Chunxu Mao

In this paper, a compact, broadband, planar array antenna with omnidirectional radiation in horizontal plane is proposed for the 26 GHz fifth-generation (5G) broadcast applications. The antenna element is composed of two dipoles and a substrate integrated cavity (SIC) as the power splitter. The two dipoles are placed side-by-side at both sides of the SIC and they are compensated with each other to form an omni-directional pattern in horizontal plane. By properly combing the resonant frequencies of the dipoles and the SIC, a wide impedance bandwidth from 24 to 29.5 GHz is achieved. To realize a large array while reducing the complexity, loss and size of the feeding network, a novel dual-port structure combined with radiation and power splitting functions is proposed for the 1st time. The amplitude and phase on each element of the array can be tuned, and therefore, the grating lobes level can be significantly reduced. Based on the dual-port structure, an 8-element array with an enhanced gain of over 12 dBi is designed and prototyped. The proposed antenna also features low profile, low weight and low cost, which is desirable for 5G commercial applications. Measured results agree well with the simulations, showing that the proposed high-gain array antenna has a broad bandwidth, omni-directional pattern in horizontal plane, and low side-lobes.

This communication proposes a compact, low-profile patch antenna with omni-directional radiation pattern and vertical polarization. A pair of shorted patches are excited in-phase to achieve the omni-directivity and the vertical polarization, simultaneously. The principle is to excite two back-to-back arranged shorted patches to generate symmetrical electric field (E-field) distributions normal to the ground plane. Analytical study on how to generate the omni-directional radiation pattern is carried out. Base on this study, we found the spacing in-between the two patches have little influence on the radiation characteristics, which provides another flexibility in the design. In addition, the shape of the patch and the corresponding field distribution are investigated to further improve the omni-directivity. To improve the impedance bandwidth, resonant structures are inserted in-between the patches, producing the 2nd order response in frequency. The antenna has been fabricated and characterized, and the measured results are in a reasonable agreement with the simulations, showing that the proposed antenna is suitable for potential surface-mount wireless applications.

In this paper, a high-gain phased array antenna with wide-angle beam-scanning capability is proposed for fifth- generation (5G) millimeter-wave applications. First, a novel, end-fire, dual-port antenna element with dual functionalities of radiator and power splitter is designed. The element is composed a substrate integrated cavity (SIC) and a dipole based on it. The resonant frequencies of the SIC and dipole can be independently tuned to broaden the impedance bandwidth. Based on this dual-port element, a 4-element subarray can be easily constructed without resorting to a complicated feeding network. The end-fire subarray features broad beam-width of over 180 degrees, high isolation, and low profile, rendering it suitable for wide-angle beam-scanning applications in the H-plane. In addition, the methods of steering the radiation pattern downwards or upwards in the E-plane are investigated. As a proof-of-concept, two phased array antennas each consisting of eight subarrays are designed and fabricated to achieve the broadside and wide-angle beam-scanning radiation. Thanks to the elimination of surface wave, the mutual coupling between the subarrays can be reduced for improving the scanning angle while suppressing the side-lobe level. The experimental predictions are validated by measurement results, showing that the beam of the antenna can be scanned up to 65 degrees with a scanning loss only 3.7 dB and grating lobe less than -15 dB.

A multifunctional antenna with diverse radiation patterns in different frequency bands (2.45/5.8 GHz) is presented in this paper. The antenna has a low profile but exhibits an omni-directional radiation pattern in the low-band operation and uni-directional pattern in the high-band operation. For the high-band operation, a 2 × 2 patch arrays are designed by employing a out-of-phase feeding method. The low-band operation with the omni-directional pattern is achieved by exciting four open-ended slots in-phase. The four slots are slit in the ground of the high-band array and in this way, this footprint of the antenna is maintained. The operating principles of the antenna are studied with the aid of equivalent circuit model and the current distribution. The antenna is prototyped and measured, demonstrating good results in terms of bandwidths, inter-channel isolation, radiation characteristics.

In this paper, a single-layer planar antenna with vertical polarization and omni-directional radiation is proposed for wearable applications. The antenna consists of two identical shorted patches which are face-to-face located and fed by a microstrip line at the center. Due to the structural symmetry, the current distribution and electric-field distribution are symmetrical regarding the feed, which result in vertical linear polarization normal to the antenna and omni-directional radiation pattern in the azimuthal plane. To verify the design concept, an antenna prototype operating at 2.45 GHz is designed, fabricated and tested. Measured results concur well with the simulations, showing that the antenna has a good impedance matching, omnidirectional radiation pattern, and vertical polarization in the band of interest. The proposed antenna can be a good candidate for wearable and other wireless communication systems.

In this paper, a compact, highly integrated multiplexing filtering antenna operating at 4.7/5.2/6.0/6.6 GHz is proposed for the first time. Different from traditional antennas, the proposed antenna has one shared radiator but four ports working in different frequency bands and thus, it can simultaneously support four different transmission channels. The proposed multiplexing antenna is composed of a patch with a U-shaped slot, two substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) cavities, and four resonator-based frequency-selective paths. The resonator-based paths can not only enhance the inter-channel isolations but also improve the impedance bandwidth. The design principles and the methods of controlling the four operating bands are studied. Measurement results agree reasonably well with the simulations, showing four channels from 4.5 to 4.8 GHz, 5.1 to 5.3 GHz, 5.85 to 6.3 GHz, and 6.4 to 6.6 GHz, respectively. The antenna also exhibits a high isolation of over 25 dB between the channels. In addition, the proposed antenna has a consistent broadside radiation pattern and polarization in the four bands, manifesting the proposed multiplexing filtering antenna can be a promising candidate for multi-service wireless communication systems.