A Compact Pattern-Reconfigurable Dielectric Resonator Antenna Based on Magnetoelectric Dipole

A compact pattern-reconfigurable dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) based on magnetoelectric (ME) dipole is proposed in this letter. For this DRA, six patches and a dielectric resonator working in TE
$_{111}$
mode are introduced as the electric dipole (E-dipole) array and magnetic dipole, respectively, which form ME-dipoles with a dual-mode response. By switching the feeding path for the E-dipole array, the pattern can be reconfigured among one broadside mode and two tilted modes. Moreover, a reconfigurable feeding network is designed to realize electrical tuning. As a result, a pattern-reconfigurable DRA with a compact size of
$0.40\lambda _{0} \times 0.40\lambda _{0} \times 0.08\lambda _{0}$
(
$\lambda _{0}$
represents the free-space wavelength at 3.55 GHz) is implemented. To verify this idea, a prototype is fabricated and measured. The measured overlapping
$| S_{11} |$
under −10 dB is 3.25–3.80 GHz (15.6%) for sub-6 GHz applications. In the operating band, the gain variation of each mode is less than 1 dB, and stable radiation achieves a beam steering among −32
$^\circ$
, 0
$^\circ$
, and +32
$^\circ$
in the vertical plane.