Wideband Back-Cover Antenna Design Using Dual Characteristic Modes With High Isolation for 5G MIMO Smartphone

© 2022 IEEE - All rights reserved. This is the accepted manuscript version of an article which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1109/TAP.2022.3145456A novel method of designing a wideband high isolated dual-antenna pair using dual characteristic modes (CMs)is presented for fifth-generation (5G) multiple-input multiple output (MIMO) smartphone applications. A set of orthogonal CMs resonating from the square-loop slot is first introduced and works for the lower band. Then, another set of orthogonal CMs resonating from the edge branches is introduced with a shared compact radiator and works for the higher band. In combination with two sets of degenerated CMs and a capacitive coupling feeding structure, the proposed dual-antenna pair achieves abroad impedance bandwidth and high isolation without the need for any external decoupling structures. Based on this dual-antenna pair, an 8×8 MIMO array is developed and integrated into the back cover of a smartphone, which realizes zero ground clearance on the system circuit board. To verify the design concept, prototypes of the antenna pair and MIMO array were fabricated and measured. It shows that experimental results agree well with the simulation results. More importantly, the presented 8×8 MIMO array has high isolation of more than 20 dBis achieved across the operating band of 3.3-3.8 GHz.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Compact MIMO Slots Antenna Design with Different Bands and High Isolation for 5G Smartphone Applications

في هذه الورقة ، تم استخدام عنصرين من هوائي متعدد المدخلات متعدد المخرجات (MIMO)  لدراسة النطاقات  ((3.1-3.55) - (3.7-4.2) - (3.4-4.7) - ( 3.4-3.8) - (3.6-4.2)) جيجا هيرتز لتطبيقات الجيل الخامس(5G) والمستخدمة في الهواتف الذكية التي سيتم طرحها في أسواق الولايات المتحدة وكوريا وأوروبا والصين واليابان.  يبلغ حجم الهوائي المقترح  26 × 46 × 0.8 ملم مكعب، مع هيكل مناسب وصغير الحجم اضافة الى ذلك أظهر الهوائي المقترح عزلة وكفاءة عاليتين، كذلك اظهر مستوى منخفض لمعامل الارتباط المغلف (ECC) وعودة الخسارة، هذه المواصفات تتناسب تماما تطبيقات الجيل الخامس (5G). وقد تم تصنيع الهوائي المقترح من مادة FR4  الغيرمكلفة بمستوى سماكة 0.8 ملم، وشدة فقدان مقدارها 0.035 وثابت عازل قدره 4.3 ، اظهرت نتائج المحاكاة لهوائيات MIMO المقترحة التي تغطي النطاقات الخمسة المختلفة مستوى عزل عالي لكل منها حوالي 14 ديسيبل و 12 ديسيبل و 21.5 ديسيبل و 19 ديسيبل و 20 ديسيبل تحت عرض النطاق الترددي العائق -10 ديسيبل. ومن خلال التصنيع والقياس للنموذج الاولي  لهوائي ( MIMO) الذي يغطي النطاق (3.4-3.8) المستخدم  في كل من أوروبا والصين، وجد أن الهوائي المقترح قد حقق أداء أفضل من حيث الكفاءة والعزلة ومعامل الارتباط المغلف(ECC). In this paper, two elements of the multi-input multi-output (MIMO) antenna had been used to study the five (3.1-3.55GHz and 3.7-4.2GHz), (3.4-4.7 GHz), (3.4-3.8GHz) and (3.6-4.2GHz) 5G bands of smartphone applications that is to be introduced to the respective US, Korea, (Europe and China) and Japan markets. With a proposed dimension of 26 × 46 × 0.8 mm3, the medium-structured and small-sized MIMO antenna was not only found to have demonstrated a high degree of isolation and efficiency, it had also exhibited a lower level of envelope correlation coefficient and return loss, which are well-suited for the 5G bands application. From the fabrication of an inexpensive FR4 substrate with a 0.8 mm thickness level, a loss tangent of 0.035 and a dielectric constant of 4.3, the proposed MIMO antennas that had been simulated under the five different band coverage were discovered to have demonstrated a respective isolation level of about 14dB, 12dB, 21.5dB, 19dB and 20dB under a -10dB impendence bandwidth. In the measurement and fabrication outcomes that were derived from the use of the prototype MIMO in the (3.4-3.8) band of the Europe and Chinese markets, the proposed MIMO was thus found to have produced a better performance in terms of efficiency, isolation, and envelope correlation coefficient (ECC)

Dual-Band Eight-Element MIMO Array Using Multi-Slot Decoupling Technique for 5G Terminals

