A Dual-Polarized 27 dBi Scanning Lens Phased Array Antenna for 5G Point-to-Point Communications

Abstract

A dual-polarized 4×4 scanning phased array antenna with leaky-wave enhanced lenses operating at 28 GHz is presented. Such an antenna can be used for point-to-point 5G communications that require high gain, wide bandwidth, and limited steering ranges. The proposed array has a periodicity of two wavelengths, and the resulting grating lobes are suppressed by directive and steerable array element patterns. To achieve a low-cost and low-profile solution, the leaky-wave antenna feeds are designed in printed circuit board and the lenses are made of plastic. The lenses are optimized in the near-field region of the feeds, with the goal of maximizing the array element aperture efficiency. The array performance obtained from the proposed approach is validated by full-wave simulations, showing a 27.5 dBi broadside gain at 28 GHz and a steering capability up to ±20 • with 2 dB of scan loss. An antenna prototype was fabricated and measured. Measurement results are in excellent agreement with full-wave simulations. The prototype antenna, at broadside, achieves a 20% relative bandwidth and a gain of 26.2 dBi.

First Demonstration of Dynamic High-Gain Beam Steering With a Scanning Lens Phased Array

“…By implementing the phase shifters at f in instead of at f out we are not limited by the performance of W-band phase shifters and we can use commercial components available in our lab to demonstrate the active array. The implementation of the phase shifters represents a significant improvement over earlier lens array demonstrations [4], [18], [19].…”

“…Millimeter-and submillimeter-wave scanning arrays will play a major role in communication and sensing scenarios in future 6G networks and automotive applications [1], [2]. Antennas for such applications should achieve very high gains (>30 dBi) and include dynamic scanning capabilities [3], [4]. Fully sampled phased arrays at or above 100 GHz, such as [5]- [10], are capable of wide-angle beam scanning but have low gain due to the limited number of array elements.…”

“…The required mechanical displacement for such lens arrays can be achieved by using a piezo-electric motor, as demonstrated in [11], [17]. Static phase shifting of these kinds of arrays has been demonstrated at 10 GHz [18] and 30 GHz in [4] by using corporate feeding networks. In [19], the contributions of each lens antenna at 38 GHz were measured independently and subsequently delayed by the required phase shift in postprocessing before being summed.…”

A Wideband Leaky-Wave Lens Antenna With Annular Corrugations in the Ground Plane

“…D IELECTRIC lens antennas fed by resonant leaky-wave (LW) feeds have been demonstrated at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths, achieving high aperture efficiency and low losses [1]- [4] for communication and sensing applications. Due to their high directivity and aperture efficiency, they have been proposed as lens elements in scanning lens phased arrays [3], [4], and fly's eye arrays [2].…”

“…Therefore, the TM 0 mode is generally suppressed by the lens feed. Examples are a waveguide-fed double-slot iris [1], [2], a slot-fed dipole in PCB technology [3] and a dipole centered in the air cavity [6]. Although these LW feeds illuminate the lens with high aperture efficiency, the cross-polarization level of these antennas remains high when operated over a broad bandwidth due to poor TM 0 mode suppression.…”