Toward Eco-Design of a 5G mmWave Transmitarray Antenna Based on Life Cycle Assessment

5G is seen as one technology enabler to support the expected exponential internet data-traffic growth while digitization environmental impacts are growing. Base stations are estimated to represent the main contributor to mobile internet access network carbon footprint. In this work, life cycle assessment (LCA) of a 26 GHz transmitarray antenna is described taking into consideration the geographical location of the antenna use and providing eco-design leads to researchers, designers, LCA practitioners and industrials. Results show that energy consumption during operation is the main source of impact (between 72% and 94% for most impacts), while the material depletion is largely generated by the manufacturing process (99.3%). As a result, the eco-design must focus on product energy efficiency as well as material depletion during manufacturing. The impact of usage is highly dependent on the location due to the diverse electricity mix of countries. An eco-design solution using phase-change material (PCM) technology switches is compared to a conventional approach using GaAs p-in diodes. These results pave the way for reducing the impacts of transmitarray antennas and are a first step towards more sustainable solutions for millimeter wave (mmWave) networks.