Planar Array Topologies for 5G Communications in Ku Band [Wireless Corner]

Several low-cost feeding network configurations have been tested for an antenna array eligible for a 5G communication environment. Microstrip and substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) technologies have been evaluated in the feeding network and compared in terms of dielectric loss and directivity performance. Although microstrip dielectric loss is lower, a higher gain value is obtained with an SIW feeding network due to the directivity maximization. Three gain values have been implemented with different array sizes of 4 × 4, 8 × 8, and 16 × 16 radiating elements with a two-level corporate feeding network (CFN) in SIW and microstrip technologies. Measured matching bandwidth under -10 dB more than 20%, whereas the -1-dB gain bandwidth is 6%.