Miniature Dual-Band Substrate Integrated Waveguide Slotted Antenna Array for Millimeter-Wave 5G Applications

Abstract

A compact substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) antenna array that operates at 28 GHz and 38 GHz is proposed for fifth generation (5G) applications. The proposed array consists of four SIW cavities fabricated on one single layer of substrate. Each cavity implements a rhombic slot and a triangular-split-ring slot, resonating on TE101 and TE102 modes at 28 GHz and 38 GHz, respectively. In comparison with dual-band SIW antennas in the literature, the proposed configuration depicts a miniature footprint (28.7 × 30.8 mm2) without stacking substrates. To excite the four cavities with equal power, a broadband power divider that supports the propagation of TE10 mode is designed. Accordingly, the impedance bandwidths are 26.6–28.3 GHz and 36.8–38.9 GHz. The measured realized peak gain over the lower and higher bands is 9.3–10.9 dBi and 8.7–12.1 dBi, respectively. The measured half-power beam widths (HPBWs) at 28 GHz and 38 GHz are 20.7° and 15.0°, respectively. Considering these characteristics, including dual bands, high gain, narrow beam widths, miniaturization, and single layer, the proposed antenna array is a suitable candidate for millimeter-wave 5G communication systems with the flexibility in switching operating frequency bands against channel quality variations.