A Compact Millimeter Wave Antenna Array with Defected Ground Structure for 5G Applications

Abstract

The transition towards the fifth generation(5G) of communication systems has been fueled by the need for compact, high-speed and wide-bandwidth systems. These advancements necessitate the development of novel and highly efficient antenna designs characterized by the compact size. In this paper, a novel antenna design with a hexagonal-shaped resonating element and two U-shaped open-ended stubs is presented. Millimeter-wave(mmWave) frequency range suffers from attenuation due to atmosphere and path loss because of higher frequencies. To address these issues, the deployment of a high-gain antenna is imperative. This design is created through an evolutionary process to work best in the mmWave frequency range with a high gain. A thin Rogers RT5880 substrate with a thickness of 0.254 mm, a dielectric constant of 2.3 and a loss tangent of 0.000 9 supports the copper-based radiating element. A partial ground plane with a square slot and trimmed corners at the bottom enhances the antenna's bandwidth. The single-element antenna exhibits a wide bandwidth of nearly 6 GHz and a gain of 4.58 dBi. By employing the proposed antenna array, the antenna gain is significantly enhanced to 14.90 dBi while maintaining an ultra-compact size of 24 mm × 46 mm at the resonant frequency of 31 GHz. The antenna demonstrates a wider impedance bandwidth of 15.73%(28-34 GHz) and an efficiency of 94%. The proposed design works well for 5G communication and satellite communication, because it has a simple planar structure and focused dual-beam radiation patterns from a simple feeding network.

Keywords

dual beam / ultra-compact antenna array / millimeter wave (mmWave) / 5G / high gain

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Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China(12272092)