A Mobile Terminal Leaky-Wave Antenna for Efficient 5G Communication

The millimeter-wave 37-43.5GHz band is proposed to provide the requested multigigabit-per-second (Gb/s) data rates for future 5G cellular communications [1]. As a total wireless-link gain of 37 dBi may be required, the mobile terminal antennas should provide 12 dBi gain -being the remaining 25 dBi for the base station antennas- [2], [3]. This high gain is linked to the synthesis of narrow directive radiated beam, which must somehow be scanned into space over a wide field of view (FoV), and thus satisfy the mobility and coverage conditions. Such high-gain beam-scanning antenna design is very challenging, taking into account that high radiation efficiency, compact size/volume, and low-cost are key features for mass-market mm-wave applications. In this sense, most of the proposed 5G mobile-antenna solutions are based on phased arrays, which rely on active scanning/beam-forming networks which might be impractical due to an increase cost and manufacturing complexity. However, owning to their characteristics of high-gain, simple-feeding, planar structure, and inherent frequency-beam-scanning behavior, leaky-wave antennas (LWAs) might offer an interesting solution for high-gain low-cost scanning [4].