A dual‐band eight‐antenna multi‐input multi‐output array for 5G metal‐framed smartphones

A dual‐band eight‐antenna array operating in the long‐term evolution (LTE) band 41 (2.496‐2.69 GHz) and 3.5‐GHz band (3.3‐3.7 GHz) for fifth‐generation (5G) metal‐framed smartphone is presented. The proposed dual‐band antenna array is composed of four identical dual‐antenna building blocks (DABBs). Each DABB consists of two identical antenna elements with a neutralization line between them. The antenna array is simulated, fabricated, and measured. The isolations are better than 10.5 dB and 11.0 dB in the low band (LB; LTE band 41) and high band (HB; 3.5‐GHz band). The total efficiencies are 41% to 54% and 46% to 64% in the two operation bands, respectively. In addition, the measured envelope correlation coefficients are less than 0.11 and 0.06, the calculated channel capacities are better than 34.5 and 36.3 bps/Hz in the LB and HB, respectively. Furthermore, four hand‐grip scenarios are investigated, and results show that proposed antenna array can maintain excellent multiple‐input multiple‐output performances in all scenarios.     

Compact high isolation wideband 4G and 5G multi‐input multi‐output antenna system for handheld and internet of things applications

This article presents a compact wideband multi‐input multi‐output (MIMO) antenna with a high port‐to‐port isolation, having a height h = 3.5 mm for 4G, 5G, and Internet of things (IoT) applications. Two identical planar inverted‐F antennas (PIFA) are used in this antenna system. For achieving wideband characteristics, closed‐ended and open‐ended rectangular slots are etched out on top plate of each PIFA, whereas a slot is etched in ground plane under the top plate of each PIFA. For achieving high isolation, a rectangular slot is etched out in the center of ground plane between two PIFAs. For further reduction in mutual coupling, a small rectangular strip is connected between the top plates of two PIFAs that introduce an antiresonance for enhancing isolation between two PIFA elements. The minimum isolation obtained between the ports of the two PIFAs is about ?20 dB. The minimum impedance bandwidth obtained by the two PIFAs is from 2 to around 3.6 GHz, thus become a wide band antenna covering WLAN band (2.45GHz), 4G‐LTE bands, WiMAX bands (IMT‐2.1 GHz, IMT‐2.3 GHz, and IMT‐E 2.6 GHz), and a sub‐6 GHz 5G band (3.4‐3.6 GHz). The simulated results are compared with the measured ones that are generally found in good agreement. Being low profile and compact, this antenna can be used for advanced 5G communication systems and IoT devices.     

Compact sub‐6 GHz 5G‐multiple‐input‐multiple‐output antenna system with enhanced isolation

A compact two‐element multiple‐input‐multiple‐output (MIMO) antenna system with improved impedance matching and isolation is presented for future sub‐6 GHz 5G applications. The two identical tapered microstrip line fed modified rhombus‐shaped radiating elements are placed in the same orientation at a compact substrate area of 0.24λ₀ × 0.42λ₀ (where, λ₀ at 3.6 GHz) on a shared rectangular ground. A remodeled T‐shaped ground stub is placed between a pair of radiating element to achieve improved impedance bandwidth and isolation. Further, a split U‐shaped stub connected to center of each radiating element to achieve the desired resonant frequency of 3.6 GHz. The proposed antenna covers a ?10 dB operating band of 3.34 to 3.87 GHz (530 MHz) with more than 20 dB isolation between a pair of elements. MIMO performances are also analyzed and experimentally validated. The measured performances of a prototype are found in good agreement with simulated performances. Further, the simulation study is carried out to see the effect of housing and extended ground plane on two‐element MIMO antenna for practical application. An idea of realization of 12‐element MIMO is also studied using the proposed two‐element MIMO antenna.     

