IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 71, NO.

5, MAY 2023 3997

A Pattern-Reconfigurable Cylindrical Dielectric

Resonator Antenna With Three Switchable
Radiation Patterns
Xiyao Liu , Kwok Wa Leung , Fellow, IEEE, and Nan Yang , Member, IEEE

Abstract— A pattern-reconfigurable antenna with three switch- [11] radiation patterns are commonly used in wireless commu-
able radiation patterns is investigated. It consists of a three-layer nication systems. Among them, the broadside pattern provides
cylindrical dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) and a parasitic the strongest radiation in the boresight direction, whereas
monopole antenna. Its feed network comprises a Y-shaped
feedline, a square ring slot, and seven diodes. For the first time, the omnidirectional pattern has the largest signal coverage in
by controlling the operation states of the diodes, the radiation the azimuth plane. The unilateral patterns are useful when a
pattern of the antenna can be switched between the omnidi- wireless device (e.g., a router or a cordless phone [12]) is
rectional, broadside, and unilateral modes. The omnidirectional placed against the wall. Therefore, it is of great interest to
pattern is obtained by virtue of the parasitic monopole, whereas develop an antenna that has a switchable radiation pattern
the broadside pattern can be obtained when the DRA and
radiation mode of the feeding ring slot are excited. If the parasitic between these three radiation modes.
monopole, DRA, and radiation mode of the slot are all excited, Basically, the pattern-reconfigurable antenna can be divided
their radiation fields can be superimposed to give a unilateral into three major types. In the first type, tunable parasitic
radiation pattern. The radiated E-field is vertically polarized for elements are placed near the driven radiators [13], [14].
all of the three radiation modes. A prototype working in 2.4- These elements can be changed from directors to reflectors
GHz industrial science medical (ISM) band was fabricated and
tested to verify the idea, and reasonable agreement between the and vice versa, reconfiguring the radiation pattern of the
measured and simulated results is observed. antenna. However, the parasitic elements undesirably increase
the antenna size significantly. In general, the driven radiators
Index Terms— Broadside, dielectric resonator antenna (DRA),
omnidirectional, reconfigurable radiation pattern, unilateral. in these antennas have omnidirectional radiation patterns. For
the second type, the effective configuration of the antenna
I. I NTRODUCTION radiators is modified by using tunable components such as
diodes [15], [16] or liquid [17]. In the third type, the pattern
P ATTERN-RECONFIGURABLE antennas [1], [2], [3]
have been studied extensively as they can improve signal
coverage. They can also increase the signal-to-noise ratio
reconfigurability is obtained by controlling the amplitude and
phase of the signal in the feed circuit [18], [19], exciting
different operating modes to obtain the desired radiation
(SNR) and channel capacity [4]. The broadside [5], [6],
pattern. In recent years, some pattern-reconfigurable antennas
omnidirectional [7], [8], and unilateral (or endfire) [9], [10],
have been obtained by superimposing the fields [12], [20].
Manuscript received 7 May 2022; revised 17 February 2023; accepted In those designs, two complementary radiators (one of which is
25 February 2023. Date of publication 23 March 2023; date of current tunable) are excited to obtain a steerable beam. However, their
version 5 May 2023. This work was supported in part by the Gen-
eral Research Fund (GRF) Grant from the Research Grants Council of
radiation patterns are restricted to the unilateral mode since the
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China, under Project CityU complementary radiator cannot be controlled individually.
11218020; in part by the Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Macau Science and Technol- The dielectric resonator (DR) antenna (DRA) has a num-
ogy Project (CategoryC) under Project SGDX20210823104002018; in part
by 2022 Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Joint Innovation Funding Scheme
ber of advantages, such as its low cost, high efficiency,
under Grant 2022A050503002; and in part by the International Cooperative and high degree of design flexibility [21], [22], [23], [24].
Research Program of Guangzhou City GDD District under Grant 2021GH04. Recently, some pattern-reconfigurable DRAs have been stud-
(Corresponding author: Kwok Wa Leung.)
Xiyao Liu was with the State Key Laboratory of Terahertz and Millimeter ied [25], [26], [27], [28], [29], [30]. For instance, the radiation
Waves and Department of Electrical Engineering, City University of Hong patterns of the DRAs can be changed with the phase difference
Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, SAR, China. He is now with the State in the feed network [31], [32], [33]. In [34], steerable radiation
Key Laboratory of Radio Frequency Heterogeneous Integration, Shenzhen
University, Shenzhen 518060, China (e-mail: [email protected]). patterns can be obtained by controlling the fields in the
Kwok Wa Leung is with the State Key Laboratory of Terahertz and Mil- coupling slots. Liquids, such as water and ethyl acetate, have
limeter Waves and the Department of Electrical Engineering, City University also been used in reconfigurable DRAs [35], [36], with their
of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR, China, and also with the Information
and Communication Technology Centre, CityU Shenzhen Research Institute, pattern reconfigurability achieved by controlling the liquid
Shenzhen 518057, China (e-mail: [email protected]). distributions. In general, the reported pattern-reconfigurable
Nan Yang is with the School of Electronics and Information antennas have either switchable broadside/omnidirectional pat-
Technology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China, and
also with the Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic terns or steerable unilateral patterns. To the best knowledge of
Information Processing Chips and Systems, Guangzhou 510006, China the authors, no pattern-reconfigurable antennas with switch-
(e-mail: [email protected]). able broadside, omnidirectional, and unilateral radiation pat-
Color versions of one or more figures in this article are available at
https://doi.org/10.1109/TAP.2023.3256537. terns have been developed thus far. Recently, some unilateral
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TAP.2023.3256537 DRAs have been designed using the complementary-radiator
0018-926X © 2023 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission.
See https://www.ieee.org/publications/rights/index.html for more information.

