Broadband, high gain 2 × 2 subarray and 2 × 8 cavity-backed antenna arrays for 5G mmWave applications


AŞCI Y.

Microwave and Optical Technology Letters, cilt.66, sa.1, 2024 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus) identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 66 Sayı: 1
  • Basım Tarihi: 2024
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1002/mop.33961
  • Dergi Adı: Microwave and Optical Technology Letters
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: 5G NR, base station antenna, broadband antenna, cavity backed slot array, corporate feed network, millimeter-wave antenna, mutual coupling, stubs
  • Uşak Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

In this study, linearly polarized 2 × 2 subarray and 2 × 8 element cavity-backed antennas are proposed for 5G millimeter-wave (mmWave) applications. Initially, the 2 × 2 subarray is designed, manufactured, and tested. According to the measured results, the 2 × 2 subarray has a wide fractional bandwidth (FBW) of 24.7% (|S11| < −10 dB, 22.3‒28.6 GHz) which covers the main spectrum allocations for the 5G cellular network. A broadband 1 × 4 corporate feed network is designed, which is challenging and crucial, to form 2 × 8 antenna array. The experimental results show that the final 2 × 8 antenna array has a wide FBW of 23% (|S11| < −10 dB, 22.3‒28 GHz), with a boresight gain of 20.5 dBi. Throughout the operating band, a stable gain of 19.5 ± 1 dBi is achieved. The 2 × 8 antenna array has good and stable radiation characteristics; SLLs are less than −13 dB and XPol is better than −20 dB for both E- and H-planes across the entire operating frequency. Stubs are added between adjacent subarrays in the E-plane to suppress mutual coupling and to improve gain of 2 × 8 antenna, which results in broadband impedance characteristics. The size of the 2 × 8 antenna array is 6.3λο × 8.1λο × 1.3λο, where λο is the free space wavelength at 25 GHz. These results show that the proposed antenna has potential for 5G millimeter-wave applications requiring broadband and high gain.