Antenna Designs

for 5G/IoT and

Space Applications
Edited by
Faisel Tubbal, Ladislau Matekovits and Raad Raad
Printed Edition of the Special Issue Published in Electronics

www.mdpi.com/journal/electronics
Antenna Designs for 5G/IoT and
Space Applications
Antenna Designs for 5G/IoT and
Space Applications

Editors
Faisel Tubbal
Ladislau Matekovits
Raad Raad

MDPI • Basel • Beijing • Wuhan • Barcelona • Belgrade • Manchester • Tokyo • Cluj • Tianjin
Editors
Faisel Tubbal Ladislau Matekovits Raad Raad
University of Wollongong Politecnico di Torino University of Wollongong
Australia Italy Australia

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MDPI
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Contents

About the Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii

Faisel Tubbal, Ladislau Matekovits and Raad Raad

Antenna Designs for 5G/IoT and Space Applications
Reprinted from: Electronics 2022, 11, 2484, doi:10.3390/electronics11162484 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Sining Liu, Panagiotis Ioannis Theoharis, Raad Raad, Faisel Tubbal, Angelos Theoharis,
Saeid Iranmanesh, Suhila Abulgasem, Muhammad Usman Ali Khan
and Ladislau Matekovits
A Survey on CubeSat Missions and Their Antenna Designs
Reprinted from: Electronics 2022, 11, 2021, doi:10.3390/electronics11132021 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Madiha Farasat, Dushmantha N. Thalakotuna, Zhonghao Hu and Yang Yang

A Review on 5G Sub-6 GHz Base Station Antenna Design Challenges
Reprinted from: Electronics 2021, 10, 2000, doi:10.3390/electronics10162000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Jalal Khan, Sadiq Ullah, Farooq A. Tahir, Faisel Tubbal and Raad Raad
A Sub-6 GHz MIMO Antenna Array for 5G Wireless Terminals
Reprinted from: Electronics 2021, 10, 3062, doi:10.3390/electronics10243062 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Muhammad Imran Khan, Sarmadullah Khan, Saad Hassan Kiani, Naser Ojaroudi Parchin,
Khalid Mahmood, Umair Rafique and Muhammad Mansoor Qadir
A Compact mmWave MIMO Antenna for Future Wireless Networks
Reprinted from: Electronics 2022, 11, 2450, doi:10.3390/electronics11152450 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Sherif A. Khaleel, Ehab K. I. Hamad, Naser Ojaroudi Parchin and Mohamed B. Saleh
MTM-Inspired Graphene-Based THz MIMO Antenna Configurations Using Characteristic
Mode Analysis for 6G/IoT Applications
Reprinted from: Electronics 2022, 11, 2152, doi:10.3390/electronics11142152 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Muhammad Abbas Khan, Umair Rafique, Hüseyin Şerif SAVCI, Anis Nurashikin Nordin,
Saad Hassan Kiani, and Syed Muzahir Abbas
Ultra-Wideband Pentagonal Fractal Antenna with Stable Radiation Characteristics for
Microwave Imaging Applications
Reprinted from: Electronics 2022, 11, 2061, doi:10.3390/electronics11132061 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Karen Nallely Olan Nuñez and Roberto S. Murphy Arteaga

A Novel and Compact Slotted-Decahedral Antenna for 5G Devices
Reprinted from: Electronics 2022, 11, 1813, doi:10.3390/electronics11121813 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Mehr E Munir, Abdullah G. Al Harbi, Saad Hassan Kiani, Mohamed Marey,

Naser Ojaroudi Parchin, Jehanzeb Khan, Hala Mostafa, Javed Iqbal,
Muhammad Abbas Khan, Chan Hwang See and Raed A. Abd-Alhameed
A New mm-Wave Antenna Array with Wideband Characteristics for Next Generation
Communication Systems
Reprinted from: Electronics 2022, 11, 1560, doi:10.3390/electronics11101560 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Rifaqat Hussain, Saad I. Alhuwaimel, Abdullah M. Algarni, Khaled Aljaloud

and Niamat Hussain
A Compact Sub-GHz Wide Tunable Antenna Design for IoT Applications
Reprinted from: Electronics 2022, 11, 1074, doi:10.3390/electronics11071074 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

v
Yanal S. Faouri, Sarosh Ahmad, Naser Ojaroudi Parchin, Chan Hwang See
and Raed Abd-Alhameed
A Novel Meander Bowtie-Shaped Antenna with Multi-Resonant and Rejection Bands for
Modern 5G Communications
Reprinted from: Electronics 2022, 11, 821, doi:10.3390/electronics11050821 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

Karthikeya Gulur Sadananda, Issa Elfergani, Chemseddine Zebiri, Jonathan Rodriguez,

Shiban Kishen Koul and Raed A. Abd-Alhameed
A Wide-Angle Pattern Diversity Antenna System for mmWave 5G Mobile Terminals
Reprinted from: Electronics 2022, 11, 571, doi:10.3390/electronics11040571 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

Abdullah G. Alharbi, Jayshri Kulkarni, Arpan Desai, Chow-Yen-Desmond Sim

and Ajay Poddar
A Multi-Slot Two-Antenna MIMO with High Isolation for Sub-6 GHz
5G/IEEE802.11ac/ax/C-Band/X-Band Wireless and Satellite Applications
Reprinted from: Electronics 2022, 11, 473, doi:10.3390/electronics11030473 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

Jayshri Kulkarni, Abdullah G. Alharbi, Arpan Desai, Chow-Yen-Desmond Sim

and Ajay Poddar
Design and Analysis of Wideband Flexible Self-Isolating MIMO Antennas for Sub-6 GHz 5G
and WLAN Smartphone Terminals
Reprinted from: Electronics 2021, 10, 3031, doi:10.3390/electronics10233031 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

Yousef Azizi, Mohammad Soleimani, Seyed Hasan Sedighy and Ladislau Matekovits
Low-Cost, Low-Profile Wide-Band Radar Cross Section Reduction Using Dual-Concentric
Phase Gradient Modulated Surface
Reprinted from: Electronics 2021, 10, 1552, doi:10.3390/electronics10131552 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239

Jianlin Huang, Guiting Dong, Jing Cai, Han Li and Gui Liu
A Quad-Port Dual-Band MIMO Antenna Array for 5G Smartphone Applications
Reprinted from: Electronics 2021, 10, 542, doi:10.3390/electronics10050542 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249

vi
About the Editors

Faisel Tubbal
Faisel Tubbal (Senior Member, IEEE) received the B.E. degree from the college of
Electronic Technology, Tripoli, Libya, in 2004, the M.S. degrees in engineering management and
Telecommunication Engineering both from the University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia,
in 2012 and 2013, respectively. He has also received a PhD in telecommunication engineering
from the University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia in 2017. His Ph.D. thesis was entitled
S-band Planar Antenna Designs for CubeSat Communications. Dr. Faisel has been working as a
researcher with Libyan Centre for Remote Sensing and Space Science (LCRSSC), Tripoli, Libya.
In 2012, he joined the University of Wollongong as an academic assistant at school of electrical,
computer and telecommunication engineering. In 2019, Faisel was promoted to the position of
labs manager at School of Computer, Electrical and Telecommunication Engineering (SECTE),
University of Wollongong, Australia. Since 2017, he has been a unit Convenor with school of
Computing, Engineering and Mathematics, Western Sydney University, Australia. Faisel Is currently
the Labs manger and Work Integrated Learning Coordinator at School of Computer, Electrical
and Telecommunication Engineering (SECTE), University of Wollongong. He is the author of
three chapters and more than 55 conference and journal articles. His research interests include
antenna designs for CubeSat applications, wearable antennas, antenna designs using metamaterials,
Metasurface antennas and metamaterials. Dr. Faisel was the recipient of the Vice-Chancellor’s
Awards for Outstanding Contribution to Teaching and Learning (OCTAL) in 2016 and 2021. He is
a Fellow at Wollongong Academy for Tertiary Teaching and Learning Excellence (WATTLE), and a
member of Australasian Association for Engineering Education (AAEE).

Ladislau Matekovits
Ladislau Matekovits, received the degree in electronic engineering from Institutul Politehnic din
Bucureşti, Bucureşti, Romania, and the Ph.D. degree (Dottorato di Ricerca) in electronic engineering
from Politecnico di Torino, Torino, Italy, in 1992 and 1995, respectively. Since 1995, he has been
with the Department of Electronics and Telecommunications, Politecnico di Torino, where in 2014
he was appointed as Associate Professor. Beginning 1 July 2009, for two years he has been a
Marie Curie Fellow at Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia. Since 2020 he is Honorary
Professor at Polytechnic University of Timisoara, Romania, and Associate of the Italian National
Research Council. His main research activities concern numerical analysis of printed antennas and
in particular development of new, numerically efficient full-wave techniques to analyse large arrays,
and active and passive metamaterials for cloaking applications. Material parameter retrieval of these
structures by inverse methods and different optimization techniques has also been considered. In
the last years, bio-electromagnetic aspects have also been contemplated, as for example design of
implantable antennas or development of nano-antennas for example for drug delivery applications.
He has published 400+ papers, including 110+ journal contributions, and delivered seminars on
these topics all around the world: Europe, USA (AFRL/MIT-Boston), Australia, China, Russia, etc.
Prof. Matekovits has been invited to serve as Research Grant Assessor for government funding
calls (Romania, Italy, Croatia, Kazakhstan, and Iceland) and as International Expert in PhD thesis
evaluation by several Universities from Australia, India, Pakistan, Spain, etc. Prof. Matekovits has
been a recipient of various awards in international conferences, including the 1998 URSI Young
Scientist Award (Thessaloniki, Greece), the Barzilai Award 1998 (young Scientist Award, granted

vii
every two years by the Italian National Electromagnetic Group), and the Best AP2000 Oral Paper on
Antennas, ESA-EUREL Millennium Conference on Antennas and Propagation (Davos, Switzerland).
He is recipient of the Motohisa Kanda Award 2018, for the most cited paper of the IEEE Transactions
on EMC in the past five years, and more recently he has been awarded with the 2019 American
Romanian Academy of Arts and Sciences (ARA) Medal of Excellence in Science and by the Ad Astra
Award 2020, Senior researcher, for Excellence in Research. He serves as Associated Editor of the IEEE
ACCESS, IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters and IET MAP and reviewer for different
journals.

Raad Raad
Raad Raad received the Bachelor of Engineering degree (Hons.) in electrical engineering
and the master’s degree from the Switched Networks Research Centre, University of Wollongong,
Wollongong, NSW, Australia, in 1997, and the Ph.D. degree in neuro-fuzzy logic admission control in
cellular mobile networks, in 2006. Since 2004, he has been with the School of Electrical, Computer
and Telecommunications Engineering, University of Wollongong, where he works as the Deputy
Head of the School. His current research interests include wireless communications, CubeSat, the
IoT, and antenna design. He received an Australian Postgraduate Award that was matched by Telstra
Research Laboratories. He received a scholarship from the Motorola Australian Research Centre in
the later part of his degree.

viii
 electronics
Editorial
Antenna Designs for 5G/IoT and Space Applications
Faisel Tubbal 1,2, *, Ladislau Matekovits 3,4,5 and Raad Raad 1

1 School of Electrical, Computer and Telecommunication Engineering, University of Wollongong,

Wollongong 2500, Australia
2 Technological Projects Department, Libyan Center for Remote Sensing and Space Science, Tripoli 21821, Libya
3 Dipartimento di Department, Elettronica e Telecomunicazioni, Politecnico di Torino, 10129 Torino, Italy
4 Istituto di Elettronica e di Ingegneria dell’Informazione e delle Telecomunicazioni, National Research Council,
10129 Turin, Italy
5 Department of Measurements and Optical Electronics, Politehnica University Timisoara,
300006 Timisoara, Romania
* Correspondence: [email protected]

1. Introduction
Antenna design has received renewed attention in the last few years. This is thanks to
an explosion of interest in a range of applications, from the Internet of Things, low frequency
long-range applications to high frequency mmWave 5G mobile technologies. There has
also been renewed interest in wearable antennas that form body area networks. These
include wearable garments, as well as materials that directly attach themselves to skin,
such as e-skin. In addition to this, a renewed interest in space and space exploration has
renewed interest in satellite technologies and applications, such as CubeSats, intersatellite
communications and deep space exploration. All these emerging applications bring a
renewed interest in looking at special materials and new designs for antenna systems. This
will bring new challenges in designing such antennas.
For this purpose, this Special Issue 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. We invite researchers and
Citation: Tubbal, F.; Matekovits, L.;
practicing engineers to contribute original research articles that discuss issues related but
Raad, R. Antenna Designs for 5G/IoT
not limited to:
and Space Applications. Electronics
2022, 11, 2484. https://doi.org/
 Antenna design for Internet of Things;
10.3390/electronics11162484
 Beamforming and smart antennas for 5G;
 Antenna design for wearable applications;
Received: 2 August 2022
 Antenna design for body area networks;
Accepted: 8 August 2022
 Antenna design for chipless RFID;
Published: 10 August 2022
 Metamaterial-based antennas;
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral  Smart antennas, beamforming and MIMO;
with regard to jurisdictional claims in  Aeronautical and space applications;
published maps and institutional affil-  Antenna design for CubeSat;
iations.  Antenna design for deep space communication
 Antenna design for biomedical systems and applications;
 Implanted antennas;
 UWB and multispectral technologies and systems;
Copyright: © 2022 by the authors.
 MM-wave and THz antennas.
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
This article is an open access article
2. Short Presentation of the Papers
distributed under the terms and
conditions of the Creative Commons Liu et al. [1] presented a comprehensive survey of antennas used for 120 CubeSat
Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// missions from the period from 2003 to 2022, as well as their techniques and approaches.
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ The aim of this paper is to provide an introductory guide on CubeSats antennas for CubeSat
4.0/). enthusiasts and a state of the art for CubeSat designers in this ever-growing field. It

Electronics 2022, 11, 2484. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics11162484 1 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/electronics

Electronics 2022, 11, 2484

presents a background on CubeSats and their subsystems to provide newcomers with the
fundamental knowledge on CubeSat technologies. In addition, the authors investigated
different designs for CubeSats, including single-element antennas and antenna arrays, as
well as the aim of capturing the current and future CubeSat trends from an antenna point of
view. They also proposed a pictorial representation of how to select an antenna for different
types of CubeSat missions.
Farasat et al. [2] surveyed the recent base station antenna (BSA) designs for 5G Sub-6
GHz and their challenges. The authors provided a comprehensive summary of BSAs
with particular interest placed on lower microwave bands in sub-6 GHz range. They also
provided a brief discussion on the development of the BSA technologies through mobile
generations, as well as a detailed discussion on the challenges associated with the BSAs.
These challenges include the achieving wide impedance bandwidth while meeting the
port-to-port isolation requirements, making the radiating elements of one band transparent
to another band and vice versa without causing scattering and undesirable effects on
the radiation pattern and meeting the size constrains. The authors have also provided a
cohesive list of design techniques adopted to overcome the aforementioned challenges.
Khaleel et al. [3] proposed a graphene plasmonic two port MIMO antenna for 6G/IoT
applications. The proposed antenna operates in Terahertz frequency band (e.g., 3.2–3.8 THz)
and provides good radiation performance. A technique that the authors used to reduce
the mutual coupling between radiating elements is the etching of the dumbbell-structure
metamaterial (MTM) unit cell in the ground plane. They reported a high isolation of
−55 dB between radiating elements, simulated gain of 7.23 dB and low channel capacity
loss of 0.006.
Khan et al. [4] presented an ultra-wideband pentagonal fractal antenna for new-
field microwave imaging applications. The proposed compact antenna has a size of
24 mm × 30 mm × 0.787 mm and used the Rogers RT/Duroid 5880 dielectric substrate.
The authors used the co-planar waveguide (CPW) feed technique and trapezoidal ground
plane to achieve low losses and to enhance the impedance matching, respectively. The
proposed antenna provides a fractional bandwidth of 123.56%, and a measured −10 dBi
impedance bandwidth of 9.7 GHz (3–12.7 GHz) and a total gain of 3.6 dBi at 8.5 GHz.
Nuñez et al. [5] designed and proposed a compact single-input single-output antenna
with a slotted decahedral patch for 5G applications. The main idea is the use of decahedral
patch with the eight-pointed star-shaped slot geometry and two rectangular grooves to
enhance the antenna’s performance and to achieve the stability of the radiation pattern
across the wide −10 dB impedance bandwidth (e.g., 23–29.9 GHz). The proposed antenna
has a total size of 13 mm × 13 mm × 0.787 mm and achieves a wide −10 dB impedance
matching of 6.84 GHz (23.1–29.9 GHz), 89.4% radiation efficiency, a gain of 6.56 dBi and
reflection coefficient of −21.5 dB at 29 GHz.
Munir et al. [6] presented a multi-circular loop planar antenna array for next generation
mm-wave communication system. The proposed antenna consists of multi circular loop
rings, uses Rogers 5880 substrate and has a small size of 18.5 mm × 12.5 mm × 0.254 mm.
To enhance the performance (e.g., −10 dB bandwidth, gain and reflection coefficient) of
the proposed antenna, the authors used a partial ground plane with a square slot, and four
elements. The measure and simulated results are in good agreement and the proposed
antenna array provides a dual band with a narrow beamwidth and a small reflection
coefficient, wide −10 dB impedance bandwidth (e.g., 26–38.5 GHz) and radiation efficiency
of 95%.
Hussain et al. [7] proposed a low-profile meandered loop slot-line antenna for the
Internet of Things (IoT) application. The proposed antenna operates in wideband tuning,
0.758–1.034 GHz, has a size 60 mm × 27 mm × 0.76 mm and operates over a wide band
of sub-GHz. The miniaturization of the antenna is achieved by using the meandered
structured loop slot line loaded on a varactor diode. The varactor diode was used to
achieve the wideband frequency reconfigurability. The authors reported an efficiency
ranging from 54–67% and total gain ranging from 0.86–1.8 dBi.

2
Electronics 2022, 11, 2484

Faouri et al. [8] presented a microstrip meandered bowtie antenna with multi-resonant and
rejection bands for 5G applications. The antenna has a total size of 30 mm × 30 mm × 1.6 mm
and was built on double-sided FR-4 substrate. The shorting via is used to connect one portion
of the bowtie to the ground plane, hence enhancing the resonances. Moreover, length,
width and spacing of the meander line arms are optimized to produce more resonances
with an acceptable bandwidth. The proposed antenna covers S, C and X-bands, has an
efficiency of 90.3%, achieved a gain of 4.46 dB and resonates at 2.7, 4.05, 5.05, 6.04, 7.15, 7.9
and 11.55 GHz.
Sadananda et al. [9] presented a compact three-port wide angular coverage patch an-
tenna array for mmWave 5G smartphones. The proposed multi-port electrically connected
patch antenna system operates at 28 GHz (Ka-band) and has a size of 24 mm × 6.2 mm.
The multiport radiator and ground plane are shared and electrically connected. To achieve
the pattern diversity with angular coverage, the authors integrated the stepped impedance
transformers with the corner-most elements. Moreover, the feed line is connected to a two-
way non-Wilkinson-based power divider. The authors reported a wide angular coverage of
100◦ , antenna efficiency of 97%, a mutual coupling less than 10 dB and a gain variation of 6
to 11 dBi across the ports.
Alharbi et al. [10] investigated and proposed a compact two antenna MIMO with a
dual wideband operation for wireless and satellite applications. The antenna has a total size
of 32 mm × 20 mm × 0.8 mm and achieves a dual wideband operation of 3.3–7.8 GHz and
8–12 GHz. The key idea was to load the monopole antenna with number of narrow slots
and multiple slotted stubs to achieve multiband characteristics. Furthermore, to achieve
an isolation of less than 20 dB, five concentric ring elements were etched between the two
adjacent antenna elements. The proposed two antenna MIMO antenna provides a low band
operation of 81.08% (3.3–7.8 GHz) and a high band operation of 40% (8–12 GHz), which
makes it suitable for the Sub-6 GHz 5G new radio (NR) n77/78/79, IEEE 802.11ac/ax,
X-band/C-band wireless and satellite applications. The authors reported a gain of 3–4 dBi
and a radiation efficiency of 69–80%.
Khan et al. [11] presented a high efficiency circular-shaped patch antenna array for
Sub-6 GHz 5G applications. The proposed antenna operates at 5.57 GHz and has a total
size of 160 mm × 70 mm. The main idea was the use of transmission line and quarter
wavelength transformation techniques for impedance and phase matching. To achieve the
desired operating frequency band of 5.6–5.67 GHz, a circular shape of radiating element
with an inner-circular slots and rectangular at its right edge is used. The four-element array
configuration of the proposed antenna provides a total gain of 12.4 dB. The authors also
reported an isolation between the two used ports of more than −30 dB and a total efficiency
of 85.1%.
Kulkarni et al. [12] proposed a planar four-port and four element smartphone flex-
ible antenna for Sub-6 5G and WLAN smart terminals. Its features, including flexibility,
bi/omnidirectional radiation pattern, planar structure, wide bandwidth covering Sub6
GHz and WLAN bands, and high inter-elemental isolation make it a good candidate for
use on smartphone applications. The proposed antenna consists of one contacting ground
at the center placed on the top of a flexible polyamide substrate and four conducting MIMO
elements (Radiators) at the four corners on the top of the substrate. The proposed antenna
has a total size of 70 mm × 145 mm × 0.2 mm, a wide impedance bandwidth ranging from
2.37 to 5.85 GHz, gain of 4–5.5 dBi, efficiency of 85% and self-isolation of about 17.5 dB.
Azizi et al. [13] presented a wide-band dual concentric phase gradient modulated
surface (PGMS) for surface radar cross-section (RCS) reduction at wideband frequency
range, 20.9–45.7 GHz (75%). The main idea is using the two single band concentric modu-
lated surfaces, e.g., MS1 and MS2 to reduce the RCS from 20.5–32 GHz (45%) for MS1 and
31.8–46.5 GHz (40%) for MS2, consequently. To enhance the bandwidth, the authors placed
MS2 in the central part of MS1 to obtain a concentric configuration and hence achieve a
wideband 75% (20.9–45.7 GHz) RCSR performance.

3
Electronics 2022, 11, 2484

Huang et al. [14] designed a quad-port antenna MIMO antenna array for 5G smart-
phone applications. The proposed antenna array consists of four elements printed on two
side boards, which are positioned vertically to the 150 mm × 75 mm main board. The total
size of the main board is 150 mm × 75 mm × 0.8 mm, and the size of the side boards is
150 mm × 6.2 mm × 0.8 mm. Each single element has a size of 14.9 mm × 7 mm × 0.8 mm
and includes an L-shaped feed, a strip, a parasitic rectangular strip and a Z-shaped radi-
ation strip that is connected to ground plane. The main idea of printing the quad-port
antenna array along two long frames of the smartphones is to reserve space for 2G/3G/4G
antennas. Parametric analysis had been completed by the authors to obtain the required
results and the optimal dimensions of the proposed antenna array design. The proposed
design achieved a dual band operation at 3.5 GHz (3.4–3.6 GHz) and at 5 GHz (4.8–5 GHz).
The authors reported a measured efficiency of 82%, isolation of 16.5 dB, and total measured
gains of 4.7 and 5 dBi at 3.6 and 5 GHz, respectively.

