Dual-Broadband Dual-Polarized Shared-Aperture Magnetoelectric Dipole Antenna for 5G Applications

Abstract

A dual-broadband dual-polarized magnetoelectric dipole (ME-dipole) antenna with a shared aperture for 5G applications is proposed in this communication. The antenna is operated at the 2.35–3.93 GHz (N41 and N78) and 24–34 GHz (N257 and N258) dual fifth-generation (5G) bands. Each band exhibits a dual-polarized radiation, and more importantly, the two bands shared the same radiation aperture. In the millimeter-wave (MM-wave) band, the proposed antenna can generate two-dimensional (2-D) multiple beams with dual-polarization, and the switching range at each plane is about ±20°. The antenna is composed of two kinds of ME-dipole. The MM-wave band uses an ME-dipole feeding through the substrate-integrated waveguide (SIW) as the source to excite four horn antennas with inclined inner walls to achieve high-gain 2-D switching with dual-polarization. The lower frequency band combines the four horn antennas to achieve a large dual-polarized ME-dipole antenna. The antenna operating mechanism and the design procedure are illustrated in detail. The measured results show that a −10 dB impedance bandwidth of 33.91% (24–33.91 GHz) and 50.31% (2.35–3.93 GHz) is achieved. The peak gain of the proposed antenna in the two bands is 10.67 dBi (3.8 GHz) and 14.85 dBi (32.2 GHz), respectively. Due to the robust characteristics of the ME-dipole and horn antenna, the antenna shows a stable pattern and a wide impedance bandwidth, which covers most of the current 5G microwave and MM-wave bands. The antenna features a shared aperture, large frequency ratio, dual-broadband, dual-polarization, and 2-D multiple beams, which are well suited for the 5G base station applications.