Design and Analysis of Dual Polarized Broadband Microstrip Patch Antenna for 5G mmWave Antenna Module on FR4 Substrate

Abstract

This study presents a dual polarized broadband microstrip patch antenna for a 5G mmWave antenna module on an FR4 substrate. The proposed antenna was fabricated using a standard FR4 printed circuit board (PCB) process because of its low cost and ease of mass production. The electrical properties of the FR4 substrate in the 5G mmWave frequency band were also characterized. An air cavity structure was introduced to mitigate the high loss tangent of the FR4 substrate. Capacitive elements such as proximity Lprobe feedings and parasitic patches are used to improve the impedance bandwidth of the patch antenna. For the polarization diversity of the massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) capability, the antenna radiator was designed with a symmetrical structure, and the relative position of the L-probes excites the orthogonal resonant modes to enable dual linear polarization. The operation principle of the proposed antenna was thoroughly analyzed by characteristic mode analysis (CMA). The measured bandwidth of a single antenna was 23.1 % (23 ~ 29 GHz) and the gain value was 5 dBi. The measured cross-polarization suppression ratio of single antenna was 15 ~ 20 dB. The measured gain value of 1×4 antenna array was 10 ~ 11 dBi and the cross-polarization suppression ratio was about 20 dB. The size of the proposed single antenna is 0.41λ0×0.41λ0×0.1λ0, and that of a 1×4 antenna array is 2.78λ0×0.41λ0×0.1λ0. The envelope correlation coefficient (ECC) was calculated and was lower than 0.02 in the 5G mmWave frequency band.INDEX TERMS 5G mmWave antenna, massive MIMO, FR4 PCB, Array antenna, Characteristic mode analysis, Broadband patch antenna, Dual polarized patch antenna.

A New mm-Wave Antenna Array with Wideband Characteristics for Next Generation Communication Systems

“…The 5G spectrum is categorized into two broad regions as Sub6 GHz, ranging under 6 GHz frequency, and mm-wave region, in which frequencies above 24 GHz and above are adopted. The bands of 28 GHz and 37 GHz and 39 GHz are licensed mm-wave bands in the mm-wave spectrum, for which in order to overcome high attenuation and propagation losses, high gain antenna arrays are required [5][6][7][8]. These antenna arrays include higher numbers of radiating elements with low-loss feeding networks [7,8].…”

Two-Element Pharaonic Ankh-Key Array Antenna Design, Simulation, and Fabrication for 5G and Millimeter-Wave Broadband Applications

“…In In [11], Naser and et al presented a 1x8 phased array antenna with dimensions 75 x 150 mm 2 and height 0.5 mm of Rogers RT5880 covering all bands from 26 GHz to 43 GHz with gain more than 10 dBi and total efficiency more than 70%. In [12], Gynougdeuk kim and Sangkil Kim presented a 1x4 antenna array with dimensions 2.78λo x 0.14λo x0.1λo using substrate thickness FR4 (𝜀 𝑟 = 4.1 ~ 4.2 and tanδ = 0.03) operating in all bands between 23 GHz and 29 GHz with gain 11 dBi and maximum radiation efficiency 84%. In [13], Kamil Trezebiatowski and et al proposed an antenna with overall dimensions of 14.7 mm x 11.9 mm and height 0.254 mm of Rogers CuClad 217 (𝜀 𝑟 = 2.2 and tanδ = 0.001) operating in the band from 55GHz to 65 GHz with gain above 3 dBi.…”

Millimeter-Wave Antenna With Gain Improvement Utilizing Reflection FSS for 5G Networks

“…The existing available sub 6 GHz band (3 -6 GHz) is already crowded with applications, so actual communication for mm-wave with unlicensed and unrestricted bandwidth must be established [5][6][7][8][9]. In the mm-wave, bands such as 28 GHz and 38 GHz have been allocated as possible choices for future 5G standards [10][11][12][13][14]. Higher data rates and bandwidth can be achieved by using a higher portion of the spectrum.…”