Multibeam Antenna Technologies for 5G Wireless Communications

TLDR

Multibeam antennas operating in millimeter‑wave bands are pursued for 5G to meet demanding data rates, improve SNR, and enhance spectral and energy efficiency while enabling beamforming and massive MIMO. This paper surveys passive, phased‑array, and digital multibeam antenna technologies and evaluates their suitability and challenges for future 5G massive‑MIMO systems. The review covers the principles of operation, design, implementation, and illustrative applications of these multibeam antenna technologies.

Abstract

With the demanding system requirements for the fifth-generation (5G) wireless communications and the severe spectrum shortage at conventional cellular frequencies, multibeam antenna systems operating in the millimeter-wave frequency bands have attracted a lot of research interest and have been actively investigated. They represent the key antenna technology for supporting a high data transmission rate, an improved signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio, an increased spectral and energy efficiency, and versatile beam shaping, thereby holding a great promise in serving as the critical infrastructure for enabling beamforming and massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) that boost the 5G. This paper provides an overview of the existing multibeam antenna technologies which include the passive multibeam antennas (MBAs) based on quasi-optical components and beamforming circuits, multibeam phased-array antennas enabled by various phase-shifting methods, and digital MBAs with different system architectures. Specifically, their principles of operation, design, and implementation, as well as a number of illustrative application examples are reviewed. Finally, the suitability of these MBAs for the future 5G massive MIMO wireless systems as well as the associated challenges is discussed.