The Effects of Array Element Number on 28 GHz Propagation

As 5G communication kicks off, millimeter wave (MMW) communication is also on the horizon. Current MMW communication focus is on the 28 GHz band, and the possible base station antenna will be an actively electronically scanned phased array (AESA). The radiation characteristics changes with array size, and cost scales with the array element number. In this article we compare the 28 GHz signal propagation characteristics in an area near Taipei 101 buildings with FEKO+WinProp, and compare the differences between a 4x4 array and an 8x8 array. The results seem to indicate the higher element number and higher gain of the 8x8 array does not make much difference in signal propagation loss map, multiple scattering from side lobs is the main factor determining area signal strength, and beam forming is vital.