Conductor Backed CPW-Fed Dual-Mode Excited High Gain Cylindrical Cavity DRA for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) or Drone Data-Link Applications at C Band

ABSTRACT

In this article, a dual-mode high gain cylindrical cavity dielectric resonator antenna (CCDRA) excited by conductor backed coplanar waveguide (CB-CPW) has been investigated for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) or drone data-link applications at the C band. A CB-CPW has been used to excite the CCDRA to achieve bore-sight radiation pattern. A wide impedance bandwidth of 1100 MHz (4.3–5.4 GHz) has been achieved due to excitation of HE_11δ and HE_21δ modes in dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) by inserting a cylindrical shaped air cavity in DRA. The antenna is finally optimized using 3-D electromagnetic simulator to achieve high gain, good impedance bandwidth, and stable radiation pattern. The prototype antenna achieves 22% impedance bandwidth with more than 7.5 dB average peak gain and 95% estimated efficiency throughout the operating band. The experimental results validate the performance of CCDRA. Such antenna can be easily installed on the unmanned aerial vehicle/drone platform for data-link as well as other applications.

KEYWORDS:

• C band
• conductor backed CPW
• Cylindrical cavity DRA
• dual mode
• High gain
• Unmanned aircraft systems

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors acknowledge Dr S. V. Tiwari, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel and Mu Waves Component Research and Development Pvt. Ltd. (MWCRD), Ghaziabad, UP, India for their fabrication support.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Pramod Kumar

Pramod Kumar received his B. Tech degree from Sant Longwal Institute of Engineering and Technology, Longwal, Punjab, India in 2005 and M. Tech degree in Microwave Electronics from University of Delhi, New Delhi, India, in the year 2008. Currently, he is working toward his Ph.D. degree in Electronics Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology (formerly Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad, India. He is also working as Assistant Professor with the Department of Electronics & Communication Engineering, Inderprastha Engineering College (IPEC), Ghaziabad, UP, India. He is life member of the Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (IETE), New Delhi, India. His recently research includes Design and Characterization of Dielectric Resonator Antenna. Email: [email protected]

Santanu Dwari

Santanu Dwari was born in Howrah, West Bengal, India. He received his B.Tech and M.Tech degrees in Radio Physics and Electronics from University of Calcutta, Kolkata, West Bengal, India in the years 2000 and 2002, respectively, and Ph.D degree from Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, West Bengal, India in the year 2009. He joined Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad, Jharkhand, India in 2008 where he is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electronics Engineering. He has published several research papers in referred International Journals. His research interest includes Antennas, RF planar circuits, Computational Electromagnetics. Email: [email protected]

Shailendra Singh

Shailendra Singh received his M. Tech degree in Microwave Electronics from University of Delhi South Campus, New Delhi, India, in the year 2013 and B. Tech degree from Galgotia College of Engineering and Technology, Gr. Noida, India. He is currently working as a Deputy Engineer in Bharat Electronics Limited Bangalore, India. His research interest includes Antenna Design, microwave wireless communication, digital board testing and real-time system integration and testing. He has worked in Institute for Plasma research and CEERI-Pilani, India also. He has published more than 15 research papers in international and national Journal and Conferences proceeding papers.

Jitendra Kumar

Jitendra Kumar is currently working as Post-Doctoral Fellow (PDF) in Microwave Plasma Group, Institute for Plasma Research, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India. He received the AMIETE degree in Electronics and Telecommunication from The Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (IETE), New Delhi, India, in 2008 and M. Tech degree in Microwave Electronics from University of Delhi, New Delhi, India, in 2010. He received his Ph.D. degree from Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani (BITS-Pilani), Rajasthan, India in 2016. He is also life member of IETE. His research interests include Antenna Design and Microwave Engineering. Email: [email protected]

Amitesh Kumar

Amitesh Kumar completed B.Sc. in Electronics from Kurukshetra University in the year 2006. He completed M.Sc. in Electronics in the year 2008 and M. Tech in Microwave Electronics in the year 2010 from the Department of Electronic Science, University of Delhi, India. Presently, he is Scientist-C in SAMEER Kolkata Centre, Kolkata India. His area of interest are Antennas, Metamaterials, Radomes, Radars, Active and Passive Microwave components etc. He has published several research papers in international journals and conferences. He is also a member of IEEE. Email: [email protected]