5G Beam-Switchable Array With Full Spatial Coverage Employing Wideband Bow-Tie Antenna

This paper presents a single-substrate perforated antipodal bow-tie antenna element for indoor 5G applications. The proposed antenna operates in the 22.5–29.88 GHz frequency range, covering three main New Radio 5G bands, n257, n258, and n261. The antenna is fabricated on a Rogers 4003C substrate using affordable printed circuit board technology. The proposed antenna is aided with a curved ground plane serving as a semi-parabolic reflector to enhance the directivity in the end-fire direction and to keep the side lobe level below −10 dB along the entire bandwidth of operation. The fabricated prototype is measured and compared with simulations. The measured fractional bandwidth is 30.4% and the measured gain is 7.56 dBi at 28.5 GHz. The measured gain exhibits a variation of only 1.27 dB across the 24–30 GHz band while maintaining low side-lobe levels throughout the entire bandwidth. A beam-switchable array of seven bow-tie antenna elements is realized. Each element is rotated 30° with respect to the adjacent element. This results in beam steering in steps of 30° in the azimuth scanning range from −90° to 90°. The array measurements demonstrate its ability to control the direction of the radiation beam. This is accompanied by high gain, low side lobe level for all seven radiation patterns, and high isolation between the seven ports feeding the elements of the array. The proposed array offers a compact and efficient solution for next-generation wireless communication networks.