Abstract
In this paper, we propose a ball grid array (BGA) module with an integrated 3-D-printed plastic lens antenna for application in a dedicated 130 GHz OOK transceiver that targets the area of 5G backhaul/fronthaul systems. The main design goal was the full integration of a small footprint antenna with an energy-efficient transceiver. The antenna system must be compact and cost effective while delivering an approximately 30 dBi gain in the working band, defined as 120 to 140 GHz. Accordingly, a $2 \times 2$ array of aperture-coupled patch antennas was designed in the $7 \times 7 \times 0.362$ mm3 BGA module as the feed antenna of the lens. This achieved a 7.8 dBi realized gain, broadside polarization purity above 20 dB, and over 55% total efficiency from 110 to 140 GHz (20% bandwidth). A plastic elliptical lens 40 mm in diameter and 42.3 mm in height was placed on top of the BGA module. The antenna achieved a return loss better than −10 dB and a 28 dBi realized gain from 114 to 140 GHz. Finally, active measurements demonstrated a >12 Gbps Tx/Rx link at 5 m with bit error rate (BER) < 10−6 at 1.6 pJ/b/m. These results pave the way for future cost-effective, energy-efficient, high-data rate backhaul/fronthaul systems for 5G communications.
Highlights
Wireless communications are today essentials in everybody’s daily life
In this paper, we propose a ball grid array (BGA) module with integrated 3D-printed plastic lens and dedicated 120 GHz OOK transceiver for 5G Backhaul/Fronthaul applications
The 2×2 array of aperture-coupled patch antennas in the BGA module of 7×7×0.362 mm3 exhibits a -10dB matching over a 38% bandwidth (96-140 GHz), a measured realized gain above 7.8 dBi from 110 to 140 GHz, a fair polarization purity of 20 dB and a total efficiency higher than 55% within the same frequency band
Summary
Wireless communications are today essentials in everybody’s daily life. In the never-ending race to deliver higher data rate to the users and simultaneous efficient connections within a given area, the concept of 5G has emerged as a natural evolution of the 4G standard [1,2]. In order to improve the efficiency of the wireless network there is a trend to pool baseband resources (C-RAN concept) which put additional pressure on the data rate required by fronthaul (10 s of Gb/s may be required depending the configuration) All these observations demonstrate that cost-effective, energy efficient, high-capacity, easy-to-deploy point-to-point wireless links at mmW are necessary for the proper deployment of the 5G infrastructure. Considering the fact that 10 Gbps data rates might be necessary between small cells or between a small cell and the core network to satisfy the user’s need by 2020 [23], it seems to be a logical approach that researcher, today investigate the available mmW frequency bands above 100 GHz to achieve suitable backhaul/fronthaul links for 5G standards. The paper ends by a conclusion and possible future improvements of the integrated system
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