Reconfigurable reflectarrays for 5/6G wireless systems with linear polarization

Numerous studies on wireless technologies for the fifth and sixth generation networks are widely conducted at the moment. They are driven by potential opportunities of digitalization in the information society era. Further enlargement of data transfer rates is required to enhance virtual interactions in various public areas via appearance of new services and applications. In this work, we report on the development of a reconfigurable reflectarray for 5/6G wireless communication systems with linear polarization. The proposed reflectarray utilizes current controlling diodes in a metallic screen inserted in between of front and rear metallizations of a planar patch antenna array. This makes it capable of a digital beam steering on a microsecond scale. Performance of the reflectarray designed for operation at 15 GHz is described in terms of numerical simulations and prototyping. We also discuss prospects and technological challenges of fabricating a scaled-down version of the reflectarray for 150 GHz operation.