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.     

Compact dual wide‐band four/eight elements MIMO antenna for WLAN applications

A compact four and eight elements multiple‐input‐multiple‐output (MIMO) antenna designed for WLAN applications is presented in this article. The antenna operates in IEEE 802.11b/g WLAN (2.4 GHz), IEEE 802.11 ac/n WLAN (5.2 and 5.8 GHz) and WiMAX (5.8 GHz) bands. The resonated mode of the antenna is achieved by two unequal Reverse‐L shaped, line‐shaped slots on top and parasitic element on the ground layer. The single antenna provides wide bandwidth of about 29% (2.3‐3.1 GHz) in lower and 22% (4.9‐6.1 GHz) in the upper band. The compactness of the single element antenna is found about 95% with respect to the patch and 61% in overall dimension. Thereafter an investigation is carried out to design two, four, and eight elements MIMO antennas. All of the multi‐element structures provide compact configuration and cover entire WLAN frequency ranges (2.4‐2.48 and 5.15‐5.85 GHz). The dimension of the proposed eight element MIMO antenna is 102 × 52 × 1.6 mm³. It covers the frequency (measured) from 2.4 to 3.1 GHz and 5 to 6.1 GHz. The diversity performance of the proposed MIMO antenna is also assessed in terms of the envelope correlation coefficient (ECC), diversity gain (DG), and total active reflection co‐efficient (TARC). The ECC is found <0.5 whereas the DG >9.0 is obtained for the desired bands.     

A frequency reconfigurable MIMO antenna with agile feedline for cognitive radio applications

A novel frequency agile multiple‐input‐multiple‐output (MIMO) patch antenna based on a reconfigurable feedline is proposed. The proposed antenna structure has two hexagonal‐shaped patch antenna elements. A defected ground structure having hexagonal shape is included in the ground plane to make the design compact and improve isolation among antenna elements. Further compactness is achieved using reactive loading. Frequency reconfigurability is realized by employing varactor diodes in the microstrip feedline. The proposed antenna achieves a frequency reconfigurable band with wide tuning range from 1.42 to 2.27 GHz with good gain and efficiency. Furthermore, an envelope correlation coefficient value of less than 0.2 and minimum isolation of 12 dB was achieved, displaying good MIMO performance. The presented antenna has a planar, low profile design with compact size of 100 × 50 mm². Thus, frequency agility, wide range tuning, compactness, and planar structure of the proposed antenna design make it suitable for modern wireless handheld devices particularly in cognitive radio applications.     

A dual‐polarized low‐profile microstrip patch antenna with U‐ or M‐shaped feed network

In this article, a dual‐polarized low‐profile microstrip patch antenna with U‐ or M‐shaped feed network is presented. The U‐ or M‐shaped feed network is printed on the same layer, which can achieve dual bands (5.3 and 5.8 GHz) and low profile (0.06 λ_g). Dual polarizations and high isolation are realized by making use of a quasi‐cross‐shaped slot feeding. Moreover, the port isolation is better than 25 dB, and the antenna gain is above 8.4 dBi for the two ports. And the cross‐polarization levels in both E and H planes are better than ‐30 dB for the two polarization ports, respectively. The design is suitable for array application in MIMO system. Details of the proposed design and experimental results are presented and well agreed.     

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.     

Compact C‐shaped MIMO diversity antenna for quad band applications with hexagonal stub for isolation improvement

A compact MIMO antenna was proposed in this article. The designed antenna is compact in size with dimensions of 20 × 34 × 1.6 mm. In this proposed antenna model the patch consisting of two counter facing C‐shaped elements facing each other in which a hexagonal ring attached to a strip line which is placed in between the two C‐shaped patch acts as the stub. The novelty of the antenna elements lies isolation improvement by using the ground stub with the use of circular ring resonator. The proposed antenna operates in four bands in which 2.66 to 3.60 GHz (Wi‐Max, Wi‐Fi), 4.52 to 5.78 GHz (WLAN), 6.59 to 7.40 GHz (satellite communication), and 9.55 to 10.91 GHz and having bandwidth of 0.94, 1.26, 0.81, and 1.36 GHz at four bands. The envelope correlation coefficient is ECC ≤ 0.3 and diversity gain > 9.8 dB for the operating bands of antenna proposed. This antenna can work in the bands of Wi‐Max, Wi‐Fi, WLAN, satellite communication in X‐band and for radio location, and astronomy applications.     

