Low-Profile, Low-Cost, Broadband Millimeter-Wave Antenna Array for High-Data-Rate WPAN Systems

A circularly polarized (CP) broadband microstrip patch antenna array is proposed for high-data-rate wireless personal area network (WPAN) systems of around 60 GHz. The proposed antenna array consists of a 4 x 4 element array with an edge-coupled parasitic patch structure and a novel series sequential rotation feeding network. Instead of low-temperature co-fired ceramic technology, a single-layer structure of the proposed antenna is fabricated by a conventional printed circuit board process, to provide low manufacturing cost and low profile (0.05 lambda(0) at 60 GHz). A wide impedance bandwidth (VSWR < 2) of 22.03% (53.3-66.5 GHz) and broad CP bandwidth (axial ratio < 3 dB) of 18.18% (55-66 GHz) are achieved. The CP gain is higher than 12 dBic in the entire operating frequency band (57-66 GHz) for WPAN systems.