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Antenna Design and Simulation for 2x2 MIMO System for IEEE-802.11a
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 JEEEIT TRANSACTIONS,.Vol.1,No.1, July 2020

Antenna Design and Simulation for 2x2 MIMO

System for IEEE-802.11a Application.
Mohamed S. Alsahulli1, Sara. M. Ali 2, Heba. S. Essirte 3.
1Military
Industries Organization, Libya., [email protected].
23 Communications & Microwaves Department, College of Electronic Technology.Bani Walid,Libya.

Abstract- The performance and advantages of multi-input transmission. Fortunately, the emergence of a multiple
multi-output (MIMO) antennas such as offering significant antenna system has opened another very resourceful
increase in data throughput and link range without additional dimension space, for information transmission in the air. It
bandwidth or increased transmitted power. Primary reason to has been demonstrated that multiple antenna system
use multiple antennas is to improve link quality and reliability. provides very promising gain in capacity without increasing
This is important especially for worst channel conditions like
multipath fading, shadowing, etc. MIMO techniques are the
the use of spectrum, reliability, throughput, power
most important advancements in recent wireless systems. They consumption and less sensitivity to fading. Hence leading to
are a critical part of important standards such as IEEE 802.16, a breakthrough in the data rate of wireless communication
802.11 and 4G LTE Technologies. The MIMO technology has systems. Since then, MIMO system has become one of the
attracted attention in wireless communications. In this paper, major focuses in the research community of wireless
a compact (2x2) MIMO antenna system, The reduction of communications and information theory as in [1].
mutual coupling between the two antenna elements is achieved Recently, microstrip antennas have been one of the
by using a simple defected ground structure (DGS) between most innovative topics in antenna theory and design and they
them to limit the surface waves between them. The distance increasingly found applications in a wide range of modern
between the two antenna elements is only 0.3𝞴 mm. The microwave systems [1]. This paper presents an overview of
proposed antenna works at 5.8 GHz for wireless local area
the basic characteristics of microstrip antennas in the array
network (WLAN) applications. The proposed structure has a
rectangular shape using FR-4 substrate with relative and MIMO forms. In addition, a new antenna configuration
permittivity of 4.4. The resulted MIMO antenna is found to for improved performance is also discussed.
have a low mutual coupling of about -20.66 dB. The antenna Microstrip antennas are mostly thin metallic patches
also has a wide relative bandwidth of 18.75%, high total of diverse shapes etched on dielectric substrates of height h
efficiency of 89.5% and acceptable realized gain of about 5.10 Fig. 1, .The thickness of thin radiating patch (t << 𝞴0, where
dB. The simulation of the proposed antenna has been carried 𝞴0 is the free-space wavelength), the metallic strip
out using Ansoft HFSS and MATLAB software. (patch) occupied a small portion of a wavelength (h <<
Keywords – Multi Input Multi Output (MIMO), Defected Ground 𝞴0 , usually 0.003𝞴0 ≤ h ≤ 0.05 𝞴0 ) above a ground
Structure (DGS) , Return Loss (S).
plane. The microstrip antennas are suitable in the GHz
range (f > 0.5 GHz). For frequencies lower than this, the
I. INTRODUCTION.
problem of large dimensions will appear. The substrate with
In the past years, wireless communications have
height h comes with various relative permittivity ɛo and the
grown very fast specially for WLAN communications, due
range is (2.2 ≤ ɛo ≤ 12). From Fig 1, it can be deduced that
to the different techniques which have been used to increase
when the value ɛo increased, the resonant frequency
the channel capacity by increasing the data rate transform
decreased [2].
and to reduce the probability of error [1].One of the
The substrates that are most desirable for good antenna
important techniques used for this purpose is the multiple-
performance are thick ones, whose dielectric constant is in
input multiple- output (MIMO) antenna systems, which
the lower end of the range because they provide better
utilize the advantages of multiplexing gain and diversity gain
efficiency.
[2]. However, these systems have some disadvantages,
especially the high mutual coupling that presents between
the MIMO elements. The mutual coupling can be attributed
to two reasons; the electromagnetic interaction of the
elements or the surface current flowing from one element to
the other or both [1]. Mutual coupling affects the MIMO (a) Top view (b) Side view
antennas characteristics by degrading the impedance Fig 1. Microstrip antenna, (a) top view (b) side view
matching, reducing the efficiency, decreasing the capacity of
the channel, increasing the correlation, increasing the In this paper, we presents the basic characteristics and
coupling power and reducing the radiated power [3-4]. structure of a microstrip antenna, modeling and analyzing
Wireless communication spectrum is a scarce
the behavior of a two element rectangular microstrip patch
resource and hence imposes a high cost on the high data rate
antenna array then using to construction of MIMO antenna

