Dual-Function Radiating Glass for Antennas and Light Covers—Part II: Dual-Band Glass Dielectric Resonator Antennas

This paper is the second part of our study that investigates using glass dielectric resonator antennas (DRAs) as light covers. To begin, designs of dual-band hemispherical DRAs are investigated for the first time. Both broadside and omnidirectional dual-band DRAs are included in the study. The former makes use of the broadside TE₁₁₁ and TE₁₁₂ modes of a hollow hemispherical DRA, whereas the latter utilizes the endfire TM₁₀₁ and TM₁₀₃ modes of a solid hemispherical DRA. New design formulas that determine the radii of the two dual-band hemispherical DRAs are found. To demonstrate the usefulness of the formulas, two dual-band hemispherical DRAs for WLAN/WiMAX applications were designed and fabricated using K9 glass. ANSYS HFSS was used to simulate the DRAs, and the results agree reasonably well with our measurements. Results of using the DRAs as light covers are reported.