2016 URSI Asia-Pacific Radio Science Conference

August 21-25, 2016 / Seoul, Korea

Wideband Subarray Design for 5G Antenna Arrays

Seyyedehelnaz Ershadi; Asghar Keshtkar Seyyedehelnaz Ershadi; Ahmed H. Abdelrahman;

Department of Electrical Engineering Xiaoju Yu; Hao Xin
Imam Khomeini International University (lKlU) Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Qazvin, Iran University of Arizona
S906I9000I@edu.ikiu.ac.ir, akeshtkar@eng.ikiu.ac.ir Tucson, USA
ershadi@email.arizona.edu,
abdelrahman@email.arizona.edu.daisy@email.arizona.edu.
hxin@ece.arizona.edu

Abstract - There is a global trend towards migrating to antennas at both the base station and the mobile device should
millimeter wave frequencies in the fifth generation of mobile be deployed. For a fixed antenna size, the beamforming gain is
communications (5G) to further enhance the available capacity inversely proportional to the square of wavelength [3].
and data rates. Antenna arrays are usually applied to overcome Therefore, beamforming can be applied to compensate the
the innate high path loss at the millimeter wave (mmW) increase in the path loss at mmW frequencies. For example, an
frequency band. Moreover, the use of subarrays decreases design
array of multiple antennas may provide an adequate effective
complexity and system cost. The goal of this paper is to present a
isotropic radiated power (EIRP) for cellular systems by
design of a wideband subarray at the frequency range from 28 focusing the radio energy into a narrow and directional beam,
GHz to 32 GHz, i.e. the frequency range applied for Local
and hence increases the antenna gain without upping the
Multipoint Distribution Service (LMDS), to be used in the
transmitter power [4].
antenna array design of next generation mobile networks. The
proposed subarray consists of four radiating elements of In this paper, we propose a design of an antenna subarray
proximity coupled stacked patch antennas. The unit-cell is first with wideband performance at the mmW band, which can be
designed, fabricated and tested, which confirms the wideband used later in the design of antenna arrays of cellular systems.
coverage along the required band. The proposed subarray
The subarray is made of four elements of proximity coupled
11.1 dB and 12 dB
achieves a simulated gain that ranges between
stacked patch antennas. The antenna element is first fabricated
along the frequency band from 28 GHz to 32 GHz. The
and tested, and the results demonstrate wideband coverage in
impedance bandwidth and the I-dB gain bandwidth are 30% and
the interested frequency band [7]. The simulation results of the
21.2%, respectively.
subarray design show an antenna gain ranging between 11.1
dB and 12 dB in the band from 28 GHz to 32 GHz, and a
Keywords-5G; millimeter wave; unit-cell; subarray; wideband
wideband performance of 30 % and 21.2 % for the impedance
bandwidth and I-dB gain bandwidth, respectively.
I. INTRODUCTION

The previous generations of cellular networks, which II. UNIT -CELL ELEMENT
almost packed in the UHF band, have restricted cellular
providers in delivering high quality and low latency The structure of the proposed unit-cell element is

multimedia applications for wireless devices. Due to the presented in Fig. 1. It consists of four layers; a feed substrate,

global bandwidth shortage and meanwhile the increasing a patch substrate, a spacer, and a cover layer. The dimensions

demand for higher data rates, higher frequencies and denser of different layers are presented in [7]. Patch 1, responsible for

frequency reuse are currently under investigation to be the main resonance, is fed by a proximity coupled microstrip

commercially used in upcoming generation of cellular systems feed line, which has the advantage of increasing the effective

[1]. The utilization of mmW spectrum has recently been thickness of the patch substrate and hence improve the antenna

proposed because of its large spectrum availability, higher bandwidth [8], [9]. Patch 2 is a parasitic element, which adds

bandwidths and throughputs in comparison with today's another resonance in conjunction with the main resonance,

wireless systems, smaller size of components, and better thus a wider band is obtained. The cover layer, which is

coordination of worldwide spectrum allocation [2]-[5]. One located on its underside, aims to protect patch 2 from the

candidate to utilize the mmW spectrum is the Local Multipoint environment. In order to provide air separation between the

Distribution Service (LMDS) at a frequency band that ranges two patches, a supportive spacer of acrylic polymer is

between 28-32 GHz [6]. fabricated using 3D printing technology with a thickness of
0.8 mm. The dielectric substrates of the feed line, patch 1, and
However, many challenges lie ahead of using mmW patch 2 are RT/Duroid 5880 with lOr = 2.2 and tan () = 0.0009,
frequencies, which include sensitivity to blockage, but they have different thicknesses, as mentioned in [7].
propagation losses, shadowing, large-scale attenuation of
materials and human bodies, and atmospheric absorption. To The unit-cell element is simulated using the commercial

overcome these challenges, highly directional beamforming software ANSYS HFSS ver. 2014.0.2, and fabricated using

185 978-1-4673-8801-6/16/$31.00 20161EEE

the conventional photolithographic process. Fig. 2 illustrates
the simulated and fabricated unit-cell prototype. The feed-line
is extended to avoid the impacts of the coaxial connection on
the pattern during measurements. The connector used is a 2.4
mm SMK operating up to 50 GHz. Three plastic screws are
used for layers' alignment.