Dual‐band and enhanced‐isolation MIMO antenna with L‐shaped meta‐rim extended ground stubs for 5G mobile handsets

A novel compact planar dual‐band multiple input multiple output (MIMO) antenna with four radiating elements for 5G mobile communication is proposed. Each radiating element has a planar folded monopole, which is surrounded by L‐shaped meta‐rim extended ground stubs. The compact folded arms act as the main radiating elements, while combined with the L‐shaped meta‐rim stubs, the proposed antenna forms multiple resonances so as to achieve dual‐band coverage. The simulated and measured results show that the proposed antenna has two wide bands of ?6 dB return loss, consisting of 1.6 to 3.6 and 4.1 to 6.1 GHz, respectively. Without any additional isolation structure between the elements, the isolation for the proposed 2 × 2 MIMO antenna in both desired bands can be achieved better than 12 dB. The measured results show that the proposed MIMO antenna with good performance, that is, stable radiation patterns, high efficiencies, low specific absorption ratio (SAR) to human tissues, is suitable for WLAN/LTE, 4G and future 5G mobile phone applications.     

A miniaturized multi‐wideband Quasi‐Yagi MIMO antenna system

A multi‐band directional multiple‐input–multiple‐output (MIMO) antenna system is presented based on a rectangular loop excited Quasi‐Yagi configuration. A 64% reduction in size is obtained using a rectangular meandered element as well as a small ground plane. The proposed two‐element MIMO antenna system covers the Telemetry L‐band and several LTE/WLAN bands. It has a wide measured bandwidth of 689 MHz (1.897–2.586 GHz) in the desired band centered at 2 GHz, and a measured bandwidth of more than 168 MHz across rest of the bands. The MIMO antenna system has a total size of 45 × 120 × 0.76 mm³, with a single element size of 55 × 60 × 0.76 mm³. The non‐desired back‐lobe radiation which is obtained using a small ground plane, is significantly reduced by using a novel defected ground structure (DGS) as compared with the complex techniques present in literature. The proposed DGS provides a high measured front‐to‐back ratio of 14 dB at 2 GHz and 11 dB in other bands. A maximum measured realized gain of 5.8 dBi is obtained in the desired band using a single parasitic director element. The proposed MIMO antenna system has a minimum measured radiation efficiency of 70%, isolation of 12 dB, and envelope correlation coefficient of 0.098 within all bands which ensures very good MIMO performance.     

Multiband multiple‐input multiple‐output antenna with high isolation for future 5G smartphone applications

A multiband high‐isolation multiple‐input multiple‐output (MIMO) antenna using balanced mode and coupled neutralization line (NL) is presented in this article. The balanced modes of dipole and loop antennas, which leads to good isolation intrinsically are used for the 8 × 8 MIMO in the LTE bands 42 (3400‐3600 MHz)/Chinese 5G band (3300‐3400 and 3400‐3600 MHz). The unbalanced mode of loop antennas, which optimized by decoupling structure are designed for the 4 × 4 MIMO in the LTE band 40 (2300‐2400 MHz). Therefore, the eight‐antenna array is formed by four dipole elements and four loop elements. The simulated and measured results show that the proposed antenna can cover 2300 to 2400 and 3300 to 3600 MHz, with reflection coefficient better than ?6 dB and isolation higher than 15 dB. Good radiation performance and low envelope correlation coefficient can also be obtained. Specific absorption rate of user's hand is also discussed in this article.     

Ultra‐compact 4‐port DR antenna for multi‐input multi‐output standards

Here, an ultra‐compact Multi‐Input‐Multi‐Output (MIMO) antenna system is presented for Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) applications. The proposed antenna compactness approach is based on using Cylindrical‐Dielectric‐Resonator‐Antenna (CDRA) symmetry with the help of image theory to achieve the best size reduction of the resonators and maintain the resonance frequency of the original CDRA. The electric/magnetic walls approach is utilized to miniaturize the size by exploring the symmetry and antisymmetry of the resonant mode. First, a CDRA for MIMO system is designed and tested in terms of return loss and radiation efficiency. Then, two configurations of MIMO‐Antennas (two and four ports) are examined by using the same substrate size. The 2‐port‐MIMO antenna is built from two half‐CDRs (HCDRs) facing each other. Similarly, four‐quarter‐CDRs (QCDRs) are created to form a 4‐port MIMO antenna system. As a result, a 75% size reduction is achieved (size of 30 × 30 × 7.62 mm³). The measured impedance bandwidth for the 4‐port MIMO antenna is 5.4% (5.4‐5.7 GHz), with more than 15 dB isolation levels. Proper levels of Envelope Correlation Coefficients (ECCs) are also achieved (1 × 10^?2‐4 × 10^?2), with a channel capacity loss (CCL) of 0.04 bits/S/Hz. The proposed MIMO antennas are suitable for compact wireless communication systems.     

