Pattern reconfigurable millimeter-wave antenna design for 5G handset applications

This paper presents a pattern reconfigurable antenna operating in the 36∼40 GHz band. It is projected to be used on handheld devices for future 5G wireless communications. The proposed design is a multi-antenna system, which comprises a reconfigurable power divider that excites one or multiple antennas according to system's commands. The diversified antenna excitation combinations provide various radiation patterns to meet the wideband mobile communication need of the future 5G handset. The main challenge is to maintain a proper matching condition under different excitation configurations. In the proposed design, a simple matching circuit is employed to match all cases. A total of fifteen radiation patterns is provided with a four-antenna system.