Close-Coupling Guided Lenses for Gravity Triggered Pattern-Reconfigurable Antennas for Aerial Vehicles and Communication Systems

This paper introduces a novel close-coupling guided lens technique for gravity-triggered pattern-reconfigurable antennas for aerial vehicles and communication systems. The proposed technique utilizes purposefully designed curved containers where a lens can freely slide with gravity, serving as a versatile add-on for existing aerial devices. In a basic configuration with a cylindrical container and a centered half-wavelength dipole antenna, directivity increases by 3.1 dB, enabling 360∘ beam steering. In a more application-based set up using dielectric resonator antennas (DRAs) with semi-cylindrical/ semi-spherical lenses 1D/ 2D beam steering is achieved, effectively covering half-space areas. A continuous beam steering of ±35∘ is demonstrated for these applications. Both solid and liquid lenses have been employed flexibly, offering a broader range of options in practical applications, and extending the viability of the proposed concept. Furthermore, only a small volume of material (< 7 cm3) is needed for the lens. A good agreement between the simulated and measured results for both liquid and solid lenses has been observed, proving the feasibility of the idea. This study provides a potential low cost, energy efficient, light weight solution for inclined static platforms such as aerial vehicles, communication balloons, or simply in vehicular scenarios involving anticipated tilts or rotations.