504

IEEE ANTENNAS AND WIRELESS PROPAGATION LETTERS, VOL. 15, 2016

Performance Analysis of Millimeter-Wave Phased

Array Antennas in Cellular Handsets
Jakob Helander, Kun Zhao, Zhinong Ying, and Daniel Sjberg

AbstractThis letter discusses the usage of high-gain steerable

antenna arrays operating at millimeter-wave (mmWave) frequencies for future cellular networks (5G). Based on the probable outline of the 5G networks, a method for characterizing phased array
antennas in cellular handsets has been introduced. For analyzing
the performance, the total scan pattern of the array conguration
together with its respective coverage efciency are essential to consider in order to compare different antenna designs and topology
approaches with each other. Two design approaches and subarray
schemes of these have been considered in order to illustrate the relevance of such a characterization method. The results show the importance of evaluating potential array antennas in such manners.
The method can be applied to much more complex system models,
where polarization diversity, hand and body effect, and statistical
modeling of the channel may be included.
Index Terms5G cellular networks, coverage efciency, coverage probability, coverage range, millimeter wave, mobile
antennas, phased arrays, total scan pattern.

I. INTRODUCTION

UE TO shortage of frequency spectrum below 6 GHz,

bands at higher frequencies, e.g., the millimeter-wave
(mmWave) frequency bands (30300 GHz), have been suggested as candidates for future cellular networks, as the
considerably larger bandwidths could be exploited to increase
the capacity and enable the users to experience several-gigabits-per-second data rates [1][3]. The Docomo 5G demo
system includes different trials carried out at higher frequency
bands (beyond 10 GHz) with multiple mobile technology
corporations involved [4].
However, moving from the cellular carrier frequencies used
GHz) up toward the mmWave bands introduces new
today (
aspects that need careful consideration, as the signals at these
higher frequencies differ substantially in their properties [5].
Employing higher frequencies for the networks results in an increase in free-space path loss, as seen from Friis Transmission
Manuscript received May 22, 2015; revised June 26, 2015; accepted July 03,
2015. Date of publication July 10, 2015; date of current version March 02, 2016.
This work was supported in part by the U.S. Department of Commerce under
Grant BS123456.
J. Helander and D. Sjberg are with the Department of Electrical and Information Technology, Lund University, 221 00 Lund, Sweden (e-mail: jakob.
helander@eit.lth.se).
K. Zhao is with the School of Electrical Engineering, Royal Institute of Technology, 100 44 Stockholm, Sweden, and also with the Network Technology
Lab, Sony Mobile Communications AB, 221 88 Lund, Sweden (e-mail: Kun3.
Zhao@sonymobile.com).
Z. Ying is with the Network Technology Lab, Sony Mobile Communications
AB, 221 88 Lund, Sweden.
Color versions of one or more of the gures in this letter are available online
at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.
Digital Object Identier 10.1109/LAWP.2015.2455040

Fig. 1. System model of presumed outdoor 5G cellular networks. Beamsteering

is applied in the mobile station.

Equation [6, Ch. 2]. For example, a signal at 15 GHz results

in 14 dB additional loss in comparison to a signal at 3 GHz,
but utilizing higher-gain antennas can compensate for this loss.
Moreover, different link scenarios suggest different premises,
e.g., results presented in [7] indicate that outdoor-to-indoor links
in dense urban areas are relatively difcult to establish considering the high reectivity and attenuating properties of various building materials at mmWave frequencies. Consequently,
the high reectivity opens up for both line-of-sight (LOS) and
non-line-of-sight (NLOS) links to be feasible in outdoor-to-outdoor communication with small cell sizes. However, with a signicantly larger path-loss exponent in NLOS, a LOS link will
always be preferred [8]. Stochastic geometry is employed in [5]
to further analyze the performance of dense urban networks.
Results from propagation measurements in urban environments
using rotating high-gain horn antennas are presented in [3]. The
results indicate the importance of the steerability, as a strong
signal could be found when the antennas were directed toward
each other, whereas large variations in path loss existed when
the radiated beams were not aligned.
A possible network, depicted in Fig. 1, utilizes small cell
m) and highly directional steerable antennas
sizes (
employed in both base and mobile stations [2][5]. In the
mobile terminal, the high gain can be realized by employing
an antenna array, made possible as the physical antenna element aperture decreases with the increase of frequency. The
resulting beamwidth will be narrowed accordingly, damping
the co-channel interference, but simultaneously also reducing
the coverage of the mobile terminal array.
Utilizing phased arrays in mmWave spectrum using small
form-factor antennas in the mobile terminal has been considered [9][11]. Key aspects and restrictions for the design of
such cellular antennas are discussed in [12], where also an
integrated solution in a cellphone prototype is presented. The
phased array solution introduces the beamsteering function
and enables the system to achieve a good link when incoming
signals are coming from different angles [2], [3]. The steering

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HELANDER et al.: MILLIMETER-WAVE PHASED ARRAY ANTENNAS IN CELLULAR HANDSETS

505

Fig. 3. Conceptual model of the total scan pattern of a mobile terminal phased
array.

