A Multiport 5G Base-Station Antenna Using Series-Fed Patch Antenna Sub-Arrays

In this paper, we propose a novel antenna architecture using multiport arrays for 5G base stations. The proposed antenna consists of multiple sub-arrays, performing baseband signal processing so that high gain and broad angular coverage can be achieved simultaneously. The sub-arrays are designed by using series feed networks and patch antenna elements. We arrange these sub-arrays steering to different directions with overlapped sub-array patterns. With the information of the pilot signals, the channel state of each sub-array port can be estimated. The output of each sub-array port is combined and fed to a baseband processor, which synthesizes a pattern with high gain and broad angular coverage. The antenna sub-arrays are designed, fabricated, and tested. The system performance utilizing baseband signal processing is also evaluated. Our comparison shows that the proposed antenna overcomes the limitation of conventional array structures.