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3998 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 71, NO. 5, MAY 2023

approach [9], [11], [37], [38]. However, it is difficult for

those antennas to obtain the pattern reconfigurability because
their operating modes are excited simultaneously and therefore
cannot be controlled individually.
In this article, a pattern-reconfigurable antenna that can
switch between the broadside, omnidirectional, and unilat-
eral radiation modes is presented. It consists of a Y-shaped
microstrip line, a feeding square ring slot, and a parasitic
monopole antenna loaded by a three-layer cylindrical DRA.
The slot fed by the Y-shaped microstrip line can excite the
fundamental hybrid electromagnetic modes (HEM)11δ DRA
mode. It can also resonate to provide a radiating slot mode.
Both the HEM11δ and slot modes have broadside radiation
patterns, which are used together in the broadside mode
of our reconfigurable antenna. The parasitic monopole is
deployed to obtain the omnidirectional radiation mode. When
the radiating broadside and omnidirectional modes are excited
simultaneously, their radiation fields can be superimposed to
give a unilateral radiation pattern. Diodes are used in the
feed network to switch between the three operation states.
To verify our idea, a prototype of the antenna was fabricated
and tested, and the measured result agrees reasonably well
with the simulated result.

II. A NTENNA C ONFIGURATIONS

Fig. 1 shows the configuration of our pattern-reconfigurable
DRA. With reference to Fig. 1(a), a three-layer cylindrical
DRA with a radius of Rd is placed on the ground plane of a
circular substrate with a radius of Rg and a thickness of t. The
top and bottom layers of the DRA have heights of H3 and H1 ,
respectively, and both layers have the same dielectric constant
of εr d1 . The former and latter are introduced to improve the
unilateral radiation pattern and impedance match, respectively.
The middle part of the DRA has a height of H2 and a dielectric
constant of εr d2 . A two-nozzle 3-D dielectric printer is used
to fabricate the DR easily. A parasitic monopole having a
height of h p and a radius of r p is inserted into a through
hole fabricated in the DRA. The parasitic monopole (probe)
is directly connected to the ground plane and surrounded by
a square ring slot. On the other side of the substrate are a
Y-shaped feedline and a biasing circuit with seven diodes.
These diodes are divided into Group 1 (D1 –D5 ) and Group 2
(D6 and D7 ), which are soldered across the slot and directly
soldered to the Y-shaped feedline, respectively. It should be
mentioned that although the diodes are on the other side of
the substrate and not directly connected to the slot, they can
still control the boundary conditions of the slot because the
thickness of the substrate is much smaller than the wavelength
(λ) at the operating frequency of the DRA.
Fig. 1(b) shows the parameters of the square ring slot
fabricated in the ground plane. With reference to Fig. 1(b),
the square slot has a side length of l1 and a width of w1 . Fig. 1. Configuration of pattern-reconfigurable DRA. (a) Perspective view.
Each corner along the x-direction has an open stub with (b) Top view of substrate (ground plane). (c) Bottom view of substrate
a length of l2 and a width of w2 . These open stubs can (feedline).
improve impedance matching of the reconfigurable antenna,
especially for the unilateral mode. The parasitic monopole the Y-shaped microstrip feedline fabricated on the other side
has an offset of s0 from the ground center. Fig. 1(c) shows of the substrate. The Y-shaped feedline can be divided into