Design and packaging of ultra‐wideband multiple‐input‐multiple‐output/diversity antenna for wireless applications

In this article, a new compact eight‐element three‐dimensional (3D) design of ultra‐wideband (UWB) multiple‐input‐multiple‐output (MIMO) antenna is proposed. For realizing polarization diversity, four elements of the MIMO antenna are oriented horizontally and four elements are arranged vertically. In the horizontal arrangement, the antenna resonating elements are placed orthogonally to each other, which reduces interelement coupling and offers a consistent link with the wireless systems/devices. The proposed antenna shows a bandwidth (S₁₁ ≤ ?10 dB) of 17.99 GHz (2.83‐20.82 GHz) and isolation larger than 15 dB in the resonating band. The proposed MIMO/diversity antenna performance parameters such as envelope correlation coefficient, diversity gain, and total active reflection coefficient are evaluated and presented. Furthermore, the unit cell of the MIMO system is simulated for the packaged environment and it is observed that the antenna housing does not affect the antenna performance.     

Metal‐frame‐integrated eight‐element multiple‐input multiple‐output antenna array in the long term evolution bands 41/42/43 for fifth generation smartphones

A metal‐frame‐integrated eight‐antenna array operating in the long term evolution bands 41/42/43 (2.496 GHz‐2.69 GHz, 3.4 GHz‐3.8 GHz) for future fifth generation multiple‐input multiple‐output (MIMO) applications in smartphones is presented and discussed. The proposed eight‐antenna MIMO array is formed by integrating four identical building blocks, each of which consists two dual‐mode monopole antenna elements with a neutralization line (NL) embedded in between. Part of the metal frame is exploited to increase the effective resonant length of the monopole antenna. By using the wideband NL, two transmission dips can be generated, and thus an improved isolation (>10 dB) is achieved. The proposed antenna array was simulated and experimentally tested. Good antenna efficiency (>44%) and low envelope correlation coefficient (<0.2) were obtained in the bands of interest. In an 8 × 8 MIMO system with 20 dB signal‐to‐noise ratio, the calculated ergodic channel capacity was as high as 38 bps/Hz in the low band, and 38.3 bps/Hz in the high band. Details of the proposed antenna array are described. The simulated, measured, and calculated results are presented.     

Design and analysis of a quad‐band substrate‐integrated‐waveguide cavity backed slot antenna for 5G applications

A planar and compact substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) cavity backed antenna and a 2 × 2 multi‐input multi‐output (MIMO) antenna are presented in this study. The proposed antenna is fed by a grounded coplanar waveguide (GCPW) to SIW type transition and planned to be used for millimeter‐wave (mm‐wave) fifth generation (5G) wireless communications that operates at 28, 38, 45, and 60 GHz frequency bands. Moreover, the measured impedance bandwidth (|S₁₁| ≤ ? 10 dB ) of the antenna covers 27.55 to 29.36, 37.41 to 38.5, 44.14 to 46.19, and 57.57 to 62.32 GHz bands and confirms the quad‐band characteristic. Omni‐directional radiation characteristics are observed in the far‐field radiation pattern measurements of the antenna over the entire operating frequency. The reported antenna is compact in size (9.7 × 13.3 × 0.6 mm³) and the gain values at each resonance frequency are measured as 3.26, 3.28, 3.34, and 4.51 dBi, respectively. Furthermore, the MIMO antenna performance is evaluated in terms of isolation, envelope correlation coefficient and diversity gain.     