Fig. 2. Array pattern of a

notch array, design description in Section III.
The 3-D pattern orientation is consistent for all simulation setups, unless mentioned otherwise. Screen is located on the bottom side.

threshold are considered too weak to establish a link. Thus, the

coverage efciency ( ) is dened such as
Coverage Solid Angle
Maximum Solid Angle

range will however still be limited, and results presented in [13]

suggest that there is a necessity and desire for larger scanning
freedom of the receiving antennas in the mobile terminal. As
a comparison, 3G/4G mobile antennas exhibit good coverage
relative to the required gain due to the rather low power level
requirements. The directive beam from a mmWave cellular
antenna array however, as illustrated in Fig. 2, introduces the
challenge of achieving both a strong signal path and simultaneously obtaining a spherical coverage. This letter presents
a characterization method for analyzing the performance of
phased array antennas in cellular handsets, not only according
to classical standards, but according to their achievable total
scan pattern and its respective coverage for a given threshold
of received gain. The target frequency is chosen as 15 GHz. A
comparison of simulated and measured results of two different
antenna array designs are included, as well as an evaluation of
these with respect to the proposed performance analysis.

II. ARRAY PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS

The assumed system model of the 5G cellular networks is depicted in Fig. 1. The threshold requirement on received gain in
the mobile terminal may vary to a wide extent, e.g., with regards to the users distance to base station, if a LOS or a NLOS
link is established, and the set values for transmitted and received power. Moreover, the probability function of incoming
signals is assumed to be an isotropic distribution, as the user
has absolute freedom in terms of movements with respect to the
incoming signal. The beamsteering functionality at the mobile
terminal enables the phone to search for the optimum link to establish.
The total scan pattern is obtained from all array patterns corresponding to the electronically steered beam at different phase
shifts by extracting the best achievable gain at every angular distribution point (
), as illustrated in Fig. 3. The effective coverage of the mobile terminal phased array is then retrieved from
its total scan pattern with respect to a set value of received gain
(
). The parameter
is variable, illustrating the losses
in the channels link budget and how they vary depending on
the specic link made, e.g., as in Fig. 1. All signals below the

(1)

The maximum solid angle is chosen as the surrounding sphere,

i.e.,
steradians, in order to account for an arbitrary angle of
arrival of the incoming signal. The incoming signal is assumed
to be a single ray, thus neglecting multipath effects and diffuse
scattering [14]. The metric has a similar purpose to the mean
effective gain (MEG) [15], which gives a metric of effective
mobile antenna gain within the surrounding polarization and
angle of arrival of the radio environment. Furthermore, polarization mismatch can be included in , thus accounting for the
antenna performance in a cross-polarized scenario, and the multiple-inputmultiple-output (MIMO) scenario of scanning with
different polarized arrays. Angular density functions for incident waves can also be included to improve the model of the
propagation environment. User effect has not been taken to account, but may be included as a future prospect.
III. SINGLE-ELEMENT DESIGN AND PERFORMANCE
For illustration purposes, two different antenna designs
are considered: an aperture-coupled rectangular patch and a
quarter-wavelength notch. Potential designs need to be cheap
to manufacture and integrated on a very limited space in the
smartphone, among many other limitations. Thus, the antenna
types are selected due to their small size, in terms of half a
wavelength in the substrate, which enables array implementation at the desired operating frequency. Furthermore, the
two designs have complementary radiation patterns, enabling
a clear comparison in terms of the newly introduced performance parameters. In both designs, the substrate used is Rogers
4003 C (
,
), and all metal is copper
with thickness 35 m.
A. Quarter-Wavelength Notch Antenna
The quarter-wavelength notch is a novel antenna designed
for mmWave usage in the mobile terminal; see Fig. 4. It is a
two-layer structure with a resonant slot of length
, approximately a quarter-wavelength in the substrate (
), and width
(
) cut in the ground plane. The slot is fed through
a microstrip line, where a mitered bend is utilized in order to
achieve a
stub. To suppress induced surface waves and
achieve a wider single-element beam with a controlled pattern,
parasitic notches of the same lengths are cut on each side of the
resonant notch with a periodicity
. Thus, the unit cell

506

IEEE ANTENNAS AND WIRELESS PROPAGATION LETTERS, VOL. 15, 2016

Fig. 4. Topologies of the single-element antennas. (left) Notch antenna. (right)

mm,
mm.
Aperture-coupled patch antenna.

of the array is
passive notch.

