A Novel 28 GHz Phased Array Antenna for 5G Mobile Communications

 

 

Abstract: A novel phased array antenna consisting of 256 elements is presented and experimentally verified for 5G millimeter-wave wireless communications. The antenna integrated with a wave control circuit can perform real-time beam scanning by reconfiguring the phase of an antenna unit. The unit, designed at 28 GHz using a simple patch structure with one PIN diode, can be electronically controlled to generate 1 bit phase quantization. A prototype of the antenna is fabricated and measured to demonstrate the feasibility of this approach. The measurement results indicate that the antenna achieves high gain and fast beam-steering, with the scan beams within ±60° range and the maximum gain up to 21.7 dBi. Furthermore, it is also tested for wireless video transmission. In ZTE Shanghai, the antenna was used for the 5G New Raido (NR) test. The error vector magnitude (EVM) is less than 3% and the adjacent channel leakage ratio (ACLR) less than −35dBc, which can meet 5G system requirements. Compared to the conventional phased array antenna, the proposed phased array has the advantages of low power consumption, low cost, and conformal geometry. Due to these characteristics, the antenna is promising for wide applications in 5G millimeter-wave communication systems.
Keywords: 5G mobile communications; millimeter wave; phased array antenna