Wideband Dual-Polarized Omnidirectional Antenna Array for Base-Station Applications

Abstract

A compact wideband dual-polarized omnidirectional antenna array for base-station applications is proposed. It consists of ten antenna units. To generate ±45° dual-polarized ominidirectional radiation with low gain variation for each unit, three close-in crossed-dipole elements are uniformly arranged in a regular triangle shape and excited by two 1-to-3 power dividers with equal magnitude and phase, acting as a dual-polarized loop antenna. To obtain wide impedance bandwidth for each unit, the dipole element and power divider are designed to operate in a wide and well-matched band. Moreover, the unit features steady structure, easy fabrication, and high scalability, which makes it convenient to form an antenna array. To achieve a high gain for base-station applications, a ten-unit antenna array is designed, fabricated, and measured. A wide impedance bandwidth of 52.3% (1.62–2.77 GHz) for standing-wave ratio (SWR) < 1.5 and a high port-to-port isolation of 26 dB are realized. It also features a high gain of 10.3 ± 0.9 dBi and a small gain variation of less than 2.5 dB in the horizontal plane. Additionally, the sidelobe suppression of 18 dB and null filling below the main vertical beam are obtained by the designed feeding networks. These results make the proposed design attractive in base-station applications.