This paper presents a dual-band eight-element multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) array using a multi-slot decoupling technique for the fifth generation (5G) mobile communication. By employing a compact dual-loop antenna element, the proposed array obtains two broad bandwidths of 12.2% and 15.4% for sub-6GHz operation. To reduce the mutual coupling between antenna elements, a novel dual-band decoupling method is proposed by employing a multi-slot structure. The proposed MIMO array achieves 15.5-dB and 19.0-dB isolations across the two operating bands. Furthermore, three decoupling modes generated by different bent slots can be independently tuned. Zero ground clearance is also realized by the coplanar arrangement of the antenna elements and decoupling structures. The proposed MIMO array was simulated, fabricated, and measured. Experimental results agree well with the simulations, showing that the dual-band MIMO array has good impedance matching, high isolation, and high efficiency. In addition, the envelope correlation coefficient and channel capacity are calculated and analyzed to validate the MIMO performance of the 5G terminal array. Such a dual-band high-isolation eight-element MIMO array with zero ground clearance is a promising candidate for 5G or future mobile applications

Statistical Review Evaluation of 5G Antenna Design Models from a Pragmatic Perspective under Multi-Domain Application Scenarios

Antenna design for the 5G spectrum requires analysis of contextual frequency bands, design of miniaturization techniques, gain improvement models, polarization techniques, standard radiation pattern designs, metamaterial integration, and substrate selection. Most of these models also vary in terms of qualitative & and quantitative parameters, which include forward gain levels, reverse gain, frequency response, substrate types, antenna shape, feeding levels, etc. Due to such a wide variety in performance, it is ambiguous for researchers to identify the optimum models for their application-specific use cases. This ambiguity results in validating these models on multiple simulation tools, which increases design delays and the cost of deployments. To reduce this ambiguity, a survey of recently proposed antenna design models is discussed in this text. This discussion recommended that polarization optimization and gain maximization are the major impact factors that must be considered while designing antennas. It is also recommended that collocated microstrip slot antennas, fully planar dual-polarized broadband antennas, and real-time deployments of combined slot antenna pairs with wide-band decoupling are very advantageous. Based on this discussion, researchers will be able to identify optimal performance-specific models for different applications. This discussion also compares underlying models in terms of their quantitative parameters, which include forward gain levels, bandwidth, complexity of deployment, scalability, and cost metrics. Upon referring to this comparison, researchers will be able to identify the optimum models for their performance-specific use cases. This review also formulates a novel Antenna Design Rank Metric (ADRM) that combines the evaluated parameters, thereby allowing readers to identify antenna design models that are optimized for multiple parameters and can be used for large-scale 5G communication scenarios

Antenna Design for 5G and Beyond

With the rapid evolution of the wireless communications, fifth-generation (5G) communication has received much attention from both academia and industry, with many reported efforts and research outputs and significant improvements in different aspects, such as data rate speed and resolution, mobility, latency, etc. In some countries, the commercialization of 5G communication has already started as well as initial research of beyond technologies such as 6G.MIMO technology with multiple antennas is a promising technology to obtain the requirements of 5G/6G communications. It can significantly enhance the system capacity and resist multipath fading, and has become a hot spot in the field of wireless communications. This technology is a key component and probably the most established to truly reach the promised transfer data rates of future communication systems. In MIMO systems, multiple antennas are deployed at both the transmitter and receiver sides. The greater number of antennas can make the system more resistant to intentional jamming and interference. Massive MIMO with an especially high number of antennas can reduce energy consumption by targeting signals to individual users utilizing beamforming.Apart from sub-6 GHz frequency bands, 5G/6G devices are also expected to cover millimeter-wave (mmWave) and terahertz (THz) spectra. However, moving to higher bands will bring new challenges and will certainly require careful consideration of the antenna design for smart devices. Compact antennas arranged as conformal, planar, and linear arrays can be employed at different portions of base stations and user equipment to form phased arrays with high gain and directional radiation beams. The objective of this Special Issue is to cover all aspects of antenna designs used in existing or future wireless communication systems. The aim is to highlight recent advances, current trends, and possible future developments of 5G/6G antennas

H-Shaped Eight-Element Dual-Band MIMO Antenna for Sub-6 GHz 5G Smatphone Applications

