A Single-Board Integrated Millimeter-Wave Asymmetric Full-Digital Beamforming Array for B5G/6G Applications

In this article,a single-board integrated millimeter-wave(mm-Wave)asymmetric full-digital beamforming(AFDBF)array is developed for beyond-fifth-generation(B5G)and sixth-generation(6G)communications.The proposed integrated array effectively addresses the challenge of arranging a large number of ports in a full-digital array by designing vertical connections in a three-dimensional space and successfully integrating full-digital transmitting(Tx)and receiving(Rx)arrays independently in a single board.Unlike the traditional symmetric array,the proposed asymmetric array is composed of an 8×8 Tx array arranged in a square shape and an 8+8 Rx array arranged in an L shape.The center-to-center distance between two adjacent elements is 0.54k0 for both the Tx and Rx arrays,where k0 is the free-space wavelength at 27 GHz.The proposed AFDBF array possesses a more compact structure and lower system hardware cost and power consumption compared with conventional brick-type full-digital arrays.In addition,the energy efficiency of the proposed AFDBF array outperforms that of a hybrid beamforming array.The measurement results indicate that the operating frequency band of the proposed array is 24.25–29.50 GHz.An eight-element linear array within the Tx array can achieve a scanning angle ranging from-47°to+47°in both the azimuth and the elevation planes,and the measured scanning range of each eight-element Rx array is–45°to+45°.The measured maximum effective isotropic radiated power(EIRP)of the eight-element Tx array is 43.2 dBm at 28.0 GHz(considering the saturation point).Furthermore,the measured error vector magnitude(EVM)is less than 3%when 64-quadrature amplitude modulation(QAM)waveforms are used.