Planar antenna design at 60 GHz for high date rate point-to-point connections

Millimetre wave antennas are typically used for applications like anti-collision car radar or sensory. A new and upcoming application is the use of 60 GHz antennas for high date rate point-to-point connections to serve wireless local area networks. For high gain antennas, configurations using lenses in combination with planar structures are often applied. However, single layer planar arrays might offer a more cost-efficient solution, especially if the antenna and the RF-circuitry are realised on one and the same substrate. The design of millimetre wave antennas has to cope with the severe impacts of manufacturing tolerances and losses at these frequencies. Reproducibility can become poor in such cases. The successful design and realisation of a cost-efficient 60 GHz planar patch array (8×8 elements) with high reproducibility for point-to-point connections is presented. Important design aspects are highlighted and manufacturing tolerances and losses are analysed. Measurement results of different prototypes are presented to show the reproducibility of the antenna layout.