Solving the 5G Mobile Antenna Puzzle: Assessing Future Directions for the 5G Mobile Antenna Paradigm Shift

Abstract

Advances in antenna technologies for cellular hand-held devices have been synchronous with the evolution of mobile phones over nearly 40 years. Having gone through four major wireless evolutions [1], [2], starting with the analog-based first generation to the current fourth-generation (4G) mobile broadband, technologies from manufacturers and their wireless network capacities today are advancing at unprecedented rates to meet our unrelenting service demands. These ever-growing demands, driven by exponential growth in wireless data usage around the globe [3], have gone hand in hand with major technological milestones achieved by the antenna design community. For instance, realizing the theory regarding the physical limitation of antennas [4]-[6] was paramount to the elimination of external antennas for mobile phones in the 1990s. This achievement triggered a variety of revolutionary mobile phone designs and the creation of new wireless services, establishing the current cycle of cellular advances and advances in mobile antenna technologies.