Design of 2×2 microstrip patch array antenna for 5G

C-band access point applications

Wen-Shan Chen and Yung-Chi Lin
Department of Electronic Engineering
Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Tainan City, Taiwan.
chenws@stust.edu.tw, ma630115@stust.edu.tw

Abstract—The paper presents a design of 2×2 microstrip Then, a microstrip feeding network with the quarter-wave
patch array antenna for 5G C-band access point applications. impedance transformers is used to equally distribute the power
The array uses the element of rectangular microstrip antenna to the four microstrip antennas so as to improve the antenna's
with two vertical slots for 5G C-Band (3.4 – 3.6GHz) application. directivity and gain. By introducing the two vertical slots on
A microstrip feed network to feed the antenna array are also the microstrip antenna to enhance the bandwidth to meet the
implemented in the design. The antenna array with low profile 5G C-band. Fig. 2 shows the simulated and measured S11 of
and simple structure is a good candidate of antenna for 5G C- the antenna array. The simulated S11, gain, radiation
band access point applications. efficiency, and radiation pattern are performed by using the
High Frequency Structure Simulator (HFSS) electromagnetic
Keywords—Patch antenna, Patch array antenna, 5G, C-band simulation software. The simulated and measured S11 of the
antenna array less than -10dB can cover the 5G C-band(3.4 –
I. INTRODUCTION 3.6GHz).
The 4th generation of mobile communication technology
standards (4G) is to satisfy people's needs. The trend is move
toward to the new generation. The 5th generation mobile
networks (5G) is proposed and developed. The speed of 5G
will be 100 times faster than that of 4G. The 5G is an
attractive topic for wireless systems. The microstrip antenna
has the advantages of low cost, space-saving, and easier
manufacturing. However, the design of single element of
microstrip antenna cannot meet the requirement of access
point applications. Therefore, an antenna array with
microstrip antennas is adopted in the design.
5G C-Band (3.4 – 3.6GHz) is a high-frequency signal and (a)
announced by WRC-15. Four elements (A design of 2x2
microstrip array) of microstrip antennas with two vertical slots
improves the antenna's directivity and gain. The detailed
antenna array design will be discussed in the paper.

II. ANTENNA ARRAY AND RESULTS

The geometry of the design of 2×2 microstrip patch array

for 5G C-band access point applications is shown in Fig. 1.
The overall size of the design is 88.5mm × 88.5mm × 1.6mm
(L × W × H) and printed on Flame Retardant 4(FR4), with a
relative permittivity of 4.4, and a loss tangent of 0.024. Table I
lists the dimension of the antenna array. The antenna is fed by
50-Ω SMA. The antenna array uses the rectangular microstrip
structure with two slots for 5G C-Band (3.4 – 3.6GHz)
applications. The rectangular microstrip is designed with the (b)
dimension of the width (W) and the length (L) at 3.4GHz.
Fig. 1. (a) Geometry of single element patch antenna and patch array antenna.
(b) feeding network of a 2 × 2 microstrip patch array antenna.

978-1-5386-4834-6/18/$31.00
Authorized ©2018Library.
licensed use limited to: Cornell University IEEE Downloaded on September 01,2020 at 18:10:20 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
TABLE I. DETAILED DIMENSIONS OF THE PROPOSED ANTENNA ARRAY

(b) (c)
Fig. 3. (a) Simulated gain and radiation efficiency of the proposed antenna.
S parameter(dB)

-5
(b) Simulated radiaion pattern at 3.45GHz of the proposed antenna. (c)
Simulated radiaion pattern at 3.57GHz of the proposed antenna.

-10
III. CONCLUSION
Simulated The design of 2×2 microstrip patch array antenna for 5G
M easured
C-band access point applications have been proposed. The
-15
3 3.2 3.4 3.6 3.8 4 simulated and measured S11 of the antenna array meets the
Frequency(GHz) band of 5G C-band. The simulated radiation pattern is
directional, and the maximum value of the simulated gain is
Fig. 2. Simulated and measured S parameters (S11) of the proposed antenna.
5.37dBi. The antenna array with low cost, space-saving, and
Fig. 3(a) shows the simulated gain and radiation easy manufacturing is suitable for practical applications in 5G
efficiency of the antenna. The maximum value of the access point applications.
simulated gain is about 5.37dBi and radiation efficiency is
about 30%. Fig. 3(b)-(c) show the simulated radiation patterns REFERENCES
of the antenna array at 3.45GHz and 3.57GHz. We can find [1] Norfishah Ab Wahab, Zulkifli Bin Maslan, Wan Norsyafizan W.
Muhamad, Norhayati Hamzah, “Microstrip Rectangular 4x1 Patch
that the four element microstrip antennas with feeding the Array Antenna at 2.5GHz for WiMax Application,” 2010 2nd
same phase, the antenna pattern is concentrated in the +Z International Conference on Computational Intelligence,
direction to increase the directivity of the design. Communication Systems and Networks, pp. 164-168, November
2010.
6 100 [2] Zainal Muludi, Budi Aswoyo, “Truncated Microstrip Square Patch
Array Antenna 2 x 2 Elements with Circular Polarization for S-Band
5 Microwave Frequency,” 2017 International Electronics Symposium on
80
Radiation Efficiency (%)

Engineering Technology and Applications (IES-ETA), pp. 87-92,

Antenna Gain (dBi)

4 September 2017.
60
[3] Yasin Ipekoglu, O. Mert Yucedag, Safak Saraydemir, Hasan Kocer,
3
“Microstrip Patch Antenna Array Design for C-Band Electromagnetic
40 Fence Applications,” 2015 9th International Conference on Electrical
2
and Electronics Engineering (ELECO), pp. 355-358, November 2015.
1
20 [4] Amitha R. Nair, Bharati A. Singh, S. S. Thakur, “Design of
Peak Gain
Radiation Efficiency Rectangular Microstrip 4x2 Patch Array Antenna at 2.4 GHz for
0 0
WLAN Application,” 2015 Second International Conference on
3.35 3.4 3.45 3.5 3.55 3.6 Advances in Computing and Communication Engineering, pp. 53-56,
Frequency (GHz) May 2015.
[5] A. A. Sharatol Ahmad Shah, N. H. Abd Rahman, M. T. Ali, N. F.
(a) Fauzi, A. A. Ab Aziz, “Beam Scanning of Phased Array Antenna
using Phase Modification Method for Satellite Application,” 2016
IEEE Asia-Pacific Conference on Applied Electromagnetics
(APACE), pp. 291-295, December 2016.
[6] A. Azman, M. Z. A. Abd Aziz, M. K. Suaidi, A. Salleh, H.
Nornikman, F. Malek, “Design 2 x 2 Patch Array with L Slot Antenna
for WiMAX and WLAN,” 2015 International Conference on
Computer, Communications, and Control Technology (I4CT), pp.
455-458, April 2015.

978-1-5386-4834-6/18/$31.00
Authorized ©2018Library.
licensed use limited to: Cornell University IEEE Downloaded on September 01,2020 at 18:10:20 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.