High gain wideband microstrip patch antennas with defected ground structure for Sub-6 GHz 5G communications.

Abstract

5G communication utilizes the two frequency ranges i.e. frequency range 1 (FR1) and frequency range 2 (FR2). The FR1 is the low frequency band with the frequency range from 450 MHz to 6 GHz. As FR1 contains the frequency range upto 6 GHz, it is also known as sub-6 GHz frequency band. The FR2, known as mm-wave frequency range, uses the frequencies above 24 GHz. The lower frequency including electromagnetic (EM) waves can travel farther as these are less a ected by the weather such as rain, snow etc. The low frequency EM waves can penetrate the solid objects like buildings etc. The sub-6 GHz 5G radio band will handle the wider bandwidth needed for high speed 5G communication devices. This research work presents the design of 5 GHz microstrip patch antennas for use in sub-6 GHz 5G communication. Antennas designed for 5G network must have high gain and necessary wideband capabilities to handle the large data requirements at high speed. This research proposes the design of a high gain rectangular microstrip patch antenna (HGRMPA) for use in sub-6 GHz 5G communication. A HGRMPA, that utilizes the patch with T-shaped slot, is designed. The defected ground structure (DGS) technology is used to improve the performance of the HGRMPA. The DGS of the proposed HGRMPA consists a C-shaped slot. The C-shaped slot along with cuts at its upper and lower parts is incorporated in the ground plane to further improve the performance of the HGRMPA. A re ective plate is placed at the back of the proposed HGRMPA to reduce the side lobes and back lobes produced by the antenna. This will improve the main lobe of the radiated signal and the gain of the HGRMPA. The proposed HGRMPA is fed using inset feeding technique and the antenna is mounted on the FR-4 epoxy substrate. The size of the proposed HGRMPA is 28:03 23:45 5:35 mm3 and it provides the maximum gain and maximum directivity of 5.49 dB and 7.12 dB, respectively. The bandwidth of the proposed HGRMPA is from 4:775 GHz to 5:049 GHz, which covers the 4:8 GHz􀀀5 GHz sub-6 GHz 5G communication band. Further, a high gain wideband microstrip patch antenna (HGWBMPA), using partial ground plane with triangular strip, is also presented. The proposed HGWBMPA operates in the sub-6 GHz 5G wireless networking band. The HGWBMPA utilizes the re ective plate to reduce the development of the back lobes and increasing the gain. The inset feed technique is used to feed the antenna and the antenna is mounted on the FR-4 epoxy substrate. The proposed design is simulated and optimized with commercially available EM software i.e. CST studio suite. The size of the proposed HGWBMPA is compact with the patch dimension of 18:43 13:85 mm2. The maximum gain, maximum directivity ande ciency of the HGWBMPA are 6:21 dB, 7:56 dB and 78%, respectively. The proposed HGWBMPA works from 4:921 GHz to 5:784 GHz, which covers the 4:9 GHz - 5:8 GHz sub-6 GHz 5G communications range.