Linear Phased Metamaterial Incorporated Patch Antenna Array at 28 GHz for 5G Base Stations

Abstract

This article presents a 1×6 linear phased antenna array implemented with metamaterial incorporated patch antennas for 5G base stations. The single element antenna was modelled on Rogers RT/duroid 5880 substrate in the dimensions of 7.8×7.8×0.254 mm3 with metamaterial incorporated partial ground plane and complementary metamaterial incorporated patch. This metamaterial incorporated antenna structure is resonating in 22.03–33.55 GHz at central frequency of 28 GHz with 40% impedance bandwidth with respect to the –10 dB return losses. With aim to design a radiating structure for 5G base stations and in order to enhance the gain, a six element phased array was developed using the abovementioned single element antenna with inter element spacing 7.8 mm between the adjacent antenna elements. In the analysis of this phased array, we observed acceptable diversity parameters (isolation, ECC, DG, CCL, and MEG) and presented beam steering capabilities by changing the phase difference between the adjacent ports. The proposed six element phased array antenna is capable to steer the beam to ±43.5° and capable to cover 5G NR n-257, n-258 and n-261 bands with significant gain and efficiency.