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LIU et al.: PATTERN-RECONFIGURABLE CYLINDRICAL DRA WITH THREE SWITCHABLE RADIATION PATTERNS 3999

Fig. 2. Equivalent circuits of the diode in (a) ON and (b) OFF states.

TABLE I
D ESIGN PARAMETERS OF PATTERN -R ECONFIGURABLE DRA

Fig. 3. Configurations of three reference antennas. (a) Antenna I: three-layer

three parts. As shown in Fig. 1(c), the first part is a 50- cylindrical DRA fed by square ring slot. (b) Antenna II: DRA-loaded parasitic
monopole with four disconnected slots. (c) Antenna III: Antenna I with
transmission line having a length of l f 1 and a width of w f 1 . parasitic monopole. The parasitic monopoles in Antennas II and III are
The second part is introduced to improve the matching of the connected to the ground.
antenna. It has a length of l f 2 and a width of w f 2 . The last part
consists of two end-shorted microstrip lines, making an angle
of θ f with each other. Each branch has a length of l f 3 , a width
of w f 3 , and a diode at a position of l p3 from the shorting vias.
The parasitic monopole passes through the substrate and is
soldered to the ground plane. To avoid any contacts between
the parasitic monopole and the feedline, a small guard ring is
used in the feedline. Diodes are placed on the feedline side
and connected to the ground through metallic vias. In this
design, NXP BAP55LX p-i-n diodes are used as switches.
Their SPICE models [39] in ON and OFF states were used
in our simulation, as shown in Fig. 2. The parameter values
are given in the datasheet [40], where L s = 0.4 nH, Ron =
0.8 , and Co f f = 0.18 pF. It should be mentioned that the
value of Ro f f was not given in [40], and therefore, we have
used Ro f f = 5 k based on the analysis of our simulated and
measured results. Table I lists the various antenna parameters.

III. A NTENNA D ESIGN

A. Operating Principle
Fig. 3 shows the three reference antennas that correspond
to the three radiation modes of our configurable antenna.
Their radiation patterns at 2.4 GHz are shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 4. Simulated normalized 3-D radiation patterns of three reference
Antenna I is the three-layer cylindrical DRA fed by the square antennas at 2.4 GHz. (a) Antenna I. (b) Antenna II. (c) Antenna III.
ring slot, which can also resonate at its slot frequency. It is
operated in State I that has a broadside radiation pattern.
Antenna II is the three-layer cylindrical DRA loaded by the In each case, the feedline and slots were finely adjusted to
parasitic monopole, excited by four disconnected slots in match the antenna.
the ground plane. This antenna is operated in State II that Fig. 5 shows the simulated reflection coefficients of the three
provides a conical (monopolar) radiation pattern. Practically, reference antennas. With reference to the figure, Antenna I
the disconnected slots are obtained from the square ring slot is excited in its broadside DRA (HEM11δ ) and slot modes.
by turning on the diodes at the disconnected positions. Finally, For Antenna II, only a single conical mode can be observed.
Antenna III is Antenna I loaded by the parasitic monopole. It is This resonance mode is due to parasitic monopole rather than
operated in State III that gives a unilateral radiation pattern. the DRA or disconnected slots, as verified by a parametric

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4000 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 71, NO. 5, MAY 2023

Fig. 5. Simulated reflection coefficients of three reference antennas.

