High-performance CDRA with surface-mounted horn at 5.8 GHz to enhance wireless communication system performance

Hanane Bendjedi; Samira Mekki; Sarra Khacha; Djamel Sayad; Yamina Tighilt; Issa Elfergani; Mohamed Lamine Bouknia; Atul Varshney; Jonathan Rodriguez; Chemseddine Zebiri

doi:10.1016/j.jnlest.2026.100357

Journal of Electronic Science and Technology ›› 2026, Vol. 24 ›› Issue (2) :100357 DOI: 10.1016/j.jnlest.2026.100357

research-article

High-performance CDRA with surface-mounted horn at 5.8 GHz to enhance wireless communication system performance

Author information +

^a Laboratory of Power Electronics and Industrial, Department of Electronics, Setif 1 University-Ferhat ABBAS, Setif, 19000, Algeria

^b Laboratory of Electronics of Skikda, University of Skikda, Skikda, 21000, Algeria

^c Laboratory of Scientific Instrumentation, Department of Electronics, Faculty of Engineering, Setif 1 University-Ferhat ABBAS, Setif, 19000, Algeria

^d Institute of Telecommunications, University Campus of Santiago, Aveiro, 3810-193, Portugal

^e School of Engineering and Informatics, University of Bradford, Bradford, BD7 1DP, UK

^f Electronics and Communication Engineering Department, Gurukul Kangri University, Uttarakhand, 249404, India

^g Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Science, University of South Wales, Pontypridd, CF37 1DL, UK

^* E-mail addresses: hanane.bendjedi@univ-setif.dz (H. Bendjedi),

s.mekki@univ-bouira.dz (S. Mekki),

khacha.sarra@univ-setif.dz (S. Khacha),

d.sayad@univ-skikda.dz (D. Sayad),

y.tighilt@univ-setif.dz (Y. Tighilt),

i.elfegani@bradford.ac.uk (I. Elfergani),

ml.bouknia@univ-setif.dz (M.L. Bouknia),

atulgkvright@gmail.com (A. Varshney),

jonathan@av.it.p (J. Rodriguez),

czebiri@univ-setif.dz (C. Zebiri).

Hanane Bendjedi was born in Bordj Bou Arreridj, Algeria in 1986. She received the B.S. degree in electronics engineering and M.S. degree in networks and telecommunications both from Setif 1 University-Ferhat ABBAS, Algeria, in 2010 and 2019, respectively. She is currently pursuing the Ph.D. degree in telecommunication systems with the Department of Electronics, Setif 1 University-Ferhat ABBAS. Her research interests include the simulation and fabrication of antennas, SIW antennas, and horn antennas.

Samira Mekki was born in Bouira, Algeria, in 1994. She received the M.S. degree in telecommunications systems from Akli Mohand Oulhadj University of Bouira, Bouira, Algeria, in 2018. She obtained the Ph.D. degree in telecommunication systems from Ferhat Abbas University of Sétif, Algeria, in 2024. She is currently working as a Lecturer with the Department of Electrical Engineering, Setif 1 University-Ferhat ABBAS, Algeria. She is involved in teaching and research activities in telecommunications engineering. She has authored and coauthored several scientific publications in international journals and conference proceedings. Her research interests include antenna design and fabrication, MIMO antennas, dielectric resonator antennas, equivalent circuit modeling, and SIW antennas.

Sarra Khachaa holds a M.S. of Engineering and is currently a Ph.D. student at the Setif 1 University-Ferhat ABBAS, Algeria. Her research interests include millimeter-wave (mmWave) technologies, 5G communications, biomedical engineering, and antenna design. She focuses on planar antennas and high-frequency systems for next-generation wireless and medical applications.

Djamel Sayad received a Ph.D. degree in electronics from the University of Skikda, Algeria, in 2017, a Lecturer with the Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Skikda. He has several journals and conference articles publications covering a wide area in the design of antennas using metamaterial and dielectric antennas. His current research interests include electromagnetics complex media and microwave propagation and antennas.

