A Dual-Polarized 27-dBi Scanning Lens Phased Array Antenna for 5G Point-to-Point Communications

A dual-polarized 4 x 4 scanning phased array antenna with leaky-wave enhanced lenses operating at 28 GHz is presented. Such an antenna can be used for point-to-point fifth-generation (5G) communications that require high gain, wide bandwidth (BW), and limited steering ranges. The proposed array has a periodicity of two wavelengths, and the resulting grating lobes are suppressed by directive and steerable array element patterns. To achieve a low-cost and low-profile solution, the leaky-wave antenna feeds are designed in printed circuit board and the lenses are made of plastic. The lenses are optimized in the near-field region of the feeds, with the goal of maximizing the array element aperture efficiency. The array performance obtained from the proposed approach is validated by full-wave simulations, showing a 27.5 dBi broadside gain at 28 GHz and a steering capability up to ±20° with 2 dB of scan loss. An antenna prototype was fabricated and measured. Measurement results are in excellent agreement with full-wave simulations. The prototype antenna, at broadside, achieves a 20% relative BW and a gain of 26.2 dBi.