Development of 28Ghz Band Massive Mimo Antenna RF Frontend Module For 5G

Development of 28GHz band Massive MIMO
Antenna RF Frontend Module for 5G

Satoshi Yamaguchi, Hikaru Watanabe, Hideharu Yoshioka, Yasuo Morimoto, Hideyuki Nakamizo, Koji Tsutsumi,
Shintaro Shinjo, Shigeru Uchida, Akihiro Okazaki, Toru Fukasawa, Naofumi Yoneda
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
5-1-1 Ofuna, Kamakura, Kanagawa, 247-8501 Japan
Yamaguchi.Satoshi@ce.MitsubishiElectric.co.jp
Abstract—In the 5th generation mobile communication

system, large system capacity, low latency and massive
connection will be provided for novel and various applications.
In order to realize these features, we are developing high SHF
band massive-MIMO system which can secure wide system
bandwidth and high spectral efficiency. Especially, the
combination of analog beamforming (APAA: Active Phased
Array Antenna) and digital MIMO signal processing for the
multi-beam multiplexing is one of the promising approaches for
reducing the complexity and power consumption. In this paper,
hybrid beamforming configuration for 28GHz band Massive-
MIMO system and antenna RF frontend module are shown
Keywords—Active Phased Array Antenna; Massive MIMO;

High SHF
Fig. 1. Antenna RF frontend module and the main specifications.
I. INTRODUCTION
In recent years, the mobile network capacity improvement
has been strongly demanded due to the widespread use of
smart phones and various new applications. For the 5G mobile
communication system, massive MIMO in higher frequency
bands is one of the promising technologies for capacity
improvement in mobile communication system. More than 100
antenna elements can compensate large propagation loss and
achieve much higher frequency efficiency with multi-beam
multiplexing transmission. This paper describes hybrid
beamforming Massive-MIMO system and the development of
antenna RF frontend module.
II. ANTENNA RF FRONTEND MODULE Fig. 2. Schematic of antenna RF frontend module.
The massive MIMO configuration has been widely studied.

In order to reduce the power consumption of A/D and D/A for III. RESULTS
the high SHF band, we have proposed the hybrid beamforming
In this section, the measured results of the developed
configuration which is realized by combining analog
antenna are shown.
beamforming by active phased array antenna and digital
MIMO signal processing[1]. The picture of fabricated antenna
RF frontend module and its main specifications are shown in A. Antenna Panel and RF core IC[2]
Fig. 1. The operating frequency is 28GHz band, the signal The antenna panel consists of 256 elements of printed patch
bandwidth is 800MHz, 256 elements are mounted and the array in which 16 elements are arranged vertically and
antenna gain of 28dBi or more is achieved. Fig. 2 shows the horizontally at an element interval of 0.54 wavelength, and the
structure of prototype RF front end module. RF substrate is occupied area of the antenna section is about 90×90mm. A
composed of a multilayer board and contains RF passive measured result of the actual gain at the boresight direction is
circuits in its internal layer. Moreover, each ICs and external shown in Fig. 3. It is confirmed that the actual gain is more
interface are mounted on its surface. Thus all functions for than 28.8dBi within the entire operating band.
analog beam forming are integrated densely.
978-1-5386-7102-3/18/$31.00 ©2018 IEEE 629 AP-S 2018

In order to miniaturize the RF circuit, we developed an RF
core IC that integrates four 6-bit phase shifters, driver
amplifiers, and composite/distribution circuits respectively. A
photograph of the RF core IC is shown in Fig 4. The chip size
is 7.2×5.3mm. We confirmed the phase control error is 1.2
degree-rms within the entire operating band from the results of
the RF core IC unit test, showing that the precise phase control
characteristics and sufficient performances for beamforming
are realized.
Fig. 5. Measured radiation patterns of the antenna RF frontend module.
Fig. 3. Measured actual gain of the antenna panel[2].
Fig. 6. Evaluated beam pointing error.
IV. CONCLUSION
In this paper, a configuration and evaluated results of the
28GHz antenna RF frontend module developed for 5G base
station has been described. It can be confirmed that the beam
Fig. 4. Photograph of the RF core IC[2]. scanning can be precisely performed as instructed up to the
wide angle. We are currently performing field tests using the
developed antenna, the results of which will be presented at the
B. Antenna RF frontend module
conference.
The radiation pattern characteristics of the prototype
antenna RF frontend module are evaluated in the anechoic
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
chamber. Fig. 5 shows the measurement results of the 19 states
in which the main beam direction is changed from -45 degrees This work includes a part of the results of “The research
to +45 degrees in increments of 5 degrees in the horizontal and development project for realization of the fifth-generation
plane. The vertical axis of the graph is normalized by the value mobile communications system” commissioned by Japan’s
of boresight beam. The rotating element electric field vector Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.
(REV) method[3] is used for the antenna calibration. The good
beam scanning performances up to wide angle can be REFERENCES
confirmed. Fig. 6 shows the error in the main beam direction
[1] S. Yamaguchi, et. al, “Development of Active Phased Array Antenna for
with respect to the indicated angle. The beam pointing error is High SHF Wideband Massive MIMO in 5G,” in Proc. IEEE Antennas
0.16 degree-rms., which is sufficiently small. Propag. Soc. Int. Symp., July, 2017.
[2] http://www.mitsubishielectric.co.jp/corporate/giho/1706/index.html (in
Japanese).
[3] S. Mano and T. Katagi, “A method for measuring amplitude and phase
of each radiating element of phased array antenna,” Trans. IEICE, J65-B,
no. 5, pp. 555-560, May 1982 (in Japanese).
630

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Development of 28GHz band Massive MIMO

Antenna RF Frontend Module for 5G

Abstract—In the 5th generation mobile communication

Keywords—Active Phased Array Antenna; Massive MIMO;

II. ANTENNA RF FRONTEND MODULE Fig. 2. Schematic of antenna RF frontend module.

The massive MIMO configuration has been widely studied.

978-1-5386-7102-3/18/$31.00 ©2018 IEEE 629 AP-S 2018

Fig. 5. Measured radiation patterns of the antenna RF frontend module.

Fig. 3. Measured actual gain of the antenna panel[2].

Fig. 6. Evaluated beam pointing error.

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