Yamina Tighilt received the B.S. degrees in Telecommunications Engineering from Setif 1 University-Ferhat ABBAS, Setif, Algeria, in 1999, M. S. in Microwave Engineering from Constantine University, Constantine, Algeria, in 2002 and Ph. D. in Electronics Engineering from Setif 1 University-Ferhat ABBAS, Algeria, in 2011. From 2001 to 2011, she was electronics Tutor in a higher technical school. Since 2011, she works as a Lecturer at the electronic engineering department, Setif 1 University-Ferhat ABBAS. Her research interests include antenna design and analysis, numerical and optimization methods for electromagnetics, and wireless communications systems for biomedical applications.

Issa Elfergani He received the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Bradford, UK, in 2008 and 2013, respectively. Since 2013, he has worked as a postdoctoral researcher and later as a Junior Investigator at the Mobile Systems Group, Institute of Telecommunications (Instituto de Telecomunicações), Aveiro, Portugal. In 2014, he was awarded the prestigious FCT Fellowship for his postdoctoral research, which received an excellent evaluation for its first triennium. He is currently a Senior Researcher at Institute of Telecommunications (Instituto de Telecomunicações), where he leads technical activities in antenna design for several European-funded projects, including ENIAC ARTEMOS, EUREKA BENEFIC, CORTIF, GREEN-T, THINGS2DO, H2020-ITN SECRET, POSITION-II, and Moore4Medical. He is the Principal Investigator of the 5GWAR project on Novel 5G Millimeter-Wave Array Antennas for Future Mobile Handset Applications. He also holds the position of Honorary Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Bradford, UK. He has authored around 160 high-impact publications (journals, conferences, and book chapters) with a Google Scholar H-index of 21. He is a Senior Member of IEEE, a member of IET, and has served as Guest Editor for several special issues in Electronics on 5G antennas, RF front-ends, and energy-efficient mobile systems.

Mohamed Lamine Bouknia received the M.S. degree from the University of Ferhat Abbas, Algeria, in 2017 and the Ph.D. degree in telecommunication systems from the Setif 1 University-Ferhat ABBAS, Algeria, in 2022, where he is currently a Lecturer. He has several journals conference articles and publications treating the complex medium the antenna features and the design of antennas. His current research interests include electromagnetics, complex media, microwave propagation and antennas.

Atul Varshney received his Ph.D. from the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Gurukula Kangri (Deemed to be University), Haridwar, India, in 2023, and M.Tech. degree in microwaves from Madhav Institute of Engineering and Technology and Science, Gwalior, India in 2008, and B.Tech. degree in electronics and communication engineering from UPTU, Lucknow, India, in 2005. His research interests include the fabrication and design of microstrip to waveguide transitions, ring resonators, microwave filters, all types of antenna design, metamaterial and fractal structures, RLC electrical equivalent circuits, generation of any microwave 2D/3D components, filters, frequency, and pattern reconfigurable antennas. He is an RF microwave and antenna researcher and published nine patents, more than 75 research articles in SCI and Scopus-indexed journals, conferences, and three national and international books in this particular area.

Jonathan Rodriguez (Senior Member, IEEE) received the master's and Ph.D. degrees in electronic and electrical engineering from the University of Surrey, UK, in 1998 and 2004, respectively. In 2005, he became a Researcher at the Institute of Telecommunications (Instituto de Telecomunicações), Portugal. In 2017, he was appointed as a Professor of mobile communications at the University of South Wales, UK. He has served as a Project Coordinator for major international research projects, including Eureka LOOP, FP7 C2POWER, and H2020-SECRET, whilst serving as a Technical Manager for FP7 COGEU and FP7 SALUS. He is the author of more than 500 scientific works, including 11 book editorials. He is a fellow of the IET (FIET) and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA). His professional affiliations include Chartered Engineer (C.Eng.).

