Resonant cavity antennas (RCAs) are suitable candidates to achieve high-directivity with a low-cost and easy fabrication process. The stable functionality of the RCAs over different frequency bands, as well as, their pattern reconfigurability make them an attractive antenna structure for the next generation wireless communication systems, i.e., fifth generation (5G). The variety of designs and analytical techniques regarding the main radiator and partially reflective surface (PRS) configurations allow dramatic progress and advances in the area of RCAs. Adding different functionalities in a single structure by using additional layers is another appealing feature of the RCA structures, which has opened the various fields of studies toward 5G applications. This paper reviews the recent advances on the RCAs along with the analytical methods, and various capabilities that make them suitable to be used in 5G communication systems. To discuss different capabilities of RCA structures, some applicable fields of studies are followed in different sections of this paper. To indicate different techniques in achieving various capabilities, some recent state-of-the-art designs are demonstrated and investigated. Since wideband high-gain antennas with different functionalities are highly required for the next generation of wireless communication, the main focus of this paper is to discuss primarily the antenna gain and bandwidth. Finally, a brief conclusion is drawn to have a quick overview of the content of this paper.
This paper presents a high-gain leaky-wave antenna based on a resonant cavity (RC) structure with the capability of unidirectional beam scanning over predefined frequencies and desired beam angles. Frequency scanning is achieved by implementing a properly-designed single-layer partially reflective surface (PRS) based on a simple ray tracing-based design procedure. In the proposed structure, two techniques are combined to make the beam scanning unidirectional. First, a metallic wall is placed at a proper distance from the radiator to suppress the antenna propagation at undesired directions. Second, a feed antenna with a tilted beam is designed as the main radiating element inside the cavity to radiate over desired beam angles. A prototype of the proposed antenna is fabricated and measured demonstrating a beam scanning from 12 o to 46 o over the frequency band from 25 to 31 GHz. Moreover, a maximum gain of 15.4 dBi is achieved at 26 GHz on the elevation plane with tilted angle of 22 o . The proposed leaky-wave antenna is suitable for various wireless applications, in particular the 5 th generation of cellular networks and small cell base station antenna (BSA) applications.INDEX TERMS Base station antenna (BSA), leaky-wave, resonant cavity (RC), millimeter-wave, partially reflective surface (PRS), small cell, 5G antenna, unidirectional beam steering.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.