Polarization consideration of 2-D beam-steering metasurface reflector at Ka-band for wireless communication

Abstract

A metasurface reflector that supports two-dimensional beam steering is essential for switching between users and bypassing obstacles to create a quasi-line-of-sight in fifth-generation wireless communication. Polarization considerations become very important when two-dimensional beam steering is desired. In practical beam-steering uses, the assumption that the users' polarization and the metasurface reflector polarization are the same is invalid. The beam steering performances of the metasurface reflector were analyzed as a function of the polarization angle between the users and the metasurface. This work shows that up to medium values in the polarization angle differences between the users and the intended metasurface reflector polarization, the beam steering performance is maintained in terms of gain, losses, and sidelobe level.