Chemseddine Zebiri received an Engineering degree in Electronics from the University of Constantine, Algeria, in 2001, and a Magister degree from the University of Ferhat Abbas, Algeria, in 2003. He joined the Department of Electronics, Setif 1 University-Ferhat ABBAS, Setif, Algeria, as a senior lecturer in 2006, where he is currently a Professor at the same department and Director of the Power Electronics and Industrial Control Laboratory (LEPCI). He received his Ph.D. degree in electronics from the University of Constantine in 2011. Zebiri has published 160 journals and refereed conference papers. His current research interests are dielectric resonator antennas, MIMO antennas, mmWave antennas, magnetic materials, microwave sensors, and complex material components in the microwave and optical domains. Zebiri is the Guest Editor/special issue of Electronics “Recent Advances in Antenna Design for 5G Heterogeneous Networks volume II” (ISSN 2079-9292), and Guest Editor/special issue of CMES - Computer Modeling in Engineering and Sciences “Green IoE for Smart 5G and Beyond (5GB) Applications.” He reviews several well-ranked journals such as the International Journal of Microwave and Wireless Technologies and Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing. He has been on the technical program committee of a large number of international conference.

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Abstract

With an increasing demand for high-performance wireless communication systems, particularly in wireless local area network (WLAN) applications, there is a critical need for antennas that deliver high gain, excellent isolation, and robust diversity performance. This study introduces an improved multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) cylindrical dielectric resonator antenna (CDRA) integrated with a cylindrical horn antenna tailored for operation at 5.8 GHz. The design employs a single radiating element fed by two closely positioned coaxial cables to achieve high isolation between ports, whereas the cylindrical horn enhances the gain. The performance was evaluated and optimized using HFSS software, focusing on metrics such as the envelope correlation coefficient (ECC), channel capacity loss (CCL), mean effective gain (MEG), and diversity gain (DG) to ensure MIMO compatibility. The surface-mounted CDRA horn antenna achieved a very high of gain 15.6 dBi by flaring the circular aperture of the circular base of the antenna in canonical form at 5.8 GHz. The results reveal a significant gain increase to 15.6 dBi, improving signal strength and coverage, alongside isolation exceeding −20 dBi, which lowers ECC (<0.017), DG close to 10 dB, MEG <–3 dB, CCL<0.5 bps/Hz over the bandwidth 5.6 GHz to 5.9 GHz, radiation efficiency 90.1%, isolation <–20 dB, and boosts diversity performance. The experimental testing of the prototype aligns closely with the simulated outcomes, validating the effectiveness of the design.

Keywords

Cylindrical dielectric resonator antenna / Diversity gain / Envelope correlation coefficient / Horn antenna / Isolation / Multiple-input multiple-output / Wireless local area network

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Hanane Bendjedi, Samira Mekki, Sarra Khacha, Djamel Sayad, Yamina Tighilt, Issa Elfergani, Mohamed Lamine Bouknia, Atul Varshney, Jonathan Rodriguez, Chemseddine Zebiri. High-performance CDRA with surface-mounted horn at 5.8 GHz to enhance wireless communication system performance. Journal of Electronic Science and Technology, 2026, 24 (2) : 100357 DOI:10.1016/j.jnlest.2026.100357

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CRediT authorship contribution statement

Hanane Bendjedi: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Validation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Writing original draft preparation, Visualization. Samira Mekki: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Investigation. Sarra Khacha: software, Investigation, visualization. Djamel Sayad: Methodology, Validation, Formal analysis, Writing review and editing. Yamina Tighilt: validation, investigation. Issa Elfergani: Methodology, Writing review and editing, Project administration, Funding acquisition. Mohamed Lamine Bouknia: Methodology, Software, Validation, Investigation, Visualization. Atul Varshney: methodology, Formal analysis, Writing review and editing. Jonathan Rodriguez: Writing review and editing, Supervision, Project administration. Chemseddine Zebiri: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Writing review and editing, Supervision, Project administration.

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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