Beam-Switching Lens Antenna at 60 GHz for Gigabit Data Rate Wireless Indoor Connections

This paper presents the design and measurements of a beam-switching lens antenna at 60 GHz. The extended hemispherical Teflon lens has a diameter of 20 mm and is fed using a slot-coupled CPW-fed patch antenna on LTCC. The S-parameters measured on a probe station are presented. A V-connector was used to provide the millimetre-wave signal connection to the feed antenna in the radiation pattern measurements. A plastic support made from PVC was fabricated to support the lens. The simulated and measured radiation patterns of the feed and the lens are shown. The maximum gain of 19.5 dBi was measured for the lens antenna. A beam steering range of 56° was demonstrated by manually shifting the lens position by 13.5 mm relative to the feeding antenna. The presented design is a good alternative to a phased array for a beam-steerable moderate-gain antenna for the gigabit data rate wireless indoor applications