Dual‐band CPW fed MIMO antenna with polarization diversity and improved gain

A dual‐band MIMO slot antenna with polarization diversity and improved gain is proposed in this article. The antenna is composed of two C‐type back‐to‐back connected slot resonators and offers resonances at 3.5 and 5.2 GHz. This antenna element is further used to design a MIMO antenna. By introducing one U‐shaped slot between two antenna elements, isolation between the ports of this MIMO antenna is improved further. Finally, an artificial magnetic conductor (AMC) is placed below the MIMO antenna to enhance its gain. Gain enhancement of 1.5 and 2.2 dB is achieved at lower and upper band, respectively. S‐parameters, radiation patterns, gain, envelope correlation coefficient, and channel capacity loss are investigated to conclude about its performances in MIMO applications. Dual band dual polarization (circular and linear), improved isolation, polarization diversity (right‐hand circular polarization and left‐hand circular polarization), gain enhancement all are presented in a simple design represents the novelty of the proposed MIMO antenna.     

A compact multi‐band multi‐input multi‐output antenna for 4G/5G and IoT devices using theory of characteristic modes

A compact four element multi‐band multi‐input multi‐output (MIMO) antenna system for 4G/5G and IoT applications is presented in this paper. The proposed antenna is developed using the theory of characteristic modes helping in systematic design of MIMO antenna system. It consists of four L‐shaped planar inverted‐F antenna (PIFA) elements each operating at 3.5, 12.5, and 17 GHz bands with the bandwidth of 359 MHz, 1 GHz, and more than 3.7 GHz, respectively. The proposed antenna system is suitable for both 4G/5G and internet of things devices as it shows the satisfactory MIMO system performance. Good isolation characteristics are observed by implementing complimentary Metamaterial structure on the ground plane resulting in isolation level lower than ?21 dB between the antenna elements. The proposed antenna is fabricated and experimental results are also presented and discussed.     

Reconfigurable ultra‐wideband monopole antenna with single‐, dual‐, and triple‐band notched functions

A miniaturized ultra‐wideband (UWB) monopole antenna with reconfigurable multiple‐band notched performance is demonstrated. By modifying the shape of the patch and the ground plane, the UWB operation is achieved. The first and second band‐notches are respectively generated by etching a rectangular slot with open ends and a U‐shaped slot in the patch, and the third band‐notch is produced by loading a C‐shaped parasitic element beneath the patch. To realize the reconfigurable band‐notched functions, four PIN diodes are inserted in three band‐rejected structures. The antenna has a compact dimension of 30 mm × 26 mm. It can switch between a UWB state and several band‐notch states by alternating the states of the diodes. Also, good radiation patterns are obtained.     

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.     

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.     

MIMO‐UWB smart antenna communication characteristics for different antenna arrays of transmitters

The channel capacity of indoor multiple‐input multiple‐output ultra‐wide band (MIMO‐UWB) transmission for smart antenna is presented. The genetic algorithm (GA) is used to synthesize the radiation pattern of the directional antenna array to maximize the capacity performance in indoor MIMO‐UWB communication system. Three types of antenna arrays such as circular shape, L shape and Y shape arrays are used in the transmitter and their corresponding capacity on several paths in the indoor environment are calculated. The UWB impulse responses of the indoor channel for any transmitter‐receiver location are computed by applying shooting and bouncing ray/image (SBR/image) techniques, inverse fast Fourier transform and Hermitian processing. By using the calculated frequency response, the capacity performance of the synthesized antenna pattern on MIMO‐UWB system can be computed. Based on the topography of the antenna array and the capacity formula, the array pattern synthesis problem can be reformulated into an optimization problem and solved by the GA algorithm. The GA algorithm optimization is applied to a high order nonlinear optimization problem. The novelties of our approach is not only choosing capacity as the cost function instead of sidelobe level of the antenna pattern, but also considering the antenna feed length effect of each array element. The cost function for the problem is nonsmooth and discontinuous with respect to the antenna pattern. It is difficult to solve by gradient methods, since the derivative is hard to derive. The GA algorithm is employed to optimize the excitation voltages and feed lengths for these antenna arrays to increase the capacity. The strong point of the GA is that it can find out the solution even if the performance index cannot be formulated by simple equations. Numerical results show that the synthesized antenna array pattern is effective to focus maximum gain to the LOS path for these antenna arrays. In other words, the receiver can increase the received signal energy to noise ratio. The synthesized array pattern also can mitigate severe multipath fading in complex propagation environment. As a result, the capacity can be increased substantially in indoor MIMO‐UWB communication system. The investigated results can help communication engineers improve their planning and design of indoor wireless communication. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE, 2013.     