Fig. 6. Idealized model explaining unilateral radiation pattern of Antenna III.

study of the configuration and the radiation pattern in Fig. 4.

Antenna III can be regarded as a combination of Antennas
I and II, and thus, all of the resonant modes as observed in Fig. 7. Effective configuration, simulated E-field, and equivalent magnetic
Antennas I and II can be found in Antenna III. This antenna current of pattern-reconfigurable DRA in State I at 2.45 GHz. (a) Only
Group-2 diodes in Y-shaped feedline are ON. (b) E-field distribution (xy plane)
has a unilateral radiation pattern, which can be explained in the slot. (c) Equivalent magnetic currents (xy plane) in the slot. (d) E-field
using the idealized model in Fig. 6. With reference to Fig. 6, distribution (yz plane) in the DRA.
by superposing the fields in States I and II, some fields
are canceled, but some fields are strengthened, giving the
unilateral radiation pattern. are both OFF and therefore not included in Fig. 8(a). Since the
diodes are ON, the square slot is effectively divided into five
disconnected slot sections, suppressing the broadside mode.
B. Reconfigurability Unlike the broadside mode, the E-fields in the left and right
Based on the above analyses, the reconfigurable DRA with corners are not distributed evenly, as shown in Fig. 8(b).
three operation states can be obtained by deploying the switch- It should be mentioned that the E-fields in the left and right
ing diodes, as shown in Fig. 1. To improve impedance match corners are out-of-phase; hence, the Y-shaped feedline with the
and minimize the effects of the diodes on the feedline, the OFF diodes enables a rotational magnetic current, as shown in
slot shape and diode locations were adjusted and optimized. Fig. 8(c). The energy here can efficiently couple to the parasitic
State I (broadside mode) is discussed first. In this state, the monopole, resulting in the omnidirectional mode. A parametric
Group-1 diodes connected across the slot are all OFF, whereas study of this resonance mode revealed that the resonance was
the Group-2 diodes soldered to the Y-shaped feedline are due to the parasitic monopole, not the DR or slot. Fig. 8(d)
ON , shorting the feedline to the ground. Fig. 7(a) shows the shows that the simulated E-field distribution inside the DRA
turned-on diodes used in State I of our reconfigurable antenna. is consistent with the monopolar field.
The simulated E-field distribution in the slot is shown in Fig. 9(a) shows the configuration operated in State III
Fig. 7(b). As can be observed from Fig. 7(b), there are strong (unilateral mode). In this state, all of the diodes are OFF ,
E-fields at the left and right corners of the slot. It should be and therefore, no diodes are shown in Fig. 9(a). Since the
mentioned that the E-field at the two corners are in phase, diodes on the Y-shaped feedline are now OFF, the magnetic
producing a net equivalent magnetic current along the x-axis, slot current has a rotational component and therefore cannot
as shown in Fig. 7(c). Since there are no rotating equivalent suppress the omnidirectional mode. On the other hand, with
magnetic currents in the feeding slot, the omnidirectional mode the diodes across the slot being OFF, the slot is no longer dis-
(State II) of the reconfigurable antenna is suppressed. Fig. 7(d) connected. As a result, the broadside mode is not suppressed
shows the simulated E-field inside the three-layer DRA. It can either. In other words, both the broadside and omnidirectional
be seen from Fig. 7(d) that the field is of a broadside mode. modes can be excited, and their fields superimpose each
Fig. 8(a) shows the turned-on Group-1 diodes soldered other. Fig. 9(b) and (c) shows the superimposed E-field and
across the slot in the State-II operation (omnidirectional equivalent magnetic current in the slot. With reference to
mode). The Group-2 diodes soldered on the Y-shaped feedline Fig. 9(c), the magnetic current on the left is in-phase with

