3D-Printed Wide Beamwidth Lens Antennas for Beamforming Coverage Improvement

Phased arrays are increasingly used in communication systems to benefit from their full beamforming capabilities. However, some of its limitations are related to the limited coverage, due to the antenna elements used in these structures presenting some directivity limitations. This paper presents two radiating structures with enlarged beamwidth, using principles of lens antennas that can be produced with 3D printing, and its most popular materials. Both solutions start from a microstrip antenna and a multilayer structure operating as a lens and validating the principle at 7.8GHz, allowing to increase beamwidths by 80% for the
$\phi=0^{\circ}$
plane and 40% for the
$\phi=90^{\circ}$
plane.