LTCC-Integrated Dielectric Resonant Antenna Array for 5G Applications

Sensors (Basel). 2021 May 31;21(11):3801. doi: 10.3390/s21113801.

Abstract

A millimeter-wave dielectric resonator antenna array with an integrated feeding network and a novel alignment superstrate in Low Temperature Cofired Ceramics (LTCC) technology is presented. The antenna array consists of 16 cylindrical DR antenna (CDRA) elements operating at 28 GHz for mm-Wave 5G applications. The array is fed by an inverted microstrip corporate feeding network designed and built in the same LTCC stack as the resonators. A grooved and grounded superstrate is introduced to facilitate the alignment of the individual array elements while enhancing the overall performance of the antenna array. The performance of the proposed stack is evaluated numerically and compared with measured data. Measured results show an impedance bandwidth of 9.81% at 28.72 GHz with a maximum realized gain of 15.68 dBi and an efficiency of 88%, and are in excellent agreement with simulations.

Keywords: array antenna; corporate feeding network; dielectric resonant antenna (DRA); fifth generation (5G); low-temperature cofired ceramics (LTCC); millimeter wave (mm-Wave); multi-layered technology.