Fixed- and Scanned-Beam Antenna Arrays for 5G Applications

Abstract

Aperture array antennas have emerged as popular candidates for a variety of applications, such as radar, remote sensing, navigation [1, 2], and the fifth generation (5G) Network communication [3–5] operating in the Ka-band. This millimeter-wave band for 5G communication is expected to provide a much higher data rate than heretofore, in the gigabit range, which is not possible to achieve by using current wireless services [3]. The mm-wave phased array antenna is certain to play an important role in 5G applications, thanks to its many desirable attributes such as high gain [5, 6], higher transmission rate, and shorter latency. Recently, several studies of mm-wave phased array designs for 5G applications have been carried out in [7–9]. The phased array configuration has been proposed to serve the user in crowded areas by reducing the interference and thereby realizing a high communication rate between the base station and mobile devices. In addition, it has been argued that beam switching is essential to addressing the challenges of the future 5G applications [10–12] at millimeter-waves since it offers high-power efficiency and large channel capacity with wide-angle scan coverage. The low-profile antenna array (LPAA) design presented in [13–16] provides good performance at high frequencies, but it can only scan the beam in one plane (see Fig. 6.4), by using mechanical means [13], for instance. Recently, beam switching networks using structures, such as substrate integrated waveguide [17]; Butler matrix [18]; printed-ridge gap waveguide [19]; and magneto-electric dipole antenna array fed by RGW Butler matrix [20], have been proposed by the research community. A 1D-beam scanning technique (see Fig. 6.5) has been proposed in [12], which utilizes mechanical rotation and whose performance in terms of gain, sidelobe level, etc., varies with different orientation angles.