Author Contributions: Conceptualization, F.T., L.M. and R.R.; methodology, F.T.; validation, L.M.
and R.R.; investigation, R.R., F.T. and R.R.; resources, F.T., L.M. and R.R.; writing—original draft
preparation, F.T.; writing—review and editing, L.M. and R.R.; visualization, F.T., L.M. and R.R.;
supervision, F.T.; project administration, F.T., L.M. and R.R. All authors have read and agreed to the
published version of the manuscript.
Funding: This research received no external funding.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

References
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on CubeSat Missions and Their Antenna Designs. Electronics 2022, 11, 2021. [CrossRef]
2. Farasat, M.; Thalakotuna, D.N.; Hu, Z.; Yang, Y. A review on 5G sub-6 GHz base station antenna design challenges. Electronics
2021, 10, 2000. [CrossRef]
3. Khaleel, S.A.; Hamad, E.K.; Parchin, N.O.; Saleh, M.B. MTM-Inspired Graphene-Based THz MIMO Antenna Configurations
Using Characteristic Mode Analysis for 6G/IoT Applications. Electronics 2022, 11, 2152. [CrossRef]
4. Khan, M.A.; Rafique, U.; Savci, H.Ş.; Nordin, A.N.; Kiani, S.H.; Abbas, S.M. Ultra-Wideband Pentagonal Fractal Antenna with
Stable Radiation Characteristics for Microwave Imaging Applications. Electronics 2022, 11, 2061. [CrossRef]
5. Olan Nuñez, K.N.; Murphy Arteaga, R.S. A Novel and Compact Slotted-Decahedral Antenna for 5G Devices. Electronics 2022,
11, 1813. [CrossRef]
6. Munir, M.E.; Al Harbi, A.G.; Kiani, S.H.; Marey, M.; Parchin, N.O.; Khan, J.; Mostafa, H.; Iqbal, J.; Khan, M.A.; See, C.H. A New
mm-Wave Antenna Array with Wideband Characteristics for Next Generation Communication Systems. Electronics 2022, 11, 1560.
[CrossRef]
7. Hussain, R.; Alhuwaimel, S.I.; Algarni, A.M.; Aljaloud, K.; Hussain, N. A Compact Sub-GHz Wide Tunable Antenna Design for
IoT Applications. Electronics 2022, 11, 1074. [CrossRef]
8. Faouri, Y.S.; Ahmad, S.; Parchin, N.O.; See, C.H.; Abd-Alhameed, R. A novel meander bowtie-shaped antenna with multi-resonant
and rejection bands for modern 5G communications. Electronics 2022, 11, 821. [CrossRef]
9. Sadananda, K.G.; Elfergani, I.; Zebiri, C.; Rodriguez, J.; Koul, S.K.; Abd-Alhameed, R.A. A Wide-Angle Pattern Diversity Antenna
System for mmWave 5G Mobile Terminals. Electronics 2022, 11, 571. [CrossRef]
10. Alharbi, A.G.; Kulkarni, J.; Desai, A.; Sim, C.-Y.-D.; Poddar, A. A Multi-Slot Two-Antenna MIMO with High Isolation for Sub-6
GHz 5G/IEEE802. 11ac/ax/C-Band/X-Band Wireless and Satellite Applications. Electronics 2022, 11, 473. [CrossRef]
11. Khan, J.; Ullah, S.; Tahir, F.A.; Tubbal, F.; Raad, R. A sub-6 GHz MIMO antenna array for 5G wireless terminals. Electronics 2021,
10, 3062. [CrossRef]
12. Kulkarni, J.; Alharbi, A.G.; Desai, A.; Sim, C.-Y.-D.; Poddar, A. Design and analysis of wideband flexible self-isolating MIMO
antennas for sub-6 GHz 5G and WLAN smartphone terminals. Electronics 2021, 10, 3031. [CrossRef]
13. Azizi, Y.; Soleimani, M.; Sedighy, S.H.; Matekovits, L. Low-Cost, Low-Profile Wide-Band Radar Cross Section Reduction Using
Dual-Concentric Phase Gradient Modulated Surface. Electronics 2021, 10, 1552. [CrossRef]
14. Huang, J.; Dong, G.; Cai, J.; Li, H.; Liu, G. A quad-port dual-band MIMO antenna array for 5G smartphone applications.
Electronics 2021, 10, 542. [CrossRef]

4
 electronics
Review
A Survey on CubeSat Missions and Their Antenna Designs
Sining Liu 1 , Panagiotis Ioannis Theoharis 1 , Raad Raad 1 , Faisel Tubbal 1,2, *, Angelos Theoharis 1,3 ,
Saeid Iranmanesh 1 , Suhila Abulgasem 1 , Muhammad Usman Ali Khan 1,4 and Ladislau Matekovits 5,6,7

1 School of Electrical, Computer and Telecommunications Engineering, University of Wollongong,

Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia; [email protected] (S.L.); [email protected] (P.I.T.);
[email protected] (R.R.); [email protected] (A.T.); [email protected] (S.I.);
[email protected] (S.A.); [email protected] (M.U.A.K.)
2 Technological Projects Department, The Libyan Center for Remote Sensing and Space Science,
Tripoli 21218, Libya
3 Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering, Politechnico di Milano, 20125 Milan, Italy
4 Department of Electronic Engineering, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur,
Bahawalpur 63100, Punjab, Pakistan
5 Department of Electronics and Telecommunications, Politecnico di Torino, 10129 Turin, Italy;
[email protected]
6 Istituto di Elettronica e di Ingegneria dell’Informazione e delle Telecomunicazioni, National Research Council,
10129 Turin, Italy
7 Department of Measurements and Optical Electronics, Politehnica University Timisoara,
300006 Timisoara, Romania
* Correspondence: [email protected]

Abstract: CubeSats are a class of miniaturized satellites that have become increasingly popular in
academia and among hobbyists due to their short development time and low fabrication cost. Their
compact size, lightweight characteristics, and ability to form a swarm enables them to communicate
directly with one another to inspire new ideas on space exploration, space-based measurements,
Citation: Liu, S.; Theoharis, P.I.;
Raad, R.; Tubbal, F.; Theoharis, A.;
and implementation of the latest technology. CubeSat missions require specific antenna designs in
Iranmanesh, S.; Abulgasem, S.; order to achieve optimal performance and ensure mission success. Over the past two decades, a
Khan, M.U.A.; Matekovits, L. plethora of antenna designs have been proposed and implemented on CubeSat missions. Several
A Survey on CubeSat Missions and challenges arise when designing CubeSat antennas such as gain, polarization, frequency selection,
Their Antenna Designs. Electronics pointing accuracy, coverage, and deployment mechanisms. While these challenges are strongly
2022, 11, 2021. https://doi.org/ related to the restrictions posed by the CubeSat standards, recently, researchers have turned their
10.3390/electronics11132021 attention from the reliable and proven whip antenna to more sophisticated antenna designs such as
Academic Editor: Raed A. antenna arrays to allow for higher gain and reconfigurable and steerable radiation patterns. This
Abd-Alhameed paper provides a comprehensive survey of the antennas used in 120 CubeSat missions from 2003 to
2022 as well as a collection of single-element antennas and antenna arrays that have been proposed
Received: 1 June 2022
in the literature. In addition, we propose a pictorial representation of how to select an antenna for
Accepted: 22 June 2022
different types of CubeSat missions. To this end, this paper aims is to serve both as an introductory
Published: 27 June 2022
guide on CubeSats antennas for CubeSat enthusiasts and a state of the art for CubeSat designers in
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral this ever-growing field.
with regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional affil-
Keywords: antenna arrays; CubeSat missions; CubeSat antennas; miniaturized satellites; single
iations.
element antennas; CubeSat subsystems; antenna selection; antenna designs

Copyright: © 2022 by the authors.

Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
1. Introduction
This article is an open access article CubeSats are a type of spacecraft called miniaturized satellites that are categorized
distributed under the terms and based on their size, namely minisatellites, microsatellites, nanosatellites, picosatellites,
conditions of the Creative Commons and femtosatellites [1]. CubeSats belong to the class of nanosatellites having the smallest
Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// dimensions of 10 cm × 10 cm × 10 cm (1U) and a mass of 1.3 kg. As shown in Figure 1, other
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ available sizes range from 2U up to 12U with a mass of 15.6 kg. In addition, Table 1 shows
4.0/).

Electronics 2022, 11, 2021. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics11132021 5 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/electronics

Electronics 2022, 11, 2021

the weight and dimensions of the CubeSats in each category. However, nanosatellites of
less than 1 kg have yet to be designed for commercial applications [2].

Figure 1. Different CubeSat standards.

Table 1. Size and mass of CubeSats.

Size Dimensions Wet Mass

1U 10 cm × 10 cm × 10 cm 1.3 kg
2U 10 cm × 10 cm × 20 cm 2.6 kg
3U 10 cm × 10 cm × 30 cm 3.9 kg
6U 10 cm × 20 cm × 30 cm 7.8 kg
12U 10 cm × 10 cm × 60 cm 15.6 kg

Having such small and light features enables developers to provide a time- and
cost-effective solution to designing fully functional satellites. The development cost is
significantly less than standard satellite missions, as CubeSats can be launched as a sec-
ondary payload from standardized ejection modules such as the Poly-Picosatellite Orbital
Deployer (P-POD) [3] or being deployed from the International Space Station [4]. The
original reference of CubeSat design specifications dates back to 1999, when it was pro-
posed by professors Jordi Puig-Suari from California Polytechnic State University and Bob
Twiggs from Stanford University. These specifications, including mechanical, electrical,
operational, and testing requirements, set the foundations for CubeSat design [5,6]. By
referring to the maturing standards gradually developed over the years, a CubeSat mission
can be finished within a few years.
The primary goal of introducing this new class of satellites was to educate graduate
students on developing skills for designing, building, testing, and operating small satellites
in low Earth orbit (LEO) and developing new scientific research methods, as well as
advancing new space technologies. Meanwhile, the first CubeSat mission was launched in
2003, and only a handful of CubeSats were launched every year before 2013. As mentioned,
this is because most CubeSats were developed by universities or research institutions.
The number of CubeSat missions increased rapidly only when commercial applications
joined the field [7]. To date, many CubeSats have been designed, launched, and operated
successfully at low Earth orbit (LEO). Examples include CanX-1, CUTE-1, and AUU [8].
Very few CubeSats are designed, launched, and operated for deep space communications,
such as those in [9,10]. On the other hand, CubeSats have limited functionality compared
with other larger in size satellites. For instance, fitting an on-board propulsion system [11],
large solar panels [12], radiators [13], as well as high-gain antennas [14] has proven to be
a series of challenging tasks due to the limited room on the CubeSat [15]. However, the
advancements in printed circuit board (PCB) technology [16,17] and the availability of
off-the-shelf components (COTS) alongside the development of more powerful processors
such as Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) [18] have enabled researchers to develop
cost-effective CubeSats for various challenging missions.

6
Electronics 2022, 11, 2021

One of the key challenges is an antenna design that achieves a high gain while having
a small size. This is because higher gain leads to a higher data rate. However, the higher the
gain, the more highly directional it is. This means the CubeSat’s antenna must be pointed
with high accuracy toward the ground station to communicate at a high rate over the highly
focused radio signal. According to the recent surveys in [19–21], most CubeSat missions
use UHF bands typically at 438 MHz, with possible data rates of up to 9.6 kbps. While
only CubeSats employ higher frequency bands such as S-band to increase the data rates,
considering the data rates for a standard mobile phone, 9.6 kbps is indeed a throwback to
another era. This issue has also been raised by NASA’s investigator Doug Rowland [22]. In
addition, the orbital lifetime of CubeSat is another limitation, which is 0–100 days when it
is orbiting at lower than 300 km. Higher altitudes might lead to an extended lifetime of up
to 2 years at 400 km [23].
This paper is organized as follows. CubeSats and their subsystems are introduced
in Section 2. The background on CubeSat antennas and several restrictions posed by the
CubeSat standards are presented in Section 3. Furthermore, Section 3 reviews 120 CubeSat
missions dating from 2003 to 2022 and draws conclusions on the mission type, frequency
bands, and antenna type popularity among the CubeSat community. In Section 4, single-
element antennas for CubeSat are presented, while in Section 5, antenna arrays and arraying
techniques for CubeSats are reviewed. Section 6 presents a comparison between single-
element antennas and antenna arrays. The paper concludes with Section 7, which includes
the proposed pictorial representation of how to select an antenna for different types of
CubeSat missions.

2. Background on CubeSats and Their Subsystems

Compared with conventional large and medium satellites, CubeSats weigh less and
require less time for development (e.g., 1 year) [24]. Because of their limited size and
weight, several restrictions should be considered in the design of a CubeSat system. The
development of CubeSats has enabled the study and testing of novel ideas in the field of
low-power microelectronics, digital signal processing, and communication protocols in
space without spending millions of dollars. This section provides an overview of CubeSats.

2.1. Mass and Volume

A small satellite often has limited room for the installation of electronics, antennas,
payload, and solar panels. More specifically, large-volume antennas that generally have
complex deployable systems are more likely to be excluded from a CubeSat mission. Thus,
smaller antennas are preferable as they occupy small space on the CubeSat. Another
important factor that influences the antenna’s choice and design for CubeSat missions is
the mass. A typical CubeSat should weigh around 1.3 kg. Therefore, the weight of the
antenna should be considered along with the different major weight contributions from the
payloads, solar panels, core processors, batteries, and the chassis of the CubeSat. Failure to
meet the CubeSat standards in terms of mass limitations would result in failure to launch.

2.2. Low Earth Orbit (LEO)

Most CubeSat missions take place on LEO, which ranges from about 150 km up to
approximately 600 km and is below the ionosphere. Within this region, there are many
science satellites and the International Space Station (ISS) [25]. When orbiting in LEO, a
CubeSat undergoes different heat inputs and passes through different light ranges. The
antenna might be designed to radiate certain amounts of power, but it should also be
designed accordingly to reject any power received from unwanted sources. The noise
temperature is a parameter which should be considered and modelled properly when
designing an antenna for space missions where the thermal environment is harsh. For
example, Earth can be considered an ideal blackbody in equilibrium that absorbs all the
electromagnetic energy and emits energy at the same rate, which implies that Earth is
an unwanted power source for the antenna. These fluctuations in the external space

7
Electronics 2022, 11, 2021

environment should be considered when designing a CubeSat. Figure 2 shows the altitude
classifications for geocentric orbits.

Figure 2. Altitude classifications for geocentric orbits.

2.3. Electrical Power Subsystem (EPS)

Another essential part for the satellite subsystems is the power subsystem, which
constantly supplies the required power during the operation of the CubeSat. Power bud-
geting is one of the primary objectives of the CubeSat’s design, and it must follow accurate
calculations and obey certain limitations. Solar power is the main source of CubeSat power,
since sunlight is the only available energy source in space. Other extra energy sources such
as fuel cells and radioactive decay units are not practical for CubeSats. The expected power
usage of the CPU, the radio, and the sensors need to be predictable and tightly defined. An
optimized scheme of power budgeting needs to be developed accordingly.
Many CubeSats use 5-V buses as their core components of the power system, as a
5-V microcontroller is common and popular. A voltage of 3.3 V is becoming increasingly
popular for CubeSats as well. According to [26], the capacity of space-grade lithium
polymer batteries in CubeSat applications can range from 1.1 Ah to 1.4 Ah among different
suppliers. The authors of [27] presented a design for a CubeSat bus that can provide 1.3 W
of power to support some kinds of Earth observation missions and makes an allocation of
the power budget to each subsystem.

2.4. Command and Data Handling Subsystem (C&DH)

The main processor subsystem, also known as Command and Data Handling (D&DH),
coordinates complex actions taken by different parts within the system and provides stable
and synchronized operation. The main processor of a CubeSat needs to be small and
consume a low amount of power. Most current CubeSat missions use microcontrollers, but
microprocessors are being considered for future missions. Some common processors such
as ARMA, PC-104, and H8S-2674R have been chosen for some CubeSat missions [28–30].
Processors such as the PIC series and AT91SAM series are also available from providers,
namely Pumpkin and Tyvak, and have also been applied in this kind of small satellite
project. Additionally, applications of BasicX-24 and Arduino as the main processors of
CubeSats are compared in [31]. FPGAs are also an attractive solution for CubeSat C&DHs
as they offer in-obit reconfiguration, and their fabric can be designed to be tailored to
specific mission requirements [17].

2.5. Propulsion Subsystem

CubeSats may use propulsion systems to realize active attitude control, reaction wheel
desaturation, drag recovery, orbit changes and proximity operations [32]. In addition, a

8
Electronics 2022, 11, 2021

proper propulsion system can help a CubeSat slow down orbital decay and extend its
lifetime. Because of the restrictions on CubeSats, their propulsion systems can only be
used on specific occasions. The following technologies have been applied on current
CubeSat missions: solar sail, cold gas, electric propulsion systems, and chemical propulsion
systems [33]. The design of propulsion systems is still being developed to push the
capabilities of CubeSats even further.

2.6. Attitude Determination and Control Subsystem (ADCS)

The ADCS for CubeSats is responsible for controlling the orientation of the spacecraft
from the current attitude to a desired one. Various sensors or gyroscopes are used to record
the orientation. For example, magnetic coils and reaction wheels are applied to provide
necessary torques to reorient the satellite. Generally, two types of stabilization methods are
utilized, namely spin stabilization and three-axis stabilization. Spin-stabilization requires
one of the satellite axes to be fixed toward a specific direction, and then the body of the
satellite is rotated accordingly. For this method, an initial force will be applied to the
body of the satellite around an axis, and then the satellite will keep rotating because of
the moment of inertia in space. Secondly, with three-axis stabilization, a satellite can be
reoriented and stabilized in three different orthogonal axes instead of spinning around one
axis, which results in maintaining a fixed attitude relationship with Earth or a successful
inter-satellite link, respectively [34].

3. Background on Antennas and CubeSat Missions

An antenna or an aerial is defined as an element that is capable of sending and
receiving radio waves (IEEE Std 124-1983). Technically, antennas may be resonant or non-
resonant devices and operate efficiently when their geometry and impedance characteristics
are tuned to a specific frequency. Antennas direct energy in a specific direction (or in all
directions) and do not add or subtract power to a transmitted or received signal. An
ideal transmitting antenna is one that radiates power without reflecting energy back to
the feeding circuit. An ideal receiving antenna is one that absorbs the entire incidence
electromagnetic wave without reflection.
Antennas can be classified by their radiation pattern as isotropic, omnidirectional, or
directional. An isotropic antenna is an ideal reference and not physically feasible since it has
equal radiation in all directions. Omnidirectional antennas, or whip antennas, have equal
radiation in a given plane (e.g., the horizontal plane), and radiation is reduced outside that
plane. Usually, single-element antennas have a wide radiation pattern and relatively low
gain, making them suitable for general communication purposes, where the location of
the receiver or transmitter is unknown, while at the same time, they are less efficient for
applications that require long-distance, reliable, and effective communication links. The
most common antenna used on a CubeSat is a whip antenna, which is a single-element
monopole antenna. In [30], a CubeSat with two whip antennas of different lengths is shown.
It consists of a flexible wire where the bottom part is connected, usually through a coaxial
feed to the receiver or transmitter, and typically mounted above a ground or metal plane. A
popular whip antenna is a λ4 monopole, where λ is referred to as the resonant wavelength.
The length of the antenna L in meters can be calculated with Equation (1):

λ 300
L= = (1)
4 4f
where λ is the wavelength and f is the operating frequency in MHz. In a typical CubeSat
application where the operating frequency is 433 MHz, a quarter-wavelength whip antenna
should be 17.3 cm. However, this length exceeds the available CubeSat surface area. In
this case, the antenna needs to be folded or rolled, stowed within the CubeSat body, and
then deployed to its functional size after launch. This adds to the design complexity, as
it brings in a potential point of failure for an antenna deployment mechanism. If the
size is reduced, the antenna will be less efficient at the operating frequency. This simple

9
Electronics 2022, 11, 2021

example illustrates at least one design consideration when looking at the communication
and antenna subsystem of a CubeSat.
On the other hand, directional antennas could radiate a relatively higher amount of
power in specific directions and thus are more suitable than omnidirectional antennas when
a higher gain is desirable. Realizing a directional radiation pattern can be accomplished
by employing antenna arrays, reflectarrays, parabolic reflector antennas, horn antennas,
or inflatable antennas. For example, in the case of antenna or phased arrays, the radiation
fields from the elements of the array interfere constructively in the desired direction while
cancelling each other out in other directions. Therefore, antenna arrays can synthesize
a variety of radiation patterns which can be accurately pointed in the desired direction.
As a result, higher data rate links can be established through higher signal-to noise-ratios
(SNRs) and larger bandwidths (B). In short, antenna arrays have the following advantages.
First, they have higher gain compared with single-element antennas and a better trade-off
between antenna size and performance. Secondly, arrays can enable an electronically
steerable beam with appropriate feeding of the elements. This can make satellites more
versatile. Indeed, instead of physically reorienting a CubeSat to establish a link, its antenna
beam can be electronically steered. Finally, they are more flexible in terms of mission-
specific synthesis, as additional elements can be added when the mission needs a larger
aperture or finer beam control, and the failure of a single element may not significantly
impact the overall system’s performance.
Other methods that have been proposed to increase the overall CubeSat downlink
capacity are known as CubeSat swarms or constellations [35]. As demonstrated in [34],
a CubeSat swarm is a group of individual CubeSats working cooperatively and sharing
resources with each other. Interestingly, a subset of CubeSats can form a virtual antenna
array to realize a larger aperture area with higher reliability. As a result, the power, memory,
and bandwidth can be shared and distributed inside the swarm. However, a swarm
of CubeSats requires reliable and efficient inter-CubeSat communication links [36,37].
Specifically, high-speed inter-satellite links will help to facilitate formation-flying missions,
where CubeSats maintain the desired relative separations, positions, and orientations.
Omni-directional antennas are the first choice for inter-satellite links because they can easily
respond to the constant reorienting or repositioning of CubeSats.

3.1. CubeSat Antenna Specifications

Antenna design is a complex task and must be tailored to the CubeSat mission under
consideration. A CubeSat’s typical operation is performed in the VHF, UHF, or S-band, and
the antennas are placed on one of the CubeSat surfaces. The size of a monopole or dipole
antenna designed to operate in the VHF or UHF band usually exceeds a CubeSat’s surface,
which is 10 cm × 10 cm. From this point of view, when designing antennas for CubeSat
missions, the following concept should be followed: reduce the physical size of the antenna but
maintain the desired radiation performance to meet the mission requirements. Telemetry, tracking
and command, a high-speed downlink for payload data, GPS and GNSS signal reception,
and inter-satellite communication links are some of the fundamental functions performed
by the antenna system. In order to design CubeSat antennas for high-level missions, such as
inter-satellite communications for distributed CubeSat swarms, it is necessary to properly
define the specifications based on the communications requirements and the platform
or mission aspects [38]. A summary of the restrictions posed by the CubeSat platform
and their corresponding descriptions are presented in Table 2. These restrictions must be
considered by the CubeSat antenna designer during the design and integration phase of
the antenna with the CubeSat.

10
Electronics 2022, 11, 2021

Table 2. Restrictions imposed by the CubeSat platform on antenna designs [17,39–42].

Restrictions Description
Light weight and compact to fit the 10 cm × 10 cm size of a CubeSat surface in the
Size and Mass
case of 1U (without considering deployment volume).
Deployment mechanism must be chosen or designed to minimize risk of
Deployment
deployment failure.
Choice between active or passive control systems will determine the antenna
Attitude Control
pointing accuracy, as well as the choice of fixed or steering beam antenna.
Frequency Band Set by the mission specifications and allocated by the ITU or FCC.
and Bandwidth Dictates the uplink and downlink.
Antenna radiation or aperture efficiency must be higher than 50%.
Loss
Antenna must match well with a reflection coefficient less than −10 dB.
Orbit Low Earth orbit: 400–2000 km
(Communication Inter-satellite: Depends on swarm architecture
Range) Deep space: >2 × 106 km
Choice between low gain (LG), medium gain (MG), or high gain (HG), according
Gain
to the available RF power budget and orbit.
Link Budget High enough gain to provide the required SNR according to the modulation used.
Dictate the beam width or the shape of the radiation pattern, as well as the size of
Footprint
the aperture.
Space Environment Withstand thermal variations from −40 to +85 Celsius. Must pass
and Durability thermal-vacuum cycling test (TVCT) and vibration test.
Cost Off-the-shelf materials to reduce budget.
Circular polarization to reduce losses due to polarization mismatch. Satisfy the
Polarization
cross-polarization levels set by the mission specifications.

3.2. CubeSat Missions and Their Antenna Designs

Based on the specifications defined in Table 2, a type of antenna may be selected for a
specific CubeSat mission according to the communications’ requirements for the mission
and the limitations set by the CubeSat standards. The simplest and most used structures of
CubeSat antennas are wire and patch antennas. Furthermore, planar antennas have become
increasingly attractive for small satellite missions due to their low profile and compatibility
with RF and microwave circuits. Microstrip patch antennas and slot antennas are two
types of popular planar antenna designs for CubeSats. A literature survey based on planar
antenna designs and their potential for picosatellite applications is presented in [21]. To
better understand how the aforementioned restrictions are considered in current CubeSat
missions, in the remaining part of this section, a comprehensive survey of the current
antennas used in CubeSat missions is presented. Table 3 shows the well know frequency
bands. Table 4 lists 120 CubeSat missions from 2003 to 2022 with the aim of informing
the reader about the different antenna types, frequency bands, and CubeSat sizes used for
different mission types. The mission selection is not exhaustive but illustrative. The choice
of the missions depends on the availability of mission data related to the communication
subsystem of each mission. The frequency bands used in Table 4 correspond to the IEEE
standards shown in Table 3.