Compact planar frequency reconfigurable multiple‐input‐multiple‐output antenna with pattern and polarization diversity characteristics for WiFi and WiMAX standards

A compact planar frequency reconfigurable dual‐band multiple‐input‐multiple‐output (MIMO) antenna with high isolation and pattern/polarization diversity characteristics is presented in this article for WiFi and WiMAX standards. The MIMO configuration incorporates two symmetrically placed identical antenna elements and covers overall size of 24 mm × 24 mm × 0.762 mm. Reconfiguration of each antenna element is achieved by using a PIN diode which allows antennas to switch from state‐1 (2.3‐2.4 GHz and 4.6‐5.5 GHz) to state‐2 (3.3‐3.5 GHz and 4.6‐5.5 GHz). In state‐1, the configuration offers isolation ≥18 dB and 20 dB in lower band (LB) and upper band (UB) respectively; whereas, in state‐2, isolation ≥21 dB and 20 dB in LB and UB respectively is achieved. The same decoupling circuit provides high isolation in dual‐band of two states, which makes overall size of the proposed design further compact. The antennas are characterized in terms of envelope correlation coefficient, radiation pattern, gain, and efficiency. From measured and simulated results, it is verified that the proposed frequency reconfigurable dual‐band multi‐standard MIMO antenna design shows desirable performance in both operating bands of each state and compact size of the design makes it suitable for small form factor devices used in future wireless communication systems.     

Dual‐mode and triple‐band 10‐antenna handset array and its multiple‐input multiple‐output performance evaluation in 5G

A 10‐element multiple‐input multiple‐output (MIMO) handset antenna array with triple‐band operation in the long‐term evolution band 42 (3400‐3600 MHz), band 43 (3600‐3800 MHz), and band 46 (5150‐5925 MHz) is studied in this article. Acceptable antenna performances are obtained by using polarization and pattern diversity techniques. To assess the multiplexing performances of the handset array in 5G, an 8‐element base station array covering 3.4‐7.1 GHz is presented and studied. An 8 × 10 MIMO system incorporating 8 transmit antennas, propagation scenario and 10 receive antennas is successfully reported, and its multiplexing performances are evaluated. The computed channel capacities in the low and high bands can be as high as 43.3 bps/Hz and 41.6 bps/Hz, which are promising for multi‐gigabit‐per‐second (multi‐Gbps) data transmission in 5G. The effects of user's hand and low MIMO order on the channel capacities are also investigated. Results show the robust performances of the proposed antenna system.     

Low profile four‐port super‐wideband multiple‐input‐multiple‐output antenna with triple band rejection characteristics

A quad‐port planar multiple‐input‐multiple‐output (MIMO) antenna possessing super‐wideband (SWB) operational features and triple‐band rejection characteristics is designed. The proposed MIMO configuration consists of four modified‐elliptical‐self‐complementary‐antenna (MESCA) elements, which are excited by tapered co‐planar waveguide (TCPW) feed lines. A radiator‐matched complementary slot is present in the ground conductor patch of each MESCA element. The proposed MIMO antenna exhibits a bandwidth ratio of 36:1 (|S₁₁| < ?10 dB; 0.97‐35 GHz). Further, a step‐like slit‐resonator is etched in the radiator to eliminate interferences at 3.5 GHz. A hexagonal shaped complementary split ring resonator (CSRR) is also loaded on the MESCA radiator to remove interferences at 5.5 and 8.5 GHz. The MIMO antenna is fabricated on FR‐4 substrate of size 63 × 63 mm² and experimental results are found in good agreement with the simulated results. The MIMO antenna exhibits inter‐element isolation >17 dB and envelope correlation coefficient (ECC) <0.01 at all the four ports.     

