Fixed frequency beam‐steering using bow‐tie slot based dielectric filled waveguide antenna array

Abstract

Abstract The paper presents a new practical design for a 4 × 1 planar switched array of dielectric filled waveguide antennas loaded with bow‐tie shaped slots operating at 26.5 to 29.5 GHz for 5G millimetre‐wave applications. The design is realized as a three‐layered architecture, with the top layer behaving as a radiator, the bottom layer as a feed network and a control circuit; and a common ground plane in the middle layer, offering a small form factor. The bow‐tie slots are used to achieve suitable bandwidth with a stable gain of ∼ 13 dBi. The proposed dielectric filled waveguide (DFW) is shown to offer a 5 deg/GHz freq.‐controlled beam‐sweep and a 70° fixed freq. beam‐steer. With only three switching ICs, it offers low power consumption and fast beam‐steering. Further, a combination of freq.‐controlled beam‐scanning and fixed‐freq. beam‐steering allows for a wide coverage of the antenna.