Dual-Polarized Wide-Beam Antenna Array With Stable High Gain for WiFi-6E (U-NII 6-GHz) Communications

In this article, a dual-polarized wide-beam antenna array with stable high gain, designed for WiFi-6E communications is proposed. Each antenna element features a horizontal electric radiator patch placed on the top of the substrate, in which one part of this patch is excited by the inner core of a coaxial cable, while the other part is fed by the outer conductor of an identical coaxial cable. This arrangement effectively extends the horizontal electric length, resulting in miniaturized characteristics. Moreover, an open box-shaped reflector, etched with notches, collaborates with the modified radiating patch to achieve low-profile, wide-beamwidth, and wideband features. Finally, a pair of symmetrical four-level T-junction power divider (PD) feeding networks are employed to excite an antenna array comprising
$1\times 16$
proposed antenna elements, accomplishing stable high gain and wide beamwidth in the XOZ-plane. Experimental results demonstrate that wide beamwidths in the XOZ-plane for dual input ports (
$100\pm 5^{\circ }$
,
$95\pm 5^{\circ }$
) with a stable high gain of
$18\pm 0.5$
dBi can be realized within the frequency bands of 5.5-7.4 GHz (29.5%). This coverage not only encompasses the entire WiFi-6E (U-NII 6-GHz) frequency band but also offers long-distance wide-area coverage.