Ricerc@Sapienza

The upcoming early 5G communication network is going to be strongly based on wireless backhaul, midhaul and fronthaul radio links. Indeed, this application will allow, for mm-wave frequency ranges like 24, 28 and 39 GHz, a very large bandwidth to ensure high data rates avoiding any expensive fiber installation between the increasing number of radio base stations. This scenario opens to new opportunities for antenna designers since the wavelength reduction leads to more compact radiating structures.

A novel high-gain dielectric resonator antenna, featuring a peak realized gain of 11.3 dBi over a fractional bandwidth of 16.6% around 30 GHz, is presented. The proposed antenna structure, excited by a slot-coupled microstrip line, is composed of a cylindrical dielectric resonator and of a truncated plastic-based conical horn useful to enhance the gain. An annular perturbation notch is realized in the dielectric horn to achieve a better focusing of the RF energy along the antenna boresight direction, while reducing the sidelobe levels (SSLs).