Abstract
In this paper, the design, operational principle and experimental validation of an endfire antenna element that is inspired by the energy-focusing characteristics of graded-index optical fibre are presented. The antenna operates with a bandwidth of 1.5 GHz centred around 14 GHz. It has a gain of around 5.5 dBi along the band of interest and a good pattern stability over the band. The antenna derives its unique nature from the arrangement of the arc-shaped parasitics, that couple onto the antenna´s driver dipole. An electromagnetic refractive index retrieval mechanism is used to guide the placement of the parasitics to enhance the gain. In addition to the design principle, a parametric study of the main parameters and their influence on the antenna behaviour is presented. The antenna is a potential candidate for use in multi-user massive MIMO antenna arrays for 5G communications where space is premium and in antenna array applications where a low-profile antenna element with a high gain is a necessity.
Highlights
Scenarios of high data-rate transmissions of several gigabits per second require the use of wide bandwidth and high directivity beams
An endfire antenna element based on parasitics aided quasi-Yagi and fibre-optics principle is proposed in this paper
With the compactness and broad bandwidth addressed by antennas in [4, 5], papers [6, 7] focus on improving the antenna gain using techniques of a microstrip-fed inset patch as the driver, with parasitic patches added as directors to enhance the gain
Summary
Scenarios of high data-rate transmissions of several gigabits per second require the use of wide bandwidth and high directivity beams. Among the techniques used to enhance this directivity, the use of parasitic elements coupled to the printed dipole is appealing. Following the analogy to the graded refractive index optical fibre energy-focusing principle, the designed antenna element has its gain and. Endfire antenna topologies such as the helical antenna, antipodal Vivaldi antenna and the Yagi-Uda antenna have been used in applications such as ultrawideband, phased array, radars and microwave imaging. With the compactness and broad bandwidth addressed by antennas in [4, 5], papers [6, 7] focus on improving the antenna gain using techniques of a microstrip-fed inset patch as the driver, with parasitic patches added as directors to enhance the gain. The rest of the paper is organized as follows: the antenna element design principle is introduced in Section 2, Section 3 discusses the antenna fabrication and experimental validation of the antenna element with the measurement results and Section 4 concludes
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