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LIU et al.: PATTERN-RECONFIGURABLE CYLINDRICAL DRA WITH THREE SWITCHABLE RADIATION PATTERNS 4001

Fig. 8. Effective configuration, simulated E-field, and equivalent magnetic Fig. 9. Effective configuration, simulated E-field, and equivalent mag-
current of pattern-reconfigurable DRA in State II at 2.45 GHz. (a) Only netic current of our pattern-reconfigurable DRA in State III at 2.45 GHz.
Group-1 diodes in Y-shaped feedline are ON. (b) E-field distribution (xy plane) (a) Group-1 and -2 diodes are both OFF and not included in the drawing.
in the slot. (c) Equivalent magnetic currents (xy plane) in the slot. (d) E-field (b) E-field distribution (xy plane) in the slot. (c) Equivalent magnetic current
distribution (yz plane) in the DRA. (xy plane) in the slot. (d) E-field distribution (yz plane) in the DRA.

TABLE II
D IODES AND PATTERN R ECONFIGURABILITY OF THE P ROPOSED DRA The impact of the three-layer DR height H2 (middle part
of the DR) on the antenna in State I is first studied. With
reference to Fig. 10(a), as H2 increases, the frequency of
Resonance I significantly decreases since it is the DR mode.
However, Resonance II barely changes because it is due to the
parasitic monopole. With reference to Fig. 10(a), the frequency
of Resonance III shifts downward as H2 increases. It can be
expected because increasing H2 will increase the DR size and,
thus, the dielectric loading on the slot mode.
the current on the right of the slot. However, the former is
Fig. 10(b) shows the reflection coefficient in State II for
much weaker than the latter due to the superimposed magnetic
different monopole lengths h p . As shown in Fig. 10(b),
current, which is different from the currents in Fig. 7(c).
when h p increases, the resonance shifts to lower frequencies,
Fig. 9(d) shows the simulated E-field inside the DRA as
verifying that it is a monopole mode. Finally, Fig. 10(c) shows
excited by the magnetic current in the slot. As can be observed
the effect of the height H3 (top layer of the DR) on the
from Fig. 9(d), the E-field on the left hand has upward and
antenna in State III. With reference to Fig. 10(c), when H3
downward field components. The two components cancel each
increases from 4 to 12 mm, the operating frequency of the
other, weakening the left-hand side radiation field. In contrast,
slot mode decreases by ∼0.16 GHz due to the loading effects
the E-field on the right-hand side has no field cancellations.
of the dielectric layer on the slot. The similar phenomena are
Consequently, the field can be effectively radiated to the right,
also observed in the DR mode because of the larger DR size,
giving a good unilateral radiation pattern. Table II summarizes
as expected.
the ON/OFF states of the diodes in the three operation modes.

C. Parameter Study IV. M EASURED AND S IMULATED R ESULTS

A parameter study was carried out to characterize the To verify the simulated result, a prototype of the pattern-
proposed antenna. Fig. 10 shows the simulated reflection coef- reconfigurable antenna was fabricated using a 3-D printer.
ficient for different values of the monopole and DR parameters Its design parameters are given in Table I. Fig. 11 shows
in different states. the prototype. In the experiment, the biasing dc circuits of

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4002 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 71, NO. 5, MAY 2023

Fig. 11. Photographs of fabricated antenna. (a) DRA removed from substrate
to show square slot. (b) DRA placed on substrate in actual operation.
(c) Bottom view showing coaxial cable, sleeve RF choke, and bias tee.

