Co-Designed mm-Wave and LTE Handset Antennas

Fifth generation (5G) mobile networks will introduce several new frequencies for short-range high-capacity communications. Future handsets must also support current frequency bands for backward compatibility and long-range communications. This paper presents a proof-of-concept solution for co-designed millimeter-wave (mm-wave) and Long Term Evolution (LTE) antennas in a metal-rimmed handset. The design shows that both antenna types can be accommodated in a shared volume and be integrated into the same structure. Presented antennas operate at 700-960 MHz, 1710-2690 MHz, and 25-30 GHz. Simulations and measurements suggest that the system can be designed in such a way that the mm-wave antenna does not hinder the low-band performance. LTE antennas generally reach over 60% total efficiency while the mm-wave module has a peak gain of 7 dBi with measurement-verified beam-steering capability. The proposed design proves that 5G mm-wave antennas can be embedded to 4G systems without greatly sacrificing display size or sub-6 GHz antenna performance.