Table 3. IEEE standard letter designations for different frequency bands [43].

Band Designator Dimensions

HF 3–30 MHz
VHF 30–300 MHz
UHF 300–1000 MHz
L 1–2 GHz
S 2–4 GHz
Ku 12–18 GHz
Ka 26.5–40 GHz
V 40–75 GHz
W 75–110 GHz

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Electronics 2022, 11, 2021

Table 4. Collection of CubeSat missions (nonexhaustive).

CubeSat Mission Name Antenna Type Mission Type Size Frequency Band Year
XI-IV (CO-57) Monopole and Dipole Educational 1U VHF/UHF 2003
[44]
DTUSat-1 1U UHF 2003
[45] Monopole and Dipole Educational

QuakeSat Four Monopoles Earth Observation 3U UHF 2003

[30] Technology Demonstration
CUTE-1 1U UHF 2003
[46] Three Monopoles Technology Demonstration

Cute-1.7 + APD
[47] Dipole Technology Demonstration 2U UHF and L-Band 2003

XI-V (CO-58) 1U UHF 2005

Dipole Technology Demonstration
[44]
NCube Monopole and Patch Educational 1U VHF, UHF, and S-Band 2005
[48]
Educational 2U 2006
Cute-1.7 + APD II [49] Three Monopoles UHF and L-Band
Technology Demonstration
CP1
Dipole Scientific 1U UHF 2006
[16,50]
GeneSat-1
Monopole Scientific 3U UHF and S-Band 2006
[51]
Mea Huaka Monopole N/A 1U UHF 2006
[52]
MEROPE 1U UHF 2006
[53] Dipole Scientific

KUTESat-2 1U 2006
[54] Dipoles Technology Demonstration UHF and VHF

ION 3U UHF 2006

[55] Dipole Technology Demonstration

CP2/CP4 Dipole Technology Demonstration 1U UHF 2007

[50,56]
CAPE-1 1U UHF 2007
[57] Monopole Educational

CSTB1 1U UHF 2007

[58] Dipole Technology Demonstration

COMPASS-1 1U 2008
[59] Monopole and Dipole Earth Observation UHF and VHF

CanX-1
[60] Monopoles Technology Demonstration 1U UHF 2008

Delfi-C3 3U 2008
Monopole and Dipole Educational UHF and VHF
[61]
CanX-2 3U 2008
[62] Monopole and Patch Technology Demonstration UHF and S-Band

AAU 1U UHF 2008

[63] Dipoles Technology Demonstration

PSSCT 12.5 cm × 12.5 cm × UHF 2008

[64,65] Patch Technology Demonstration 25 cm
SEED-2 1U UHF 2008
[66] Monopoles Technology Demonstration

SwissCube Monopoles Scientific 1U UHF 2009

[67]
BeeSat (Known as
DRAGON SAT with Monopoles Technology Demonstration 1U UHF 2009
AggieSat2) [46]
CP3/CP6 Dipole Technology Demonstration 1U UHF 2009
[50]
HAUSAT-2 1U UHF 2009
[68] Dipoles Educational

ITUpSat-I
Four Monopoles Technology Demonstration 1U UHF 2009
[69]
Pharmasat- Patch Scientific 3U S-Band 2009
[70]
AubieSat-1 Dipole Educational 1U UHF 2011
[71] Technology Demonstration
CP5 1U UHF 2011
[50] Dipole Technology Demonstration

Hermes 1U 2011
[72] Monopole Technology Demonstration UHF and S-Band

KySat Educational
Three Monopoles 1U UHF, VHF, and S-Band 2011
[45] Technology Demonstration

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Electronics 2022, 11, 2021

Table 4. Cont.

CubeSat Mission Name Antenna Type Mission Type Size Frequency Band Year
M-Cubed Monopole and Dipole Educational 1U UHF and VHF 2011
[73] Technology Demonstration
E1P-2 1U UHF 2011
[74] Monopole Scientific

AtmoCube Dipole Scientific 1U UHF 2012

[74]
Aeneas Parabolic Meshed 3U UHF 2012
[75] Reflector Surveillance

Goliat Monopole Earth Observation 1U UHF and S-Band 2012

[76]
UNICUBESAT 1U UHF 2012
[77] Monopole Technology Demonstration

PWSat 1U UHF 2012

[78] Two Monopoles Technology Demonstration

XaTcobeo 1U UHF 2012

Four Monopoles Technology Demonstration
[79]
e-st@r
Dipole Educational 1U UHF 2012
[80]
CAPE-2
Monopole Educational 1U UHF and VHF 2013
[57]
CP8(IPEX) Monopole Technology Demonstration 1U UHF 2013
[50,81]
Delfin3Xt Monopole and Patch Technology Demonstration 3U UHF, VHF, and S-Band 2013
[82]
ExoplanetSat
Patch Technology Demonstration 3U S-Band 2013
[83]
FireFly
Monopole Scientific 3U UHF 2013
[22]
ZACUBE-1 1U HF 2013
[84] Dipole Scientific

MOVE I 1U 2013
[85] Dipole Educational UHF and VHF

UWE-3 1U UHF 2013

[86] Monopoles Technology Demonstration

FunCube Monopoles Educational 1U VHF and UHF 2013

[78]
TJ3Sat 1U UHF 2013
[87] Monopoles Educational

ALL-STAR 3U 2014
[88] Cavity-Backed Antenna Educational UHF and S-Band

CanX-4&5 Monopole, Dipole,

Technology Demonstration 1U VHF, UHF, and S-Band 2014
[89] and Patch
DTUSat-2 1U 2014
[73] Dipole Technology Demonstration S-Band and L-Band

MicroMAS Parabolic Reflector 3U UHF 2014

[90] Earth Observation
and Monopole
OPUSat
[91] Monopole Technology Demonstration 1U UHF and VHF 2014

VELOX-PII
Dipole Educational 1U UHF and VHF 2014
[85]
AeroCube-OCSD Patch Technology Demonstration 1.5U UHF 2015
[44,92]
Firebird 1.5U+1.5U 2015
Dipole Scientific UHF and VHF
[93]
GOMX-3 Four Monopoles, Patch, UHF, S-Band,
Technology Demonstration 3U 2015
[94] and Helical and L-Band
AggieSat2 (Known as
DRAGON Dipole and Patch Educational 1U S-Band 2016
SAT with Bevo-1) [95] Technology Demonstration

CP10(ExoCube) [50,81] Parabolic Reflector Scientific 3U UHF 2016

OUFTI-1
[94] Monopoles Educational 1U UHF 2016

BEVO-1 Educational 1U 2016

[95] Dipole and Patch S-Band
Technology Demonstration
Aalto-I Crossed-Dipole
Technology Demonstration 3U VHF, UHF, and S-band 2017
[96,97] and Patch
CXBN-2 Quadrature Spring
Technology Demonstration 2U UHF and S-Band 2017
[70] Steel Array

13
Electronics 2022, 11, 2021

Table 4. Cont.

CubeSat Mission Name Antenna Type Mission Type Size Frequency Band Year
EC0 (UNSW-EC0) Monopole Education 2U UHF 2017
[98]
ICECube 3U UHF 2017
Dipole and Patch Technology Demonstration
[99]
QBITO 2U UHF 2017
[100] Four Monopoles Education purpose

ISARA Reflectarray Integrated Technology Demonstration 3U UHF and Ka-Band 2017

[101] with Solar Panels Communications
RadSat 3U UHF 2018
Monopole Technology Demonstration
[99]
SPATIUM
Monopole Scientific 2U UHF 2018
[102]
UWE-4
Dipole Technology Demonstration 1U UHF 2018
[103]
CANYCAL-X
[102] Patch and Monopole Technology Demonstration 1U+2U UHF and S-Band 2018

AeroCube-11R3 [104] Patch Technology Demonstration 3U UHF 2018

KNACKSA Technology Demonstration
Two Dipoles 1U VHF and UHF 2018
[105] Earth observation
CHOMPTT
Monopole Technology Demonstration 3U UHF 2018
[62]
MarCO Reflectarray, Patch
Interplanetary Exploration 6U UHF and X-Band 2018
[9] Array, and Loop
RainCube Parabolic Mesh Earth Observation 6U Ka-Band 2018
[106] Reflector Technology Demonstration
AzTechSat-1 1U 2019
[107] Patch Educational UHF and VHF

ANGELS 12U 2019

[108] Square Array Inverted F Technology Demonstration UHF and L-Band

ARMADILLO
Monopole Technology Demonstration 3U UHF 2019
[51]
EyeSat
Patch Educational 3U S-Band and X-Band 2019
[109]
OPS-SAT UHF and S-Band
[92] Dipole Technology Demonstration 3U 2019
and X-Band
SORTIE 6U UHF 2019
[103] Dipole Technology Demonstration

Artemis Horn 1U 2020

[110] Technology Demonstration L-Band and Ku-Band

SERB 3U 2020
[111] Patch Technology Demonstration S-Band

Landmapper-BC5
Monopole and Horn Earth observation 6U UHF and Ka-Band 2020
[112]
Lemur-2 Monopoles and
Earth observation 3U UHF and S-Band 2020
[113] Patch Array
Flock 3U
N/A Earth observation UHF and X-Band 2020 and 2022
[114]
Kepler Communications
Phased Array IoT 6U S-Band and Ku-Band 2018 and 2020–2022
[115]
TTU100 Technology Demonstration
Dipole and Patch Array 1U UHF and X-Band 2020
[116] Earth Observation
NetSat Technology Demonstration
Dipoles 3U UHF 2020
[117] Educational
TRISAT 3U 2020
[118] Patch and Dipoles Technology Demonstration UHF and S-Band

Quetzal Dipoles Educational 1U UHF 2020

OSM1-CICERO
Phased Array Earth Observation 6U UHF and X-Band 2020
[119]
PICASSO
[120] Patch and Dipoles Earth Observation 3U VHF, UHF, and S-Band 2020

AMICal Sat Demonstration

Patch and Dipoles 2U VHF, UHF, and S-Band 2020
[121] Earth Observation
Astrocast Communications 3U 2021
[122] Patch and Patch Array IoT L-band

BEESAT 5–8 0.25 UHF 2021

[123] N/A Technology Demonstration

14
Electronics 2022, 11, 2021

Table 4. Cont.

CubeSat Mission Name Antenna Type Mission Type Size Frequency Band Year
RADCUBE 3U UHF 2021
[124] Dipoles Scientific

ExoCube-2 Monopoles Scientific 3U UHF 2021

[125]
Cesium Satellite Active Phased Array Technology Demonstration 6U Ka-Band 2021
[126]
CAS-9 Communications 6U 2021
[127] Monopole VHF and UHF

SOMP2b Communications 2U UHF 2021

[128] Monopoles

Array of Concentric
W-Cube Ring Antennas Scientific 3U 2021
[129] Technology Demonstration W-Band
(Bull’s Eye)
Centauri Communications
Active Phased Array 6U S-Band 2018, 2021, and 2022
[130] IoT
ELO Alpha Helical, Patch Array, Communications
IoT 3U ISM 2021
[131] and Dipoles
IDEASSat Technology Demonstration
Monopole and Patch 3U UHF and S-Band 2021
[132] Earth Observation
KSF1 Monopoles, Patch Array,
Surveillance 6U VHF and S-Band 2021
[133] and Helical
D2/AtlaCom-1 Monopoles and Patch Educational 6U 2021
[134] Array Earth Observation UHF and X-Band

FORESAIL-1 Scientific 3U UHF 2022

[135] Monopoles
Technology Demonstration
IRIS-A Communications 2U UHF 2022
[136] Monopoles IoT
HYPSO Patch, Monopole, Technology Demonstration
6U UHF and S-Band 2022
[137] and Dipoles Earth Observation
Spark-2 Communications
Patch and Monopoles 12U S-Band 2022
[138] IoT (5G)
SanoSat-1
[139] Dipole Educational 1U UHF 2022

Planetum-1 1U UHF 2022

Monopole Educational
[140]
SpaceBEE Communications
Dipole 0.25U VHF 2018–2022
[141] IoT

Figure 3 shows a breakdown of the mission types corresponding to the missions

presented in Table 4. Nearly half of the missions were focused on technology demonstration,
where CubeSats were used as a cost-effective way to test and validate innovative hardware
or software such as novel propulsion systems, attitude control systems, or inter-satellite
links, as in the case of CP6 or Cesium. The second biggest portion (21% of the missions)
was devoted to educational purposes, where CubeSat were used by different academic
institutions around the world to motivate students and familiarize them with satellite
subsystems. It is worth mentioning that offering undergraduate students opportunities to
get involved in a space-related project like CubeSats has led to a rapid increase in CubeSat
launches lately. Earth observation and scientific missions each contributed 12% of all the
investigated missions. In these missions, CubeSats may be used to study radiation levels in
outer space, the ionosphere, and space as well as Earth weather or even monitor crops from
space. Lately, CubeSat missions related to communications such as high-speed downlinks,
IoT, M2M, and 5G from space have started to emerge, which corresponded to 7% of all the
missions. Finally, the smallest portions of the CubeSat missions were found in surveillance
with 2% and interplanetary exploration led by NASA, corresponding to 1%.
In this survey, the sizes of existing and previous CubeSats were also recorded in an
effort to illustrate the overall trend in CubeSat designs. Figure 4 shows the popularity of
CubeSat sizes over the 120 missions under investigation. The smallest size in the literature
corresponded to 0.25U, with only one mission found. The most popular CubeSat size
was found to be 1U, which is defined as the basic unit for CubeSat design. The next most
popular size was 3U with 36 CubeSats in total, which showcases the potential of using 3U

15
Electronics 2022, 11, 2021

to accommodate more complex functions and carry more advanced technology. With the
development of CubeSat missions, some larger sizes such as 6U and 12U emerged, which
are associated with missions with increased power and RF budgets or payloads that require
more integration real estate.

Figure 3. Popularity of CubeSat mission types from 2003 to 2022.

8 
8 
&XEH6DW6L]H

8 
8 
8 
8 
8 

1XPEHURI&XEH6DWV

Figure 4. Popular CubeSat sizes used in the 120 CubeSat missions presented in Table 4.

Figure 5 shows the antenna types used in the investigated CubeSat missions. We
can see that monopole and dipole antennas were widely used as the primary uplink or
downlink band, which normally operate at a VHF or UHF. Patch antennas operating on the

16
Electronics 2022, 11, 2021

S-band or L-band were the second most popular antenna type since they have a low profile,
are lightweight, and usually do not require any deployment mechanism. In addition, patch
antennas can provide a considerable gain improvement over monopoles and dipoles. For
that reason, monopoles or dipoles and patch antennas are usually used in the same mission,
where the monopole or dipole is used for low-data rate telemetry functions and the patch
antennas can be used for higher data rate communications. A helical antenna is another
antenna candidate that has been used in CubeSat missions. They can provide a medium
directive pattern and can be easily stowed and deployed in a similar way to monopole and
dipole antennas. If higher gain and high-speed downlinks are required, a higher frequency
must be used (e.g., X-band, Ku-band, or Ka-band), combined with antenna arrays such
as microstrip patch arrays, reflectarrays, or meshed reflectors. In more recent missions,
phased arrays operating at the Ka-band have been used, where the antenna beam can be
steered electronically to realize intersatellite links or accommodate varying traffic as in
the case of IoT missions. Horn or guided wave antennas have also been used in CubeSat
missions, operating at the Ka-band and W-band to realize high-speed downlinks and push
the current CubeSat communication capabilities to their limits. Last but not least, X-band
reflectarray antennas have been used in MARS CubeSat missions launched by NASA,
proving that CubeSats can be used as a cost-effective way to explore different planets.

3KDVHGDUUD\ 
+HOLFDO 
$QWHQQD7\SHV

0RQRSROH'LSROH3DWFK 
0RQRSROH'LSROH 
3DUDEROLF5HIOHFWRU 
5HIOHFWDUUD\ 
+RUQ*XLGHG:DYH 
3DWFK$UUD\ 
3DWFK 
'LSROH 
0RQRSROH 

1XPEHURI&XEH6DWV
Figure 5. Antenna types used in the 120 CubeSat missions presented in Table 4.

As shown in Figure 6, the most commonly used frequency band among the CubeSat
missions is UHF and the combination of UHF with VHF, L-band, X-band, Ku-band, or
Ka-band. Reagrdless of the mission objectives, the UHF band is mostly found in CubeSat
missions, even as the primary downlink or as the backup secondary radio frequency.
Moreover, S-band has also been widely used either by itself or combined with higher
frequencies such as X-band or Ku-band. There are very few CubeSats that employ only the
VHF, L, Ka- or W-band. This highlights the importrance of using various frequency bands
in a single CubeSat mission to satisfy the variety of the mission’s requirements.
Lastly, it would be interesting to observe when each antenna type apeared in CubeSat
missions through the years, starting from 2003 amd leading up to 2022. Initially, around
2003, monopole and dipole antennas were solely used in CubeSat missions due to their
simplicity of design, low cost, and ease of deployment. As we move forward to 2005–2011,
patch antennas made their appearance in the CubeSat community. Around 2012, meshed
reflector antennas started emerging in CubeSat missions, while during 2014 and 2015,
helical and reflectarray antennas were adopted. In 2017 and 2018, CubeSat missions were
equiped with antenna arrays, followed by phased arrays during 2018 and 2019. Finally,
during the last 3 years, horn and guided wave antennas appeared in CubeSat missions. It is

17
Electronics 2022, 11, 2021

important to note that once a specific antenna type appeared at a point in time, it was being
used for the upcoming years as well. For example, during the last 3 years, a combination
of antenna types can be found in a single CubeSat mission, which was not the case before
2011. Through the years, the complexity of CubeSat missions has increased. Therefore,
the CubeSat capabilities must increase accordingly to meet the mission requirments. This
is reflected in the variety of antenna types and frequency bands used by recent CubeSat
missions. More advanced missions require higher data rates, higher gains, and reduced
antenna sizes while keeping the satellite power budget as low as possible. As a result, from
Table 5 we can draw the following conclusion: The evolution of CubeSat antennas is dictated
by the requirements and complexity of the missions.

.DEDQG
/EDQG 

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6EDQG 8+).DEDQG
 

8+); 8+);
EDQG EDQG6EDQG
 

8+)6EDQG

2WKHU 9+)8+)6
 8+)/EDQG EDQG
 
8+)


8+)9+)
 8+)6
EDQG/EDQG


9+) /EDQG.X 6EDQG;EDQG

 EDQG 
 6EDQG.XEDQG


Figure 6. Frequency bands used in the 120 CubeSat missions presented in Table 4.

Table 5. The appearance of different antenna types in CubeSat missions from 2003 to 2022.

2003 2005–2011 2012–2013 2014–2015 2016–2017 2018–2019 2020–2022

Monopole and Dipole 9 9 9 9 9 9 9
Patch 9 9 9 9 9 9
Reflector 9 9 9 9 9
Helical 9 9 9 9
Reflectarrays 9 9 9 9
Arrays 9 9 9
Phased Arrays 9 9
Horn 9

4. Single-Element CubeSat Antenna Designs

Single-element antennas vary from monopole and dipole antennas to planar, conical,
and helical antennas, as well as guided wave structures like the bull’s eye antenna and

18
Electronics 2022, 11, 2021

metasurfaces. They are easier to construct than the antenna arrays but do not achieve
such a high radiation performance compared with the antenna arrays. In 2001, monopole
and dipole antennas were initially chosen and used for the communication subsystem of
the CubeSat [142]. As research on CubeSats communication systems drew more scientific
interest, more complex antennas were introduced. Figure 7 presents four popular antenna
types after deployment on a 3U CubeSat.

Figure 7. Popular antenna designs proposed in the literature. (a) Monopole/Dipole; (b) Patch;
(c) Meshed Patch and (d) Helical Patch.

4.1. Monopole and Dipole Antennas

CubeSats operating at low frequencies such as VHF or UHF are equipped with wire
antennas. In most cases, a wire antenna needs to be deployed after a CubeSat is launched
into space. Deployment usually involves a composite tape spring [143–145]. In addition,
wire antennas in dual-band operation can be used to transmit and receive data at the
same time, similar to the 3 λ/4 dual band monopole antenna in [146]. Instead of simply
employing the monopole antenna in the form of a straight wire, the authors in [147]
proposed a design for a monopole G-shaped antenna that is mounted on a CubeSat. It
consists of two rectangular wire loops. The size of the antenna was smaller than the size of
the CubeSat’s surface, so it could be mounted and stowed within the CubeSat body and
did not need a deployment mechanism. Three structures were available based on three
different frequencies of 150 MHz, 180 MHz, and 330 MHz. In [94], the authors proposed
four monopoles, which were combined to form a circular polarized isotropic antenna that
established communication at the initial stages of CubeSat deployment. Similar to the
monopole antenna, in many instances, the length of dipole antenna is a restriction for
CubeSat missions to be solved. For example, in [143], a deployable dipole antenna using
a curved, bi-stable composite tape spring was outlined. The dipole antenna operated at
250 MHz, and its total length was 55.88 cm, around five times larger than a CubeSat’s edge.
In some designs, monopole and dipole antennas can also be combined and used
together to achieve the goals of a mission. In 2002, one of the first CubeSats, namely
“XI-IV”, was launched and presented, where a 56-cm monopole antenna was used for
the uplink at 144 MHz and placed vertical to a 35-cm (tip to tip) dipole antenna used
for downlink communication (telemetry and beacon) at 430 MHz. Crucial health data
were broadcasted constantly via a beacon signal at 430 MHz [142]. The authors in [148]

19
Electronics 2022, 11, 2021

proposed a combined VHF/UHF (144/435 MHz) system. Both a dual-band dipole as well
as a dual-band monopole were presented with the monopole configuration, acting as a
fallback solution. An LC circuit was used as a notch filter in the UHF band to decide
whether the dipole or monopole configuration was to be activated. Moreover, the authors
in [149] presented a communication system consisting of an S-band transmitter along with
a UHF dipole as a backup transmitter. The downlink operated at 437 MHz and the uplink
at 145 MHz, and these were implemented using a VHF monopole antenna. A dual-band
folded-end dipole antenna was proposed in [150] for plastic CubeSats. The folded dipole
does not require any deployment mechanism as it has a low profile and wraps around
the CubeSat’s body. The dipole operates at 2.5 and 4.7 GHz and is fed by a microstrip
line, which is placed inside the CubeSat’s body. The proposed antenna achieved one of
the highest gains that could be found on wire antennas of 7.55 and 4.9 dBi at 4.7 and
2.5 GHz, respectively. Table 6 summarizes the findings related to monopole and dipole
CubeSat antennas.

Table 6. Performance of monopole and dipole antennas.

Frequency Gain −10 dB BW

Type of Antenna Deployable
(GHz) (dBi) (MHz)
Monopole and Dipole 0.146 (uplink)
2–4 N/A Yes
[142,148,149] 0.438 (downlink)
G-Shaped Monopole Structure I: 0.150 3.757 58
(3 structures) Structure II: 0.180 2.671 77 No
[147] Structure III: 0.330 2.774 147
Dual-Band Folded-End Dipole 2.5 4.9 500
No
[150] 4.7 7.55 250

4.2. Planar Antennas

One of the main objectives of wireless communications and especially satellite commu-
nications is to use multiband or wideband low-profile antennas [151]. Patch antennas are
good alternatives to wire antennas, as they have a low profile, do not require a deployment
mechanism, are easy to fabricate, and have relatively low costs. Patch antennas are ideal
for S-band communication, which is one of the international amateur satellite frequency
ranges for high bit rates. They are characterized by higher gain than the wire antennas
but suffer from narrow bandwidths. An interesting use of patch antennas can be found
in [152]. A standard patch antenna was used as a feed for a parabolic reflector placed inside
an inflatable volume. The patch antenna had dimensions of 9 cm × 9 cm, which complied
with the CubeSat standards, and its gain was 8 dBi at 2.4 GHz. By adding the parabolic
reflector, the antenna gain was increased to 16 dBi at 2.4 GHz. The authors showed that a
patch antenna can be used as a feed to a parabolic reflector instead of the traditional choice
of a horn feed.
Another novel patch antenna design is proposed in [153], where an F-shaped patch
antenna was under investigation. The results show that the patch antenna could achieve
a gain of 8.5 dBi at 2.45 GHz. Furthermore, in [154] a dual-feed, L/S dual-band-stack
patch antenna design is presented. This antenna operated in the L-band at 1.57 GHz for
receiving the position signals from GPS satellites and in the S-band at 2.2 GHz for downlink
transmission to the ground station. Even though the antenna consisted of 3 layers, it
weighed less than 120 g and maintained a low profile of 11 mm, which conforms to
the CubeSat standards. A Koch curve microstrip fractal antenna was presented which
efficiently utilized the available space by maintaining a wide bandwidth [155]. The antenna
was attached on a FR-4 substrate with dimensions of 3.5 cm × 4.5 cm and had an operating
frequency range from 2.25 GHz to 2.45 GHz. The planar antennas that have been proposed
for CubeSats are shown in Table 7.