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Received July 2019, Received in received from August 2019, Accepted October 2019, and Published July 2020

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for IEEE-802.11a. Configurations of a symmetrical 1×2 III. ANTENNA FOR IEEE-208.11A APPLICATIONS (5.8 GHZ)
patch array have been analyzed and an optimum frequency Based on the previous discussions and analysis of
range of the patch antenna array has been reached. The microstrip antenna, we will design a microstrip antenna to
antenna provides frequency close to the designed operating be used for IEEE802.11a technology applications. A
frequency with an acceptable directivity and gain. When preliminary model based on this type of antennas was
antenna structure is closely spaced, the return loss improves. proposed. This patch was designed on a stacked layer of
It has been shown that with the increasing array spacing, the FR4 material and fed by a microstrip line. The operating
gain of the antenna reduces significantly. frequency of the IEEE802.11a band is 5.8 GHz. This
section discusses such geometry and establishes some of the
II. MICROSTRIP ANTENNA ANALYSIS
design parameters that directly apply to the final model. The
There are many methods of microstrip antenna patch is printed on top of the first FR4 substrate layer
analysis. However, four famous methods are used widely. (εr=4.4, thickness=1.6mm).
Their names are transmission line model, cavity model, The antenna is shown in Fig 3, whose dimensions
generalized cavity model, and multiport network model. were calculated according to the transmission line model
The transmission line model will be used because of the equations as mentioned in above section and By using
square and rectangular microstrip, patch antennas are MATLAB for patch dimensions calculation. The antenna is
simple in shape and structure, which means they are easy to designed on a low-cost FR4 substrate. It is fed by a
be analyzed. microstrip line, which can be easily integrated on the same
Transmission line method is the easiest method substrate. The dimensions of the single patch has been
compared to the rest of the methods. This method represents designed, and they length (L=15.73 mm) and width (W=
the rectangular microstrip antenna as an array of two x11.75 mm). The antenna can be easily fabricated at a very
radiating slots separated by a low impedance transmission low cost. The simulation of the antenna is created by using
line of certain length as shown in Fig. 2, [2]. HFSS software.
After simulation and optimization using HFFS
Software, the final dimensions identified as shown in the
Fig. 3,.

Fig 2. Equivalent circuits for typical feed transmission line Fig 3. 3D Geometry of a 5.8 GHz microstrip antenna.
model.
The published structure is carried out in HFSS. The
The Performance of the microstrip antenna necessary simulations are carried out to obtain the
depends on its dimensions. Depending on the dimensions, scattering parameters.
the operating frequency, radiation efficiency, directivity, Simulation results for return loss S11 values and 3D
return loss and other related parameters are also influenced. gain and directivity pattern are illustrated in Fig. 4 and Fig. 5,
For an efficient radiation, the practical width of the patch respectively. The geometry of antenna designed simulation is
can be written as [3]. performed. At the resonant frequency of 5.8 GHz the design is
c simulated in the frequency range of 5.69 to 5.83 GHz (under -
W= (1)
(ε +1) 10 dB) with -10.9 dB, as shown Fig. 4, it is quite clear that
2fr √ r
2
c this operating band meet the design requirements of
L= − 2∆L (2)
2fr √εreff IEEE802.11a standard operating frequency .
Where
1
εr +1 εr −1 h −2
εreff = + [1 + 12 ] (3)
2 2 W
W
(εreff +0.3)( h +0.264))
∆L = 0.412h W (4)
(εreff +0.258)( +0.8)
h
and the ground plane are:
Wg = 6. h + W (5)
Lg = 6. h + L (6)
where fr is the resonant frequency, L and W are the Fig 4. Return loss Vs. Frequency plot of microstrip
length and width of the patch element respectively and εr is patch antenna.
the dielectric constant.
A single element microstrip patch antenna is a
structure usually designed for low power applications. It
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Received July 2019, Received in received from August 2019, Accepted October 2019, and Published July 2020

