Reconfigurable Dual-Polarized Beam-Steering Broadband Antenna Using a Crossed-Strips Geometry

• Published in: IEEE antennas and wireless propagation letters 2021-08, Vol.20 (8), p.1379-1383
• Main Authors: Ramirez, German A., Zhou, Ivan, Blanch, Sebastian, Towfiq, Md. Asaduzzaman, Cetiner, Bedri A., Romeu, Jordi, Jofre-Roca, Luis
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 5G mobile communication; 5G new radio; Antenna measurements; Antennas; Bandwidth; Beam steering; beam-steering antennas; Beams (radiation); Broadband; broadband antennas; Broadband communication; Directive antennas; Dual polarization (waves); dual-polarization antennas; FR-1 (sub -6 GHz); Frequency ranges; multiport antennas; Parasitic elements (antennas); Prototypes; reconfigurable antennas; Reconfiguration; Stability analysis
• ISSN: 1536-1225; 1548-5757
• DOI: 10.1109/LAWP.2021.3081065

In this letter, a reconfigurable dual-polarized broadband antenna with beam-steering capabilities using a parasitic layer is proposed for 5G new radio (NR) frequency range 1 (FR-1) applications. The antenna is a dual-port aperture-stacked patch structure with symmetrical orthogonal (horizontal and vertical) currents. The beam-steering is achieved by a pair of reconfigurable cross-shaped parasitic strips, which bestow the antenna three main beam directions \theta =\lbrace {\sim} {-}25^{\circ },0^{\circ }, {\sim} 25^{\circ }\rbrace, \phi =\lbrace 0^{\circ }\rbrace with pointing and gain ( 7 dB) stability across a 30 \% impedance bandwidth (S_{11}, S_{22} < -10 dB) from 3.2 - 4.3 GHz for both ports/polarizations. A prototype of the antenna is manufactured and measured demonstrating results in accordance with simulation expectations.