Design of a Beam-Steering Metamaterial Inspired LPDA Array for 5G Applications

This article presents the design and implementation of a beam-steering antenna array using a 4 x 4 Butler matrix feed network (BMN) for 5G applications. The proposed antenna array can achieve a gain of 14 dBi and a steering range of (+16 degrees,-47 degrees, +46.5 degrees,-15.7 degrees) to cover angular range extending from 45 degrees to 135 degrees. To achieve that, a simple, 4 x 4 Butler matrix etched on a single-layer microstrip structure is designed, optimized, and fabricated. The proposed design incorporates phase shifters, 3-dB couplers, and cross-over couplers. The proposed matrix is employed as a feeding network for 4-element wideband LPDA antenna array. The fabrication results of the feeding matrix and antenna array show very good agreement with the simulated results.