Reconfigurable mmWave Planar Phased Array Featuring Wide Elevation and Full Azimuth Spatial Coverage for 5G Vehicular Application

Abstract

A wide-spatial coverage, low-profile, pattern reconfigurable, millimeter-wave antenna array designed for Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) communication systems, crucial for fifth-generation wireless networks. The array features a hybrid structure and beam-scanning capabilities, ensuring extensive spatial coverage in the n257 band. Utilizing PIN diode-controlled strips, the antenna enables vertical beam tilting up to +/- 40 degrees on a car with less than 1 dB gain variation. Furthermore, the subarray achieves beam scanning at angles of +/- 32 degrees while maintaining a gain exceeding 8 dBi. The overall circular antenna array, incorporating director and reflector elements alongside the antenna on an additive substrate, measures 74.2mm x 74.2mm x 2.2 mm, highlighting its compact design. During simulation, the array demonstrates isolation levels surpassing 20 dB and exhibits a broad -10 dB impedance bandwidth spanning 6570MHz (24.36-30.93 GHz). The antenna array can operate in three distinct modes-(a) endfire -z, (b) endfire, and (c) endfire +z-depending on the ON/OFF state of the diodes. In each mode, the radiation performances is verified with and without the car model. To validate the simulated results, an antenna array is fabricated, and measurements encompassing beam scanning, S-parameters, and communication are conducted. The obtained results from the physical implementation align with the simulation, confirming the effectiveness of the proposed V2X antenna array for 5G wireless communication systems.