###### Abstract  
The requirement of mounting several access points and base stations is increasing tremendously due to recent advancements and the need for high-data-rate communication services of 5G and 6G wireless communication systems. In the near future, the enormous number of these access points might cause a mess. In such cases, an optically transparent antenna (OTA) is the best option for making the environment more appealing and pleasant. OTAs provide the possible solution as these maintain the device aesthetics to achieve transparency as well as fulfill the basic coverage and bandwidth requirements. Various attempts have been made to design OTAs to provide coverage for wireless communication, particularly for the dead zones. These antennas can be installed on building windows, car windscreens, towers, trees, and smart windows, which enables network access for vehicles and people passing by those locations. Several transparent materials and techniques are used for transparent antenna design. Thin-film and mesh-grid techniques are very popular to transform metallic parts of the antenna into a transparent material. In this article, a comprehensive review of both the techniques used for the design of OTAs is presented. The performance comparison of OTAs on the basis of bandwidth, gain, transparency, transmittance, and efficiency is also presented. An OTA is the best choice in these situations to improve the aesthetics and comfort of the surroundings with high antenna performance. optical antenna; optically transparent antenna; semi transparent antenna; transparent antenna; mesh grid; thin film; TCO; 5G 2  
the current is developed having maximum value at the center of the patch, while at the radiating edges, the electric field is maximum. The electrons in the current travel back and forth along the antenna path, thus creating electromagnetic radiations in the form of radio waves which travel at the speed of light from the transmitter to the medium. The main concerning components of a transparent antenna are the transparent substrate, radiating patch, and ground [2]. Materials used for designing optical antennas are mentioned in Section 2, while Tables 1 and 2 show a list of suitable materials used in patch/ground for achieving transparency. The thickness of dielectric material has a direct relation with the bandwidth of the antenna. An increase in the thickness improves the antenna bandwidth. In addition, the choice of substrate material assists in achieving transparency at the cost of the conductivity of the antenna. Patch dimensions define the resonance frequency, radiation performance, and physical dimensions in terms of wavelengths and conduction losses. Higher conductivity results in fewer losses. Ground components help to mitigate the backside radiations while focusing the radiations in the intended direction. The literature mentions metal meshing, conductive polymer, and thin film to convert an opaque antenna to a transparent antenna. For efficient antenna design, the electrical and optical properties of antennas must be taken into consideration. These properties of the antenna include the electrical dimensions of the antenna, polarization, permeability and permittivity of substrate material, conductance, resistivity, and transparency. Antennas having thin structures, cheap cost, and high transparency are becoming more and more in demand for wireless applications, as discussed in [3]. A transparent antenna may help to reduce antenna size and aesthetics according to the size of mobile phones [4]. The 5G enabled antennas to have high attenuation due to higher frequency causing signal degradation. Therefore, several access points, signal repeaters, and base stations are needed to be deployed at closer distances on windows of buildings, streetlights, and other infrastructure to overcome this issue. This will help to maintain the aesthetics of the window as well as to meet the requirements for access points and base stations to provide network access to the vehicles and people passing by those buildings [5].