Reconfigurable dual element dual band MIMO antenna for 5G (Sub-6 GHz) and WLAN applications

Abstract

PurposeThis study aims to present dual band reconfigurable MIMO antenna for 5G (sub-6 GHz) and WLAN applications.Design/methodology/approachTo achieve optimum bandwidth, radiation pattern and radiation efficiency, the defected ground structure (DGS) and a rectangular stub connected with the DGS are used. To further cover the sub-6 GHz spectrum (3.4–3.6 GHz) for future 5G communications, a two-element multi-input multi-output (MIMO) antenna configuration is designed by using the single element antenna. The proposed reconfigurable MIMO antenna using a PIN diode is designed on an FR4 substrate with a dielectric constant of 4.4 and a loss tangent of 0.02 and a 35 × 20 × 1.6 mm3 dimension.FindingsThe proposed antenna achieved dual operating bands of 3.4–4.1 GHz (5 G sub-6GHz applications) and 4.99–5.16 GHz (WLAN application) in the D = ON state. For D = OFF state, the proposed antenna achieved 3.55–3.65 GHz and 3.66–4.05 GHz frequency bands for 5G (sub-6GHz) applications. In terms of the envelop correlation coefficient, diversity gain, mean effective gain, total active reflection coefficient and isolation between the ports, the proposed antenna’s diversity performance characteristics are investigated and the obtained values are 0.05, 9.9 dB, ±3dB, −4dB, −15dB, respectively.Research limitations/implicationsThe fabricated prototype antenna on FR4 substrate has measurable parameters that are in good agreement with the simulated findings. Due to hardware design limitations, there is a minor difference between software and hardware results.Originality/valueThe proposed MIMO antenna is compact and reconfigurable for 5G (sub-6GHz) and WLAN applications, and from the graph, the measurements and simulations have been found to be in close agreement.