Compact four‐port MIMO antenna on slotted‐edge substrate with dual‐band rejection characteristics

A compact ultra‐wideband (UWB) multiple‐input‐multiple‐output (MIMO) antenna with dual band elimination characteristics is presented. The proposed MIMO antenna is comprised of four identical elliptical shaped monopole radiators located orthogonally to each other. A second order Koch fractal geometry is applied on the edges of the ground planes of the radiating elements; to reduce the overall size of the MIMO antenna, without compromising the lower frequency response. Further, in order to eliminate the undesired resonant bands (3.5 and 5.5 GHz) from UWB, an elliptical complementary split ring resonator is introduced in the monopole radiator. For reducing inter‐element coupling in the proposed MIMO antenna, a different approach (of slotted edge substrate) is used, as a substitute of traditional decoupling stub/elements. In the entire operating band of 3 to 13.5 GHz, inter‐element isolation more than 22 dB and envelope correlation coefficient less than 0.008 are obtained. The measured parameters of the fabricated prototype antenna are found in good agreement with the simulated results.     

Compact thirteen‐band antenna for 4G/5G/WLAN metal frame mobile phones

An antenna which can cover 13 bands for 4G/5G/WLAN mobile phones including metal frames and has the size of 70 mm × 7 mm × 7 mm is proposed and studied. It comprises four ground branches and a coupled line. The merit of the antenna proposed in this article is that it can cover 13 bands under the condition of a metal frame environment and a 7 mm ground clearance. The prototype of the proposed antenna is fabricated and tested. The measured impedance bandwidths (reflection coefficient less than ?6 dB) are 315 MHz (0.680‐0.995 GHz), 1.1 GHz (1.67‐2.77 GHz), 0.65 GHz (3.25‐3.9 GHz), and 1.35 GHz (4.55‐5.9 GHz). The LTE700, LTE2300, LTE2500, UMTS, GSM850, GSM900, GSM1800, and GSM1900 bands for 4G/3G/2G systems, the 3.5 GHz and 4.8 GHz bands for 5G system, and the 2.4 GHz, 5.2 GHz and 5.8 GHz bands for the WLAN system are covered. The measured efficiencies and patterns are also presented.     

Investigation on decoupling of wide band wearable multiple‐input multiple‐output antenna elements using microstrip neutralization line

An investigation to enhance the decoupling between the elements of a compact wide band multiple‐input multiple‐output (MIMO) antenna is presented in this communication. A microstrip neutralization line (NL) is designed on the top of antenna surface to enhance the port isolation. The geometry is embedded on a jeans material to be apposite for the on‐body wearable applications. The antenna covers the frequency spectra from 3.14 to 9.73 GHz (around 102.4%) and fulfills the bandwidth requirements of WiMAX (3.2‐3.8 GHz), WLAN (5.15‐5.35/5.72‐5.85 GHz), C band downlink‐uplink (3.7‐4.2/5.9‐6.425 GHz), downlink defense (7.2‐7.7 GHz), and ITU (8‐8.5 GHz) bands. The port isolation is found to be more than 32 dB over the whole application bands. The antenna is appraised in a rich scattering environment with very minimal envelope correlation coefficient (ECC < 0.12) and great amount of diversity gain (DG > 9.8). The proposed MIMO antenna system is able to achieve the channel capacity loss (CCL) of less than 0.2 BPS/Hz throughout the whole operating band. The proposed structure is etched on an area of 30 × 50 mm². The simulated and measured performances of the proposed antenna are in well‐matched state.     

Compact eight‐port MIMO/diversity antenna with band rejection characteristics

A new compact three‐dimensional multiple‐input‐multiple‐output (MIMO) antenna comprised of eight antenna elements is presented. The unit cell of the proposed MIMO/diversity antenna consists of three elliptical rings connected together in the region close to the feed line and a rectangular‐shaped modified ground plane. To achieve polarization diversity with the proposed eight‐port MIMO configuration, four antenna elements are horizontally arranged and the remaining four are vertically oriented. The proposed antenna has an impedance bandwidth (S₁₁ < ?10 dB) of 25.68 GHz (3.1‐28.78 GHz) with a wireless local area network notch‐band at 5.8 GHz (5.2‐6.5 GHz). In addition to polarization diversity, the proposed antenna provides a reliable link with wireless devices. The prototype antenna design is fabricated and measured for diversity performance. Also, the proposed MIMO antenna provides good performance metrics such as apparent diversity gain, channel capacity loss, envelope correlation coefficient, isolation, mean effective gain, multiplexing efficiency, and total active reflection coefficient.     

