A Compact RF Frontend Module of Active Phased Array Antenna for High SHF Wideband Massive MIMO in 5G

Abstract

In order to meet various requirements for the 5th generation mobile communication, a high SHF wideband massive-MIMO system has been widely studied which offers wide system bandwidth and high spectral efficiency. A hybrid beamforming configuration which combines analog beamforming by APAA (Active Phased Array Antenna) and digital MIMO signal processing is one of the promising approaches for reducing the complexity and power consumption of the high SHF wideband massive-MIMO system. In order to realize the hybrid beamforming configuration in high SHF band, small size, low power consumption and precise beam forming over the wide-band frequency range are strongly required for RF frontend which constitutes analog beam former. In this paper, a compact RF frontend module for high SHF wideband 5G small cell base station is proposed. This RF frontend module is prototyped. Various key components of the RF frontend module are fabricated in 15 GHz band, and measured results show that high RF performances are able to meet the requirements of RF frontend.