A broadband wire hexagon antenna array for future 5G communications in 28 GHz band

摘要

A broadband antenna array for 28 GHz 5G communications is presented in this paper. The antenna array has dimensions of 45 x 20 mm(2) and has a measured operating band in 25.052-34.923 GHz frequency range. A 4-way feed network to excite its array elements was designed and optimized for the operating band. The single element consists of two co-centric wire hexagons backed by another hexagonal ground loop of larger radius. The resulting monopole is surrounded by vias arranged in an inverted U-shape manner for better performance. The antenna array has a minimum radiation efficiency of 85% with peak gain of 12.15 dBi. The antenna has narrow beam-widths of 44.3 degrees and 12.5 degrees in two of its respective planes. The antenna is fabricated on an ultra-thin Rogers substrate. The proposed antenna is deemed suitable for future 5G communication systems due to its simple design, compact size and low fabrication cost.