The design of an eight-element H-shaped dual-band multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna system for sub-6 GHz fifth-generation (5G) smartphone applications is presented in this work. The radiating elements are designed on the side edge frame of the smartphone, placed on both sides of the main printed circuit board (PCB). Each side edge consists of four radiating elements, which ensures low mutual coupling between antenna elements. The total size of the main PCB is 150×75 mm 2 , while the size of the side edge frame is 150×7 mm 2 . A single antenna consists of an H-shaped radiating element fed using a 50Ω microstrip feeding line designed on the main board of the smartphone. The results show that, according to −6 dB impedance bandwidth criteria, the designed MIMO antenna radiates at two different frequency ranges within the allocated 5G spectrums, i.e., 3.1–3.78 GHz and 5.43–6.21 GHz with 680 MHz and 780 MHz bandwidths, respectively. It is also observed that the antenna elements are able to provide pattern diversity for both the frequency bands. Furthermore, an isolation of >12 dB is observed between any two given radiating elements. Numerous MIMO critical performance characteristics are assessed, including diversity gain (DG), envelope correlation coefficient (ECC), and channel capacity (CC). A prototype is built, measured, and it is observed that the measured and simulated data correspond well. On the basis of performance characteristics, it can be claimed that the suggested MIMO system may be used in 5G communication networks.Dr. Mohammad Alibakhshikenari acknowledges support from the CONEX-Plus programme funded by Universidad Carlos III de Madrid and the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 801538

Antenna Designs for 5G/IoT and Space Applications

This book is intended to shed some light on recent advances in antenna design for these new emerging applications and identify further research areas in this exciting field of communications technologies. Considering the specificity of the operational environment, e.g., huge distance, moving support (satellite), huge temperature drift, small dimension with respect to the distance, etc, antennas, are the fundamental device allowing to maintain a constant interoperability between ground station and satellite, or different satellites. High gain, stable (in temperature, and time) performances, long lifecycle are some of the requirements that necessitates special attention with respect to standard designs. The chapters of this book discuss various aspects of the above-mentioned list presenting the view of the authors. Some of the contributors are working strictly in the field (space), so they have a very targeted view on the subjects, while others with a more academic background, proposes futuristic solutions. We hope that interested reader, will find a fertile source of information, that combined with their interest/background will allow efficiently exploiting the combination of these two perspectives

Dual-Band Ten-Element MIMO Array Based on Dual-Mode IFAs for 5G Terminal Applications

A dual-band ten-element MIMO array based on dual-mode inverted-F antennas (IFAs) for 5G terminal applications is presented in this paper. The proposed dual-mode IFA is composed of two radiators, which are etched on the outer and inner surfaces of the side-edge frame. The outer part of the antenna generates the low-order mode at 3.5 GHz, while the inner part radiates another one-quarter-wavelength mode at 4.9 GHz. In this way, the IFA can achieve dual-band operation within a compact size of 10.6 × 5.3 × 0.8 mm 3 . Based on the proposed antenna, a dual-band ten-element multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) array is developed for 5G terminal applications. By combining neutralization line structures with decoupling branches, the isolations between the elements are improved. To validate the design concept, a prototype of the ten-element MIMO array is designed, fabricated, and measured. The experimental results show that the proposed antenna can cover the 3.3-3.6 GHz and 4.8-5.0 GHz bands with good isolation and high efficiency. Furthermore, the envelope correlation coefficient (ECC), and channel capacity are also calculated to verify the MIMO performances for 5G sub-6GHz applications

Future Smartphone: MIMO Antenna System for 5G Mobile Terminals

In this article, an inverted L-shaped monopole eight elements Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) antenna system is presented. The multi-antenna system is designed on a low cost 0.8 mm thick FR4 substrate having dimensions of 136 x 68 mm(2) resonating at 3.5GHz with a 6dB measured bandwidth of 450MHz, and with inter element isolation greater than 15 dB and gain of 4 dBi. The proposed design consists of eight inverted L-shaped elements and parasitic L-shaped strips extending from the ground plane. These shorted stripes acted as tuning stubs for the four inverted L-shaped monopole elements on the side of chassis. This is done to achieve the desired frequency range by increasing the electrical length of the antennas. A prototype is fabricated, and the experimental results show good impedance matching with reasonable measured isolation within the desired frequency range. The MIMO performances, such as envelope correlation coefficient (ECC) and mean effective gain (MEG) are also calculated along with the channel capacity of 38.1bps/Hz approximately 2.6 times that of 4 x 4 MIMO system. Due to its simple shape and slim design, it may be a potential chassis for future handsets. Therefore, user hand scenarios, i.e. both single and dual hand are studied. Also, the effects of hand scenarios on various MIMO parameters are discussed along with the SAR. The performance of the proposed system in different scenarios suggests that the proposed structure holds promising future within the next generation radio smart phones