5G SIW Based Phased Antenna Array with Cosecant-Squared Shape Pattern

In this paper, a concept of a phased antenna array based on substrate integrated waveguide technology (SIW) for 5G base stations is proposed. The array has a cosecant radiation pattern in the vertical plane for uniform illumination in a sector area. The array itself consists of sixteen SIW travelling wave sub-arrays of twelve slot-coupled microstrip patch antennas associated with a pair of reflection-canceling vias and phasing elements to get the tapered distribution both in amplitude and phase for the cosecant shape radiation pattern. The array is designed to be operational at 28 GHz with a bandwidth of more than 10%, a candidate mm-wave frequency band for 5G. The phased antenna array supports wide-angle scanning of +/_60° in azimuth and exhibits good active impedance properties. The array design is successfully verified experimentally.