Electronically beam steerable lens antenna for 71–76/81–86 GHz backhaul applications

Design of an electronically beam steerable integrated lens antenna suitable for 71-76/81-86 GHz backhaul applications is presented. The lens is made from a thermoplastic material and has the aperture size (diameter) of 260 mm ensuring a half power beam width below 1°. The beam steering capability is provided by an antenna array of 4 microstrip patch feed elements and a single pole four through MMIC switch mounted on a high frequency printed circuit board. The half-power (-3 dB) overlapping level of the adjacent beams is achieved by selecting a proper distance between the feed elements in the array. The lens antenna has a WR-12 waveguide interface and can be easily integrated with traditional millimeter-wave radio systems. Measurement results of the fabricated lens antenna prototype with electronic beam steering are provided. A successful trial of the prototype was performed with a commercial 71-76/81-86 GHz system during a 3-month test at a mobile operator's network.