A Dual-Band Antenna for LTE/mmWave Mobile Terminal Applications

In this communication, a dual-band antenna is proposed, which integrates a millimeter-wave (MMW) substrate-integrated dielectric resonator antenna (SIDRA) beam-steerable array and long-term evolution (LTE) folded monopole antenna (FMA). The SIDRA, which is a 1 x 4 tightly arranged DRA array with zero edge-to-edge spacing, is developed in the clearance area of the FMA. Hence, the two antennas not only share the same substrate but also share the same aperture. The performance of FMA will not deteriorate by properly locating the SIDRA array. An antenna prototype was fabricated and measured, and the rationality of the design was verified. The LTE FMA can cover the band of 1.78-2.62 GHz (38.2%) and achieve a peak gain of 3.9 dBi, while the MMW array can cover the band of 26.4-29.8 GHz (12.2%) and achieve a peak gain of 10 dBi. The MMW array can support beam-steering angles of +/- 45 degrees. The high space utilization of the proposed design strategy makes the dual-band antenna suitable for the fifth-generation (5G) mobile terminal applications.