Multi Beam Dielectric Lens Antenna for 5G Base Station

Abstract

In the 5G mobile system, new features such as millimetre wave operation, small cell size and multi beam are requested at base stations. At millimetre wave, the base station antennas become very small in size, which is about 30 cm; thus, dielectric lens antennas that have excellent multi beam radiation pattern performance are suitable candidates. For base station application, the lens antennas with small thickness and small curvature are requested for light weight and ease of installation. In this paper, a new lens shaping method for thin and small lens curvature is proposed. In order to develop the thin lens antenna, comparisons of antenna structures with conventional aperture distribution lens and Abbe’s sine lens are made. Moreover, multi beam radiation pattern of three types of lenses are compared. As a result, the thin and small curvature of the proposed lens and an excellent multi beam radiation pattern are ensured.

Design of high gain Vivaldi antenna with a compound optical lens inspired by metamaterials

“…13 Mutual coupling and power distribution between the array elements need to be considered. Extending the dielectric plate with a certain geometry at the front port diameter of the antenna, 14,15 or loading a high dielectric constant dielectric 16 at the aperture, can also enhance the gain of the antenna to a degree. Besides, loading the hemispherical lens 17 in front of the antenna aperture can enhance the directivity and the gain of the antenna effectively, but it is difficult to manufacture.…”

High‐gain broadband ENZ metasurface‐based RF lens with gradient refractive index for microwave and millimetre‐wave applications

“…Dielectric lenses are one of the most used because of their cost factor and ease in fabrication. 4,5 A common example of integrated lens antennas is dielectric resonator antennas (DRAs) use dielectric shapes on top of a radiator to reshape the beam. 6,7 They, however, tend to be bulky and hard to maintain for long-term deployments, which has led to exploring the planar RF lens structures.…”

“…A different form of lenses has been proposed in the literature. Dielectric lenses are one of the most used because of their cost factor and ease in fabrication 4,5 . A common example of integrated lens antennas is dielectric resonator antennas (DRAs) use dielectric shapes on top of a radiator to reshape the beam 6,7 .…”

Base Station Antenna Systems for mm-Waves

“…Due to the increasing path loss with increasing frequency [3], and decreasing available transmit power of active electronics [4], antenna systems may require larger apertures in order to provide desired EIRP (effective isotropic radiated power) and SNR, resulting in challenges with respect to integration, signal routing, efficiency, thermal performance, and cost for array-based solutions. Various alternative antenna solutions, nonconventional in wireless communications systems, have been considered for base station applications, such as irregular sparse arrays [5] and dielectric lenses [6].…”