Bio-inspired dielectric resonator antenna for wideband sub-6 GHz range

Through the years, inspiration from nature has taken the lead for technological development and improvement. This concept firmly applies to the design of the antennas, whose performances receive a relevant boost due to the implementation of bio-inspired geometries. In particular, this idea holds in the present scenario, where antennas working in the higher frequency range (5G and mm-wave), require wide bandwidth and high gain; nonetheless, ease of fabrication and rapid production still have their importance. To this aim, polymer-based 3D antennas, such as Dielectric Resonator Antennas (DRAs) have been considered as suitable for fulfilling antenna performance and fabrication requirements. Differently from numerous works related to planar-metal-based antenna development, bio-inspired DRAs for 5G and mm-wave applications are at their beginning. In this scenario, the present paper proposes the analysis and optimization of a bio-inspired Spiral shell DRA (SsDRA) implemented by means of Gielis’ superformula, with the goal of boosting the antenna bandwidth. The optimized SsDRA geometrical parameters were also determined and discussed based on its fabrication feasibility exploiting Additive Manufacturing technologies. The results proved that the SsDRA provides relevant bandwidth, about 2 GHz wide, and satisfactory gain (3.7 dBi and 5 dBi, respectively) at two different frequencies, 3.5 GHz and 5.5 GHz.