Full 360° beam steering millimetre-wave leaky-wave antennas coupled with bespoke 3D-printed dielectric lenses for 5G base stations

Abstract

A fast beam-steering capability has been demonstrated using an array of high-gain corrugated substrate integrated waveguide (CSIW) slot antennas coupled with a bespoke dielectric lens. The proposed system prototype has been simulated, fabricated, and measured. The proposed system is shown to have a full 360° beam-steer in azimuth plane with an angular sensitivity of 9°, half power beamwidth (HPBW) of 18° and a gain of < 20.5 dBi at n257 frequency band of 26 to 29 GHz. Further, the antenna is shown to have a fixed frequency beam steer of ±15° along with a frequency-controlled beam-scanning of ±45° in the elevation plane. The antenna setup is shown to be suitable for applications for 5G base-stations.