Orthogonally dual‐polarised MIMO antenna array with pattern diversity for use in 5G smartphones

Abstract

A new multiple-input/multiple-output (MIMO) antenna design is introduced for future smartphones. The proposed design contains four pairs of double-fed circular-ring resonators located at different edges of the smartphone printed circuit board (PCB) with an FR-4 substrate and a dimension of 75 × 150 mm2. The antenna elements are fed by 50-Ohm microstrip-lines and provide polarisation and radiation pattern diversity function due to the orthogonal placement of their feed lines. By inserting a rectangular slot under each microstrip feed-line, the mutual coupling characteristic of the antenna ports is reduced. A good frequency bandwidth (S11 ≤ − 10 dB) of 3.3–3.9 GHz has been obtained for the smartphone antenna array. Nevertheless, for S11 ≤ − 6 dB, this value is 3.1–4.3 GHz. More than 3 dB realised gain and 80% total efficiency are achieved for the single-element radiator. The design provides not only sufficient radiation coverage supporting different sides of the mainboard but also the polarisation diversity. In addition, sufficient properties are obtained in the vicinity of human-hand/human-head. The proposed MIMO antenna design is also capable to generate dual- or multi-band function. Moreover, a new and compact phased array millimeter-wave (mm-wave) antenna design with end-fire radiation beams is introduced which can be easily integrated into smartphones.