Fig. 12. Sleeve RF choke used in this article. (a) Geometry of the choke:
L c = 29.0 mm, Rc = 4.0 mm, and Tc = 1.5 mm. (b) Photograph of the
choke with the coaxial cable.

was measured using an Agilent Vector Network Analyzer PNA

8753ES, whereas the radiation patterns, realized gain, and total
antenna efficiency (mismatch included) were measured with a
Satimo StarLab system.
Fig. 13 shows the measured and simulated reflection coef-
ficients of the antenna operated in States I–III. With refer-
Fig. 10. Parametric study of the reflection coefficient of our reconfigurable ence to Fig. 13, reasonable agreement between the measured
DRA in the three operation states. (a) Effect of three-layer DR height H2
(middle part) in State I. (b) Effect of monopole length h p in State II. (c) Effect and simulated results is obtained. The measured −10-dB
of the three-layer DR height H3 (top part) in State III. impedance bandwidths of the antenna in States I–III are given
by 38.3% (1.94–2.86 GHz), 7.3% (2.37–2.55 GHz), and 38.5%
(2.1–3.1 GHz), respectively. Their common bandwidth is
the Group-1 diodes are isolated from the antenna by using a 7.3% (2.37–2.55 GHz), covering the entire 2.4-GHz industrial
Murata LQW18AN51NG80D inductor, whereas the Group-2 science medical (ISM) band. The discrepancy between the
diodes are controlled and isolated by a Mini-Circuits ZX85- measured and simulated results is mainly due to the imperfect
40W-63-S+ bias tee. A sleeve RF choke was added to the modeling of the diodes.
coaxial cable. Fig. 12 shows the geometry and photograph Fig. 14 shows the measured and simulated normalized
of the sleeve RF choke. It has a length of ∼λ/4 and is radiation patterns of the antenna in the three states. State I is
shorted at the base, providing infinite impedance at the top. discussed first. With reference to Fig. 14(a), the antenna has
Therefore, undesirable return current on the outer conductor broadside radiation patterns, as expected. Its measured E- and
of the cable can be greatly reduced. The reflection coefficient H-plane 3-dB beamwidths are 93◦ (−42◦ ≤ θ ≤ 51◦ ) and 93◦

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LIU et al.: PATTERN-RECONFIGURABLE CYLINDRICAL DRA WITH THREE SWITCHABLE RADIATION PATTERNS 4003

Fig. 13. Measured and simulated reflection coefficients of pattern-reconfig-

urable DRA in States I–III.

(−48◦ ≤ θ ≤ 45◦ ), respectively. The asymmetrical E-plane

radiation pattern is mainly due to the feeding structures and
the offset (1 mm) of the monopole from the center. This offset
is needed in optimizing the omnidirectional performance in
State II. In the broadside direction, the measured cross-polar
levels in the E- and H-planes are desirably low, both being
lower than −21 dB. Fig. 14(b) shows the measured and sim-
ulated radiation patterns in State II. As can be observed from
Fig. 14(b), conical radiation patterns are obtained for State II.
The measured E- and H-plane 3-dB beamwidths are 111◦
(36◦ ≤ θ ≤ 147◦ ) and 360◦ (0◦ ≤ φ ≤ 360◦ ), respectively.
It was found that the H-plane co-polar gain variation in this
state is less than 1.5 dB. Due to experimental imperfections,
including wave reflections from the cables, the measured
cross-polar fields are significantly stronger than the simulated
results. Nevertheless, they are still much weaker than the co-
polar counterparts by at least 15 dB. Fig. 14(c) shows the
measured and simulated radiation patterns in State III. In this
state, the measured cross-polar fields are, again, desirably Fig. 14. Measured and simulated normalized radiation patterns of pattern-re-
weaker than the co-polar counterparts by more than −22 dB. configurable DRA at 2.45 GHz. (a) State I. (b) State II. (c) State III.
The measured E- and H-plane 3-dB beamwidths are 102◦
(16◦ ≤ θ ≤ 118◦ ) and 132◦ (30◦ ≤ φ ≤ 162◦ ), respectively.
Fig. 15 shows the measured and simulated realized gains of
the antenna (mismatch included) in the three states. As can be
observed from Fig. 15, the measured gain in State I is higher
than those of States II and III because it has the smallest
beamwidth among the three states. The measured average
realized gains across the common bandwidth (2.37–2.55 GHz)
in States I–III are 4.8, 1.17, and 3 dBi, with the peak values
given by 5.18 dBi (2.45 GHz), 1.54 dBi (2.45 GHz), and
3.12 dBi (2.48 GHz), respectively. On average, the measured
gains are ∼0.5 dB lower than the simulated results, because
of experimental tolerances and power loss due to the diodes.
Fig. 16 shows the measured total efficiency (mismatch
included) of the antenna in the three states. As observed
from Fig. 16, the measured average antenna efficiencies in the Fig. 15. Measured and simulated realized gains (mismatch included) of
common bandwidth of States I–III are about 86.5%, 79.6%, pattern-reconfigurable DRA in States I–III.
and 81.4%, with the peak values of 89.4% (2.38 GHz), 84.4%
(2.45 GHz), and 85.3% (2.55 GHz), respectively. According is mainly consumed by the diodes. The simulated results,
to the simulation, the dissipated energy in all three states however, are not included here for brevity.

