Design of a Multiple-Beam 8×8 Phased Array Microstrip Antenna for 28 GHz 5G mmWave Applications

Bassey Ndifreke G., Isiyaku Ya’u, Habeeb Bello, E. E. Agbon, S. A. Mikail, Abdulmumin Idris

Abstract


This study presents the design and simulation of a multiple-beam phased array microstrip antenna optimized for 28GHz 5G millimeter-wave (mmWave) applications. The phased array consists of 64 rectangular patch elements, each measuring 4.24 mm in width and 3.47 mm in length, arranged in an 8×8 configuration, linearly polarized along X and Y planes. Rogers RT/Duroid 5880 substrate material having dielectric constant of 2.2 and low loss tangent of 0.0009 was used due to its high performance at high frequency and low signal losses, to enhance high radiation efficiency and accurate beamforming. The overall dimension of the antenna array is 42.8mm × 42.8mm. Radius bends were introduced at all feed corners to minimize signal loss, impedance mismatch, and unwanted corner radiation. Hybrid beamforming technique that combines both corporate feed network and digital beamforming was utilized to produce 32 separately steerable beams. CST Studio Suite 2025 was utilized for the antenna modeling and simulation, while optimization of parameters was performed using Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), implemented in MATLAB R2024b and dynamically tuned in CST. The design achieves a gain of 17.94 dBi, a return loss below –32.462192dB, a bandwidth of 564.5MHz, and beam steering in the range of ±35° azimuth and ±25° elevation.


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References


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