E-band backhaul antenna for fine beam alignment

An E-band Cassegrain switched beam high-gain antenna concept for 5G backhauling systems is proposed in this article. The antenna requirements target the compensation of small misalignments (within & PLUSMN;1 degrees in both azimuth and elevation planes) in E-band backhauling links due to adverse weather conditions or thermal deformations. The intended antenna is able to realize beam-switching operations by using a feed-array architecture based on a 7 x 7 array of cavity-backed magnetoelectric (ME) dipoles, where every element is capable of providing a steering of & PLUSMN;0.33 degrees in both the elevation and the azimuth planes. The ME dipole illuminators combined with a Cassegrain reflector provide a gain of 52 dBi within the whole scanning range. Besides, they can be easily integrable with the front-end modules, thus being an easily implementable and low-cost alternative to other more complex solutions based on horns or lens antennas.