Millimeter-Wave Substrate Integrated Waveguide (SIW) MIMO Antenna System for 5G Wireless Handsets

Slotted waveguide antenna arrays (SWGA) are known for their high gain, high directivities and robustness against environmental effects due to their rigid structure. However, they suffer from bulkiness at microwave frequencies. To provide such interesting features at a smaller scale, substrate integrated waveguides (SIW) were suggested. The use of SIW at millimetre-waves (mm-wave) has seen a noticeable increase recently due to the use of such frequency bands in the upcoming 5G wireless standard. 5G will also rely on multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) technology at both the microwave and mm-wave bands. Thus coming up with an integrated solution, utilizing SIW based antenna arrays with MIMO configuration at mm-wave is of great importance for mobile terminals. In this work, we propose an integrated 5G solution that is based on SIW slot MIMO antenna arrays. Genetic algorithms (GA) will be used to optimize the design of the SIW based slot antenna arrays without the restriction of wavelength inter-element spacing, and with gain levels higher than 13 dBi with SLL lower than 10 dBs, operating at 28 GHz. The designs should fit within 20 x 30 mm2, occupying a small portion of the GND plane of a standard smart phone backplane of 120 x 65 mm2. Two-element MIMO configuration at mm-waves using the SIW slotted arrays will be designed and fabricated. Part of the project will be conducted through collaboration between KFUPM and KAUST in Saudi Arabia. The project duration is 18 months.