Compact beam-switchable antenna for mm-wave 5G handheld devices

Abstract

An electronically beam-steerable antenna (BSA) is envisioned. The presented BSA is a possible solution to overthrow the limitations inherent to phased antenna arrays. The design consists of a gap coupling inset feed rectangular patch (driven element) and 3 x 1 passive parasitic patches deployed on both sides of the driven patch. Prototype having 20 x 20 mm dimensions is printed on Rogers(R) RT/duroid(R)5870. Four switches are used to load the reactive impedance on parasitic patches, which in turn, change the phases of surface current on parasitic elements and the driven element. Based on the different ON and OFF configuration of switches in parasitic array elements, the main beam is steered along with different directions. The simulated results show that the design can operate between 26.8 and 30.3 GHz a wide impedance bandwidth |S-11|< -10 dB (12.5%) with a peak gain of 8.9 dBi and wide 3-dB scanning angle that is, -37 degrees to 156 degrees in the azimuth plane. The exhibited performance of BSA with favourable characteristics, such as wideband, adequate gain, wide-angle beam switching, and low profile renders the BSA a good candidate for 5G millimetre wave handheld devices. Moreover, to corroborate the performance, the design is fabricated, and experimental measurements were performed. Congruence is observed between the experimentally measured and computationally simulated results. The simulated results of spherical coverage analysis of BSA with the integration of smartphone form factor are also presented.