Art of antenna designing for 5G (mmWave) next generation networks

Abstract

To fulfill the extensive increase in the capacity and quality of multiple users, 5G next generation cellular network system is expected to be in the form of heterogeneous radio access networks (Het-RAN) [1]. It is expected to encompass small cells, known as macro, pico or femto cells. For such dense deployment, network operators have preferably deduced the mechanism of cloud networks called C-RAN due to their highly optimized operational efficiency and cost effectiveness. A centralized operating system which can easily be integrated with existing 4G/LTE networks is main aim of mobile phone operators. This approach reduces remarkably front haul overheads in C-RANs [2]. To expand the architecture of C-RAN, large number of antennas at access end majorly contributes to increase the network capacity either by improving the spectrum bandwidth or by increasing the number of active users at a specific time. Future 5G wireless and mobile communication operating systems require high transmission data rates and large channel bandwidth. Therefore, they can adopt millimeter-wave (MMW) band (30–300 GHz) as main operating frequencies to fulfill the requirements. In this paper, we focused on 60 GHz MMW frequency band. The potential benefits are, it is license free, large bandwidth ∼2 GHz, high oxygen attenuation that supports high frequency reuse and large number of components integration on small area (Massive MIMO). Moreover, we designed, simulated and optimized novel antennas suitable for implementing in the wireless devices of CRAN networks. In addition to compact, low cost, light weight, and ease of integration, the proposed antennas exhibit wide bandwidth above 4 GHz with an average gain values more than 12.5 dBi.