating wavelength.

5. The dielectric resonator antenna of claim 1, wherein the metal layer has a strip shape.

6. The dielectric resonator antenna of claim 5, wherein the strip has a width in the range of ten percent to twenty percent of an operating wavelength.

7. The dielectric resonator antenna of claim 1, wherein the metal layer is made of at least one of: copper, silver, chromium and nickel.

8. A dielectric resonator antenna array comprising:

a plurality of dielectric resonator antennas as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7.

9. The dielectric resonator antenna array of claim 8, wherein the plurality of dielectric resonator antennas comprises at least a first row of dielectric resonator antennas and a second row of dielectric resonator antennas separated by a first distance, any two dielectric resonator antennas in each of the first row of dielectric resonator antennas and the second row of dielectric resonator antennas separated by a second distance, each of the first distance and the second distance being in a range of forty percent of an operating wavelength of an excitation signal to the operating wavelength.

10. The dielectric resonator antenna array of claim 9, wherein the first distance is equal to one-half of the operating wavelength and the second distance is equal to seventy percent of the operating wavelength.

11. A communication device comprising a dielectric resonator antenna array according to any of claims 8 to 10.