Realization and Verification of Novel Contactless MetaCoax Integration Technology for 5G UWB mmWave Array Antennas

Important results from the project

The purpose of this project is to design, fabricate and verify a new integration technology MetaCoax integration array for 5G UWB mmW Array antennas as a preparation for a full proposal. The main goals with fulfilment through the project are the followings. 1) Providing a high-performance low-cost solution to mmWave antenna integration with T/R module by investigation of the MetaCoax coupling arrays; 2) Verification of the technology by measurements of prototype of MetaCoax coupling array with fully contactless configuration.

Expected long term effects

Two designs of 2×2 MetaCoax array have been completed: a contactless coupling integration of coax-to-microstrip and a contactless coupling integration of microstrip-to-microstrip. Both designs have been prototyped. For the coax-microstrip design, one manufacturing error occurred: the transmission lines got shorted circuit. So, no measured results for this design. For the second microstrip-microstrip design, the measurements agreed with simulations with a good performance. We can foresee that this technology will find many applications in different areas.

Approach and implementation

We have designed two configurations of fully contactless integrations: coax-microstrip array and microstrip-microstrip array with good simulated performance. Compared to wire bondings, our designs have 1) much simpler implementation, 2) much lower insertion loss, 3) much smaller footprint. Both designs have been prototyped. For the coax-microstrip one, a manufacturing error occurred (shorted circuit), thus no measurement verification. For the microstrip-microstrip one, the prototype works well, and the measurement agrees with simulation, verifying the feasibility.