Dual-Band Aperture-Shared High Gain Antenna for Millimeter-Wave Multi-Beam and Sub-6 GHz Communication Applications

Abstract

This communication presents a dual-band aperture-shared high gain antenna for millimeter-wave (mm-wave) multi-beam and sub-6 GHz applications by integrating transmitarray into Fresnel zone plate (FZP) lens. The transmistarray consists of two sets of unit cells (UCs), which can provide high transmission magnitude and [ <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$-\pi $ </tex-math></inline-formula> , <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\pi $ </tex-math></inline-formula> ] phase tuning at the mm-wave frequency band. Meanwhile, they show distinct transmission features at the sub-6 GHz band (one set of UC allows the electromagnetic (EM) wave to pass while the other prohibits the EM wave from passing). Then, by properly arranging the two kinds of UCs into the transparent and opaque region of the FZP lens respectively, the sub-6 GHz FZP lens and the mm-waveband transmitarray are integrated into the same aperture seamlessly. A waveguide-integrated patch antenna is adopted as the feed. The patch antenna operates at the sub-6 GHz band and three open waveguide antennas are used for the mm-wave multi-beam radiation. The proposed antenna achieves high gain at both bands with a reused radiating aperture. Mm-wave multi-beam radiation is obtained without an extra feeding network. For demonstration purposes, the central frequencies of the sub-6 GHz and the mm-wave bands are selected at 6 and 27 GHz, respectively. An antenna prototype is fabricated and experimentally verified.