Dielectric resonator antennas: An application oriented survey

This survey article outlines a comprehensive investigation of research carried out on dielectric resonator antennas (DRAs) in the last three and half decades, in an application-oriented approach. DRAs have created a remarkable position in antenna engineering for their adept characteristics like high efficiency, low loss, wide bandwidth, compact size, 3-dimensional modeling flexibility, etc. The use of DRAs for different commercial and defense applications associated with the wireless communication is highlighted in this article. To make a smooth and effective survey article, all the application-oriented DRAs available in the open literature are classified in five different categories like microwave bands, specific frequency, technology, millimeter-wave, and miscellaneous types. The ultimate aims of this review article are as follows: (i) highlights the usability of DRAs for different commercial and defense applications, (ii) helpful for the antenna industries/manufacturers to find out the best DRA for any specific application as per their requirement, and (iii) points out research gap in some application domains which will be quite helpful for future antenna researchers. In the authors' opinion, this survey may be helpful to DRA researchers as such a survey process is not available in the open literature.