Design consideration for the millimeter wave beam steerable planar array antennas using varactor diodes

摘要

This paper presents a design of low cost and compact beam steerable planar antennas for 60GHz applications. In order to compose the antenna structure suitable for beam steering, the microstrip antennas are proposed with a series-fed circuit based on the microstrip line to slot line transition and the slot line to microstrip line transition. A beam steerable antenna is also presented with phase shifters using varactor diodes in the series-fed circuit. Simulation result shows the proposed antenna configuration will enable ± 10° beam steering. As phase shifters of this antenna consist of varactor diodes, the beam steerable antenna can be realized at low fabrication cost. It is expected that this antenna will make the improvement of usability in the 60 GHz applications.