Low-dispersive Leaky-wave Antennas: A Viable Approach for Fifth Generation (5G) mmWave Base Station Antennas
Abstract: In this work, a method to achieve reduced beam-squint in fully metallic leaky-wave antennas is proposed and its applicability for high frequency, high gain, base station antennas in future communication networks is indicated. The antenna is built in gap waveguide technology, where the fundamental mode is allowed to leak by removal of one of the waveguide walls. The leakage is varied along the structure for reduced side lobes and a stable radiation pattern is obtained by coupling the leaked energy from the waveguide through a dispersive prism-lens. The gap waveguide is formed as a groove, sided by three rows of a glide-symmetric holey EBG-structure on one side, suppressing propagation of waves in that direction, and one row of vertical square pins, with tailored heights for optimal leakage, on the other. Beyond the single row of tailored pins, a prism-lens is placed. The prism lens is made of multiple rows of equally spaced and dimensioned, vertical square pins. The dispersive nature of the TE10-mode inside the waveguide is canceled by the oppositely dispersive prism-lens and a stable radiation beam (<1 degree beam-squint) is achieved over a 20% bandwidth. Two antennas are realized, both operating with a center frequency of roughly 60 GHz. The first design is optimized for single-beam operation such that the achieved efficiency is close to 90% across the band and the side lobe levels are below -20 dB. The second design is optimized for dual-beam operation such that two highly directive beams can be obtained, simultaneously or separately. The second design is placed in a 1D-array configuration for electrical beam-steering in one plane, and beam-switching in the orthogonal plane. The two antennas are simulated using CST Microwave Studio.
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