wide and consists of one fed notch and one

B. Aperture-Coupled Patch Antenna

The microstrip patch antenna is a conventional antenna type
that is inexpensive and easy to fabricate. The length
is approximately
, and the width
, allowing for
compact array congurations in the case model. The aperturecoupling is employed by cutting a slot in the ground plane and
feeding the patch using a microstrip on the opposite side of the
ground. This feeding approach contributes to isolation of the radiating patch from other intended components and suppression
of spurious radiation [6, Ch. 14]. For additional tuning and good
coupling, the length and width of the slot can be altered independently. The topology is shown in Fig. 4.
IV. SINGLE-ELEMENT SIMULATIONS AND MEASUREMENTS
The arrays are
congurations with element spacing
slightly less than half a free-space wavelength (10 mm at
15 GHz). Thus, the total size of any array is around 40 mm, and
schemes with two subarrays can be implemented in the phone
case model within a limited area. The case model includes
the printed circuit board (PCB) ground, the chassis (thickness
1.5 mm, outer measures
cm ,
), and a
glass-screen (
) of equal dimensions mounted on the
opposite side of the PCB ground. All simulations were performed in CST Microwave Studio (CST MWS), and fabricated
array prototypes were measured when integrated in the case of
a prototype smartphone.
Simulated and measured normalized radiation patterns for
the corresponding congurations can be seen in Fig. 5 with dened cross-sectional cuts. The simulations and the measurement
agree well with each other. Both the notch and the patch exhibit
a wide main beam in both planes, suggesting that a large phased
array scan is feasible. Simulated absolute gain is around 4.4 dBi
for all notch elements, and 5.2 dBi for all patch elements.
V. COVERAGE PERFORMANCE OF PHASED ARRAYS
The
arrays were evaluated with respect to the introduced analysis in Section II. A continuous phase shift was assumed as to illustrate electrically steered beams. The total scan
pattern for the respective arrays are shown in Fig. 6. In Fig. 7,
simulated results of as a function of
are plotted for the
notch and patch arrays separately. The maximum absolute gain

Fig. 5. Simulated and measured two-dimensional radiation patterns of the

(a), (b) single-element notch antenna and (c), (d) single-element patch antenna.
array in the phone case model,
The single elements were embedded in a
with pattern orientation as in (e). (a) E-plane of notch ( -cut). (b) H-plane of
notch ( -cut). (c) E-plane of patch ( -cut). (d) H-plane of patch ( -cut).

Fig. 6. Total scan patterns for different

array. (right) Patch array.

array congurations. (left) Notch

achieved is 9.9 dBi for the notch array, and 10.4 dBi for the
patch array. Maximum coupling between adjacent elements is
less than 16 dB in both cases. The radiation efciency is 85%
and 87% for the patch and notch arrays, respectively. With a
higher radiation efciency and a less directional element radiation pattern, the coverage efciency for the notch array can be
seen to be generally higher than for the patch array, apart from
when the threshold gain exceeds 8 dBi and the coverage efciency has dropped below 25%. For the notch array, it is held
above 50% for
dBi.
Subarray schemes can be employed, where each respective
beam is separately steered using its corresponding phase shift, to
achieve pattern diversity and enhanced . With dual boresight
in alternate directions, the schemes can be evaluated according
to their improved performance. Three schemes were tested: two

HELANDER et al.: MILLIMETER-WAVE PHASED ARRAY ANTENNAS IN CELLULAR HANDSETS

Fig. 7. (left) Coverage efciency

as a function of minimum received gain
for different
array congurations. (right) Schematics of the labeled
arrays (top to bottom).

507

the coverage efciency. By applying the method on some different array schemes the superiority of the notch array and corresponding subarray schemes, in comparison to the patch array,
could be emphasized.
The method can be directly applied as a form of evaluation
for array congurations targeting the specic area of application. It is exible with respect to its preconditions, i.e., testing
more advanced network models still allow for the performance
analysis to be applied. This can leverage good insight in how
the 5G cellular antenna designs should be further developed.
There are several extensions to the work. Primarily, measurements of the performance are yet to be conducted. Additional
loss mechanisms are to be included, e.g., polarization mismatch
will be added to evaluate the performance with respect to polarized gain. Hand and body effect implies additional losses that
may be added to the model.
REFERENCES

Fig. 8. (left) Coverage efciency

as a function of minimum received gain
for different subarray congurations. (right) Schematics of the labeled
congurations (top to bottom).

perpendicular aligned notch arrays, two parallel but opposite directed notch arrays, and a notch and patch array perpendicularly
mounted.
The simulated results are shown in Fig. 8. In a good signal
range, all three settings have high , and it can be seen by
comparing to Fig. 7 that the coverage has been signicantly
enhanced in all cases. Specically, the opposite directed notch
alignment achieves
for
dBi.
VI. CONCLUSION
This letter proposes an approach of analyzing performance
of utilized phased array antennas in the mobile terminal for
5G cellular networks. The performance of the phased array antenna is quantied in its total scan pattern and a related quantity,

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