Wideband tilted beam end-fire antenna using double semi-circular rings

Area of Science:

• Electrical Engineering
• Antenna Theory
• Wireless Communications

Background:

• Microwave and millimeter-wave (mmWave) frequencies are crucial for next-generation wireless systems.
• Existing antenna designs often face limitations in bandwidth and gain for these applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a novel wideband (WB) tilted-beam end-fire planar antenna.
• To address the need for high-performance antennas in 5G New Radio (NR) mmWave bands and unlicensed 60 GHz bands.

Main Methods:

• The antenna design features a microstrip fed double semi-circular rings over a curvilinear slotted ground plane.
• Impedance matching was achieved over a broad frequency range (11.5 to 62.5 GHz).
• Full-wave simulations and prototype fabrication were used for characterization.

Main Results:

• The antenna operates from 11.5 to 62.5 GHz, covering 5G NR mmWave bands (n257, n258, n260, n261) and the 60 GHz band.
• It demonstrates a return loss better than 12 dB and a gain exceeding 6.5 dBi across the band, with a peak gain of 11.6 dBi.
• End-fire radiation with a tilted beam was achieved within the 24-40 GHz range (50% fractional bandwidth).

Conclusions:

• The fabricated antenna prototype's measured results align well with simulations.
• The proposed antenna offers a compact planar geometry, wide bandwidth, and high gain.
• It is identified as a strong candidate for future high-data-rate wireless communication systems.