Conformal Beam Steering Antenna Array for 5G Mobile Applications
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Millimeter-Wave Wide Band Antenna Array for 5G Mobile Applications by Lixia Chen A thesis submitted to the Ottawa Carleton Institute for Electrical and Computer Engineering in partial fulfillment to the thesis requirement for the degree of MASTER OF APPLIED SCIENCE in ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING University of Ottawa Ottawa, Ontario, Canada © Lixia Chen, Ottawa, Canada, 2019 ABSTRACT The thesis presents a compact, miniature, and low cost antenna array designed for millimeter- wave frequencies for future 5th generation (5G) mobile applications. The proposed antenna array is a geometrically modified structure of the Franklin array, which allowed to transform a conventional narrowband array into a wideband antenna array. It is composed of five millimetre- wave circular patch radiation elements with phasing stubs. The designed array, fabricated on the commercial Rogers RO3003 substrate with small form factor of 8x25x0.5 mm3, covers the upcoming 5G band of 23.6-30.3 GHz, with peak gain as 10.8 dB, and high radiation efficiency over the whole operating band. In addition, with frequency sweeping, the proposed antenna array radiation pattern is directive and offers beam steering at the desired angles, acting similarly as a leaky-wave antenna. Keywords— 5G, Franklin array, Beam steering, Millimeter wave, Phased array, Patch array. Page | ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to thank my supervisor Dr. Mustapha C.E. Yagoub for offering me the opportunity to work in his research group and to explore this interesting 5G topic. Professor Yagoub provided me constructive support and guidance during the research and the writing of this thesis. I would also like to thank Dr. Mourad Nedil for providing partial funding support from University of Quebec during the early stages of my studies. I also need to express my thanks to our lab coordinator Alain Le Hénaff for all the help he provided for antenna fabrication as well as to my colleague Neil Mcgowan for helping and coordinating me the test fixture and lab measurement equipment. Besides, Neil extended his help on valuable discussions and suggestions for the antenna design and tests. Last, but not least, I do appreciate my husband and kids for always being there for me, with solid supporting on my graduate studies from the beginning till the end. You made all this possible. Page | iii Contents ABSTRACT .........................................................................................................................................ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................... iii List of Figures ................................................................................................................................. vii List of Tables ................................................................................................................................... ix List of Variables ................................................................................................................................ x List of Acronyms ............................................................................................................................. xii Chapter 1. Introduction .............................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Technologies Evolution .................................................................................................... 1 1.2 5G Technologies ............................................................................................................... 3 1.3 Research Motivations ....................................................................................................... 5 1.4 Research Objectives ......................................................................................................... 7 1.5 Thesis Outlines ................................................................................................................. 8 Chapter 2. State of the Art ........................................................................................................ 10 2.1 Introduction to Antennas .................................................................................................... 10 2.2 Literature Review- Antenna for 5G ................................................................................ 13 2.3 Requirements for mobile antennas .................................................................................... 20 2.3.1 Operating Frequency Bandwidth ................................................................................. 20 2.3.2 Gain ............................................................................................................................... 23 2.3.3 Efficiency ....................................................................................................................... 25 2.3.4 Radiation Pattern .......................................................................................................... 26 2.3.5 Directivity ...................................................................................................................... 27 2.3.6 Polarization ................................................................................................................... 28 2.4 Typical Antenna types for mobile devices .......................................................................... 30 2.4.1 Dipoles and Monopoles ................................................................................................ 30 Page | iv 2.4.2 Loops and slots ............................................................................................................. 31 2.4.3 Planar antennas ............................................................................................................ 31 2.4.4 Microstrip antennas ..................................................................................................... 32 2.4.5 Bowtie antenna ............................................................................................................ 33 2.4.6 Log periodic antenna .................................................................................................... 33 2.4.7 Leak Wave Antenna (LWA) ........................................................................................... 34 2.4.8 Substrate Integrated Waveguide (SIW) ........................................................................ 34 2.5 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 35 Chapter 3. Radiating Element Design ....................................................................................... 36 3.1 Patch antenna for mobile devices ....................................................................................... 36 3.2 Patch Antenna using Rogers Substrate ............................................................................... 37 3.3 Patch Antenna Feeding Techniques .................................................................................... 40 3.3.1 Probe feed .................................................................................................................... 40 3.3.2 Microstrip feeds............................................................................................................ 41 3.3.3 Aperture coupling feed ................................................................................................. 43 3.3.4 Proximity coupling feed ................................................................................................ 44 3.4 Patch antenna models ......................................................................................................... 45 3.4.1 Transmission line model ............................................................................................... 45 3.4.2 Cavity model ................................................................................................................. 48 3.5 Antenna Quality Factor ....................................................................................................... 49 3.6 Rectangular patch and circular patch antenna comparison ............................................... 51 3.7 Circular Patch Radiation Element Design ............................................................................ 55 3.8 Linear antenna array with circular patch elements simulation .......................................... 56 3.9 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 61 Chapter 4. Collinear Microstrip Array with Circular Patches .................................................... 62 4.1 Franklin array with Circular patches ................................................................................... 62 Page | v 4.1.1 Why Franklin array ....................................................................................................... 62 4.1.2 Design dimensions ....................................................................................................... 62 4.2 Simulation results ................................................................................................................ 64 4.2.1 Operation bandwidth ................................................................................................... 64 4.2.2 Gain ..............................................................................................................................