Modified Wilkinson Power Divider and dipole antenna for beamforming systems at 5.8 GHz

Abstract

Beamforming front-ends are an attractive technology because it concentrates its radiated power in one direction, which can improve energy efficiency and reduce undesirable interference. In this context, electronic beamforming systems have lower cost than mechanical ones. Knowing the uses of directive antennas and power dividers in electronic beamforming systems, this work aims at the design, simulation and measurements of these components at 5.8 GHz. Measurements with Power Divider showed very good return and insertion losses at 5.8 GHz: S11 = -23.5 dB and S21 = -3.8 dB. A printed dipole antenna was then fabricated, presenting -14.6 dB of return losses and a 2.82 dBi gain. Later, a 2-antenna beamforming front-end was implemented, proving the beamforming capability with the proposed devices. It also presented S11 = -15.7 dB, and a high directive gain (10.3 dBi). Since this is still a preliminary work, the results presented are very promising.