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4004 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 71, NO. 5, MAY 2023

TABLE III
C OMPARISON B ETWEEN THE P ROPOSED AND E XISTING PATTERN -R ECONFIGURABLE A NTENNAS

has a fast switching speed and also a high total efficiency.

More importantly, it was the first reconfigurable DRA that can
provide three electrically switchable radiation patterns, which
are the omnidirectional, broadside, and unilateral patterns.
It should be mentioned that, due to its relatively small ground
and low profile, our design is more compact than those in the
table except for [15] and [41] only.

V. C ONCLUSION
A new pattern-reconfigurable three-layer cylindrical DRA
that has three switchable radiation patterns has been inves-
tigated. It consists of a Y-shaped feedline, a square ring
slot, and a DRA-loaded parasitic monopole. To obtain the
Fig. 16. Measured total antenna efficiency (mismatch included) of pattern-re- pattern reconfigurability, seven diodes have been used in the
configurable DRA in States I–III. feed network. It has been demonstrated that by changing
the ON/OFF states of the diodes, the radiation pattern of the
antenna can be switched between the widely used broadside,
Table III lists the comparison of the proposed pattern- omnidirectional, and unilateral modes. A prototype was fab-
reconfigurable DRA with existing designs reported in the ricated and measured to verify the design, and reasonable
literature. In [15], [33], and [34], the pattern-reconfigurable agreement between the measured and simulated result has
antennas have only one type of radiation pattern, but their main been obtained. The three operation states of our antenna
beam direction can be changed at different steering angles prototype have a measured common bandwidth of 7.3%
or directions. The antenna in [32] deploys a phase-controlled (2.37–2.55 GHz), entirely covering the 2.4-GHz ISM band.
feeding circuit to switch between the broadside and bidirec- The measured average total antenna efficiencies operating in
tional radiation patterns. The patch antennas in [19] and [42] the broadside, omnidirectional, and unilateral modes were
have low profiles, but their measured total antenna efficiencies found to be 86.5%, 79.6%, and 81.4%, with the peak values of
are lower than 75%. Another patch design in [41] has the 89.4% (2.38 GHz), 84.4% (2.45 GHz), and 85.3% (2.55 GHz),
smallest size with a simulated efficiency lower than 85% (no respectively. Finally, our pattern-reconfigurable DRA has mul-
measured efficiency given in [41]). The DRA designs in [35] tiple reconfigurable radiation patterns, a high switching speed,
and [36] deploy low-loss liquids to obtain the highest total reasonable size, and acceptable radiation efficiencies, mak-
antenna efficiencies at the cost of reducing the switching ing it suitable for reconfigurable wireless communication
speed. With reference to Table III, our reconfigurable DRA systems.

