Multimode Phased Antenna Array for mm-Wave User Terminals With Ultrawide-Angle Scanning Capabilities

This communication concerns the design, simulation, and measurement of a multimode antenna array that provides ultrawide-angle scanning for emerging mm-wave applications. The proposed design is based on a half-loop antenna topology that is optimized for edge-fire radiation and is suitable for integration into mobile user equipment (UE). Each array element has two radiation pattern modes supported through two independent ports that cover the angular ranges from
$\phi = -90^{\circ }$
to
$\phi = 0^{\circ } $
and from
$\phi = 0^{\circ }$
to
$\phi = 90^{\circ }$
, respectively. The simulated impedance bandwidth (BW) of the developed radiating structure covers the entire n257 band from 26.5 to 29.5 GHz with a maximum realized gain of 4 dBi for the individual embedded antenna element and 13 dBi for the eight-element linear array. The realized 1 × 8 array provides a measured scan range from -80° to +80° with a maximum scan loss of 3 dB and a peak sidelobe level (SLL) below −10 dB.