Compact, omni-directional, circularly-polarized mm-Wave antenna for device-to-device (D2D) communications in future 5G cellular systems

Abstract

A simple, compact, omni-directional, circularly-polarized (CP) millimeter-wave antenna for Device-to-Device (D2D) communications in the next generation (5G) cellular systems is reported. It is a CP omni-directional antenna operating at 28 GHz for mobile terminals. The antenna combines a vertical electric monopole element with four magnetic elements to coherently excite parallel electric and magnetic dipoles. This combination generates the omni-directional CP radiation. The overlapping −10-dB impedance and 3-dB axial ratio (AR) bandwidth is from 27 to 28.5 GHz, which covers the 28 GHz frequency band proposed for 5G mobile cellular networks (i.e., from 27.5 to 28.35 GHz). The antenna has an omni-directional radiation pattern at 28 GHz whose peak realized RHCP gain is 2.08 dBic and whose 3-dB AR beamwidth is wide, from elevation angles 3° to 136°. Mass production of the antenna is possible by PCB manufacturing technologies. The overall size is 3.44 mm × 3.44 mm × 1 mm (ka = 1.1017). Consequently, it could be embedded in many current popular, smart wireless devices such as cell phones, laptops, digital watches, and smart glasses as well as their future versions for operation in 5G cellular networks.