Fractal Loaded, Novel, and Compact Two- and Eight-Element High Diversity MIMO Antenna for 5G Sub-6 GHz (N77/N78 and N79) and WLAN Applications, Verified with TCM Analysis

Abstract

A novel compact fractal loaded two- and eight-element multiple input multiple output (MIMO) with strong diversity is designed for 5G Sub 6 GHz and WLAN applications. The suggested antenna is designed and manufactured on inexpensive FR4 dielectric material with small size of 72 mm × 72 mm × 1.6 mm (0.792λ × 0.792λ × 0.0176λ, where λ is calculated at a lower operating frequency). The proposed layout features a partially grounded, protruding T-shaped stub on the underside of the substrate and a set of fractally loaded circular patch antenna elements on the top. Four triangular slots on the substrate and a T-shaped stub on the ground are employed to produce good isolation over the intended bands. The proposed antenna has a frequency range of (3.3–6.0) GHz, making it compatible with the 5G sub-6 GHz bands and the WLAN band thanks to its high isolation of above 15 dB and good impedance matching characteristics. Good agreement is observed between the antenna results and the theory of characteristic mode analysis approach. The designed antenna is well suited for 5G sub-6 GHz and WLAN communication applications due to its low ECC (0.005), total active reflection coefficient (TARC) (−10 dB), mean effective gain (MEG) (−3 dB), and diversity gain (DG) (−10 dB), channel capacity losses (CCL) (0.05), peak gain (>2.5 dBi), radiation efficiency (>95%), and stable boresight radiation patterns.

Design and Analysis of Modified U-Shaped Four Element MIMO Antenna for Dual-Band 5G Millimeter Wave Applications

“…This section analyzes the diversity performance of the suggested MIMO antenna using several metrics of performance such as the envelope correlation coefficient (ECC), diversity gain (DG), total active reflection coefficient (TARC), channel capacity loss (CCL), and mean effective gain (MEG). The MIMO antenna diversity is analyzed using the ECC [ 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 ]. Equation (1) describes the ECC, which indicates the way the channels relate to one another for an N-element system.…”

“…The diversity gain is an indicator of how well antenna diversity methods perform [ 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 ]. The suggested MIMO antenna diversity capability can be evaluated using Equation (2).…”

Design of a Dual-Band WiFi Antenna Using the Theory of Characteristic Modes and Nested Chinese Characters

“…CCL is also an important parameter to measure the MIMO antenna system; usually, when the CCL is lower than 0.4 bits/s/Hz, the MIMO antenna system is considered to have met its performance requirements. These parameters are computed using Equations ( 7)-( 9), given below [40][41][42]. Figure 18 shows the TARC and the CCL calculations for the proposed MIMO antenna, which shows that the TARC is below 30 dB, and the CCL is below 0.18 bits/s/HZ in the operating band.…”

Dual-Band 2 × 1 Monopole Antenna Array and Its MIMO Configuration for WiMAX, Sub-6 GHz, and Sub-7 GHz Applications

“…The MIMO antenna operates in the 2.38-2.72 GHz and 3.17-3.84 GHz frequency bands, providing a peak gain of 6 dBi, with inter-port isolation exceeding 10 dBi. In [14], an eight-element MIMO antenna for sub-6 GHz and WLAN applications is presented. The MIMO antenna has a bandwidth of 2.7 GHz, specifically ranging from 3.3 to 6 GHz, and a compact size of 72 × 72 mm 2 .…”