Compact Beam-Steerable Antenna Array With Two Passive Parasitic Elements for 5G Mobile Terminals at 28 GHz

A compact beam-steerable antenna array is proposed for 28 GHz mobile terminals. The proposed array consists of one active element and two passive parasitic elements. Two switches are utilized in the design instead of phase shifters. Each parasitic element can be terminated with short-circuited transmission lines of different lengths via one switch. By controlling the two switches, different reactive impedance is loaded on two parasitic elements. The radiation pattern of the active element can be scattered into different directions by two parasitic elements. The switching loss is studied, where two switches with 2.8 dB loss cause less than 1.82 dB loss for the whole array. The small array locations on the chassis are also investigated. The designed array is smaller than 0.81 wavelength, and covers the band of 28-29 GHz with the scan angle ≥±90°. By placing two arrays on each long chassis edge, 360° beam steering can be realized. Surface currents on the chassis are efficiently excited to achieve high gain with the small array. Measurements are carried out and align well with simulations. In practical applications, several small arrays can be implemented on the metal back cover and around a cellphone to combat users' mobility.