20
Electronics 2022, 11, 2021

Table 7. Performance of planar antennas.

Frequency Gain −10 dB BW

Type of Antenna Deployable
(GHz) (dBi) (MHz)
Inflatable parabolic reflector with
2.4 16 N/A Yes
patch feed [152]
F-shaped patch [153] 2.45 8 1200 No
Dual-feed, L/S dual-band stack 1.57 5.4
N/A No
patch [154] 2.2 6
Koch curve fractal microstrip
2.3 4.18 290 No
[155]
Shorted patch
2.45 2.52 550 No
[156]
Metal only patch
2.45 8.5 1100 No
[157]
Tapered line feeder patch
2.46 9.6 Narrow No
[158]
V-shaped asymmetrical slits
2.285 6 0.4 No
[159]
Tapered peripheral slits
0.436 0.7–1.4 4 No
[160]
L-band patch with frequency tuning
1.54 5.5 40 No
slots [94]

4.3. Antenna Integrated with Solar Panels

Solar panels represent the main source of power for a CubeSat, and thus it is important
to reserve available space for their installation on the satellite’s body. On the other hand,
the antenna is another subsystem of the CubeSat that requires instalment space and is also
of great importance when it comes to mission success in terms of communication. Conse-
quently, integrating antennas with solar panels was proven to be a very efficient approach
to using a CubeSat’s available space while at the same time avoiding the requirement of a
deployment mechanism [161]. An integrated solar panel-antenna system must keep the
received solar energy loss to low levels. Four types of integration between solar panels and
antennas are presented in [162]:
• Place patch antennas under the solar cells;
• Create slot antennas and deposit solar cells directly on top of them [161];
• Place transparent antennas directly on top of solar cells [161];
• Integrate transparent antennas on solar cells [163].
Thus, solar cells with patch antennas and slot antennas where the transparency is kept
high are two possible solutions for space missions.
In Table 8, examples of meshed patch antennas on a transparent borosilicate glass
substrate suitable for integration with solar panels are presented as in [164]. A meshed
patch antenna is similar to a microstrip patch antenna, but instead of continuous solid patch
shapes, some metallic areas are removed to form a mesh. Along similar lines, the design
philosophy of slot antennas takes advantage of the gaps between solar cells by creating
radiating cavity-backed slots in these gaps. A slot antenna integrated with solar cells is
proposed in [165], where a closed-loop meander-shaped slot antenna is wrapped around
the top and bottom halves (1.5U) of a 3U CubeSat for the downlink and uplink, respectively.
The way the slot antenna is wrapped around the chassis allows effective installment for
solar cells. Finally, another cavity-baked slot antenna design can be found in [166]. The
design can switch between left-handed circular polarization (LHCP) and right-handed
circular polarization (RHCP) by changing the on and off states of the installed PIN diodes.

21
Electronics 2022, 11, 2021

Table 8. Performance of meshed planar antennas.

Frequency Gain −10 dB BW

Type of Antenna Deployable
(GHz) (dBi) (MHz)
Transparent meshed
2.4 6.16 40 No
[167]
Dual-feed meshed patch [164] 2.4 6.25 N/A No
Dual patch meshed
(81% transparency) 2.5 5.09 N/A No
[168]
L-shaped slots meshed
(89% transparency) 2.4 4.4 140 No
[168]
Meander shaped slot 0.485
4 15 No
[165] 0.500
Polarization reconfigurable slot
2.3 7 N/A No
[166]
Transparent mesh patch [169] 2.4 N/A 80 No
Transparent meshed
2.4 6.16 40 No
[167]
Dual-feed meshed patch [164] 2.4 6.25 N/A No

4.4. Conical Spiral Helix Antenna

Conical spiral and helix antennas can easily change from a 2D structure while stowed
to a 3D structure during deployment. When compressing the conical spiral into a panel,
it is possible to mount the antenna on one of the CubeSat’s surfaces. Once the CubeSat is
launched into space, the conical spiral antenna can be easily released and flick up to its
functional 3D shape. The challenges for this kind of antenna are usually related to feeding
mechanisms. Designers need to avoid any impedance mismatch and provide a stable
deployable mechanism. Furthermore, feeding from the top or bottom of the conical spiral
shows different radiation performance. The maximum gain direction of this kind of antenna
is from the smallest element to the biggest one. As shown in Table 9, in [170], a deployable
helical UHF antenna is presented. The antenna can be stowed in a 10 cm × 10 cm × 5 cm
package, and when deployed, it can reach up to 137.16 cm in length and 35 cm in diameter.
A 5-turn helix contributes to a gain of 10 dBi, while a 2-turn taper helps to improve the axial
ratio to less than 2 dB. The conductive element of the antenna is made of copper adhesive
tape. Another design that employs a similar deployment concept is described in [171].

Table 9. Performance of conical spiral and helical antennas.

Frequency Gain −10 dB BW

Type of Antenna Deployable
(GHz) (dBi) (MHz)
Helical
0.400 13 N/A Yes
[170]
Hemispherical Helical
2.45 13.2 N/A Yes
[171]
Bottom-Fed
2.2–3.1 11.2 900 Yes
[172]
Conical
0.300–0.600 5 300 Yes
[173]
Quadrifilar Helix
0.250–0.500 5.41 Various Yes
[174]

4.5. Other Antenna Designs

As shown in Table 10, the “bull’s eye” antenna, as demonstrated in [175], has grooves
in the shape of a bullseye. It is useful for inter-CubeSat communications, and it is possible
to be employed and used for a CubeSat swarm. In addition, it also has a low profile and

22
Electronics 2022, 11, 2021

high gain. Another special design presented in [176] is that of a dual-band cylindrical
dielectric resonator antenna (DRA). In general, a DRA presents some interesting features,
such as a small size, wide bandwidth, high radiation efficiency, and low loss, making them
a good alternative for CubeSat integration. The proposed DRA utilizes a microstrip line as
a feed and a rotated plus-shaped slot placed on an FR4 epoxy sheet to excite the cylindrical
dielectric resonator. The resonator has a height of 5 mm and a diameter of 10 mm. The
modes of operation of the resonator determine the resonant frequency of the antenna,
which in this case is at 7.7 GHz and at 11.4 GHz. The simulated and measured results of
this design verify the feasibility of using DRAs for CubeSat missions. The authors of [177]
presented a novel S-band antenna design that provides good radiation performance and
occupies a small area on a CubeSat. The antenna consists of 4 balanced inductive exciters
(BIEs) placed at the top surface of a 1U CubeSat. The main idea is to transform the 1U
CubeSat platform into an efficient radiator by employing characteristic mode analysis. The
proposed antenna has the capability to steer the radiation beam at both principle planes as
well as the capability of changing its polarization between CP and LP. Recently, metasurface
antennas have been considered for deep space CubeSat missions [178]. More specifically,
a metal-only modulated metasurface antenna excited by surface waves from a circular
waveguide was proposed. The antenna operates at 32 GHz and achieves a gain of 24.4 dBi
without needing a deployment mechanism.

Table 10. Performance of other antennas.

Frequency Gain −10 dB BW

Type of Antenna Deployable
(GHz) (dBi) (GHz)
Bull’s Eye
60.08 19.1 5.06 No
[175]
7.4 5.2 0.6
Cylindrical DRA Antenna [176] No
11.1 4.8 0.8
Balance Inductive Exciters
(BIEs) 2.425 6.3 0.5 No
[177]
Metal-Only Metasurface
32 24.4 2 No
[178]

4.6. Recommendation for Single-Element Antennas and CubeSat Missions

To summarize from the previous section, most of the current existing CubeSats em-
ployed single-element antennas. Dipole, monopole, and patch antennas are widely chosen
as they are easy to design and deploy. The deployment mechanisms of whip antennas
have been successfully implemented on many CubeSat missions. It is recommended to
operate whip antennas at a lower frequency band such as UHF or VHF, as their wide
signal coverage enables tracking and telemetry on these bands. However, considering the
lengths of whip antennas might be too long, a CubeSat mission can deploy multiple dipole
or monopole antennas to avoid complex deployment issues. Whip antennas operating
on frequencies higher than S-band will have lengths several times smaller than those op-
erating at UHF and VHF. An interesting alternative is to utilize the CubeSat body as an
efficient radiator, which may provide beam steering and polarization agility benefits. More
challenging applications of CubeSats where the data rates are considerably higher than
9.6 kbps require the use of higher frequency bands, such as L-, S-, Ka-, or V-band. In these
cases, more sophisticated antenna structures are needed, such as the metasurface or bull’s
eye antenna.
The higher potential of single-element antennas is still being explored, and many new
structures other than patch and whip antennas have been developed for several CubeSat
missions. However, they all aim at optimizing the antenna characteristics within the avail-
able space and weight limitations. In other words, the design of single-element antennas
becomes a task of balancing the antenna performance and the limitations imposed by the

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CubeSat standard. Thus, flexible materials for supporting the deployment mechanism need
to be investigated for specific antenna designs. A typical example is a design of membrane
antennas [179] that employs a foldable membrane plated with conductors.

5. Antenna Arrays for CubeSat

There are two ways to increase the directivity and gain of an antenna. The first
approach involves increasing the electrical size of the antenna, and the second approach
involves combining single elements under a specific geometrical configuration. It is obvious
that the first approach is more impractical for CubeSat-specific applications, as the available
area is limited by the CubeSat size standards. The second approach is commonly referred
to as antenna arrays and represents a strong candidate for CubeSat missions when a high
gain and beam steering are required. Antenna arrays can be classified according to the
spacing between the elements, the excitation phase, and the amplitude of each element, as
well as the radiation pattern of each element [180]. The most common implementations of
antenna arrays are the linear and two-dimensional planar arrays.
A subcategory of planar arrays is called phased arrays, which are characterized by
their electronic beam scanning and the beam forming capabilities. This can be accomplished
by electronically controlling the phase and amplitude at the element or subarray level. In
practice, varying the phase differences and excitations of each element in an array is often
achieved by phase shifters and power amplifiers. Phase shifters assign complex weights to
each element, and the output signal from an array is the combination of signals from each
element multiplied by their complex weights. When choosing a phase shifter, the distortion
caused by group delay, inter-element interference, as well as beam squinting needs to
be taken into consideration. Other effects on array performance related to phase shifters
are caused by the insertion loss envelope and phase accuracy [181]. Furthermore, the
operation point of the power amplifiers may influence the bit error rate (BER), considering
the modulation type and the number of carriers. Therefore, the receiver array employs a
low-noise amplifier, while the transmit array employs a linear power amplifier. Finally,
phase array antennas offer one of the most versatile and powerful antenna candidates for
CubeSat missions when beam steering or beamforming capabilities are required. Despite
their attractive features, phased arrays present high power consumption, which must be
taken into account in the CubeSat power budget calculations [182].
To date, most CubeSat missions have employed standard antenna designs such as
wire and patch antennas (see Table 4). The dimensions and the geometry of single-element
antennas impose limitations related to gain, directivity, and beam steering capability,
resulting in a limited attainable data rate as well as restricted mission capabilities. For
example, in IoT CubeSat missions, there are thousands of Earth terminals to which the
CubeSat constellation should establish reliable links. In addition, the CubeSat swarm
can form a distributed array, which can compensate for any gain variations or satellite
orientation errors [183]. In such cases, antenna arrays or phased arrays are promising
CubeSat antenna candidates. A collection of antenna array designs suitable for CubeSat
missions is discussed in the following sections.

5.1. Linear Arrays for CubeSats

A sophisticated Yagi-Uda antenna for CubeSat attached to the eXtendable Solar Array
System (XSAS) can be found in [184]. Given that the typical dipole configuration results in
a gain of around 5 dBi, the authors tried to achieve a high gain with a 6-element Yagi-Uda
antenna array incorporated into the deployable solar panels. The design comprises one
reflector, one driven element, and four directors. Experiments showed that the length
and spacing of the directors were critical for maximizing the gain of the antenna. The
proposed antenna, when deployed, reaches 1.2 m in length, being attached to the 30◦
tilted solar panels. As shown in Table 11, at a 435-MHz operating frequency, the gain
obtained was 11.5 dBi, exhibiting superior performance compared with the 5-dBi gain of
a dipole configuration. Achieving a higher gain in satellite antennas would also allow

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for higher altitude deployment of the small satellites, relieving them from suffering high
atmospheric drag.

Table 11. Performance of linear antenna arrays.

Frequency Gain −10 dB BW

Type of Antenna Deployable
(GHz) (dBi) (MHz)
Yagi-Uda on solar panels [184] 0.435 11.5 53 Yes
Quad 4-monopole array [185] 0.436 2d N/A Yes
W-Band 16 × 32 series fed phased
antenna array 85.4 30 800 No
[186]
1.3 5.28 100
Printed Yagi
2.4 6.12 190 No
[187]
3.0 8.17 250

In addition, a quad monopole antenna array was proposed with a communication

system consisting of a UHF transceiver, RF splitter, and a quad four-monople antenna
array. The RF splits the RF signal into a phasing network to form a single circular polarized
antenna. The gain of the antenna array was 2 dBi at 436 MHz. LituanicaSAT-2 is part of
the QB50 mission which in 2017 launched a 36-CubeSat swarm to explore the temporal
and spatial distributions of the parameters measured in the thermosphere [185]. In [186], a
W-band, 16 × 32 element, circular, polarized, phased antenna array on a single layer was
presented. The antenna operated at 85 GHz with 30 dBic. The antenna also achieved beam
scanning of +/−30◦ using a 4-bit phase shifter at the cost of rapid gain drops, especially in
the range from −30◦ to −10◦ . Overall, the antenna efficiency was more than 56% for the
investigated scanning range. A printed Yagi antenna with multi-frequency operation was
proposed in [187]. This Yagi antenna has four printed elements and an integrated balun.
Moreover, by adjusting the angle between the antenna and the CubeSat, the antenna can
operate at different L- and S-band frequencies and achieve beam steering.

5.2. Planar Arrays for CubeSats

First of all, it is important to note that when incorporating an antenna array on
a CubeSat, a major limiting factor will be the available surface. This factor limits the
operating frequency range, as an antenna array requires a wavelength-specific spacing
between its elements. Another issue with integrating antenna arrays on CubeSats is the
power required for phase shifting techniques [188]. Table 12 lists the performance of planar
antenna arrays. The design in [188] is an active phased planar array that complies with the
CubeSat size standards. As the design was tested in the anechoic chamber, it was found
that it could deliver a 5-dBi average gain at 2.5 GHz, and it might be possible to expand the
design to a 16-element deployable antenna array able to produce a gain of 11 dBi on a 2U
CubeSat. In [189], a reconfigurable S-band patch antenna was proposed as an improvement
to the previous work performed in [190]. The antenna consists of four rectangular patches
which can generate three different radiation patterns as well as three different polarisations
when excited in different ways, in terms of the excitation phase.
Another design relevant to planar phased arrays on CubeSats can be found in [38]. In
this design, the antenna array is aimed at inter-CubeSat communications and can enable
beam scanning, as the antenna’s beam can be steered up to 40◦ . The array consists of
several subarrays. Each subarray contains 4 patches and has a size of 30 mm × 30 mm.
At a frequency of 5.8 GHz, the subarray has a gain of 5.1 dBi, while the complete array
achieves a gain around 5.8 dBi. This planar phased array is placed on one of the 1U CubeSat
surfaces, and all of its subarrays share the same substrate panel and are designed under the
same frequency. Furthermore, another planar array design compatible with CubeSats is
presented at [191]. More specifically, a 2 × 2 antenna array is proposed, utilizing annular
patches as the elements which are connected with strips to a ring resonator functioning

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as a feeding network. The array presents circular polarization at 8.25 GHz with a gain of
13 dBi, in contrast to a single annular patch where the gain is only 7 dBi.

Table 12. Performance of planar antenna arrays.

Frequency Gain −10 dB BW

Type of Antenna Deployable
(GHz) (dBi) (GHz)
2 × 2 Planar Active Phased Array
2.4 5 0.1 No
[188]
4-Element Patch Array
2.45 8.3 1500 No
[189,190]
Planar Phased Array
5.8 5.8 N/A No
[38]
2 × 2 Annular Planar Array
8.25 13 0.7 No
[191]
4 × 4 Dual-Frequency,
14 15.82 0.3
Dual-Polarization Stack Array No
35 14.84 1.7
[192]
6 × 6 Planar Patch Array
10.4 20.1 2 No
[193]

Moreover, in [192], a 4 × 4 planar antenna array design is proposed as a feed

for parabolic reflector antennas for satellite remote sensing applications and especially
the global water cycle that affects the Earth’s climate. The design has dimensions of
8.7 cm × 7.2 cm and can fit onto one of the CubeSat surfaces. The proposed array is charac-
terized by dual frequencies at 14 GHz and 35 GHz and dual linear polarization, namely
vertical and horizontal. The design utilizes the concept of aperture-coupled patch anten-
nas. It is important to note that for lower coupling and lower undesired radiation, a thin
substrate with a high dielectric constant is used for the feed network (RT/Duroid 6010).
On the other hand, a thick substrate with a low dielectric constant (RO4003C) is used for
the antennas, as this allows for a larger bandwidth. The design has three layers, where the
35-GHz array lies inside the empty space of a 2 × 2 14 GHz subarray. This eliminates the
need for independent substrates for the different arrays. Furthermore, a 36-element RHCP
patch antenna array that operates at 10.4 GHz was proposed in [193]. The array has a size
of 0.9 cm × 0.9 cm and can be mounted on any 1U CubeSat surface without the need for
any deployment mechanism. The array achieves a high gain of 20.1 dBi at 10.4 GHz with a
low side lobe level of −14 dB while keeping the cross-polarized LHCP radiation at −18 dB.

5.3. Reflectarrays, Reflectors, and Transmitarrays for CubeSats

Deployable reflectors and reflectarrays are some of the most popular solutions for
satellite missions requiring high gain in high-frequency bands. However, the option of
employing deployable reflector-based antennas for CubeSat applications is still under
investigation, and some novel concepts such as foldable reflectarrays, transmitarrays, and
mesh deployable antennas have been proposed to solve the problems such as scaling and
deployable mechanisms. As shown in Table 13, the reflectarray described in [194] consists of
three flat rectangular panels that will deploy perpendicular to the side of feeding bus. They
are stacked on one side of the CubeSat before flipping out, which brings design challenges
when considering the thickness of the substrate. Their deployment mechanism is controlled
by simple spring-loaded hinges. Reflectarrays are usually lightweight and inexpensive,
but they are characterized by narrow bandwidths. A novel concept for deployable mesh
reflector antennas was first proposed in [195]. The folded size of the mesh reflector can
be stored in a 1.5U volume satellite body, and its functional dimension can support a 6U
class CubeSat. Its physical function is similar, with an umbrella that deploys as a parabolic
reflector. Compared with reflectarrays, this design can provide a higher gain and larger
bandwidth but also has a larger stowage volume.

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There are some designs where a reflectarray is combined with a solar array. In [101],
the Integrated Solar Array and Reflectarray Antenna (ISARA) is presented as a deployable
antenna operating on the Ka-band which is compatible with a 3U CubeSat and can be used
for radar applications in space. Radars applications on CubeSats require a satisfactory
SNR performance and have their power limited to a few watts. Thus, the antenna gain
should not be lower than 35 dBi. The design consists of three 33.9 cm × 8.26 cm reflectarray
panels and a microstrip feed. More specifically, square reflectarray patches are printed on a
15-mil substrate (εr = 3.00) underneath the solar panels, while the feed is composed of a
4 × 4 element microstrip patch array facing the bottom surface solar arrays at a distance
of 14.67 cm. A major advantage of the ISARA against other deployable mesh reflectors or
inflatable reflector antennas is that it does not occupy any payload space and is extremely
lightweight. The ISARA mission was at Technological Readiness Level (TRL) 5, and it flew
for 5 months to reach TRL 7.
Following the ISARA mission, the same reflectarray antenna concept was utilized in
the first CubeSat mission to Mars, which was called Mars Cube One (MarCo) [196]. The
CubeSats in this mission would be used as a twin communication relay for the InSight
mission. More specifically, during the entry descent and landing (EDL) phase, InSight
would transmit spacecraft status data at a UHF band. Each MarCo CubeSat would receive
this data using a circular polarized loop antenna, and then each CubeSat would transmit
at an X-band link to a 70-m Deep Space Network antenna at a distance of 160 million
kilometers. The downlink antenna design was modified from the one used in the ISARA
mission. First, the antenna has a small stowage volume of 0.1U, and the deployment
mechanism utilizes hinges for the reflectarray and a flip-out feed. The design consists of
three 19.9 cm × 33.5 cm × 1.25 cm reflectarray panels and a 4 × 2 element microstrip patch
feed. The reflectarray panels are designed on a Rogers RO4003 woven glass-reinforced
hydrocarbon ceramic material with a thickness of 0.812 mm and a constant of εr = 3.55,
while the spacing of the elements is 1.168 cm and 1.189 cm in the x and y directions,
respectively. The spacing of the patches and the thickness of the substrate were chosen to
provide a sufficient bandwidth [197]. The MarCO 6U CubeSats demonstrated the suitability
of CubeSats for deep space missions and also the importance of high-gain antennas and
folded panel reflectarrays for high-data rate communications.
Another reflectarray design suitable for a 6U CubeSat can be found on [196]. The
design consists of 15 reflectarray deployable panels forming an array of 255 × 212 elements
that are 81.8 cm × 98.4 cm in size, a feed horn, 3 telescoping waveguides, a rectangular
hyperboloid subreflector, a rectangular-to-circular waveguide, and 3 struts to align the
subreflector with respect to the feed. The simulated gain was found to be 48 dBi at
35.75 GHZ with an aperture efficiency of 44%. Along similar lines, a Large-Area Deployable
Reflectarray (LADeR) concept was proposed by the authors of [198]. In this design, the
array elements are etched on a polyimide sheet which is supported by a flexible substrate
made of a quartz-epoxy composite. The reflectarray, when stowed, occupies 4U, and when
deployed, it has a surface area of 1.5 m × 1.5 m, which provides a high X-band gain of
39.6 dBi. The proposed LADeR concept can be used in future deep space missions or
to establish high-speed downlinks. A similar concept to reflectarrays is transmitarray
antennas, where the transmission characteristics of the impinging wave are studied. A
circular polarized transmitarray was proposed for CubeSat inter-satellite links in [199].
The transmitarray is fed by an offset, 3-D printed, corrugated CP horn, which would be
placed and deployed from the side of the 3U CubeSat. A transmitarray utilizes the variable
rotation technique to provide the desired phase shift and collimate the beam toward the
◦ ◦
direction ( ϕ, θ ) = 0 , −20 . The array achieves an LHCP gain of 31.6 dBi at 24.6 GHz and
a 1-dB gain bandwidth of 5.7%.

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Table 13. Performance of reflectors, reflectarrays, and transmitarrays.