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LIU et al.: PATTERN-RECONFIGURABLE CYLINDRICAL DRA WITH THREE SWITCHABLE RADIATION PATTERNS 4005

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4006 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 71, NO. 5, MAY 2023

Xiyao Liu was born in Chizhou, Anhui, China. Dr. Leung is a member of the Antennas and Propagation Society
He received the B.Sc. degree in electronic infor- (AP-S) Distinguished Lecturer Program Committee. He received the Interna-
mation engineering from the Civil Aviation Univer- tional Union of Radio Science (USRI) Young Scientists Awards in Japan and
sity of China, Tianjin, China, in 2013, the M.Eng. Russia, in 1993 and 1995, respectively, the CityU Research Excellence Award
degree in radio physics from Sun Yat-sen Univer- in 2013, and the Departmental Outstanding Teacher Awards in 2005, 2010,
sity, Guangzhou, China, in 2016, and the Ph.D. and 2011. He has been awarded the First Class Award (Natural Science) of
degree from the City University of Hong Kong, the 2016 Ministry of Education Award (Science and Technology). His students
Hong Kong, SAR, China, in 2021. received the 2015 iWEM Student Best Paper Award, the 2015 IEEE AP-S
He was an Assistant Engineer with Huawei Tech- Eugene F. Knott Memorial Pre-Doctoral Research Award, and the 2014 IEEE
nology Ltd., Shenzhen, China, from 2016 to 2017, MTT-S Undergraduate /Pre-Graduate Scholarship. He was a Distinguished
and was a Post-Doctoral Researcher with the City Lecturer of the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society from 2012 to 2014.
University of Hong Kong, from 2021 to 2022. He is currently an Assistant He was the Chair of the IEEE Antennas and Propagation/Microwave Theory
Professor with the College of Electronics and Information Engineering, and Techniques (AP/MTT) Hong Kong Joint Chapter in 2006 and 2007.
Shenzhen University, Shenzhen. His current research interests include dielec- He was the Technical Program Chair of the 2008 Asia–Pacific Microwave
tric resonator antennas, reconfigurable antennas, microstrip antennas, and Conference, Hong Kong; the Technical Program Co-Chair of the 2006 IEEE
microwave and millimeter-wave circuits. R10 Conference (TENCON), Hong Kong; and the Finance Chair of Progress
in Electromagnetics Research Symposium (PIERS), Hong Kong, in 1997.
He was an Editor of The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE) Transac-
tions and a Guest Editor of Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET)
Microwaves, Antennas and Propagation. He served as an Associate Editor
for the IEEE ANTENNAS AND WIRELESS PROPAGATION LETTERS. He was
also an Associate Editor of the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND
PROPAGATION (TAP) and received Transactions Commendation Certificates
twice, in 2009 and 2010, for his exceptional performance. He was the Editor-
in-Chief of IEEE TAP from August 2013 to July 2016, being the first Chinese
and also the first appointed from Asia since the journal was founded in 1952.

Kwok Wa Leung (Fellow, IEEE) was born in Nan Yang (Member, IEEE) was born in Yangling,
Hong Kong. He received the B.Sc. degree in elec- Shaanxi, China, in 1987. He received the B.Sc.
tronics and the Ph.D. degree in electronics engineer- and M.Eng. degrees in electronic engineering
ing from The Chinese University of Hong Kong, from Zhejiang University (ZJU), Hangzhou, China,
Hong Kong, in 1990 and 1993, respectively. in 2008 and 2012, respectively, and the Ph.D.
In 1994, he joined the Department of Electronic degree from the City University of Hong Kong,
Engineering, City University of Hong Kong (CityU), Hong Kong, in 2016.
Hong Kong, where he was an Assistant Department He was a Post-Doctoral Fellow with the City
Head, from 2009 to 2013 and is currently a Chair University of Hong Kong, from 2016 to 2020. He is
Professor. From January 2006 to June 2006, he was a currently an Associate Professor with the School of
Visiting Professor with the Department of Electrical Electronics and Information Technology, Sun Yat-
Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, USA. sen University (SYSU), Guangzhou, China. His current research interests
His current research interests include antenna designs, guided wave theory, include dielectric resonator antennas, lens antennas, MIMO antennas, trans-
computational electromagnetics, and mobile communications. parent antennas, and microwave and millimeter-wave circuits.

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