A critical challenge for 5G is transitioning to the mm-Wave spectrum. Despite providing unprecedented data rates, mm-Waves also suffer high path loss, atmospheric absorption, and higher fluctuating channel conditions, sparking numerous paradigm shifts in the smartphone industry. Extending mm-Wave communications to smartphones requires first a comprehensive study to identify the antenna design/smartphone implementation challenges that impact the quality of communications. This work proposes a two-step assessment metric, the mmWAESI, to evaluate mm-Wave antennas’ potential and limitations regarding their impact on system performance. First, it analyzes the spatial distribution of the smartphone-integrated beam steering array’s radiated power. Then, it evaluates the antenna’s influence on the MIMO performance, using a discrete, time-variant geometrical MIMO channel simulator to recreate any mm-Wave propagation scenario. For enhanced accuracy, mmWAESI accounts simultaneously for several communication aspects: antenna type, realistic radiation patterns, mobile phone form factor constraints, phone orientation, and user influence. The method is illustrated for two different 4-element linear arrays at 39 GHz, based on patch or monopole elements, integrated into smartphones. Their performance is compared under similar conditions, revealing that, unless array switching is employed, the smartphone’s form factor and user influence will mask any potential advantage of the unperturbed array characteristics.

中文翻译：

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用于 5G 智能手机中毫米波天线性能评估的两步法

5G 的一个关键挑战是过渡到毫米波频谱。尽管提供了前所未有的数据速率，但毫米波还遭受高路径损耗、大气吸收和更高波动的信道条件，引发了智能手机行业的众多范式转变。将毫米波通信扩展到智能手机需要首先进行全面研究，以确定影响通信质量的天线设计/智能手机实施挑战。这项工作提出了一个两步评估指标，即 mmWAESI，以评估毫米波天线对系统性能影响的潜力和局限性。首先，分析了智能手机集成波束控制阵列辐射功率的空间分布。然后，它使用离散的、时变几何 MIMO 信道模拟器，以重现任何毫米波传播场景。为了提高准确性，mmWAESI 同时考虑了几个通信方面：天线类型、真实的辐射模式、手机外形因素限制、手机方向和用户影响。该方法针对 39 GHz 下两个不同的 4 单元线性阵列进行了说明，基于贴片或单极元件，并集成到智能手机中。在类似条件下比较它们的性能，表明除非采用阵列切换，否则智能手机的外形和用户影响将掩盖未受干扰的阵列特性的任何潜在优势。真实的辐射模式、手机外形因素限制、手机方向和用户影响。该方法针对 39 GHz 下两个不同的 4 单元线性阵列进行了说明，基于贴片或单极元件，并集成到智能手机中。在类似条件下比较它们的性能，表明除非采用阵列切换，否则智能手机的外形和用户影响将掩盖未受干扰的阵列特性的任何潜在优势。真实的辐射模式、手机外形因素限制、手机方向和用户影响。该方法针对 39 GHz 下两个不同的 4 单元线性阵列进行了说明，基于贴片或单极元件，集成到智能手机中。在类似条件下比较它们的性能，表明除非采用阵列切换，否则智能手机的外形和用户影响将掩盖未受干扰的阵列特性的任何潜在优势。