Frequency Gain −10 dB

Type of Antenna Deployable
(GHz) (dBi) BW (MHz)
Reflectarray 26G 33.5 >100 Yes
[194] 8.425 >28 >100 Yes
Mesh Reflector
35.75 42.6 N/A Yes
[195,200]
Integrated Solar Array and Reflectarray
36 33.5 >100 Yes
[101]
MarCO
8.425 29.2 50 Yes
[196]
Cassegrain Reflectarray
35.75 48 N/A Yes
[196]
LADeR Reflectarray
8.4 39.6 N/A Yes
[198]
Transmitarray
24.6 31.6 N/A Yes
[199]

5.4. Log-Periodic Crossed-Dipole Arrays

Dipoles and wire antennas have been two of the most popular designs used in Cube-
Sats. A disadvantage of employing dipole antennas is the fact that they do not exhibit
circular polarization unless crossed together, which makes the antenna more flexible in
terms of capturing electromagnetic waves and also more insensitive to signal degradation
due to harsh weather conditions. Thus, in [201], a log-periodic crossed-dipole array was
proposed. This design could be a major candidate for CubeSat space communications due
to its directive radiation pattern, high gain, and wide bandwidth. The antenna is fabricated
using a curved composite bi-stable tape spring, which will allow for a very compact and
small stowed volume as well as a simple deployment roll-unroll mechanism. Moreover,
each dipole element should be crossed with one another while the differences between the
dipole pair lengths are calculated on a log-periodic scale. Finally, the multiband operation
of the antenna elements results in an antenna array with wideband operation.

5.5. Slotted Waveguide Antenna Arrays

An antenna design that can be used as a synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) for remote
sensing applications can be found in [202]. More specifically, a low profile, high efficiency,
and high-power capacity parallel plate slotted waveguide antenna array design is proposed.
First of all, the radiating slots are located on the wall of a waveguide. The antenna system
consists of two layers. The first layer is an RF feeder panel, and the second is an aluminium
parallel plate with a slotted array. There are six square antenna panels that can be folded
into three adjacent CubeSat surfaces and be deployed as a large rectangular panel. Each
single panel weighs around 1 kg, has dimensions of 0.7 m × 0.7 m, and has multiple
coupling slots that are not parallel to each other. The antenna array when deployed is
4.9 m in length, and it can achieve a gain of 34.9 dBic at 9.56 GHz. To summarize, the
proposed design is suitable for small satellite applications, but improvements can be made
for reducing the system loss and weight due to its complex structure.

5.6. Inflatable Antenna Arrays

Inflatable antennas can realize CubeSat interplanetary missions as they can increase
the achievable data rate as well as the antenna gain [152]. The use of inflatable antennas
as cooperative communication techniques to form antenna arrays is investigated in [203].
Such arrays could be used to relay information from different places in the solar system,
enabling CubeSat missions in geostationary orbit (GEO). The technique of forming a beam
from several inflatable antennas installed on different CubeSats is investigated. The gain of
the array with n inflatable antennas is increased by a factor of n2 minus the losses of the

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system. The gain of the array is also increased by increasing the diameter of the individual
inflatable antennas constituting the array. On the other hand, when employing the beam
forming technique, atomic clocks on each CubeSat may be required to synchronize the
transmission and the inter-satellite communication.

5.7. Retrodirective or Self-Steering Antenna Arrays

CubeSat is an emerging and rapid-growing technology that might replace conventional
big satellites. Several CubeSat missions involve the deployment of CubeSat swarms which
can overcome the capabilities and functionalities of larger satellites. To accomplish this, an
efficient crosslink is required for inter-CubeSat communication. An interesting solution
to this can be given by employing retrodirective arrays (RDAs) which make the CubeSat
network dynamically reconfigurable [204]. An RDA can be considered an alternative
beam-steering antenna design for nanosatellite applications. The potential of a self-steering
antenna array application for distributed CubeSat networks is investigated in [205]. A self-
steering antenna, also named a retrodirective antenna, can sense and record the direction of
the incoming signal and then send an outgoing signal along that same direction. An RDA
has the advantage of not requiring prior knowledge of the position of the intended receiver,
and the steering is also performed at the hardware level, which eliminates the need for
complex digital signal processing. The main challenge that comes with the integration of
RDA into CubeSat is the power limitation imposed by the nanosatellite platform. In [204],
the design is divided into three modules: the detection of arrival (DOA), the communication
array, and the tracking and steering control. First of all, the antenna array consists of 4 patch
elements spaced at half-wavelength distances and fabricated on Rogers RT/Duroid 6002
substrate operating at 9.67 GHz for receiving mode and at 9.59 GHz for transmitting
mode. The DOA array utilizes the null scanning technique for power detection, and this
information is used by the control module to retrodirect a signal back to the interrogator.
The overall design is composed by two four-layer PCBs: one for communication purposes
and one for power detection. Finally, the 4-element 1-D RDA was designed to fit a 1.5U
CubeSat and consumes 1 W of power, which complies to the CubeSat standards.
Moreover, in [206], another RDA design was proposed that eliminates phase shifters.
This design consists of a cross-shaped patch array with a total of eight elements printed on a
Rogers TMM3 substrate and a quadruple subharmonic mixer utilizing anti-parallel diodes
as a mixer. The reason why quadruple subharmonic mixing is used is to achieve phase
conjugation. Phase conjugation is a technique used to achieve retrodirectivity without
any use of phase shifters, appearing on phased antenna arrays, as well as to relax the
requirement of a high-frequency local oscillator (LO). The retrodirective array operates
at 10.5 GHz, and the array spacing is at 1.38 cm, demonstrating circular polarization and
two-dimensional steering [207].

5.8. Interferometer (Large Antenna Arrays)

The research about antenna array technology in the Deep Space Network (DSN) has
been being undertaken by NASA since the 1960s [208]. The antenna array for deep space
consists of elements located in different positions far away from each other forming a very
large antenna aperture. Generally, a large antenna array plays the role of the receiver that
receives the signals from a deep space source. By combining the signals received by each
element according to their coherence and incoherence among the noise signal, a high SNR
can be achieved. As a result, by improving the SNR of the receiver, the deep space network
could support an increased data load with higher efficiency.
Compared with an antenna array installed in a single CubeSat, as mentioned in
previous sections, this large antenna array is formed by combining many CubeSats located
in different locations. This may introduce synchronization problems, as each CubeSat runs
on a different clock. Therefore, when performing signal synthesis, it is necessary to solve the
problems of phase correlation, time synchronization, and delay compensation. An example
of a CubeSat swarm network was realized in the QB50 project, a collaboration among

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50 different multi-national partners. The resulting cooperative QB50 CubeSat network is

envisaged to have a higher degree of functionalities than conventional satellites. Another
example of an interferometer antenna array is the Very Large Array (VLA) located in New
Mexico in the United States [209]. It consists of 27 steerable antennas forming a 3-arm array
in the shape of the letter “Y”. The largest distance between antenna elements to the center
of the “Y” is up to 21 km. A various range of operating bandwidths is available in this large
receiving system from 50 MHz to 97 kHz.

5.9. Arraying Techniques and Correlation Algorithms

There are five basic arraying techniques, namely full-spectrum combining (FSC),
complex-symbol combining (CSC), symbol-stream combining (SSC), baseband combining
(BC), and carrier arraying (CA). Among these techniques, FSC can achieve an optimized
remote sensing performance [210]. It can be used in the case of a weak carrier signal that
is hard to track with a single antenna. The gross signal delay and phase offset between
antennas are adjusted before signal combination from geometry calculations. The resid-
ual relative delay and phase can be estimated from the signal cross-correlation of each
individual antenna.
There are several correlation algorithms that can be employed in antenna arrays. The
Eigen algorithm can maximize the SNR from complex weights, but the computational
complexity is proportional to the number of antennas squared [211]. Furthermore, there is
the SUMPLE algorithm that can be applied to weak signals through the cross-correlation of
each antenna element. The number of iterations of SUMPLE is proportional to the number
of antennas [212]. To decrease the combining loss introduced in SUMPLE, a matrix-free
(MF) algorithm can be used [213]. Based on the SUMPLE and MF algorithms, a new method
named the variable step size matrix-free power (SVS-MF) method was proposed by the
National Laboratory of Science and Technology on Antennas and Microwaves at Xidian
University [214]. Aside from using the cross-correlation of each antenna, this method
computes the variance of weights and updates data for each iteration, thus achieving a low
combining loss for very weak signals with a high convergence rate. To conclude, a high-
performance correlation algorithm is equally significant to the geometry and aperture of the
antenna array for a successful deep space CubeSat swarm. Based on the existing algorithms,
improvements could be made in terms of reducing the computational complexity and
further improving the SNR at the receiver.

5.10. Recommendations for Antenna Arrays

As CubeSat applications are becoming more popular, CubeSat mission communication
requirements are becoming more demanding. Researchers and developers around the
world design CubeSats with increased capabilities in terms of achievable data rate, gain,
and bandwidth. To meet such requirements, the migration from single-element antennas
to antenna arrays for CubeSats is imminent. Antenna arrays are an effective way to
increase the gain of single-element antennas by combining single antennas under a specific
geometrical configuration. The integration of antenna arrays on the CubeSat platform can
be approached using two different methods. In the first method, an antenna array along
with a corresponding deployment mechanism is installed on a single CubeSat, while in the
second method, many CubeSats, namely a swarm, are required to form the overall antenna
array, where each satellite has a single-element antenna installed on it.
To date, most CubeSat missions employ single-element antennas for their communica-
tion. Missions that utilize antenna arrays are few, as the integration of antenna arrays on
the CubeSat platform is still under research. The reason for this is that antenna arrays might
require a complex deployment mechanism as in the case of linear arrays. Furthermore,
antenna arrays may require phase shifters for beam steerability, which in turn demands
board processing capabilities and an increased power budget. The choice of arraying tech-
niques and correlation algorithms plays a vital role in the effective function of an antenna

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array. Lastly, when using CubeSat swarms to form an antenna array, clock synchronization
between the different CubeSats is of high importance.
Despite the current difficulties of combining CubeSats with antenna arrays, there
are many advantages that encourage their use for CubeSat missions. First, CubeSats
equipped with a high-gain slotted waveguide antenna array might be used for radar and
remote sensing applications such as SAR. Moreover, from the recent NASA mission called
MarCo, it can be observed that CubeSats with reflectarrays could be used for deep space
applications to relay data between the Earth and the main mission spacecraft. In addition,
inflatable antennas installed on several CubeSats in different locations can form an array
of inflatable antennas with beam forming capabilities, realizing geostationary Earth orbit
or even interplanetary CubeSat missions. Finally, by using retrodirective antenna arrays,
effective intersatellite links (ISLs) can be established inside a CubeSat swarm. A swarm
equipped with RDAs can even outrun the capabilities of conventional big satellites. The
current research on different types of antenna arrays for CubeSats for applications that
exceed their current capabilities is of considerable importance. The typical operating
frequency of antenna arrays is higher than that of single-element antennas spanning from
S-band to W-band. Most of the research is focused on the X- or Ka-band frequency bands
by using active phased planar arrays or reflectarrays.

6. Comparison of Single-Element Antennas with Antenna Arrays

6.1. Operating Frequency Bands
When examining the aforementioned antenna designs, we conclude that most of the
single-element antennas including whip antennas, patch antennas, helix antennas, and
other special antennas are operating on UHF, VHF, or S-band. More specifically, monopole
and dipole antennas are more likely to be designed on the UHF and VHF bands, while
patch antennas and microstrip antennas usually operate on S-band. Very few antennas
such as the bull’s eye antenna might aim for a much larger frequency of up to 60 GHz.
On the other hand, for the antenna arrays, a large diversity in operating frequencies can
be observed. As presented in Figure 8, although a number of antenna arrays operate on
UHF or VHF, most of the investigated designs operate on much higher frequency bands
such as X-band, C-band, or Ka-band. As far as the bandwidth is concerned, single-element
antennas and antenna arrays can offer a bandwidth within range from 400 kHz to 1.5 GHz
and from 50 MHz to 1.7 GHz, respectively, even though there are some antenna designs that
turned out to be extremely wideband, with bandwidths as high as 10 GHz. Nonetheless,
there is no unique characterization of bandwidths that can be applied to different antennas,
as the antenna specifications are highly associated with the operating frequency.

Figure 8. Operating frequency bands used in antenna arrays.

6.2. Gain
Single-element antennas and antenna array designs for CubeSats show different gain
characteristics. The use of single-element antennas on a space-restricted platform like the
CubeSat greatly limits the mission’s high gain potential. Designs such as monopole, dipole,

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and planar antennas present a gain between 2–9 dBi. Furthermore, when a deployment
mechanism is included in the antenna design, the gain of single-element antennas can be
increased. Example designs include conical spiral, helical, and inflatable antennas. In such
designs, the antenna size, when deployed, can be much larger than the CubeSat itself, and
thus the gain can reach a value of 16 dBi. In addition, the gain can be increased by using
antenna arrays. For instance, in the case of reflectarrays, the gain can reach up to 48 dBi,
which enables long-distance deep space CubeSat missions. A comparison between the
achievable gain of single-element antennas and antenna arrays is illustrated in Figure 9. As
expected, the antenna arrays offer higher gain compared with single-element antennas by
efficiently combining the radiation patterns of different elements in a desired direction.

Figure 9. Gain of single-element antennas and antenna arrays used in CubeSats.

7. Conclusions
7.1. Lessons Learned
The mission requirement is the one of the most crucial parameters that a CubeSat
designer must consider when deciding upon the type of antenna. Single-element antennas
such as monopoles or dipoles can be found in all types of missions as either as the primary
or secondary low data rate radios. On the other hand, the gain superiority and beam
steering capabilities of arrays renders them suitable for deep space exploration, Earth
observation, and communication or IoT missions. That aside, their beam steering ability
and flexible radiation patterns make them suitable candidates for CubeSat swarms. In
the flowchart in Figure 10, a guide on antenna selection for different CubeSat missions is
presented. The antenna designer first chooses the type of mission under development, and
then several recommended frequency bands are proposed. The next condition relates to
the gain requirements, namely low or high gain, and the operating frequency. Following
the gain condition, and considering the cost of the antenna, the designer is given a pool of
different antennas from which the desired antenna type can be easily selected. Finally, after
selecting a specific antenna type, the designer can refer to the related section of the text in
which the selected antenna type is being discussed and analyzed more thoroughly.

7.2. Concluding Remarks

This paper investigated different antenna designs for CubeSat, which are categorized
as single-element antennas and antenna arrays. The background on CubeSats and their
subsystems was presented to provide newcomers with the fundamental knowledge on
CubeSat technologies. Furthermore, the specifications and restrictions posed by the CubeSat
platform were analyzed. Following that, 120 CubeSat missions dating from 2003 to 2022
were reviewed, and their antenna specifications and characteristics were extracted and
tabulated. In addition, a survey on single-element antennas and antenna array designs was
conducted with the aim of capturing the current as well as future CubeSat trends from an
antenna point of view.

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33
Figure 10. Antenna selection guide for different CubeSat missions.
Electronics 2022, 11, 2021

Single-element antennas can be classified as whip antennas (monopole or dipole),

patch antennas, antennas integrated with solar panels, inflatable antennas, conical spiral
antennas, helical antennas, and some specially designed antennas. Whip antennas are
good candidates for downlink antennas as they are relatively easy and cheap to construct.
Monopole and dipole antennas along with a deployment mechanism are popular among
current educational and scientific CubeSat missions. On the other hand, planar antennas
present a number of advantages against their monopole and dipole counterparts. First of all,
they have low profiles, higher gain, and eliminate the need for a deployment mechanism.
Planar antennas can be placed on any of the CubeSat’s surfaces and operate mostly on
S-band. Moreover, the printed antennas on the solar panels have similar characteristics to
patch antennas, but their advantage is that they do not occupy any payload or chassis space.
Planar antennas are currently being used in test and demonstration CubeSat missions,
which makes them very likely to replace their monopole and dipole counterparts soon.
Inflatable, helical, and conical spiral antennas are currently under research, where only the
helical antenna was found to be used in a CubeSat mission. Such antenna designs require
a deployment mechanism, but they present superior gain characteristics to the whip or
the planar antennas, so they are recommended for technology demonstration missions. As
far as the antenna arrays are concerned, current research is more focused on reflectarrays,
transmitarrays, and planar arrays, as well as different arraying techniques and correlation
algorithms. Antenna arrays are more suitable for deep space, communications or the IoT,
and Earth observation missions.
From the 120 investigated CubeSat missions, it can be concluded that the interest of
the space community lies in new technology demonstration, where the CubeSat serves as
a cost-effective way of launching and evaluating experiments and technologies in space.
Aside from that, a big portion of CubeSat missions is devoted to educational purposes. This
plays an important role in the advent of CubeSat technology in recent years, as CubeSats are
now widely designed and built by academic institutions and start-up companies. Exploring
the universe and learning more about the composition of the weather in space and on
Earth is also another potential use of CubeSats. Finally, the most recent missions have
been focused on high-speed communications, the IoT, and 5G from space. These missions
will be the main driver for the future development of CubeSat technology for the years
to come. It is important to note that most of the IoT and 5G from space missions are
based on CubeSat constellations or swarms. In such cases, the tiny form of a CubeSat is
not a disadvantage but rather an advantage for scalability. The coordinated function of
each CubeSat in the swarm will result in unprecedented capabilities by redefining space
missions. All these technological advances would be impossible without tiny, but at the
same time mighty, CubeSats.

Author Contributions: Writing—original draft preparation, S.L., P.I.T. and A.T.; methodology, S.L.,
P.I.T., R.R., F.T. and S.A.; formal analysis, S.L., P.I.T., R.R., F.T. and S.A.; investigation, L.M. and F.T.;
resources, S.L., P.I.T. and A.T.; data curation, S.L.; writing—original draft preparation, S.L., P.I.T.,
R.R. and A.T.; writing—review and editing, L.M., M.U.A.K., S.I., F.T. and S.A.; visualization, P.I.T.;
supervision, R.R., F.T. and L.M.; project administration, S.L. All authors have read and agreed to the
published version of the manuscript.
Funding: This research received no external funding.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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 electronics
Review
A Review on 5G Sub-6 GHz Base Station Antenna
Design Challenges
Madiha Farasat 1 , Dushmantha N. Thalakotuna 1, *, Zhonghao Hu 2 and Yang Yang 1

1 School of Electrical and Data Engineering, University of Technology, Sydney 2007, Australia;
[email protected] (M.F.); [email protected] (Y.Y.)
2 Wireless Business Unit, Rosenberg Technology Australia, Northmead 2152, Australia;
[email protected]
* Correspondence: [email protected]

Abstract: Modern wireless networks such as 5G require multiband MIMO-supported Base Station
Antennas. As a result, antennas have multiple ports to support a range of frequency bands leading to
multiple arrays within one compact antenna enclosure. The close proximity of the arrays results in
significant scattering degrading pattern performance of each band while coupling between arrays
leads to degradation in return loss and port-to-port isolations. Different design techniques are
adopted in the literature to overcome such challenges. This paper provides a classification of
challenges in BSA design and a cohesive list of design techniques adopted in the literature to
overcome such challenges.

Keywords: base station antenna challenges; multiband antennas; multibeam antennas; antenna arrays

Citation: Farasat, M.; Thalakotuna, 1. Introduction

D.N.; Hu, Z.; Yang, Y. A Review on Base station Antenna (BSA) is the edge element in the air interface towards the mobile
5G Sub-6 GHz Base Station Antenna terminal in all communication systems, from the first-generation (1G) AMTS (advanced
Design Challenges. Electronics 2021, mobile telephone systems) to the fifth-generation (5G) networks. A significant amount of
10, 2000. https://doi.org/10.3390/ research and development has been done on BSAs; however, it appears largely dissem-
electronics10162000
inated across the literature. Thus, this communication aims to collate, categorize, and
discuss the latest development and challenges associated with the BSAs.
Academic Editor: Massimo Donelli
There are two basic types of BSAs used in cellular communication systems: omnidi-
rectional and directional (sector) antennas. These variants are used in almost all wireless
Received: 19 July 2021
technologies, from 1G to 5G. Omni-directional antennas are preferred for low-capacity and
Accepted: 12 August 2021
extended coverage scenarios such as in rural areas. In contrast, directional antennas are
Published: 19 August 2021
used to serve a targeted coverage area while providing a higher capacity. This targeted
coverage, commonly known as a sector, is determined during mobile coverage planning.
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral
with regard to jurisdictional claims in
The serving sector antenna specifications are derived considering sector parameters.
published maps and institutional affil-
The scope of this communication is to provide a comprehensive summary of recent
iations. BSA antenna designs and challenges, with particular interest placed on lower microwave
bands in sub-6 GHz range. Whilst there is a significant amount of published work on BSAs,
a cohesive discussion of BSA evolution with mobile technologies is not available. Hence,
the antenna community will benefit from a brief discussion on how BSA technologies have
evolved through mobile generations. This is discussed in Section 2 prior to discussing BSA
Copyright: © 2021 by the authors.
challenges in detail in Section 3. Concluding remarks are drawn in Section 5.
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
This article is an open access article
2. Evolution of BSA Technologies
distributed under the terms and
conditions of the Creative Commons First-generation (1G) networks had omnidirectional cells, as the main focus was
Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// coverage, not the capacity. Hence, the BSAs, otherwise known as base transceiver station
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ (BTS) antennas, were omnidirectional. As the number of users increased in the second-
4.0/). generation (2G) networks, operators started to consider ways to increase the capacity. One

Electronics 2021, 10, 2000. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics10162000 45 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/electronics

Electronics 2021, 10, 2000

of the techniques used for capacity improvement is sectorization. A common sectorization

technique used in 2G is to divide the previous omnidirectional cell into three sectors of
120◦ each. As a result, three antennas, each having a 10dB beamwidth of 120◦ , were used
in the BTS.
Another technique used in 2G networks to enhance capacity is the use of polarization
diversity. The aim was to provide two orthogonal polarizations in the antenna array.
The horizontal (H) and vertical (V) polarization were initially used, but ±45◦ , otherwise
known as slant polarization, has been widely adopted in many BTS antennas since 2G.
Figure 1a,b shows vertical and slant polarized dipole array configurations used in BSAs in
2G and following generations. The number of users increased rapidly, moving from 2G
to 3G due to the introduction of mobile data services in 3G. As a result, operators had to
explore further techniques to increase capacity. One solution was to further subdivide the
sector into narrower sectors. This was done using narrow beam antennas with half-power
beamwidth (HPBW) such as 65◦ or even 33◦ . One of the disadvantages was increased
antenna loading on the tower.

Figure 1. (a) Vertical polarized dipole array. (b) Slant polarized dipole array.

A solution to antenna loading was achieved by introducing multibeam panel antennas.

Such antennas are similar in appearance to conventional sector antennas but have multiple
narrow beams. As a result, increased capacity is achieved without the need for additional
antennas, as shown in Figure 2. The twin beams or multibeams are achieved by introducing
hybrid couplers into the feed network. These multibeam antennas have been a prevalent
choice among operators for mobile networks since then.

Figure 2. Patterns of a single-beam BSA, two narrow-beam BSAs, and a twin-beam BSA.

An increased number of cells/sectors requires comprehensive network planning to

reduce cell edge interference and the need for operators to adjust the cell/sector coverage.
This is achieved in a BSA antenna by providing beam tilting in the elevation plane. Most
of the BSA antennas from 3G networks and later were equipped with a Remote Electrical
Tilt (RET) feature, allowing the operator to remotely configure the elevation beam tilt in a
0–10◦ range to optimize the network. The elevation beam tilt in the antenna is achieved
using a phase shifter that provides a phase gradient to the elements in the antenna array.
Therefore, most of the BSA antennas from 3G networks and beyond had the capability
of beam tilting in the elevation plane. However, the elevation beam steering feature
achieved using such phase shifters is only suitable for network optimization, not for
beamforming in the elevation plane. With 2G and 3G technologies, an additional spectrum
was introduced beyond previously used 800 MHz and 900 MHz bands. Primarily occupied

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Electronics 2021, 10, 2000

higher frequency bands worldwide were in 1710–2100 MHz bands. With 4G LTE, additional
spectra up to 2.6 GHz were used worldwide. In 5G, sub-6 GHz bands have an additional
spectrum in 700 MHz bands and 3.4–3.6 GHz bands. Therefore, with every generation, the
existing spectrum is reused, while additional bands are introduced.
The radiating antenna elements used in BSAs, however, have limited bandwidth.
Hence, a single element cannot operate in multiple bands. The most common approach in
BSAs is to have two to three distinct radiating elements to cover these bands, i.e., one radi-
ating element to cover lower bands 650–960 MHz [1] and another for 1695–2760 MHz [1–3]
and a third element type to operate in 3.4–3.6 GHz [4]. As a result, each of these bands is
provided by a separate antenna array. Although early 2G networks used separate antennas
for each band, later generations used antennas with multiple bands in one housing. This
technology is called multiband antennas. A multiband antenna has multiple arrays, each
serving a different band within one enclosure. In the initial generations of multiband
antennas, the arrays were physically separated as shown in Figure 3a. These multiband
antennas provided space and weight savings compared to two separate antennas.