Design of multi‐beam antenna based on Rotman lens

A planar Rotman lens antenna that generates multiple beams is presented over a wide angular range. The proposed multi‐beam antenna consists of a Rotman lens and a ten‐element printed Yagi antenna array. By properly comparing optical aberrations, expressing as the normalized path length errors Δl, the suitable ratio of on‐axis to off‐axis focal length (g = G/F) is acquired so as to minimize phase errors for the array elements. Ten dummy ports are employed to reduce the performance deterioration caused by energy reflection. A prototype with seven input ports was fabricated and measured, covering a wide scanning angle of 60° (–30°, 30°). The measured beam patterns show that the seven beam gains are distributed from 11.9 to 13.6 dBi under operating of 8.15 GHz. Both the simulated and measured results are used to verify the design approach.     

Complementary meander‐line‐inspired dielectric resonator multiple‐input‐multiple‐output antenna for dual‐band applications

The communication presents a simple dielectric resonator (DR) multiple‐input‐multiple‐output (MIMO) dual‐band antenna. It utilizes two “I”‐shaped DR elements to construct an “I”‐shaped DR array antenna (IDRAA) for MIMO applications. The ground plane of the antenna is defected by two spiral complementary meander lines and two circular ground slots. In the configuration, two “I”‐shaped DR elements are placed with a separation of 0.098λ. The antenna covers dual‐band frequency spectra from 3.46 to 5.37 GHz (43.26%) and from 5.89 to 6.49 GHz (9.7%). It ensures the C‐band downlink (3.7‐4.2 GHz), uplink (5.925‐6.425 GHz), and WiMAX (5.15‐5.35 GHz) frequency bands. Each DR element is excited with a 50‐Ω microstrip line feed with aperture‐coupling mechanism. The antenna offers very high port isolation of around 18.5 and 20 dB in the lower band and upper band, respectively. The proposed structure is suitable to operate in the MIMO system because of its very nominal envelope correlation coefficient (<0.015) and high diversity gain (>9.8). The MIMO antenna provides very good mean effective gain value (±0.35 dB) and low channel capacity loss (<0.35 bit/s/Hz) throughout the entire operating bands. Simulated and measured results are in good agreement and they approve the suitability of the proposed IDRAA for C‐band uplink and downlink applications and WiMAX band applications.     

Design and development of enhanced bandwidth multi‐frequency slotted antenna for 4G‐LTE/WiMAX/WLAN and S/C/X‐band applications

A multi‐frequency rectangular slot antenna for 4G‐LTE/WiMAX/WLAN and S/C/X‐bands applications is presented. The proposed antenna is comprised of rectangular slot, a pair of E‐shaped stubs, and an inverted T‐shaped stub and excited using staircase feed line. These employed structures help to achieve multiband resonance at four different frequency bands. The proposed multiband slot antenna is simulated, fabricated and tested experimentally. The experimental results show that the antenna resonates at 2.24, 4.2, 5.25, and 9.3 GHz with impedance bandwidth of 640 MHz (2.17‐2.82 GHz) covering WiMAX (802.16e), Space to Earth communications, 4G‐LTE, IEEE 802.11b/g WLAN systems defined for S‐band applications. Also the proposed antenna exhibits bandwidth of 280 MHz (4.1‐4.38 GHz) for Aeronautical and Radio navigation applications, 80 MHz (4.2‐4.28 GHz) for uncoordinated indoor systems,1060 MHz (5.04‐6.1 GHz) for the IEEE 802.11a WLAN system defined for C‐band applications and 2380 MHz (7.9‐10.28 GHz) defined for X‐band applications. Further, the radiation patterns for the designed antenna are measured in anechoic chamber and are found to agree well with simulated results.