  The key obstacle to achieving the full potential of the millimeter wave
(mmWave) band has been the poor propagation characteristics of wireless signals
in this band. One approach to overcome this issue is to use antennas that can
support higher gains while providing beam adaptability and diversity, i.e.,
reconfigurable antennas. In this article, we present a new architecture for
mmWave multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communications that uses a new
class of reconfigurable antennas. More specifically, the proposed lens-based
antennas can support multiple radiation patterns while using a single radio
frequency chain. Moreover, by using a beam selection network, each antenna beam
can be steered in the desired direction. Further, using the proposed
reconfigurable antenna in a MIMO architecture, we propose a new signal
processing algorithm that uses the additional degrees of freedom provided by
the antennas to overcome propagation issues at mmWave frequencies. Our
simulation results show that the proposed reconfigurable antenna MIMO
architecture significantly enhances the performance of mmWave communication
systems.
