Multiband Antenna Design for 5G Access Points

Abstract

The new and futuristic technologies like IoT, driverless cars, smart cities etc. will require a robust wireless network which can provide ultra-high data rates, wider coverage, massive connectivity and low latency. 5G standard is envisioned to provide these required features. Apart from a new network paradigm, the 5G standard is also using new frequency bands at its RF-front end including the millimeter-wave bands. This makes the design of antennas for 5G a challenging task. The antennas for 5G system are required to cover widely spaced bands in the sub-6 GHz region and the mm-wave region. The design is also dictated by the device size and performance requirements. An important part in the 5G network is the access point which function as a transition between the base station and the users in a small cell of indoor environment. This work focus on the design of antenna for 5G access points. It covers both the sub-6 GHz bands and the mm-wave bands in a small form and low profile. Two designs are proposed in this thesis for the 5G access point application. The first design compact planar four-element antenna each at the corner of the substrate array with orthogonal beams pointing in four directions of the substrate integrated with four-element mm-wave antenna array is proposed in this design. In the design 1, Slot antenna plays dual role as a slotted ground for 4G and high gain slot antenna array for 5G. SIW-based horn antenna work as mm-wave antenna in the design 2 integrated with same 4G MIMO antenna. Proposed design is dual-band simple, compact, planar in structure and based on a single substrate and ground hence, can be useful for future wireless handheld devices and access point applications.