A compact bent microstrip-based wideband millimeter wave MIMO antenna for 5G applications

Abstract

Abstract This paper proposes a wideband four-element multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna operating in the millimeter-wave frequency band for 5G communications from 24.37–39.44 and 45.09–50.62 GHz. The antenna design has been realized using Rogers 5880 substrate and consists of a T-shaped strip that is attached to the top of a 50 Ω feeding line. Two microstrip lines are affixed at the terminal points of T-shaped strip and bent toward the feeding structure. These bent strip lines are then extended by joining two additional L-shaped microstrip lines. On the back, there is a partial defective ground plane featuring a rectangular slot and a thin strip line located at its center. The dimensions of the proposed single element and MIMO antenna are 0.933λ × 0.933λ × 0.024λ and 1.865λ × 1.865λ × 0.024λ, respectively (at 28 GHz), while the edge-to-edge distance between the radiation elements of the MIMO antenna is 4.0 mm. The design incorporates an efficient passive fan-shaped decoupling structure to decrease coupling between antenna elements. Simulations and experimental results show good agreement with each other. For all resonant frequencies the measured peak gain is greater than 4.85 dBi, radiation efficiency is over 90%, diversity gain is greater than 9.5, ECC is less than 0.025, TARC is less than -10 dB and CCL is below 0.4 bits/s/Hz. The proposed MIMO antenna, with its wide bandwidth, high gain, high inter-port isolation, and high efficiency characteristics, can be used for 5G wireless communication applications.