The simulated and measured scattering parameters (SII) of

the antenna element are demonstrated in Fig. 3. The (a)

measurements show impedance bandwidth even wider than

the simulations, which are equal to 28.1 % and 34.48 % for the
simulation and measurements, respectively. The measured
antenna gain is equal to 7.1 dB at 28 GHz with I-dB gain
bandwidth equal to 17.4 %. The far-field radiation patterns at
28 GHz are depicted in Fig. 4. The measured cross-polarized
levels are less than -15 dB and -10 dB in the E-plane and H
plane, respectively. The discrepancies between the simulation
and measurement results are mainly due to the fabrication
tolerances, especially at Ka-band, and the antenna alignment
(b) (e)
error during measurements.

Fig. 2. Unit-cell element prototype, (a) simulation model, (b) fabricated

layers, and (c) fabricated prototype.
o ,---------------------------------_,

-5

-10
iii' -15

;- -20
<J) -25
-30

-35
Srnulation
-40 easureent
- 4 5
24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35
r.cq(GHz)
o Rogers 5880 (I::r=2.2, tan=0.0009)

Periect Electric Conductor Fig. 3 . Scattering parameter SII of the unit-cell element.
Acrylic Polymer
E-plane

Fig. I. Structure of the unit-cell element [7] .

III. SUBARRAy DESIGN AND DISCUSSION

The proposed unit-cell element is used to design a 1 by 4

subarray, which is simulated using HFSS. Fig. 5 illustrates the
subarray structure and its feed network. One more layer is
added beneath the ground plane to design the feed network of
-150 -100 -50 0 50 100 150
the subarray. The feedline of each element is transferred to the Theta (degrees)
feed network layer though a via, as shown in Fig. 5 (b). The (al
feed network is designed so that a uniform distribution is
applied to all elements. Quarter wavelength tapered lines are
used in the feed network for wideband impedance matching.
The main challenge of this design is to maintain good
boresight gain over the matching bandwidth.

The reflection coefficient of the subarray is demonstrated

in Fig. 6, which shows the SII better than -lO dB from 23.5 to
3l.8 GHz. The simulated gain ranges from 1l.l dB to 12 dB
in the frequency band 28 GHz - 32 GHz, and the I-dB gain
-150 -100 -50 0 50 100 150
bandwidth is 21.2 %, as shown in Fig. 7. The far-field Theta (degrees)
radiation patterns at 28 GHz are presented in Fig. 8. The half (b)
power beam widths (HPBW) are equal to 90 and 28 in the E
plane and H-plane, respectively. The cross-polarized levels are Fig. 4. Far-field radiation patterns of the unit-cell element, (a) E-plane,
less than -35 dB and -20 dB in the E-plane and H-plane, and (b) H-plane.
respectively.

186
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9
(a) 0. O
:-:
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:-:
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:-:- O-----:3:-:- 0"':: O ----::
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Fig. 7. Simulated gain of the subarray antenna.

'-;:C;---::Tl

ill-.l-D@
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Fccdtinc(Conlinu t

(b)

Fccdlillc Fccdl_inc Extension

Via

-150 -100 -50 0 50 100 ISO

Thcta (degrecs)
(c)

Fig. 8. Simulated far-field radiation patterns of the subarray antenna at 28

Fig. 5. Structure of the subarray antenna, (a) simulation model, (b)
feedline structure, and (c) overall feed network.
IV. CONCLUSION
This paper proposes a design of wideband 1 by 4 subarray
at mmW band, which is composed of proximity coupled stack
patches. The simulation and measurement results of the single
element antenna prototype were presented.
wideband performance of 34.48 % in terms of impedance
bandwidth, a gain equals to 7.1 dB at 28 GHz, and a I-dB gain
bandwidth equals to 17.4 %. The proposed subarray achieves a
simulated impedance bandwidth equals to 30 %, a gain varies
between 11.1 dB to 12 dB from 28 GHz to 32 GHz, and a
simulated I-dB gain bandwidth equals to 21.2 %. The HPBW
of 90 and 28 are achieved in the E-plane and H-plane,
respectively. The cross-polarized levels are less than -35 dB
and -20 dB in the E-plane and H-plane, respectively. The
subarray fabrication and measurement is in progress and the
results will be presented in the conference. The proposed
subarray can be later used in the design of antenna arrays of
next generation mobile networks.
2.5o .,-------,=---,
5.00
7 .50
10 .00
1ii 12.50
15.00
17.50
GHz.
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Fig. 6. Simulated S" of the subarray antenna.

187