Telecommunications is an important field in electronics as most exchange of data is done over the internet and mobile devices. With more interest in faster and more reliable communication methods comes the development of more efficient hardware. However with successive generations of telecommunication standards comes the challenge of meeting necessary costs, speed, and user accessibility.
Project Goals & Background
This project will focus on the design, development, and fabrication of a 5G MIMO Antenna. MIMO, or Multiple Input Multiple Output are designed with multiple patches at the transceiver and receiver. These patches are all fed input signals in order to transmit multiple outputs. By adjusting the frequencies of the inputted signals, the output signals can be utilized. This is done by manipulating the area of convergence between the outputs to produce a Directional beam. This is useful as it reduces the amount of power usage and sends a more concentrated data transmission.
In our project we decided to design a rectangular 5G MIMO Antenna using Butler Matrix architecture. This architecture is interesting as it reduces the amount of phase shifter and components. Usually it is used to design linear arrays but recently there has been growing interest in designing rectangular arrays with this architecture as it reduces costs and produces a steerable beam. This project is useful as it continues research the viability of this design and can help realize larger systems using this architecture.