Wideband Dielectric Resonator Antenna Array for Autonomous Vehicles

Sammanfattning: With the rapid advancement of autonomous vehicles, reliable and efficient wireless communication systems with high data rates have become essential for their safe and efficient operation and further evolution. High data rates are found in the higher frequency bands where conductive antennas lack radiation efficiency. To achieve high radiation efficiency, researchers tend towards using Circular Polarized Dielectric Resonator Antennas (CP-DRA). However, there is a lack of studies that cover the FR2 5G bands n257, n258, n261 suggested by 3GPP which is needed if vehicles were to drive across regional borders. This project addresses the challenges of achieving suitable CP-DRA performance for autonomous vehicle communication aimed at covering these FR2 5G bands. The objective is to design and simulate an optimized CP-DRA antenna that meets the required performance characteristics for further use in a phased array for efficient communication in the high-frequency FR2 5G bands. The objective was fulfilled by producing a model of a CP-DRA antenna that covers the mentioned FR2 5G bands. The antenna array achieves this with an axial ratio beam width at plus/minus 20 degrees azimuth angle and peak gain of 9-12 dBi throughout the frequency range. The model consists of four cylindrical resonator antenna elements excited in phase quadrature by a slot aperture feeding network to accomplish the circular polarization. The radiation efficiency of the model is 94% throughout the frequency range with an impedance bandwidth of < -15 dB. A prototype was built and tested that vaguely verified the beam pattern and center frequency. Future work includes building a prototype more comparable to the model for further verification of the circularly polarized gain pattern.