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also has the limitation of low gain, narrow bandwidth and

loss directive as shown simulation results. For applications
where the requirements are high gain and high directivity in
compact and conformal devices, to increase the bandwidth,
directivity and gain, the most common method is using
multi-elements which are known as array. Cost is one of the
key factors in choosing microstrip patch antenna as the
array element, because it is cheap and easily available.
Microstrip patch antenna arrays are highly popular for their Fig 6. Proposed 1x2 array geometry microstrip antenna.
significance in beam scanning and radiation field focusing.
This antenna is designed, discussed and analysis in the next B- The feed network
section. The feed network of the array was designed for the
signal can reach the antennas in a same way. For the
IV. DESIGN 1X2 MICROSTRIP ANTENNA ARRAY FOR distribution of the equalized signal to both elements of the
IEEE802.11A array, some discontinuities have been incorporated in feed
lines that make up the network. The discontinuity with the
One of challenge in designing a antenna is to design number (1) is called T-junction and it is, perhaps, one of the
compact, low-cost, small size antennas and increase gain. most important discontinuities of devices used in
The microstrip antenna has been widely applied because of microstrip. The T-junction is designed to divide equally the
its several advantages over conventional microwave signal to both elements of the array. The (2) known as
antennas. Microstrip antenna array is widely used due to its impedance transformer is intended to obtain an impedance
several advantages, such as low profile, light weight, and matching of the microstrip lines with different impedances.
low cost, etc. However, microstrip antenna suffers from low
gain, low efficiency, and low power handling capability. Table 1. Dimensions parameters of designed fed network
Various broadband techniques have been reported using Connection Parameters Value Parameters Value (mm)
multilayer or stacking the patches. High-gain antenna is (1) impedance 50𝞨 13.85x3.11
usually realized by using either parabolic reflectors or line (2) impedance 100𝞨 1x0.7
fed antenna arrays. In this section, the high gain antenna (3) impedance 70𝞨 7.13x1.67
array using 1x2 elements and excited with fed network is
proposed. Finally, the discontinuity (3) is used to feed the
antenna. The dimensions of the feed network were
A- Antenna Design calculated from formulas found in traditional literature. The
The design of the proposed array starts with a power divider of 1x2 microstrip patch antenna designed are
design of a conventional antenna used to operate in given in table 1. [5].
IEEE802.11a band (centered at 5.8 GHz). The optimization After simulation and optimization using HFFS
geometry used was a rectangular patch with inset microstrip Software, the final dimensions are shown in the Fig. 7,.
fed line, as shown in Fig. 5,. The microstrip fed line is used
to improve the impedance matching between the element
and the feed line. The dimensions of the one patch are
L = 14.7mm, W =11.3 mm. The an inset feed is obtained
through a microstrip line with 13.8 mm x 1.7. The two
elements of antenna are combined together with small
distance between them as shown Fig. 5,. The distance
between the center of two elements has been achieved to be
only 0.3 𝞴., since it facilitates the integration of the array
with other RF circuits. The substrate used was the FR4 with
𝜀𝑟= 4.4, and h = 1.6 mm, Fig. 6,illustrates the geometry of
the array with all dimensions used and the discontinuities in
feed network. Fig 7. View of microstrip antenna array 1x2.

V. SIMULATION RESULTS
A- Antenna Return Loss
The simulated reflection coefficient of the 1x2
microstrip patch antenna is shown in Fig. 8,. It is obvious
that the reported antenna can operate in IEE802.11a WiFi
Fig 5. Optimization of single patch antenna geometry used band. The operating band is centered at 5.8 GHz (under -10
in the array. dB) with -16.28 dB, the bandwidth which extends from
5.6 GHz to 5.99 GHz (FBW 6.7%). So, it is quite clear that
this operating band meets the design requirements of
IEEE802.11a standard operating frequency.
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Received July 2019, Received in received from August 2019, Accepted October 2019, and Published July 2020

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Fig 8. Return loss Vs. Frequency plot of propsed antenna.

B- Radiation Pattern
The radiation patterns for the design 1x2 microstrip Fig 10. 3D Gain and directivity of the 1x2 microstrip
patch antenna for IEEE802.11a is shown in Fig. 9, the antenna array.
antenna design has directional shaped radiation patterns in
the phi=0 deg (x-y plane) and phi=90 deg (y-z plane) planes D- Current distribution
as expected since the antenna has a directional pattern. Fig. 11, illustrates the current distribution of 1x2
elements. It is clear from the Fig that the amount of current
declines at the edge of elements. Figure shows the current
distribution pattern at 5.8 GHz, from Figure the current
doesn't distribute for patch to another this means good
isolation coupling between them. The red arrows show the
strongest current distributed in patch of antenna.