Figure 3. (a) Multiband antenna with physically separated arrays; (b) multiband antenna with
interspersed arrays.

Later generations resulted in multiple interspersed arrays, as shown in Figure 3b,

which further improved the space and weight savings. However, interspersed arrays
present significant challenges during antenna designs, such as inter-band coupling and
pattern distortions, discussed in detail in Section 3.2 of this paper.
The antenna arrays in higher frequency bands occupy less area since the vertical
element spacing is much smaller in higher frequencies compared to lower frequency bands.
Therefore, multiple higher-frequency band arrays can be accommodated with one low
band array, as shown in Figure 4. The most common configurations were 1:2 or 1:4 array
ratio between low band to high band. The antenna shown in Figure 4, has two ports for two
polarizations used in low band array and two ports each for high band array, resulting in a
total of 10 ports. This antenna architecture also allows multiple operators to share antenna
arrays. Alternatively to such multiband arrays, antenna co-sharing was still practiced
among operators using a diplexer to combine multiple bands into one BSA, even with
single-band antennas. Some advanced BSAs in the 3G era comprised dual polar multiband
and multibeam antennas.
Notable changes compared to previous mobile network generations in the air interface
are first introduced with LTE-A. A significant increase in data rates is achieved in LTE-A
due to MIMO capability. Up to eight layers of MIMO are first introduced in 3GPP Release
10. MIMO transmit data in parallel both in time and frequency in segregated streams. The
BSAs are required to have spatially separated antenna arrays or polarization diversity
to achieve the decorrelation in RF paths. The spatial separation has to be at least 0.7λ or
more [5]. Some of the multiband antennas used in 3G networks at the time already had 2–4
high band arrays already, and the operators could use them for MIMO operation without
upgrading the BSA design. High band arrays are commonly used for MIMO operation,
but some BSA designs can support up to 4X MIMO for low band arrays as well [6].

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Electronics 2021, 10, 2000

Figure 4. Low band to high band 1:4 antenna array configuration.

The 3GPP release 12 and 13 introduced active antenna systems (AAS) and massive
MIMO (mMIMO) operation, which allowed real-time beamforming to provide increased
capacity and reduced interference. These capabilities are adopted in 5G air interface and
are commonly referred to as 5G antennas among the antenna community. The mMIMO
with AASs are extensively used in mm-wave bands due to advancements in the Antenna
in Package (AiP) and millimeter-wave integrated circuit (MMIC) technologies. The smaller
wavelengths at mm-wave require only small antenna footprints, allowing them to be di-
rectly integrated with the transceivers. However, the peak power limitations, efficiencies at
mm-wave transceivers and propagation and penetration losses at mm-wave frequencies
limit the use of mm-wave BSAs to indoor use and small cells. The mMIMO in sub-6 GHz
is also used by the operators for outdoor coverage due to low propagation and penetra-
tion losses at these frequencies. The challenges at mm-wave antennas have significant
differences to the sub-6 GHz BSAs. Within the scope of this discussion, we present the
challenges associated with the BSAs in sub-6 GHz and below, as these BSAs are the most
widely used antennas by the operators to date.
The mMIMO aims to control the Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) to each user by forming
beams to each user unlike single-user MIMO and Multi-User MIMO in LTE and LTE-A.
This requires a two-dimensional antenna array with control on the amplitude and phase to
steer the beam in azimuth and elevation. The conventional beamforming antenna arrays
require the element spacing to be 0.5λ to reduce the grating lobes. In contrast, the MIMO
demands more spacing between the arrays to increase spatial diversity at least 0.7λ or
more. In practice, a compromise is made, and a 0.65λ column spacing is used in most
of the mMIMO antennas. The need to form the beam requires a phase and amplitude
control at each radiating element, which can be done using either via analog beamforming
architecture, digital beamforming architecture, or a hybrid beamforming architecture. The
analog and digital beamforming architectures that are the most commonly used are shown
in Figure 5. Analog beamforming has a significantly lower power consumption than the
digital beamforming technique due to a lack of active components. However, in practice,
analog beamforming cannot provide true mMIMO capability because the beams formed
by analog beamforming are either multiple fixed beams or steer at a much slower rate
compared to the digitally formed beams. In practice, analog beamforming is achieved
by either a beamforming network such as Butler Matrix [7] or using a lens [8]. Digital
beamforming is the preferred architecture in Sub-6 GHz mMIMO antennas as most of the
beamformers can provide IF outputs up to 6 GHz. Hybrid beamforming architecture is
mostly used in mm-wave 5G realizations in order to achieve power savings and reduce
complexity in the designs. More details on the current sub-6 GHz adapted beamforming
technologies and the challenges are discussed in Section 3.3.

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Electronics 2021, 10, 2000

Figure 5. (a) Analog beamforming architecture; (b) digital beamforming architecture.

3. Challenges in BSA Design

The challenges associated with the BSAs are classified into three main categories, as
shown in Figure 6. The “port measurements” include the design challenges in achieving
wide impedance bandwidths and meeting the port-to-port isolation requirements. The
challenges in radiation patterns are mostly due to the interspersed nature of the multiband
arrays: the radiating elements of other bands causing scattering and undesirable effects
on the radiation patterns. Therefore, the radiating elements of one band have to be made
almost transparent for the other band and vice versa. The size constraints are another
challenge faced by BSA designers. The real estate available on an antenna tower is very
limited and costly; therefore, smaller compact antennas without any electrical performance
degradation are always preferred.

Figure 6. Classification of base station antenna challenges based on design.

Prior to proceeding with details in each challenge area, it is worth providing a general
overview of the reported solutions in the literature for each of these challenges. Hence,
a summary of available solutions/techniques reported in the literature for some of the
key design challenges is provided in Table 1. These challenges highlighted in Figure 6 are
discussed in detail in Sections 3.1–3.4.

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Electronics 2021, 10, 2000

Table 1. A summary of available solutions for design challenges in Base Station Antenna design.

Design Challenge Solutions/Techniques References

Wideband balun design [9–12]
Achieving wide impedance bandwidth Modification to radiator shape [13–15]
Use of parasitic element/s to widen bandwidth [16–20]
Use of differential feed structure [16,21,22]
Achieving high isolation levels
Use of decoupling network [15,23,24]
Cavity shape reflector [16]
Stable HPBW in bandwidth of operation
Convex shaped reflector [19]
Modifications to the radiator-Downward
Achieving high front-to-back ratio [25]
sloping dipoles
Enforce symmetric current distribution on the
Minimizing Beam Squint [26–28]
radiating element
Achieving high Cross polarization discrimination Modifications to the radiator shape [29,30]
Modifications to the radiator-addition of notch
Improving the gain [30]
metal wall
Butler matrix [7]
Achieving beam steering Luneburg lens [8]
Digital beamforming-integrated RF transceiver [31]
Achieving compact size designs/cost Multiband compact radiating element design [2,4,32,33]

3.1. Port Measurements: Impedance Bandwidth

One of the key challenges for the modern base station antennas is the bandwidth.
While the spectrum is harmonized for certain mobile telecommunication bands, different
countries tend to use different portions of the spectrum based on the license given to
operators. It is desirable to design base station antennas to cover the entire allocated
spectrum despite operators not having access to full bandwidth as it allows one antenna
design to be used globally instead of variants for different geographic markets. However,
it is difficult to design a single base radiating element that operates in all the frequency
bands listed in Table 2. Hence, it is often the practice to use multiple radiating elements to
cover multiple bands.

Table 2. Widely adapted frequency bands for mobile communication systems.

No. Systems Bands (MHz)

1 FDD 1700 1690–1710
2 DCS 1710–1880
3 PCS 1850–1990
4 UMTS 1920–2170
5 LTE 2300–2400
6 LTE+ 2570–2700
7 GSM850 880–915
8 GSM900 925–960
9 Sub-6 3300–3600
10 mm-wave 24,000–28,000 (Non-contiguous)

Impedance bandwidth is an important measure in BSAs as it provides the frequency

band in which a minimum return loss level is achieved. Typically this is about 14 dB
for BSAs [34]. It can be challenging to achieve the return loss requirements over a wide
band. This wideband matching needs to be achieved both for radiating elements as well as
the feed network to meet the requirements. Generally, the techniques used to widen the
impedance bandwidth can be categorized into three parts. (a) Use of a wideband Balun
(b) modifications to radiator, and (c) use of parasitic elements.

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Electronics 2021, 10, 2000

3.1.1. Wideband Balun

A generic and the most adopted Balun design is shown in Figure 7. The 50 Ω transmis-
sion feed is transformed to a balanced feed through an impedance transformer as shown in
Figure 7a. This is then fed to the dipole via a series LC resonator. This series LC resonator
may be required depending on the impedance presented by the dipole. It is usually not
required for a halfwave dipole but is used for longer dipoles. The implementation of the
Balun on a microstrip feed or otherwise known as stalk is shown in Figure 7b. The 50 Ω
feed is connected at the bottom of the stalk, which is underneath the reflector once mounted
on the antenna (Figure 7c). The first transmission line (TL) and Open line (OL) at the input
side of the transformer is implemented on the front side of the stalk. The backside balanced
Short Line (SL), which is also connected to the reflector ground, acts as the ground for TL
and OL microstrip lines printed on the front. The balanced Open Line (OL) then has a
provision to include two inductors. The dipoles are soldered to one side of the capacitor
on the top. The area of the parallel printed metals is adjusted to provide the required
capacitance. It should be noted that Figure 7, only shows the feed for one polarization only.
Two of such stalks can be combined together to feed a dual polar design.

Figure 7. (a) Circuit representation of the matching circuit for the feed. (b) Microstrip implementation of the matching
circuit (c) Side view of the radiating element.

The variations of this generic Balun are often used in many designs to achieve wider
impedance bandwidths. Some of the reported works include L-probe feed with impedance
bandwidth 54% [9], Y shaped feeding line with impedance bandwidth of 45% [10], T
probe line [11] with impedance bandwidth of 71.17%, and shorted stub with impedance
bandwidth 27.6% in [12]. In [35], microstrip to slot line balun is used to improve impedance
matching with return loss better than 14 dB over the operating band 1710–2170 MHz.
Slot line impedance is controlled through slot and ground width. The feed point height
adjustment is a common parameter used during the Balun design to achieve a broader
bandwidth [36].

3.1.2. Modifications to Radiator

Some of the commonly used techniques include various shapes of dipole [37], multi-
dipole [13], and loop-shaped dipoles [10,14]; however, some of these techniques result in
larger aperture size and limit the design freedom. In [15], a 55% wide impedance band-
width is achieved from 1.65 to 2.9 GHz by using a fan-shaped etching slot and chamfering
quadrants along the diagonal dipole arms. The resulting prototype increased the radiation
area and extended the current path to help improve the bandwidth. A bowtie antenna mod-
eled by a Bezier spline was proposed to have a bandwidth of 68% from 1.427–2.9 GHz [38].
The multi-dipole antenna proposed in [13] achieved wider impedance bandwidth of 60%
from 1.55 to 2.87 GHz.
A multimode antenna with an embedded double loop configuration proposed in [14]
has an impedance bandwidth of 51% from 1.68 to 2.83 GHz. In this design, a small loop
inside an outer loop is added to generate a new resonant mode and hence widen the
impedance bandwidth. In [39], a comparison of different patches with and without slots,

51
Electronics 2021, 10, 2000

including shorting strip, is performed to identify the structure that provides the widest
impedance match. This comparison shows that the position of the coaxial feed cables,
chamfer dimensions, and shape of the slotted patch contributed to 21.7% (0.82–1.02 GHz)
and 49.5% (1.64–2.72 GHz) impedance bandwidth.

3.1.3. Use of Parasitic Elements

Another method is to use parasitic elements to improve the impedance bandwidth.
An octagonal loop dipole in [10] achieved an impedance bandwidth of 45%. These loop
dipoles show wider impedance bandwidth compared to fundamental quarter wave dipoles.
When one loop dipole is excited, the other behaves like a parasitic element to improve
the bandwidth. The length of the parasitic loop element is optimized in [16] to achieve an
impedance bandwidth of 52% from 1.7 to 2.9 GHz.
In [17], an antenna array with a bandwidth of 70% from 1.32–2.74 GHz is designed.
The antenna configuration is a U-shaped slot etched on each polarization leaf of the element.
A parasitic element with four layers of circular metal disks is introduced to improve the
impedance bandwidth. It is found that the number of layers of the parasitic elements
directly improves the impedance matching. The operating principle follows the rule that
the radiation resistance exhibited in a dipole is proportional to the square of the electrical
length of the current path [18]. The addition of a parasitic element makes the reactance
of impedance be tuned either capacitive or inductive to achieve the best match. In [19],
a parasitic patch was placed above the folded dipole to enhance the bandwidth to 64.7%
from 1.4–2.77 GHz. In [20], the antenna showed 63% impedance bandwidth within the
1.68–3.23 GHz range due to the parasitic element. In [40], the resonator-loaded dipole
antenna with a U-shaped strip feed widened the bandwidth by moving two resonating
modes closer to each other. The length of the resonator and distance between resonator
and dipole is optimized to achieve a 37.5% impedance bandwidth from 0.67 to 0.98 GHz.
Although inserting parasitic elements is a unique approach to solve the matching issue, it
can adversely impact the radiation pattern performance.

3.2. Port Measurements: Port to Port Isolation

The increased use of multiband, multibeam, and dual-polarized base station antennas
for cost and space savings leads to challenges in achieving isolation requirements. The
port-to-port isolation indicates how well any two RF signals on a multiport or MIMO
antenna are decoupled from each other. In general, isolation can be categorized into three
main types: intra-band isolation, inter-band isolation, and beam-to-beam isolation.
Intra-band isolation is the coupling between the polarizations of the same/multiple
antenna arrays within the same frequency band. This is often referred to as cross-polar
isolation when measured within the same array. Figure 8a shows a two-port BSA where
each port represents two orthogonal polarizations of the same array, while Figure 8b shows
a four-port BSA with two antenna arrays of same band. Ports 1 and 2 feed orthogonal
polarizations of array 1, while ports 3 and 4 feed the two polarizations of array 2. The
isolation between any of the ports 1 to 4 represents intra-band isolation. Generally, the
intra-band isolations are required to be greater than 25 dB or 30 dB [34], depending on the
frequency range of operation and operator requirements.
Inter-band isolation denotes the coupling between the arrays of different bands. In
Figure 9, a dual-band antenna example is given, in which ports 1 and 2 represent feeds
for Band 1, and ports 3 and 4 represent feeds for Band 2. The |S13|, |S14|, |S23|, and
|S24| represent the inter-band isolation between ports of high and low band elements. In
multiband antennas, the isolation is measured in all frequency bands of operations, and
typically these levels need to be above 30 dB or higher.

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Figure 8. (a) Two-port single band antenna. (b) Four-port single band antenna.

Figure 9. A dual-band antenna.

The higher the number of arrays in the antenna, the higher the port-to-port isolation
combinations. Table 3 shows all possible port-to-port isolation combinations for a single-
beam multiband antenna shown in Figure 4. The row entries in Table 3 are depicted as
transmitting arrays, while the column entries are depicted as receiving arrays to make it
simpler to distinguish the coupled band of interest. For example, HB1tx -LBrx indicate the
HB array 1 coupling to LB array at High Band frequencies, while LBtx -HB1rx indicate the
LB array to HB array 1 coupling at Low Band frequencies. All diagonal entries in the table
represent cross-polar isolations within the same band. All non-diagonal entries represent
coupling between different arrays of the same band or a different band. It should also be
noted that all non-diagonal entries can be further divided into four entries since the arrays
are dual polarized. For example, LBtx -HB1rx comprises LB+45 -HB+45 , LB+45 -HB−45 , LB−45 -
HB+45 , and LB−45 -HB−45 , where subscripts +45 and −45 represent two slant polarizations.
Usually, the isolation between orthogonal polarizations is always better compared to the
same polarization.
Beam-to-beam isolation is a special case applied for multibeam antennas representing
the coupling between each beam in the array. Typically, the beam-to-beam isolation needs
to be 20 dB or higher.
The techniques used to improve isolation performance include differential feeding and
decoupling network/structures. Differential feed structure, in theory, can provide infinite
isolation in a dual-polarized symmetrical feed since an excitation of one port does not
induce common mode or different voltage currents in the other port. In practice, intra-band
isolation greater than 36 dB [21] and 26 dB [16] were achieved through a differential fed
scheme. In [22], folded feeding lines based on differential feeding techniques are used to
achieve intra-band isolation larger than 43 dB.
Decoupling networks are also another technique used to improve port-to-port iso-
lations. Coupled resonator-based decoupling network is deployed in [41] to improve
inter-band isolation from 8 to 10 dB. The currents induced by the coupled resonator helps
to cancel the strong coupling between antennas operated in two frequency bands. Decou-
pling and matching network techniques implemented in [42] achieve inter-band isolation
level over 10 dB in the 1.71 GHz t–1.76 GHz and 2.27–2.32 GHz bands.

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Table 3. Port-to-port isolation combinations for the multiband antenna depicted in Figure 4.

Transmitter/Receiver LB Arrayrx HB Array 1rx HB Array 2rx HB Array 3rx HB Array 4rx
Cross polar
LB Arraytx LBtx -HB1rx LBtx -HB2rx LBtx -HB3rx LBtx -HB4rx
isolation (LB)
Cross polar
HB Array 1tx HB1tx -LBrx HB1tx -HB2rx HB1tx -HB3rx HB1tx -HB4rx
Isolation (HB)
Cross polar
HB Array 2tx HB2tx -LBrx HB2tx -HB1rx HB2tx- HB3rx HB2tx -HB4rx
isolation (HB)
Cross polar
HB Array 3tx HB3tx -LBrx HB3tx -HB1rx HB3tx -HB2rx HB3tx -HB4rx
isolation (HB)
Cross polar
HB Array 4tx HB4tx -LBrx HB4tx -HB1rx HB4tx -HB2rx HB4tx -HB3rx
isolation (HB)

As discussed in Section 3.4, the compactness of BSA design embedded scheme can
cause low isolation. Different techniques were tried to improve the isolation in such
schemes. In [1], a ring-shaped baffle is placed between the lower band and high band
elements to decouple the two bands and achieve port-to-port isolation of 23 dB in the low
band (0.77 to 0.98 GHz) and 17.5 dB in the high band (1.65 to 2.9 GHz). In [43], a similar
configuration, in which a high band element nested inside a lower band, is used. Four
arc-shaped baffle plates are used in this work, which results in port isolation greater than
27.3 dB for the lower band 704–960 MHz and 28.3 dB for the high band 1710–2690 MHz.
The ±45◦ dual-polarized antenna with the dielectric cavity achieves crosspolar isolation of
40 dB in [44] using carefully positioned symmetrical two shorting pins in the coax feedline.
An orthogonal coupled sectorial loop-antennas with a cavity is used to achieve >30 dB
intra-band isolation over a 1710–2170 MHz band in [35]. Decoupling networks such as
bandgap structure [45], band stop decoupling unit [23], and filtering antenna elements [24]
are also some commonly used techniques.
A filtering technique with different configurations is employed to get better isolation.
C-shaped filtering stubs as shown in Figure 10a are introduced in [15] for achieving port-
to-port isolation >25. The purpose of the filtering stub is to control the current flow across
the feeding line of the relevant port to act as a band stop for the specific band to achieve
high isolation. Filtering response through parasitic elements as shown in Figure 10b is
realized in [20], resulting in improved isolation of greater than 32 dB. The basic filtering
structures include metasurface structure [46], slot [47], shorting vias [48], and parasitic
elements [49], and defected ground structure [50] integrated with the radiator to achieve
the filtering response for base station application. Although an extra filtering structure
increases insertion loss, the filtering antenna as array elements without extra decoupling
structure has been proposed in [24]. The radiating element realized the filtering response
by adding the shorting pins and E-slot to achieve inter-band isolation of 35 dB. Balun
design is modified to provide required filtering removing the need to have additional filters
in [51]. Intra-band isolation >31 dB is achieved in [52] by carefully designing the dipoleto
mutual coupling to complement the cross-polar isolation.
A configuration named lower-band–ground–upper-band (L–G–U), where the high-
band antennas are located above the lower-band antenna separated by a low pass surface,
is presented in [53]. It demonstrates inter-band isolation better than 30 dB in both working
bands. In [54], a frequency selective surface is introduced between the high band and low
band elements in the L–G–U configuration to achieve inter-band isolation >25 dB. The
frequency-selective surface is optimized to serve as top capacitive loading for low-band
0.69–0.96 GHz and act as a reflector for high-band 3.5–4.9 GHz. In [55], beam-to-beam
isolation > 32 dB was achieved through Luneburg lens. This Luneburg lens antenna
operates from 1710–2690 MHz, made up of a special periodic structure to become suitable
for base station application. In the literature, a Luneburg lens with different materials was

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designed such as in [56], which is configured with a metamaterial layer to make it compact
at lower frequencies (0.8–6 GHz).

Figure 10. (a) Proposed antenna configuration [15]. (b) Parasitic element configuration in proposed
antenna [20].

3.3. Radiation Patterns

The far-field radiation patterns are a very important, if not the most important, factor
for an operator. Some critical parameters in patterns include 3 dB beamwidth, 10 dB
beamwidth, beam squint, front-to-back (F/B) ratio, sidelobe levels, and cross-polarization
discrimination (XPD). Some of these parameters are marked in Figure 11. The specifications
provided by the operators to antenna designers can slightly change but mostly follow the
industry-standard requirements listed in [34].

Figure 11. Illustration of some critical parameters for antenna radiation pattern.

The beamwidths 3 dB and 10 dB are important in network planning to mark sector

footprints. Usually, single beam/sector antennas must have an HPBW requirement of 65◦
for three sector cell sites and 45◦ or 33◦ for six sector sites. The 10 dB beamwidth refers
to the angular beamwidth at 10 dB below the peak values. It is desirable to have a 10 dB
beamwidth of 120◦ in a three-sector site which implies that signal strength at the sector
edge is 10 dB below the peak in boresight.
The radiation element most often needs modifications in its design to achieve the
desired azimuth beamwidth. The important factors that affect the azimuth beamwidth
are the length of the radiator and the distance between the radiator and reflector. These
parameters are optimized to attain 3 dB beamwidth within the range of 65.7◦ ± 3.2◦ [19].
The use of dipole-type radiators is common in radiating element design. The umbrella-
shaped dipoles are configured in [57] to achieve an HPBW (half-power beamwidth) of
63◦ ± 5◦ in the H-plane. Another technique to modify the azimuth beamwidth is the use

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of cavity-shaped reflector over a planer reflector [58]. Further, rectangular cavity-shaped

reflectors in [16] and convex-shaped reflectors in [19] are used to achieve 3 dB beamwidth
around 65◦ ± 5◦ . The length and height of the reflector primarily affect the 3 dB beamwidth
in the H-plane. This effect is realized in [10] to achieve a 3 dB beamwidth 68◦ ± 2◦ at H-
plane and V-plane. It is found that increasing the length of the box-shaped reflector narrows
the beamwidth in lower frequencies and widens the beamwidth in high frequencies in the
band 1.7 to 2.7 GHz.
Another critical parameter in radiation patterns is the front-to-back (F/B) ratio. A
higher F/B ratio is desirable to minimize backward radiation that can contribute to co-
channel interference. Typical values need to be 25 dB or more in most of the base station
antenna designs. Having a large reflector helps improve the F/B ratio. However, most of
the BSAs have size constraints in terms of antenna width. Different topologies have been
adopted in the literature to achieve the desired F/B ratio. Radiating elements proposed
in [25] have downward-sloping dipoles, which improves the F/B ratio. An F/B ratio better
than 30 dB and sidelobe levels better than 25 dB were achieved. Placing a large reflector
behind BSA can improve F/B; however, it can introduce other intricacies such as increased
wind resistance, large antenna size, and antenna loading. An electromagnetic scattering
structure applied on the Radome is used in [59] to reduce back lobe radiation.
Beam Squint is another critical performance parameter for antenna radiation patterns.
The beam squint refers to the deviation of the main beam direction from its boresight in
the azimuth plane. The beam squint is measured in ±degrees from the boresight direction.
The squint can be measured as a 3 dB beam squint or a 10 dB beam squint, and the aim is
to keep the squint as low as possible throughout the entire operating band for all elevation
tilts. Generally, the squint gets worse with higher elevation tilts. In [26], beam squint up to
12◦ is reported at 10◦ elevation tilt. Different techniques are followed to minimize the beam
squint. In [27], a combination of microstrip and a stripline PCB’s are introduced in the
radiation element to minimize the beam squint below 5◦ for downtilt measured at 7◦ and
0◦ . Another technique is to enforce symmetric current distribution on radiating elements to
minimize squint. This is achieved in [38] by using the Pawsey stub balun to feed radiating
elements and to reduce leaky current distortions to have HPBW within 54–76◦ . In [28], the
beam squint < 4◦ with a maximum 10◦ down tilt is achieved through octagon-shape-folded
dipoles as shown in Figure 12a.

