Electromagnetic Skin Based on a Multi-Faceted Reflectarray for Millimeter-Wave Coverage-Enhancing Applications

Abstract

In this contribution, a conformal electromagnetic skin based on a multi-faceted reflectarray topology has been designed to improve wireless communications in a 5G/6G mm-wave scenario. The proposed structure comprises multiple panels, assembled edge-to-edge following the curved profile of a cylindrical building corner. The multi-faceted electromagnetic skin, which operates in the 28-GHz band, deflects the impinging beam coming from the base station to a specific coverage direction, which is different for each linear polarization. The results of this work demonstrate that the multi-faceted approach can efficiently generate the required coverage in the selected scenario, increasing the integrability with the architectural elements of the environment compared to a traditional singlefacet electromagnetic skin.