Fig 9. 3D Radiation pattern of the microstrip antenna

array 1x2.

C- Gain and Directivity

Fig. 10, gives the view of gain and directivity in 3D
far-field polar plot. It is observed from far-field that the Fig 11. Average current distribution of the microstrip
value of gain is 7.34 dB and the directivity is directional antenna array 1x2.
with 9.81 dB. By improved the design by increase patches,
the gain and directivity have consequently increased.
VI. 2X2 MIMO ANTENNA DESIGN
A 1x2 array microstrip antenna is introduced in a
two element compact space MIMO antenna system [8]. The
optimization geometry of the MIMO antenna system is
shown in Fig. 12,.

Fig 12: Geometry of MIMO microstrip antenna at

5.8 GHz.

The antenna system consists of two radiating

elements of similar closed spaced geometry elements with
edge-to-edge separation of 3𝞴 printed on a common FR4
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Received July 2019, Received in received from August 2019, Accepted October 2019, and Published July 2020

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substrate of thickness 1.6 mm and a compact size of 60× 93

mm. The relative permittivity of the substrate is 4.4. fed
through a 50 Ω microstrip line.
The DGS is designed to introduce a stop band at
5.8 GHz, which is the desired antenna operating frequency.
The DGS resonator was designed using a slot of width and
length 56.5x2.2 mm as shown Fig. 13,. [7].

Fig 16. 3D radiation pattern of the MIMO antenna.

C. Gain and directivity of the MIMO antenna

From Figs Fig. 17, it can be observed that the gain
and directivity values are 5.10 dB and 7.99 dB respectively.
Fig 13: DGS microstrip resonator.

VII. SIMULATION RESULTS OF MIMO ANTENNA

The results for the 5.8 GHz Band microstrip
MIMO antenna will be discussed in this section in order to
validate the simulated results obtained from HFSS software.

A- Antenna Return Loss and mutual coupling

A final result of MIMO microstrip patch antenna has
optimized for return loss. From Fig. 14, it can be observed
that the return loss value has met the desired value less than
-10 dB which is centered at 5.8 GHz with -16.83 dB and the
coupling (S12) value is -20.66 dB as shown Fig. 15.

Fig 17. 3D Gain and directivity of the MIMO microstrip

Fig 14. The return loss and (S11) of the MIMO antenna at 5.8 GHz.
microstrip antenna at 5.8 GHz.
D. Current Distribution on the MIMO Antenna
The Current distribution is described as current
distribution between the patch and the ground plane, which
is used as the indicator of the radiation from microstrip
patches. Fig. 18, shows the current distribution pattern at
5.8 GHz, we notice that the DGS could isolate the antennas
and prevent flowing the current between them.

Fig 15. The return loss and mutual coupling (S11-S12)

of the MIMO microstrip antenna at 5.8 GHz.

B- Radiation Pattern
Fig. 16, shows the simulated xz-plane and yz-plane
radiation pattern of the proposed antenna at 5.8 GHz. The
designed antenna radiates relatively to directional pattern.

Fig 18. Average current distribution of the MIMO

microstrip antenna.
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Received July 2019, Received in received from August 2019, Accepted October 2019, and Published July 2020

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VIII. CONCLUSION
Microstrip patch antenna configured in 2x2 MIMO
and an array format with 1x2 number of patch elements
have been analyzed for IEEE802.11a applications. These
designed antennas are very simple, low cost and high
efficiency for the 5.8 GHz frequency band. Since the
operating band is centered at 5.8 GHz and the return loss is
under -10 dB, this indicates that the 1x2 arrays and 2x2
MIMO operate at the required frequency. we have noticed
that the bandwidth, and the radiated power improve by
increasing the number of patch elements in the arrays.
A closely spaced 2x2 element MIMO antenna with
small size, and high coupling isolation using DGS has been
designed and analyzed. The two antenna elements have
been designed on a substrate of FR4 with 𝜀𝑟= 4.4. The
designed antenna has provided coupling isolation with a
value of 20.66 dB between the two ports at the operating
frequency 5.8 GHz, with a very close distance separation.
Also, the gain and directivity values have been good,
directional radiation pattern, and with values of 5.10 dB and
7.99 dB respectively. Due to its small size, light weight and
conformal properties, these analyzed microstrip patch
antenna arrays are useful for IEEE802.11a WiFi and 4G
LTE Technologies.

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Received July 2019, Received in received from August 2019, Accepted October 2019, and Published July 2020

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