35.

Active Phased Array of Dielectric Resonator Antennas

Aldo Petosa*, Richard Larose+,Apisak Ittipiboon, and Michel Cuhaci
Communicahons Research Centre, 3701 Carting Avenue, P.O. Box 11490, Station H,
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K2H 8S2
+Departmentof Natlonal Defense, P.O. Box 9703
Terminal Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1G 324
Abstract
A novel high gain, low profile active phased array is being developed with
electronic beam steering capability in the azimuth plane. The radiating elements consist of
multi-segment dielectric resonator antennas (DRAs) of rectangular cross-section, fed by a
microstrip line. The array combines DRA technology with multi-layer printed technology.
A 320 element array with integrated low noise amplifiers and four-bit digital phase shifters
is under development. The array offers high gain, wide pattern bandwidths, and electronic
beam steering capability.
Introduction
Dielectric resonator antennas (DRAs) have been shown to offer several attractive
features such as wide impedance bandwidth, high radiation efficiency, compact size, and
simple feed coupling mechanisms [I]. These versatile features make the DRA a potentially
attractive element for integration into a large array. This paper describes the work being
carried out to develop an electronically steered, low profile, active phased array of DRAs.
This array exploits the compact size an ide bandwidth of DRAs and is, in part, being
developed to demonstrate the capab es of DRAs as elements in
environment.
Array Architecture
A diagram of the geometry of the array is shown in Figure 1. The array has a multi-
layer architecture consisting of a radiating board, and feed distribution board. The radiating
aperture consist of 16 linear column arrays of multi-segment DRA elements [2].Each linear
column consist of two collinear sub-arrays formed of branched microstrip lines feeding 10
DRA elements; the 10-element sub-array is shown in Figure 2. These branched lines are in
tum fed by aperture coupling to the power distribution network, located on a second layer
beneath the radiating board. The power distribution network consists of a printed corporate
feed, incorporating phase shifters for electronic beam steering in the azimuth plane. Low
noise amplifiers (LNAs) are also integrated into each column to reduce the adverse effects
of transmission line loss with respect to noise temperature.
Array Performance
Several prototype arrays have been fabricated and tested. The first array to be
fabricated was a passive antenna containing 64 elements and the performance results were
presented in [3].The next iteration, which has recently been completed and tested, was an
active antenna containing 320 DRAs and 16 integrated LNAs (15 dB gain stage). The
measured patterns are shown in Figures 3 and 4 while the boresight gain versus normalized
frequency is shown in Figure 5 . A peak active gain (antenna gain including LNAs) of 39
dBi was measured with a 3 dB gain-bandwidth of 15% . Good cross-polarization was also
achieved, with levels on the order of 20 dB below the peak co-polarized gain on boresight.
Summary
A novel high gain, low profile phased array of dielectric resonator antennas is being
developed. Several arrays have been fabricated and tested, and their performance validates
the capabilities of DRAs in an array environment. The current array under development
includes the integration of four-bit digital phase shifters to allow for electronic beam
steering in the azimuth plane. The performance of this array shall be p
conference.

0-7803-4178-3/97/$10.00 0 1997 Canadian Crown Copyright

690
References
[ 11 R.K. Mongia and P. Bhartia, "Dielectric resonator antennas - A review and general design
relations for resonant frequency and bandwidth," Intemational Journal of Microwave and
Millimeter-Wave Computer-AidedEngineering, Vol. 4, NO.3, 1994, pp. 230-247.
[2] A. Petosa, M. Cuhaci, A. Ittipiboon, N.R.S. Simons, and R. Larose, "A Microstrip-Fed Multi-
Segment Dielectric Antenna Element," Symposium on Antenna Technologyand Applied
Electromagnetics ANTEM-96, Montreal, Canada, 1996, pp. 705-708.
[3] A. Petosa, A. Ittipiboon, M. Cuhaci, and R. Larose, "Low Profile Phased Array of Dielectric
Resonator Antennas," IEEE International Symposium on Phased Array Systems and
Technology, Oct. 1996, pp. 182-185.

Top View

Ladiating Board.
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Side View S1ot"Apertures

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Figure 1. Array architecture

69 1
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I SideView
Multi-Seg&nt DRAs
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Figure 2. Column sub-array of multi-segment DRAs fed by a multi-layer microstrip network

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Elevation Angle (degrees)
Figure 3. Measured elevation pattem of the 320 DRA array

692
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Figure 4. Measured azimuth pattem of the 320 DFU array

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