Beam steerable MIMO antenna based on conformal passive reflective metasurface for 5G millimeter wave applications

A conformal reflective metasurface fed by a dual-band multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna is proposed for low-cost beam steering applications in 5G Millimeter-wave frequency bands. The beam steering is accomplished by selecting a specific port of MIMO antenna. Each MIMO port is associated with a beam that points in a different direction due to a conformal reflective metasurface. This novel conformal metasurface antenna design has the advantages of higher gain, lower cost, a simpler feeding source, and a lower profile when compared to traditional reflective metasurfaces using bulky horn antennas and phased arrays with complex feeding networks and phase shifters for beam steering. The proposed beam steering antenna consists of a compact five-element dual-band MIMO and a $$ unit-cell conformal dual-band reflective metasurface placed at the top of the MIMO antenna to obtain the beam steering capability as well as gain enhancement. The proposed reflective metasurface has a stable response under oblique incidence angles of up to $$ at 24 GHz and 38 GHz and its symmetric, single-layer structure, ensures polarization insensitivity and stable response under conformal conditions. The presented MIMO antenna design is not only compact but also offers a wideband response effectively covering the desired 5G mm-wave frequency bands. The overall size of the MIMO antenna alone is 70 $$ 12 $$ with a maximum gain of 5.4 and 7.2 dB. It is further improved up to 13.1 and 14.2 dB at 24 and 38 GHz respectively, with a beam steering range of ś $$ by using a conformal reflective metasurface. Unlike the existing beam steering strategies, the suggested method is not only cost-effective but also increases the overall directivity and gain of the source MIMO antenna. The measured results agree with the simulated results, making it a potential candidate in the 5G and beyond beam steering applications.