Experimental Evaluation of User's Finger Effects on a 5G Terminal Antenna Array at 26 GHz

This letter presents the experimental evaluation of the effects of the user’s fingers on the performance of a fifth-generation (5G) terminal antenna array operating in the European 5G regulated band at 26 GHz. Matching and radiation characteristics of a four-element linear array constituted by aperture-coupled elements integrated into the mobile terminal are measured. The terminal casing and different configurations of the fingers of the user holding the terminal are considered. The obtained results indicate that the designed four-element antenna array realized the expected beamforming gain even with the perturbations by casing and user’s finger, except certain finger configurations.

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