Figure 12. (a) Fabricated prototype of folded dipole [28]. (b) Fabricated Prototype of magnetoelectric
loop dipole [29].

Cross-polar discrimination (XPD) is another important parameter when looking at ra-

diation pattern performance. In general, the XPD above 10 dB in the sector is recommended
for base station application. The magnetoelectric layered loop dipole configuration shown
in Figure 12b, is used in [29] to achieve XPD over 20 dB in the boresight direction. Antenna
gain is also a vital characteristic in BSA design. Operators prefer a positive gain slope
across the band as the higher gain at higher frequencies compensates for the additional

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free space losses. In the azimuth, the gain in sector edge directions is lower compared to
boresight due to gain roll-off. A lower gain roll-off in azimuth patterns is achieved in [30]
by introducing a notch metal wall to radiating element, which enhances the gain by 2 dB at
sector edge ± 60◦ angle.
The aforementioned radiation pattern-related parameters are applicable for single-
band and multiband antennas. However, in multiband antennas, radiation patterns can be
severely impacted due to cross-band scattering when interleaved or embedded arrays. In
a dual-band interspaced array, the high-frequency element patterns are impacted due to
scattering from the currents induced in low-frequency elements and vice versa. The impact
can be on multiple parameters such as beamwidth, squint, and XPD. Overcoming such
impacts can be very difficult. It is often attempted to ensure that each radiating element is
transparent to the other in their operating frequency bands, which is a challenging task.
In [60], the high-frequency band (HB) pattern distortions caused by the lower frequency
band (LB) radiating elements are minimized by introducing chokes into the LB element.
These chokes are quarter-wavelength open circuit segments at high band frequencies, and
this minimizes scattering. In [61], the printed dipole is segmented into smaller segments
that are not resonant in the higher frequency band region, and each segment is connected
to the other by inductive thin lines. This makes the lower band element transparent to the
higher band radiating element. In [62], a cloaked antenna system is realized to minimize
the scattering of closely located antennas. A dual-polarized mantle cover to cloak the
dipole antenna is used in this work, and radiation performance is almost unaffected.
The aforementioned challenges for patterns are fundamental and equally applicable
for single beam, multibeam, or steerable beams in BSAs. When it comes to 5G, there are
some additional challenges and complexities associated with the mMIMO and beamform-
ing. As mentioned earlier in Section 2, there are two main beamforming technologies,
namely analog and digital, used in BSAs for sub-6 GHz. Although the analog beamform-
ing is not true mMIMO, it is still used in some of the 5G base station antennas to form
multiple beams. The true mMIMO in sub-6 GHz is achieved through digital beamforming
in 5G BSAs.
The most popular techniques used for analog beamforming are based on either Butler-
matrix circuits [63] or Luneburg lenses [64]. Compared to lenses, the Butler-matrix circuit
implementations are compact, low-cost, and planar. The designers can incorporate the
Butler matrix implementations with the feed distribution network. Therefore, it does not
necessarily increase the antenna height. However, there are several challenges associated
with the Butler matrix implementation such as dual-band operation, isolation between
beams, side-lobe suppression, and wide operating bandwidth [65]. The branch line couplers
used in the Butler matrix have inherent bandwidth limitations, and as a result, they cannot
be designed to have multi-band operation. The approach is to have distinct Butler matrices
for each band [66] to overcome this limitation. However, this comes with inherent crossband
coupling challenges, which were discussed in Section 3.2. The narrowband challenges
were addressed with wideband quadrature couplers and fixed-phase shifters in a Butler
matrix [67]. Although there has been some reported literature on high-beam-to-beam
isolation [68], it is still an ongoing challenge. One solution to minimize the sidelobes as
well as grating lobes is achieved by changing the antenna element arrangement in [63].
In contrast to butler matrices, a careful design of a lens-based beamformer can provide
stable radiation patterns, with low sidelobe levels in a wide band [8]. However, the size of
the lens in front of the antenna increases the antenna height as well as weight. Therefore,
low profile, low cost, and lightweight lenses remain a potential research topic for analog
beamforming in BSAs. The other analog beamforming techniques reported in the literature
include the use of metasurfaces [69], parabolic cylindrical reflectors [70], and reconfigurable
parasitic radiators [71].
The digital beamforming architecture, which provides true mMIMO capability, has
certain challenges as well. One of the key challenges is the design complexity. An example
4 × 4 Tx/Rx dual polar mMIMO configuration for a BSA is shown in Figure 13. Each

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radiating element requires an RFIC to provide amplification and filtering, which are then
connected to the digital beamformer. This dual polar Tx/Rx array requires in total 32 RFICs
and 8 baseband beamformers. All these components need to be placed closer to radiating
element, making the integration of the antenna element and RF circuitry very complex.
Unlike mm-wave designs, the sub-6 GHz designs cannot be realized as an integrated
AiP in MMIC technology due to the large size of the antenna element. In addition, the
large number of RFICs and digital processing results in high power consumption. Even
with the state-of-the-art efficient power amplifiers available in the sub-6 GHz bands,
the thermal dissipation from processors and RFICs remains a significant challenge that
needs to be addressed in the design. Thermal vias and thermal pads are necessary at the
back of the RF and digital electronics to dissipate the heat in these antennas [31]. The
increased power consumption results in less value for money for the operators despite the
capacity improvement. Some antenna designs have addressed this by limiting the real-time
beamforming on the horizontal axis only [64]. The elevation beam tilting in this case is
not done electronically and initially set by the remote electrical tilting mechanism using
the legacy phase shifters. Then, the Azimuth beamforming is done using the phase and
amplitude control among array columns.

Figure 13. Components of a 4 × 4 Tx/Rx dual polar mMIMO configuration.

Another challenge with the mMIMO antenna design is the calibration. The phase
needs to be calibrated with high accuracy along the entire RF transceiver chain in order to
ensure the expected beamforming gains. The amplifiers can have varying phases based on
their operating conditions such as bias points, temperature, and frequency of operation,
and these variations can lead to deviations from the expected phase distribution at the
elements. As a result, the patterns may not form nulls, where it is expected that leads to
increased interference with adjacent users. The antenna testing is another challenge for
mMIMO as the access to RF inputs of the antenna is difficult with the other components
in the RF transceiver chain. Therefore, instead of doing antenna pattern testing with
an RF input, Over-the-Air (OTA) testing is required with the baseband IQ data as the
input/output.

3.4. Size and Cost

Operators are keen to maximize the performance per unit area in the tower space.
Therefore, they require compact antennas with better overall performance at a low cost.
This requires the designs to be compact and low in cost. The miniaturizations are often
achieved by having interspersed multiband arrays [4]. A comparison of different arrange-
ment schemes for high-frequency elements and low-frequency elements is performed [2].
As shown in Figure 14, side-by-side schemes, up-and-down coaxial schemes, and embed-

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ded schemes were considered. Although the up-and-down scheme is simpler, cable losses
increase due to the increased length of the main feed line. The embedded scheme has
the advantage of compactness as two antennas are located within a single band antenna
volume. However, embedded schemes exhibit challenges of isolation and pattern distor-
tions. A single radiating element for both the low and high bands is used in[72,73] to
reduce the number of required radiating elements and footprint. However, the required
vertical element spacing for optimum elevation patterns is hard to achieve in this approach.
Hence, the grating lobe levels are high. The dual broadband planer BSA configuration
is followed in [32], where high band elements are nested inside lower band elements to
achieve compactness.

Figure 14. (a) Multiband embedded scheme; (b) multi band side-by-side scheme; (c) multiband
-up-and-down coaxial scheme [2].

The lower cost in the antenna production is achieved by using low-cost, simple,
printed antennas. The printed circuit board technologies reduces antenna assembly times.
Another low-cost choice for enabling 5G BSA is 3D printing, which facilitates complex
designs. Three-dimensional printing is an effective manufacturing method for designing
MIMO antenna prototypes to reduce the cost. In [33], ±45 dual-polarized antenna is
fabricated using 3D printing technology while achieving a wide bandwidth. Although
printed antennas have a low-cost advantage, they can exhibit higher dielectric losses
compared to die-cast radiating elements. Die-casting can be cost-effective if the entire
element is made out from a cast reducing the assembly time. In addition to the cost
incurred on radiating elements, the other RF components, such as phase shifters, may incur
higher costs. A wiper phase shifter [74] can be a cost-effective solution as it is very compact
but may have other disadvantages, such as limited control for null-filling in down tilts
and the use of a large number of cables. Other types of phase shifters such as [75,76] can
overcome some of these limitations while reducing fabrication costs.

4. Future Trends in 5G Base Station Antennas

The foundation of any BSA antenna is the radiating elements in the arrays. Therefore,
it is important to select wideband radiating elements with stable radiation patterns. Table 4
contains some of the recent state-of-the-art radiating elements that show wideband perfor-
mance. Some of the design concepts used in the design of these elements can be used as the
basis to develop more improved radiating elements for current and future 5G antennas.

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Table 4. Comparison of a selected set of wideband radiating elements used in BSAs.

Frequency Impedance
Reference Antenna Element Type Size * Isolation (dB) HPBW XPD (dB) Gain (dBi)
Band (GHz) Bandwidth
Cross-dipole antenna with U-shaped
[20] 1.68–3.23 0.38λ × 0.38 λ 63% >32 65 ± 5◦ <16 8.5
parasitic element
[28] Octagon shape folded dipoles 1.69–2.71 0.50λ × 0.50λ 46.4% >28 66.5◦ ± 5.5◦ 25 9.8
[29] Magneto-electric loop antenna 1.7–2.7 0.43λ × 0.43λ 45.5% NG # 66.5◦ ± 3.5◦ >20 NG #
[3] Folded Dipole with coplanar stripline 1.7–2.25 0.52λ × 0.52λ 27.8% >25 66.3◦ ± 2.9◦ >16 >8
Loop radiator, cross shaped feeding with #
[16] 1.7–2.9 0.56λ × 0.56λ 52% >26 66.2◦ ± 3.7◦ NG 8.5
loop parasitic element
Octagonal shaped loop radiator with Y-
[10] 1.7–2.7 0.39λ × 0.39λ 45% >25 68◦ ± 2◦ NG # 8.2
shaped feeding line
[39] Slotted patch with shorting strips 0.82–0.99 0.42λ × 0.42λ 18.7% >30 65◦ ± 10◦ NG # 9.9
[38] Spline Edged bowtie radiator 1.42–2.9 0.50λ × 0.50λ 68% >20 65◦ ± 11◦ 20 8

60
[37] crossed stepped-width loop dipoles 1.68–2.94 0.41λ × 0.41λ 54.5% >28.5 66.2◦ ± 3.7◦ NG # 8.5
[52] Square-loop shape dipole 1.63–2.95 0.36λ × 0.36λ 58% >31 58.1◦ ± 12◦ <27 8.8
[1] Folded dipole 0.79–1 0.44λ × 0.44λ 23.5% >30 69◦ NG # 7.7
[15] Orthogonal dipoles with fan-shaped slots 2.27–2.53 0.49λ × 0.49λ 52.6% >25.4 60◦ NG # 7.6
Leaf clover antenna with round metal
[17] 1.39–2.8 0.42λ × 0.42λ 67% 30 65◦ ± 5◦ NG # 9
disks and U-shape slot
* size in terms of wavelength(λ) at midband frequency, # Not Given.
Electronics 2021, 10, 2000

The massive MIMO is one of the most popular topics among the 5G BSA community.
Currently, the massive MIMO used in the 5G network is typically standalone, i.e., contains
only one frequency band commonly referred to as mid-band (2.6 GHz–4.2 GHz) with 32
or 64 ports (eight dual-polarized columns with two or four rows). No other bands are
integrated into those active antennas. The massive MIMO antennas require the radios to be
used for each of the ports. Despite the high throughput advantage of these massive MIMO
antennas, the extreme power consumption puts a significant loading on the electrical net-
work. The operators cannot remove the existing 4G BSAs to reduce the power consumption
since the current 5G massive MIMO antennas cannot still serve all the frequency bands.
Therefore, the industry is leaning towards integrating legacy multiband 4G antennas with
5G massive MIMO antennas. One potential approach is to reduce the number of ports in
massive MIMO BSAs from 32 to 16 and provide some space to integrate a legacy antenna.
The aim is to strike a balance with operational cost and performance. The combination of
legacy 4G and 5G massive MIMO still poses the challenges highlighted in the paper. For
example, the low band (under 1 GHz) needs to be decoupled in an even wider band from
1.4 GHzto 4.2 GHz, which is very difficult. Moreover, the antenna profile is required to
be slimmer for less wind loading, making the technical design even harder. Possibilities
remain open to design novel wideband frequency selective surfaces to overcome some
of these challenges to reduce coupling and improve patterns since more bands are now
required to be integrated under one radome.

5. Conclusions
Base Station Antennas have evolved from simpler Omni antennas to multiband multi-
beam sectorized antennas over the last three decades. The antenna complexity has increased
with each wireless generation, leading to more design challenges to antenna engineers.
From LTE-A leading to 5G, sub-6 GHz BSA designs have multiple antenna arrays. This is
due to several reasons, including the need to support MIMO capability and the need to
maximize value for money by covering multiple bands. To achieve size savings, the mul-
tiple bands are interspersed in the design. The presence of multiple radiators introduces
scattering, degrading the pattern performance of each band. Coupling between the close
proximity elements leads to challenges in meeting impedance and isolation specifications.
As a result, multiple techniques are applied by antenna designers such as cloaked dipoles,
parasitic elements, FSSs, and filters to mitigate these challenges.

Author Contributions: All authors conceived and proposed the idea; all authors contributed to the
structure of the paper. Wrote the paper under the supervision of D.N.T. All authors have read and
agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding: This research received no external funding.
Data Availability Statement: The data presented in this article can be obtained from the relevant
references provided in this article.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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 electronics
Article
A Sub-6 GHz MIMO Antenna Array for 5G Wireless Terminals
Jalal Khan 1 , Sadiq Ullah 1, *, Farooq A. Tahir 2 , Faisel Tubbal 3,4 and Raad Raad 3

1 Telecommunication Engineering Department, University of Engineering and Technology,

Mardan 23200, Pakistan; [email protected]
2 Research Institute for Microwave and Millimeter-Wave Studies (RIMMS), National University of Sciences and
Technology (NUST), Islamabad 44000, Pakistan; [email protected]
3 School of Electrical, Computer and Telecommunication Engineering, University of Wollongong,
Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia; [email protected] (F.T.); [email protected] (R.R.)
4 Technological Projects Department, The Libyan Center for Remote Sensing and Space Science,
Tripoli 21218, Libya
* Correspondence: [email protected]

Abstract: This paper presents a novel antenna with its array and MIMO configuration for the 5G
sub-6 GHz applications. The proposed antenna element operates at the central frequency of 5.57 GHz
dedicated for Sub-6 GHz 5G communication applications. The antenna element holds a circular-
shaped radiating portion with an inner-circular slot, plus a rectangular slot at its right edge to make
the proposed design resonate at the desired frequency band. The RT5880 substrate is used with
a thickness of 0.787 mm, and the low-loss tangent of 0.0009. To achieve a desired gain of 12 dB,
a four-element array configuration is adopted, which improved a bore side gain to 12.4 dB from
6.66 dB. Then, the two-port configuration is adopted such that the isolation achieved between them
is more than −30 dB. The total efficiency of the proposed antenna array is observed to be more than
80% within the operating bandwidth. Moreover, the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) analysis is also
presented for the proposed MIMO configuration, obeying the standard value (i.e., <2 W/kg for any
Citation: Khan, J.; Ullah, S.; Tahir, 10 g of tissue). The measured results are in good agreement with the simulated results. All the
F.A.; Tubbal, F.; Raad, R. A Sub-6 GHz simulations of the proposed design are performed in the CST MWS software.
MIMO Antenna Array for 5G
Wireless Terminals. Electronics 2021, Keywords: 5G; antenna array; CST; sub-6 GHz; MIMO; SAR
10, 3062. https://doi.org/10.3390/
electronics10243062

Academic Editor: Christos J. Bouras 1. Introduction

The day-by-day increase in the demand for higher data rates and bandwidth has
Received: 5 November 2021
Accepted: 5 December 2021
created several issues for the current fourth-generation wireless communication infrastruc-
Published: 9 December 2021
ture [1], as the current wireless communication infrastructure lacks the potential to deliver
a higher data rate with a low latency [2]. Thus, the fifth generation has been introduced,
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral
which is promising to fulfil the requirement for higher data rates with the desired low
with regard to jurisdictional claims in
latency level [3].
published maps and institutional affil- At the moment, most of the designs reported are single element, which possess
iations. quite low gain as compared to the desired level (>12 dB) required for 5G communication
[4–8]. Likewise, several multiple-port antennas have been presented to improve data rates,
but they could not achieve satisfactory gain [9–13]. In the future, these Sub-6 GHz 5G
antennas will be integrated with their predecessors and some other higher-band application
Copyright: © 2021 by the authors.
antennas on the same printed circuit board (PCB). Thus, the high-level of gain can be quite
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
helpful to efficiently deliver a stronger signal at the user side, instead of congesting the
This article is an open access article
lower frequencies of the spectrum [14]. Along with this, the multiple input multiple
distributed under the terms and output (MIMO) configuration is quite helpful to provide a good channel capacity and
conditions of the Creative Commons data rate as compared to the single port antennas, which is one of the basic challenges in
Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// 5G transmission.
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ Recently, some MIMO antennas have been reported for operation in the Sub-6 GHz
4.0/). band [15–20]. Different configurations have been adopted—such as monopole, open-slot,

Electronics 2021, 10, 3062. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics10243062 65 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/electronics

Electronics 2021, 10, 3062

or loop antenna design method to achieve operation in the desired frequency band. As
in [15], the size of the proposed design noted is 130 mm × 100 mm with an operating
band of 5.15–5.925 GHz. The gain obtained ranges from 2.5–4.2 dB within the operating
band. Similarly, another antenna with an overall size of 150 mm × 75 mm and operational
bandwidth of 5.15–5.85 GHz is presented in [16]. The peak gain noted is 4.62 dB. Moreover,
an antenna with a size of 136 mm × 68 mm is presented in [17]. The proposed design
adopted a monopole configuration in order to operate in the band of 5.15–5.925 GHz, while
the gain achieved is not discussed. Apart from this, the main drawback observed is a low
efficiency in [18–20], while in [21–23], the efficiency attained is even below 50%. In [24],
the efficiency obtained ranges between 50–82%, while the antenna element is extended to
the multi-port configuration over the same PCB with an overall size of 150 mm × 75 mm.
However, the minimum isolation level observed is −12 dB, which can be a great cause of
signal deterioration on the user side.
In this paper, we have presented a microstrip circular patch antenna array designed
at the 5.5 GHz band with four elements in the array structure using microstrip methods,
and then its MIMO configuration for 5G communication applications. The transmission
line and quarter wavelength transformation techniques are used for the impedance and
phase matching. Moreover, the SAR analysis is also presented for the proposed MIMO
configuration. The single element, four-element array, and MIMO antennas are analyzed
using CST Microwave Studio. The remainder of the paper is organized as follows: Section 2
presents the design methodology of the proposed antenna. The results and discussion have
been presented in Section 3, and Section 4 discusses the SAR analysis. Section 5 concludes
the paper and gives recommendations for the future.

2. Antenna Geometry
2.1. Single Element
The front view of the antenna element is shown in Figure 1. RT5880 with a thickness
of 0.787 mm is used as a substrate. The length and width of the substrate is 50 × 40 mm2 .
The radiating portion of the antenna exhibits a circular, patch-like geometry, with a circular-
shaped slot in the center with an inner radius of 6.75 mm and an outer radius of 11.54 mm.
A slot-termed gap is created at the edge of the patch to tune the resonant frequency to
the desired frequency band. The feed contains an impedance transformer for the purpose
of matching the transmission line with the radiating portion of the antenna. The back
side of the proposed antenna is fully copper-coated. The parameters in Table 1 have been
calculated via the known equations of the transmission line theory for the circular patch [25]
and have then been optimized to achieve resonance at the desired frequency band.

F
rad1 =      1
(1)
1 + πε2hr F ln πF
2
2h + 1.7726

8.791 × 109
F= √ (2)
fr ε r

Table 1. Summary of the dimensions of the proposed design.

Parameter Value (mm) Parameter Value (mm)

L 6.00 F 1.00
gap 1.00 R1 11.54
W1 2.38 L1 10.0
L2 9.7 R2 6.75

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Electronics 2021, 10, 3062

Figure 1. Front view of the antenna element.

The voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) and reflection coefficient graphs are shown
in Figure 2. It is seen that the magnitude of the reflection coefficient is below 15 dB, which
is acceptable for optimum power transmission. The VSWR is also observed below 2 dB
within the operating bandwidth, which depicts low loss and a good matching between
the feedline and the radiating portion of the proposed antenna. The −10 dB bandwidth of
almost 50 MHz is obtained with a range from 5.55 to 5.6 GHz, with the central frequency
noted to be 5.57 GHz, which is dedicated for 5G Sub-6 GHz applications [18].

(a)

(b)

Figure 2. Antenna element: (a) reflection coefficient; (b) VSWR.

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Electronics 2021, 10, 3062

The parametric study for the proposed antenna element by varying the values of
different key parameters is shown in Figure 3. It is observed that the value of the parameters’
variations has a significant effect on the reflection coefficient of the proposed design. All
three parameters, such as R1, R2 and gap are helpful to bring the antenna element to
resonate at 5.57 GHz. In the case of R1, the resonance for the selected parameter is at
5.6 GHz, while simultaneously varying R2 and gap parameter with the R1 moves the
resonance to 5.57 GHz. Alongside, the matching circuit helps to improve the magnitude of
the reflection coefficient. Thus, after careful consideration and analysis, final values are
taken, and the antenna element can proceed towards the array concept.

(a)

(b)

(c)
Figure 3. Antenna element reflection coefficient analysis by (a–c) varying different parameters.

The peak gain patterns for the proposed antenna element are presented in Figure 4.
The polar and 3D gain patterns are observed in Figure 4a and Figure 4b, respectively. The
gain pattern in the 90-degree plane is analyzed, and the side lobe level is observed to

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Electronics 2021, 10, 3062

be −13.8 dB, while the magnitude of the main lobe is 6.65 dB. Further, the angular 3 dB
beamwidth is seen to be 110.4 degrees. The 0-degree plane gain pattern is with the side
lobe level of −24.1 dB, whereas a main lobe magnitude of 5.93 dB with a 3 dB beamwidth is
69.9 degrees. The gain achieved is 6.66 dB as shown in the 3D radiation pattern (Figure 4b)
of the proposed antenna. The greater level of side lobe reduction makes the proposed
design less lossy, whereas the back lobes level is also very low as shown in the E plane of
Figure 4a.

(a)

(b)
Figure 4. Antenna element: (a) gain pattern (polar); (b) gain pattern (3D).

