A 4 by 10 series 60 GHz microstrip array antenna fed by Butler matrix for 5G applications

This paper presents a low-cost, beam-steerable 4 x 10 antenna array system operating at 60 GHz. The proposed antenna system is fed by a 4 x 10 Butler Matrix network designed using microstrip line (ML) structure. Chebyshev tapered microstrip antenna arrays with 10 series-fed elements are connected to four output ports of the feed network. Four steerable beams with maximum 16.5 dBi system gain and 1GHz bandwidth(BW) satisfy the requirements of millimeter wave propagation study and handset application for 5G communication

Design and fabrication of two-port three-beam switched beam antenna array for 60 GHz communication

This article presents a novel, low-cost, beam-switchable $2 \times 10$2x10 antenna array system operating at 60 GHz. This antenna system is constructed of two rows of Chebyshev-tapered microstrip antenna arrays. Each row is a 10 element series-fed array which are fed by a $90 \circ$90 circle coupler. The designed antenna array has only two input ports, but it is capable of generating three switchable beams. This antenna system can spatially scan $90 \circ$90 circle with at least -5 dB normalised gain using only one SPDT switch and a single transceiver. The maximum gain realised by the system was measured as 16.4 dBi and the bandwidth (BW) was >1 GHz. The features of the proposed antenna system make it applicable to do mmWave research such as beamforming algorithms and channel sounding, and to use in handsets for 5G communication

Mm wave antenna gain switching to mitigate indoor blockage

Indoor blockage in a millimeter wave (mmWave) wireless communication link introduces significant signal attenuation. Solving the indoor blockage problem is critical to effectively using the unlicensed 60 GHz band spectrum. This work used various V-band horn antennas to collect signal measurements in an indoor lab environment. As an object blocks the Tx- Rx line of sight (LOS) path, the signal fades deeply. Experimental results showed that switching to a wider beam with lower gain has the potential to partially restore or maintain a communicating link. Effective beam switching and coordinated beam steering can shorten deep fades which is crucial for mm Wave communication systems that are very sensitive to the spatial characteristics of the environment. The experimental results in this paper thus motivate the design of future indoor mm Wave antennas capable of beam switching and facilitate fast beam search