Broadbeam dielectric resonator antenna

1. A dielectric resonator antenna, comprising:

a ground plane;

a dielectric resonator element operably coupled with the ground plane, the dielectric resonator element including

a first portion in the form of a cylinder with a radius, and

a second portion in the form of a regular truncated spheroid, the regular truncated spheroid having a major axis length and a minor axis length, the minor axis length being substantially the same as the radius,

the first portion being arranged between the second portion and the ground plane; and a feed network operably coupled with the dielectric resonator element for exciting the dielectric resonator antenna;

wherein the dielectric resonator antenna, when excited, is arranged to provide wide half-power beam-widths in both E-plane and H-plane.

2. The dielectric resonator antenna of claim 1 , wherein the dielectric resonator antenna, when excited, is arranged to provide:

a half-power beam-width of larger than 900 in the E-plane; and

a half-power beam-width of larger than 900 in the H-plane.

3. The dielectric resonator antenna of claim 2 , wherein the dielectric resonator antenna, when excited, is arranged to provide:

a half-power beam-width of larger than 1100 in the E-plane; and

a half-power beam-width of larger than 1100 in the H-plane.

4. The dielectric resonator antenna of claim 3 , wherein the dielectric resonator antenna, when excited, is arranged to provide:

a half-power beam-width of about 120° to about 130° in the E-plane; and

a half-power beam-width of about 120° to about 130° in the H-plane.

5. The dielectric resonator antenna of claim 1 , wherein the first portion has a first dielectric constant and the second portion has a second dielectric constant different from the first dielectric constant.

6. The dielectric resonator antenna of claim 1 , wherein the first portion is made of a first material and the second portion is made of a second material different from the first material.

7. The dielectric resonator antenna of claim 1 , wherein the first portion and the second portion are integrally formed.

8. The dielectric resonator antenna of claim 7 , wherein the dielectric resonator element is additively manufactured.

9. The dielectric resonator antenna of claim 1 , wherein the dielectric resonator element is rotationally symmetric.

10. The dielectric resonator antenna of claim 1 , wherein the regular truncated spheroid is a hemi-spheroid.

11. The dielectric resonator antenna of claim 1 , wherein the regular truncated spheroid is a hemi-spheroid and is directly connected with the cylinder to form the dielectric resonator element.

12. The dielectric resonator antenna of claim 1 , wherein the dielectric resonator element is mounted on the ground plane.

13. The dielectric resonator antenna of claim 1 , wherein the feed network comprises a slot in the ground plane, wherein in plan view the slot is within a footprint of the dielectric resonator element.

14. The dielectric resonator antenna of claim 13 , wherein the slot has a rectangular cross section.

15. The dielectric resonator antenna of claim 13 , wherein in plan view the slot is arranged centrally within the footprint of the dielectric resonator element.

16. The dielectric resonator antenna of claim 13 , further comprising a PCB substrate with an outer surface with a conductive layer, and the ground plane is provided by the conductive layer.

17. The dielectric resonator antenna of claim 16 , wherein the feed network further comprises a microstrip feedline arranged on an outer surface of the PCB substrate opposite the conductive layer.

18. The dielectric resonator antenna of claim 1 , wherein the ground plane has a size of at least λ o ×λ o , where λ o is a wavelength in air at a center frequency of an operation band of the dielectric resonator antenna.

19. A communication device comprising the dielectric resonator antenna of claim 1 .

20. The communication device of claim 19 , wherein the communication device is a wireless communication device adapted for 5G wireless operations.

21. A dielectric resonator antenna array, comprising:

a ground plane;

a plurality of dielectric resonator elements arranged on the ground plane, each of the plurality of the dielectric resonator elements including, respectively,

a first portion in the form of a cylinder with a radius, and

a second portion in the form of a regular truncated spheroid, the regular truncated spheroid having a major axis length and a minor axis length, the minor axis length being substantially the same as the radius,

the first portion being arranged between the second portion and the ground plane; and a feed network operably coupled with the dielectric resonator elements for exciting the dielectric resonator antenna array;

wherein the dielectric resonator antenna array, when excited, is arranged to provide angle scanning in both E-plane and H-plane.

22. The dielectric resonator antenna array of claim 21 , wherein the dielectric resonator antenna array is a phased antenna array.

23. The dielectric resonator antenna array of claim 21 , wherein the feed network comprises a plurality of sub-networks each associated with a respective dielectric resonator element.

24. The dielectric resonator antenna array of claim 21 , wherein the first portion is made of a first material and the second portion is made of a second material different from the first material.

25. The dielectric resonator antenna array of claim 21 , wherein the plurality of dielectric resonator elements are additively manufactured.

26. The dielectric resonator antenna array of claim 21 , wherein for each respective one of the plurality of the dielectric resonator elements: the regular truncated spheroid is a hemi-spheroid and is directly connected with the corresponding cylinder to form the dielectric resonator element.