Abstract
A high equivalent isotropic radiated power (EIRP) active phased array
antenna system has been designed and experimentally verified at the 28
GHz band. The phased array employs Gallium Nitride (GaN) based radio
frequency front-ends with 31 dBm output power in transmit mode and 3.5
dB noise figure in receive mode. A fully metallic gapwaveguide
technology has been employed in order to achieve an efficient heat
dissipation per aperture area of the array as well as low-loss array
antenna elements that are easily manufactured. The phased array is
realized by sub-arraying an 8×8 slot array antenna with horizontal
polarization. The presented antenna system is capable of analog
beamforming in the range of ±60 degrees in E-plane. The presented
high-bandwidth phased array antenna system is a potential candidate for
high power and compact size 5G base station antennas for wireless
communications requiring high temperature stability at the
millimeterwave bands.