Broadband MIMO Antenna System for 5G Operations in Mobile Phones

A broadband 8‐antenna multiple‐input and multiple‐output (MIMO) system working for 5G new radio N77 (3.3‐4.2 GHz) in mobile terminals is proposed. In particular, each antenna element/unit consists of a monopole‐type meandered branch and an inverted U‐shaped self‐isolated antenna branch; and the antenna unit is fed by the meandered branch. The antenna unit has two resonances generated separately by each branch of the antenna unit. Since the monopole couples strongly with the self‐isolated antenna element that has the inherent self‐isolation characteristics, quite good isolation for the broadband 8‐antenna MIMO system can be obtained. The results such as antenna efficiency, radiation patterns, envelope correlation coefficient, and channel capacity are also presented.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

A low‐profile quad‐port UWB MIMO antenna using defected ground structure with dual notch‐band behavior

A compact (45 × 45 × 1.6 mm³) ultrawide‐band (UWB), multiple‐input multiple‐output (MIMO) design using microstrip line feeding is presented. The proposed design comprises four elliptical monopoles placed orthogonally on a cost‐effective FR‐4 substrate. In order to improve the impedance bandwidth and lessen the return loss of the MIMO antenna, defects in ground plane are created by etching symmetrical square slots and half‐rings. Moreover, a different method (of unsymmetrical H‐shaped slot with C‐shaped slot) was proposed into the patch to introduce dual‐band rejection performance from UWB at center frequency 5.5 GHz (covering lower WLAN as well as upper WLAN) and 7.5 GHz (X band). In addition, a stub is introduced at the edge of each defected ground structure to obtain isolation >–22 dB covering entire performing band from 2 to 16.8 GHz (where, S₁₁ < –10 dB). The proposed design has miniaturized size, very low envelop correlation coefficient less than 0.1, stable gain (2‐4 dBi except for notch bands). Furthermore, various MIMO performance parameters are within their specifications, such as diversity gain (= 10 dB), total active reflection coefficient (<–5 dB, and channel capacity loss (<0.35 bits/s/Hz). The presented design is optimized using the HFSS software, and fabricated design is tested using vector network analyzer. The experimental results are in good agreement with the simulation results.     

A WLAN band‐notched compact four element UWB MIMO antenna

A compact four‐element multiple‐input‐multiple‐output (MIMO) antenna for ultra‐wideband (UWB) applications with WLAN band‐notched characteristics is proposed here. The proposed antenna has been designed to operate from 2 to 12 GHz while reject the frequencies between 4.9 to 6.4 GHz. The four antenna elements are placed orthogonal to attain the polarization diversity and high isolation. A thin stub connected to the ground plane is deployed as a LC notch filter to accomplish the rejected WLAN band in each antenna element. The mutual coupling between the adjacent elements is at least 17 dB while it has low indoor and outdoor envelop correlation (<0.45) and high gain with compact size of two boards, each measuring 50 × 25 mm². To validate the concept, the prototype antenna is manufactured and measured. The comparison of the simulation results showed good agreement with the measured results. The low‐profile design and compact size of the proposed MIMO antenna make it a good candidate for diversity applications desired in portable devices operating in the UWB region.     

Design approach for dual element hybrid MIMO antenna arrangement for wideband applications

This communication explains the designing of two‐port based hybrid radiator for multiple‐input‐multiple‐output (MIMO) applications. Hybrid radiator includes U‐shaped printed line and ring dielectric resonator antenna (ri‐DRA). Wideband characteristics have been achieved by exciting both the U‐shaped printed line along with ri‐DRA. The U‐shaped metallic line acts as a magnetic dipole and helps to excite fundamental hybrid mode (HE_11δ) in the ri‐DRA. Dual L‐shaped and a rectangular defect have been created in ground plane for achieving wideband isolation over the working frequency band. Optimized Scattering parameters and far‐field results are verified by fabricating and testing of antenna prototype. Experimental outcomes confirm that the proposed MIMO antenna gives wider impedance bandwidth (80%), improved port isolation (better than 18 dB), stable gain (~ 4 dB), and radiation pattern. Various MIMO performance factors are analyzed and instituted in the tolerable boundaries.     

Miniaturization and dual‐banding of an elevated slotted patch antenna using the novel dual‐reverse‐arrow fractal

A novel fractal geometry called dual‐reverse‐arrow fractal (DRAF) is introduced and compared with various versions of Koch fractals for application to triangular patch antennas. It is shown that DRAF results in the reduction of antenna size and tends to maintain its bandwidth. The presented DRAF is applied for the reduction of size of an elevated triangular patch antenna for the dual band operation in WLAN. This DRAF antenna has achieved 40% size reduction compared to a simple triangular patch antenna. For the provision of required bandwidth in the second frequency band (4.9‐5.9 GHz), a stepped U‐shaped slot is cut in the triangular patch. This antenna is more compact than similar antennas reported in the literature but maintains its fractional bandwidth (%25). The optimized design of the proposed DRAF antenna with air gap and slot is fabricated and tested, which verifies its expected specifications.