Design and Performance Evaluation of Beamforming Antenna for 5G and 6G Base Station Applications

Exploring millimeter-wave (mmWave) frequencies for next-generation wireless communication systems, such as 5G and forthcoming 6G networks, is due to continuous need for better data rates and lower latency. This paper presents the design and performance evaluation of an advanced 60 GHz uniform rectangular phased array antenna (PRA) that is designed to meet the demands of 5G and 6G deployments. The geometry of antenna contains 8 × 8 (64) patch elements printed on Rogers RT Duroid 5880 substrate, having relative permittivity and Spacing between elements are 2.2 and λ/2 respectively. The overall dimensions of the PRA is 4λ × 4λ, where lambda is wavelength at lowest frequency (60 GHz). Patch elements and ground plane are made of copper. PRA is designed and optimized to produce a gain greater than 28 dBi and steer its radiating beam in angular span of ±45° which will support reliable and steady signal transmission in the mmWave (60 GHz) frequency band. The antenna also offers a wide operational bandwidth 58–62GHz (4 GHz). Proposed antenna antenna is expected to improve cellular network capacity and coverage due to its wider bandwidth, gain, beamforming and beam switching capability and is therefore a suitable candidate antenna for 5G and 6G communication networks. MATLAB and CST Microwave Studio are used to run extensive simulations in order to verify the functionality of this concept.