2.2. Multiple-Element Antenna Array

The design of single element is extended to another type of the array technique, which
is a most famous gain enhancement technique. In Figure 5, the corporate feed array is
presented, where each element holding a symmetry is placed at a distance of 0.477λ0 to
achieve a particular gain enhancement. The gap between the neighbor patches is optimized
step by step to have minimal performance degradation effect on each other, and finally,
0.477λ0 is chosen as an optimized gap where reflection coefficient, gain, and efficiency
could be quite satisfactory. The back of the substrate is fully coated with copper material.
Some of the design parameters of the corporate feed array have been shown in Table 2.
Table 2. Design parameters of array antenna.

Parameter Value (mm) Parameter Value (mm)

a 9.0 d 62.0
b 10.00 e 7.0
c 30.0 f 2.4
g 160 h 70.0

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Electronics 2021, 10, 3062

Figure 5. Corporate feed sub-6 GHz array.

The width of the transmission line is calculated by using the following relation-
ship [26].
377
wzo = √ −2 ×h (3)
Zc ε r
where εr is the relative permittivity and Zc is the characteristic impedance of the transmis-
sion line. In the proposed antenna design a 50 Ω transmission line is used.

2.3. MIMO Configuration

The array design achieved utilizing the corporate feed technique is extended to the
MIMO configuration of two ports as shown in Figure 6. The arrays are placed with a
90-degree shift with respect to each other in order to achieve pattern diversity and good
isolation among antenna arrays, which can cause issues when extending arrays to MIMO.
The dimensions of the MIMO antenna are outlined in Table 3.

Figure 6. Corporate feed array MIMO configuration.

Table 3. Design parameters of MIMO array antenna.

Parameter Value (mm) Parameter Value (mm)

W 165 L 235

3. Results and Discussion

The results obtained through simulation and measurements for the proposed corporate
array depicted in Figure 5 are analyzed in this section. In Figure 7, the measurement
setup is shown for the proposed corporate array results analysis. As shown in Figure 8,
the reflection coefficient obtained for the corporate feed array is showing resonance at the
desired band of 5.57 GHz with a magnitude of 25 dB. In case of corporate feed structure,
the arrangement of elements is done such that—in terms of spacing between the elements—

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Electronics 2021, 10, 3062

the coupling among them should be negligible. The bandwidth covered by the proposed
antenna array ranges from 5.54 to 5.59 GHz.

(a)

(b)
Figure 7. Proposed antenna array under testing: (a) measuring reflection coefficient and (b) radiation
measurements inside the anechoic chamber.

Figure 8. Corporate feed array reflection coefficient.

The measured reflection coefficient follows the simulated one quite efficiently, with an
improvement in the magnitude level. Furthermore, a 3 dB offset is observed between the
simulated and measured reflection coefficient due to the losses by connecters. The minor
shift in the frequency observed is due to fabrication tolerances. The VSWR is also below 2
for the operating bandwidth while at the central frequency, the value of it is observed to
be 1.12, which shows that there is minimum reflection of the transmitted power from the
radiating structure to the feed, as shown in Figure 9.

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Electronics 2021, 10, 3062

Figure 9. Corporate feed array VSWR.

The radiation pattern is highly directive, with a gain of 12.4 dB as shown in Figure 10.
It can also be seen that the side lobe level is highly reduced in this type of array structure.
According to the 0-degree plane of radiation, the side lobe level is −17.1 dB, which is quite
satisfactory for 5G communication, and the main lobe direction is towards 0 degree, while
the magnitude of the main lobe is found to be 12.6 dB. The angular width (3-dB beamwidth)
is achieved at 22 degrees.

(a)

(b)
Figure 10. Corporate feed array gain pattern: (a) E-plane; (b) H-plane.
However, in the 90-degree plane of radiation, the main lobe direction is along a
2-degree angle with a side lobe level of −17.1 dB. The angular width (3-dB beamwidth)
in this plane is 82.1 degrees, and the main lobe magnitude is 12.6 dB. Furthermore, the
back lobe level in this plane is highly reduced, making the antenna perfect for the 5G
communication environment. The measured results follow the simulated with a quite good
coherence due to the better fabrication and measurement setup calibration.

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Electronics 2021, 10, 3062

The 3D gain pattern further helps to understand the above 2D gain pattern, as shown
in Figure 11a using the Computer Simulation Technology (CST) software. The radiation
and total efficiency within the operating bandwidth are 98.2% and 85.1%, respectively. The
current distribution for the corporate feed structure is observed in Figure 11b, which uses
the Computer Simulation Technology (CST) software to show that the current is mostly
concentrated along the edges of the circular-shaped patch, and feedline while the current
is negligible between the patches; this proves that the coupling among the elements is
minimized by employing the corporate feeding technique. Thus, unwanted resonances
are avoided in the return loss of the proposed antenna array, and a high gain is achieved
with the high efficiency. Moreover, the current distribution in Figure 11b of the whole array
ensures that the power distribution is equal to each antenna element. The distribution of
the electric (E) and magnetic field (H) are shown in Figure 11c and Figure 11d, respectively.

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

Figure 11. (a) The 3D gain pattern of the proposed antenna array, (b) current distribution, (c) E field
and (d) H field of the proposed array structure.

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Electronics 2021, 10, 3062

The reflection coefficient for the proposed MIMO structure is presented in Figure 12a.
For port-1, the antenna resonates with the central frequency of 5.57 GHz, gives a bandwidth
from 5.59 to 5.54 GHz, and a magnitude of −25 dB. Similarly, for port-2, the antenna
resonates with the central frequency of 5.56 GHz, with a reflection coefficient magnitude
of −26 dB. The magnitude of the return loss remains below −10 dB, within the resonant
bandwidth (5.58 to 5.53 GHz). The isolation for the proposed MIMO antenna is presented
and analyzed in Figure 12b for both the ports with respect to each other. The isolation is
observed to be greater than 40 dB within the operating bandwidth, which clearly indicates
that the isolation among the arrays employed is quite minimum.

(a)

(b)
Figure 12. MIMO: (a) reflection coefficient; (b) isolation.
The gain patterns are analyzed and presented in Figure 13a in the 0- and 90-degree
planes for the port-1. Initially, in the 90-degree plane, the antenna array main lobe direction
is located at 2.0 degrees, while a very good side lobe level of −17.1 dB is achieved with a
3-dB beamwidth of 82.1 degrees. The radiation pattern is quite directive, with minimum
back lobes and side lobes. The 0-degree plane analysis shows that the main lobe is directed
towards the 0-degree angle and the side lobe level is −17.1 dB. Furthermore, a 3-dB
beamwidth is 22 degrees. In this particular plane, the radiated beam is also seen to be
highly directive with a low level of back lobes.
Similarly, the radiation pattern analysis in the case of port-2 is presented in Figure 13b
for the two main planes: E and H. The main lobe direction for the 0-degree plane is
along the 355-degree angle, and the side lobe level is −3.1 dB, while the angular width
is 83 degrees in this particular plane. Likewise, the direction of the main lobe is along
1.0-degree angle in the 90-degree plane, with an angular width of 22.4 degree. The side lobe
level is −15.1 degrees in this plane. Further in-depth analysis of the radiation feature of the
proposed MIMO configuration (antenna array employing a corporate feeding technique) is
presented in Figure 14. The port-1 or antenna-1 has a narrow and directive beam with a
peak gain of 12.6 dB.

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Electronics 2021, 10, 3062

(a)

(b)

Figure 13. MIMO polar radiation pattern: (a) port-1; (b) port-2.

(a)

(b)

Figure 14. MIMO 3D radiation pattern: (a) port-1; (b) port-2.

The radiation efficiency and the total efficiency is 98.2% and 85.1%, respectively.
Furthermore, for port-2 the radiation beam is shifted by a 90-degree angle, which shows

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Electronics 2021, 10, 3062

that pattern diversity) is achieved with the proposed MIMO structure. The peak gain of
12.6 dB is achieved with radiation and total efficiency of 97.8 and 79.6%, respectively.
The Envelope Correlation Coefficient (ECC) is another parameter that describes the
level of correlation among multiple antennas which come into close proximity of each
other. For the proposed MIMO configuration of two port antenna array, the ECC value is
below 0.005 for the entire operating bandwidth, which satisfies the standard criteria of a
value of <0.5, and depicts that isolation among the antenna arrays is minimum as shown
in Figure 15a. Another performance metric of MIMO is Diversity Gain (DG)—meeting or
coming close to the standard value of 10 dB shows that reduction in the transmitted power
will have no major effect on the quality of transmission or MIMO performance. As seen in
Figure 15b, the DG value is close to 10 for the entire operating bandwidth, which satisfies
the standard criteria. All the results discussed above show that MIMO-based corporate
feed arrays are very suitable for future 5G Sub-6 GHz communication.

(a)

(b)

Figure 15. MIMO: (a) ECC; (b) DG.

4. SAR Analysis for the Proposed MIMO Antenna

The SAR analysis for the proposed MIMO array antenna is discussed in this section.
The proposed model contains skin, fat and muscle with a thickness of 1 mm, 3 mm and
30 mm, respectively as shown in Figure 16. Skin is used as the topmost layer, while the fat
and muscle are placed behind the skin in that order. The proposed MIMO configuration
(i.e., corporate feed array) is placed at the center of the body model and the performance
is analyzed. A conductivity of 3.5 S/m and relative permittivity of 35.3 have been used
for the skin, while for fat and muscle, a conductivity and relative permittivity of 0.27 S/m,
4.69 S/m and 4.97, 48.7, respectively.

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Electronics 2021, 10, 3062

Figure 16. Corporate array MIMO placed on belly model.

Initially, for port-1, Figure 17a shows that the SAR is 0.0989 W/kg which is less than
the value of 2 W/kg for the 10 g of tissue, as specified by IEC standards. Hence the SAR lies
in the safe range, and no human tissue can be harmed. For the case of port-2 (Figure 17b),
the SAR value obtained is 0.101 W/kg, which is also under the safe range, and again obeys
the standard value set by the IEC (<2 W/kg). The reference power of 0.5 W has been used,
and the lower value of SAR shows that the proposed antenna also qualifies for the human
tissue’s safety terms.

(a)

(b)

Figure 17. SAR of Corporate Array MIMO Placed on Belly Model: (a) Port-1; (b) Port-2.

Table 4 provides a performance comparison between the proposed MIMO design and
the reported one in the literature working on the Sub-6 GHz band. It is observed that the
reported work does not consider any gain improvement within the desired operating band,
and apart from this, low isolation is achieved by the reported antennas. The proposed
work, however, does provide a high gain antenna with a quite good total efficiency and

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Electronics 2021, 10, 3062

high isolation level within the operating band, which makes the proposed antenna quite
competent for 5G-based communication applications.
Table 4. Comparison with reported work based on sub-6 GHz.

Ref. Frequency Band (GHz) Size (mm2 ) Isolation (dB) Efficiency (%)
[15] 5.15–5.925 130 × 100 >−15 70
[16] 5.15–5.85 150 × 75 >−14 60
[17] 5.15–5.925 136 × 68 <−10 41–69
[18] 4.8–5.1 150 × 75 <−12 40–85
[19] 5.147–5.95 150 × 80 >−10 49–75
[27] 3.3–5.8 150 × 75 <−15 55–87
Prop. 5.6–5.67 160 × 70 >−30 85.1

5. Conclusions
In this paper, a circular-shaped antenna is demonstrated with an inner circular slot,
plus a rectangular slot at the right edge of it to make the proposed design resonate at the
5.57 GHz dedicated for Sub-6 GHz 5G communication applications. To achieve a desired
gain, four-element array configuration is adopted which improves a bore side gain to
12.4 dB from 6.66 dB. Then, the two-port configuration is adopted such that the isolation
achieved between them is more than −30 dB. The total efficiency of the proposed antenna
array is observed to be more than 80% within the operating bandwidth, and the measured
results of the proposed array are in good agreement with the simulated ones. Moreover,
the SAR analysis is also presented for the proposed MIMO configuration; obeying the
standard value of <2 W/kg for any 10 g of tissue. Thus, the proposed design becomes a
potential candidate for 5G mobile phones and handheld devices. In the future, the MIMO
antenna will be fabricated and tested to validate the results, and will be further extended
utilizing the metamaterials concept.

Author Contributions: Conceptualization, S.U.; methodology, J.K.; software, J.K. and F.A.T.; vali-
dation, F.A.T. and J.K.; formal analysis, F.T.; investigation, J.K.; resources, S.U.; writing—original
draft preparation, J.K. and F.A.T.; writing—review and editing, S.U., F.T. and R.R.; visualization, F.T.;
supervision, S.U.; project administration, S.U.; funding acquisition, R.R. All authors have read and
agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding: This research received no external funding.
Institutional Review Board Statement: Not applicable.
Informed Consent Statement: Not applicable.
Data Availability Statement: The data presented in this study are available on request from the
corresponding author.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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 electronics
Article
A Compact mmWave MIMO Antenna for Future
Wireless Networks
Muhammad Imran Khan 1, *, Sarmadullah Khan 2 , Saad Hassan Kiani 3,4 , Naser Ojaroudi Parchin 5, *,
Khalid Mahmood 6 , Umair Rafique 7 and Muhammad Mansoor Qadir 8

1 Department of Electrical Engineering, CECOS University, Peshawar 25000, Pakistan

2 School of Computer Science and Informatics, De Montfort University, The Gateway, Leicester LE1 9BH, UK
3 Department of Electrical Engineering, IIC University of Technology, Phnom Penh 121206, Cambodia
4 Smart Systems Engineering Laboratory, College of Engineering, Prince Sultan University,
Riyadh 11586, Saudi Arabia
5 School of Engineering and the Built Environment, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh EH10 5DT, UK
6 Department of Electrical Engineering, Abasyn University, Peshawar 25000, Pakistan
7 Department of Information Engineering, Electronics and Telecommunications, Sapienza University of Rome,
00184 Rome, Italy
8 Department of Computer Science, Iqra National University, Peshawar 25000, Pakistan
* Correspondence: [email protected] (M.I.K.); [email protected] (N.O.P.)

Abstract: This article presents a four-element multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna design
for next-generation millimeter-wave (mmWave) communication systems. The single antenna element
of the MIMO systems consists of a T-shaped and plow-shaped patch radiator designed on an ultra-
thin Rogers RT/Duroid 5880 substrate. The dimensions of the single antenna are 10 × 12 mm2 . The
MIMO system is designed by placing four elements in a polarization diversity configuration whose
overall dimensions are 24 × 24 mm2 . From the measured results, it is observed that the MIMO
antenna provides 9.23 GHz impedance bandwidth ranging from 22.43 to 31.66 GHz. In addition,
Citation: Khan, M.I.; Khan, S.; Kiani,
without the utilization of any decoupling network, a minimum isolation of 25 dB is achieved between
S.H.; Ojaroudi Parchin, N.; adjacent MIMO elements. Furthermore, the proposed MIMO antenna system is fabricated, and it
Mahmood, K.; Rafique, U.; Qadir, is noted that the simulated results are in good agreement with the measured results. Through the
M.M. A Compact mmWave MIMO achieved results, it can be said that the proposed MIMO antenna system can be used in 5G mmWave
Antenna for Future Wireless radio frequency (RF) front-ends.
Networks. Electronics 2022, 11, 2450.
https://doi.org/10.3390/ Keywords: MIMO; mmWave; plow-shape; polarization diversity
electronics11152450

Academic Editor: Christos J. Bouras

Received: 27 June 2022 1. Introduction

Accepted: 3 August 2022
The new communication era is based on fifth-generation (5G) technology, which
Published: 6 August 2022
has been deemed the fastest data-rate-providing technology when compared to third-
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral generation (3G) and fourth-generation (4G) technologies. The International Telecommuni-
with regard to jurisdictional claims in cation Union (ITU) divided the 5G communication spectrum into two parts. One of them is
published maps and institutional affil- named the sub-6 GHz spectrum [1], whereas the second one is called the millimeter-wave
iations. (mmWave) spectrum [2–4]. The reason for choosing sub-6 GHz spectrum is to achieve
high data rates with existing communication technologies [5], but the antenna size is quite
large and also the gain of the antenna will be low [6]. In contrast to this, at mmWave
frequency bands, the small wavelength provides an extra advantage for designing compact
Copyright: © 2022 by the authors.
antennas for 5G communication systems. In addition, the higher frequency bands provide
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
This article is an open access article
large bandwidth, which ultimately leads to achieving a high data rate [7,8]. At mmWave
distributed under the terms and
spectrum, the propagation loss is high due to small wavelengths [9,10], and this prob-
conditions of the Creative Commons lem can be solved by designing high-gain antennas. In addition, high data rates can be
Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// achieved by utilizing multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology. For this purpose,
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ many researchers have reported different MIMO antenna designs in the literature for the
4.0/). mmWave spectrum.

Electronics 2022, 11, 2450. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics11152450 81 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/electronics

Electronics 2022, 11, 2450

In [11], a coplanar waveguide (CPW)-fed antenna array was presented for mmWave
networks. The authors designed a linear MIMO array by utilizing a T-shaped radiator
with a defected ground plane. The use of a defected ground plane enhanced the isolation
between antenna elements, which tends to achieve high channel capacity, but it reduces
the directivity of the MIMO antenna. In [12], a four-element MIMO antenna was designed
for mmWave applications. A nature-inspired patch radiator and a partial ground plane
with a semi-circular shell was used to achieve a wideband response. The presented results
show that the single antenna provides a bandwidth of 4 GHz in the frequency range of
26–30 GHz. In the MIMO configuration, a minimum isolation of 24 dB was observed
between the MIMO elements. In [13], a quad-port MIMO antenna design was presented for
5G mmWave applications. The MIMO’s single element consists of a 1 × 2 array of patch
radiators. To achieve wideband response and high isolation, a defected ground structure
(DGS) configuration was utilized. It was observed that the use of DGS tends to achieve a
wideband response from 25.5 to 29.6 GHz, whereas the isolation between antenna elements
was noted to be less than 10 dB. The same kind of MIMO configuration was designed in [14].
In this design, the authors used a slotted zig-zag decoupling structure to achieve >25 dB of
isolation in the band of interest. In [15], a tree-shaped patch-based MIMO antenna system
was reported for future mmWave communication systems. The radiating structure was
designed in such a way so that it can provide a wideband impedance bandwidth ranging
from 23 to 40 GHz. It was also observed that the designed patch antenna offered a high
gain of 11.45 dBi in the band of interest.
In [16], a MIMO antenna was designed by using the design technique presented in [13].
The presented MIMO antenna resonates well in the frequency range of 24.55–26.5 GHz.
To achieve high isolation (>25 dB), an array of metasurface was placed above the MIMO
antenna. The same kind of technique was utilized in [17]. In this design, the authors
used a novel patch shape with a partial ground plane to achieve a wideband response
ranging from 23.5 to 29.4 GHz. Furthermore, the isolation between the antenna elements
was noted to be >20 dBi for the entire operating bandwidth. For high gain, a 2 × 2 array
of metasurface was used and achieved a peak gain of 10.44 dBi. Although the MIMO
structures provide high isolation and high gain, their bulky configuration restricts their
use in compact communication devices. In [18], a novel MIMO antenna configuration
was adopted to achieve high isolation. The MIMO design was able to operate at a very
wideband frequency range of 36.83–40.0 GHz. Furthermore, an isolation of >18 dB was
achieved with a peak gain of 6.5 dBi. However, the presented configuration can only be
used in arbitrary-shaped communication devices. In [19], three-element and four-element
MIMO antenna designs were presented for 5G mmWave applications. The authors used an
inverted-L shaped patch element to achieve a wideband response in the frequency range
of 26–40 GHz. In the three-element MIMO design, they employed slots in the ground
plane to achieve an isolation of >15 dB between antenna elements, whereas in the four-
element design, semi-arc was designed within the slots to obtain an isolation of >22 dB.
Although the presented designs offer wideband response and high isolation, they suffer
due to low antenna efficiency.
Based on the above-presented discussion, in this article, a T-shaped and plow-shaped
patch-based wideband four-element MIMO antenna design is presented for mmWave
communication systems. The proposed design is based on a polarization diversity tech-
nique and occupies an overall size of 24 × 24 mm2 , which enables its use in compact
communication devices. The wideband response is achieved by utilizing a partial ground
plane with a square notch. It is observed from the presented results that the MIMO antenna
operates well from 22.43 to 31.66 GHz and provides measured impedance bandwidth
of 9.23 GHz. Furthermore, without the use of any decoupling or isolation enhancement
network, an isolation of 25 dB is achieved between adjacent antenna elements.

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Electronics 2022, 11, 2450

2. Antenna Design
2.1. Single Element
The proposed single antenna element design is shown in Figure 1. The front-side
of the antenna consists of a T-shaped and plow-shaped patch radiator (see Figure 1a),
whereas the back side consists of a partial ground plane with a square notch, as shown
in Figure 1b. The plow-shape is comprised of a T-shaped resonator and two extended
strips bent at 15◦ . The partial ground plane is utilized to achieve wideband repose in the
band of interest, whereas the square notch is used to enhance the impedance matching.
A low-loss ultra-thin Rogers RT/Duroid 5880 dielectric substrate is used for the design
of an antenna. The thickness of the dielectric substrate is chosen to be 0.254 mm, and its
relative permittivity is equal to 2.2. The overall dimensions of the proposed plow-shaped
antenna are noted to be 10 × 12 mm2 . For the feeding of a plow-shaped patch, a 50 Ω
microstrip feeding line is used, whose length and width are equal to 6.75 mm and 0.787 mm,
respectively (see Figure 1a). The feed line length is extended to use the connector in an
efficient manner. The rest of the design parameters with their respective values are shown
in Figure 1.

(a)

(b)

Figure 1. Proposed single antenna element (a) front-view and (b) back-view.

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Electronics 2022, 11, 2450

The simulated reflection coefficient (S11 ) response of the proposed single antenna
element is illustrated in Figure 2a. One can note from the figure that, according to −10 dB
impedance bandwidth criteria, the antenna operates well from 22.24 to 31.76 GHz, provid-
ing an impedance bandwidth of 9.52 GHz and a fractional bandwidth of 35.25%. The sim-
ulated radiation and total efficiency responses of the proposed antenna are shown in
Figure 2b. The radiation efficiency is noted to be >95% for the desired operating band-
width. On the other hand, the total efficiency fluctuates in the range of 83–97%. In addition,
the proposed antenna realized gain is shown in Figure 2c. It is noted that the gain of the
antenna varies from 2 to 3.5 dBi in the operating bandwidth (see Figure 2c).

(a) (b)

(c)

Figure 2. Simulated (a) S11 , (b) radiation and total efficiency, and (c) realized gain of the
proposed antenna.

The single antenna element was developed through a series of parametric studies.
The parameters optimized to obtain the desired response are: square notch modeling in
the ground plane, the angle of the open strips attached at both ends of the plow-shaped
resonator, the horizontal strip of the plow-shaped resonator, and the length of the T-
shaped resonator. Figure 3a shows the effect of ground slot on an antenna’s performance.
The parameter “Px” value has been changed from 1.3 to 1.7 mm. As the value of “Px”
increases, a shift in the lower frequency is observed, as shown in Figure 3a. The optimum
response is achieved at Px = 1.5 mm, where the antenna provides acceptable bandwidth
and impedance matching (see Figure 3a). For values greater than 1.5 mm, the bandwidth
of the antenna is going to decrease, as depicted in Figure 3a.
Figure 3b shows the parametric modeling of the side suspended strips whose length
is named as “G”. The performance is assessed by changing the rotation angle of the

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strips from 0◦ to 20◦ . As seen from Figure 3b, this angle plays a vital role in produc-
ing a desired response. As the angle increases, an increase in impedance bandwidth is
observed (see Figure 3b). From the presented study, the desired response is achieved at
an angle of 15◦ angle, as shown in Figure 3b. The effect of parameter “D” on antenna’s
performance is depicted in Figure 3c. As the value of “D” changed from 2.3 to 2.7 mm,
an improved impedance matching is observed on the expense of reduce antenna band-
width. For D = 2.3 mm, the antenna offers wide impedance bandwidth but provides low
impedance matching in the band of interest (see Figure 3c). The optimized response is
achieved for D = 2.5 mm, as shown in Figure 3c.
Figure 3d depicts the effect of T-shaped resonator length “F” on the antenna’s perfor-
mance. As the length of the T-shaped resonator increases, a drastic change is observed in
the impedance bandwidth, as shown in Figure 3d. For F = 1.75 mm, the antenna provides
a wide impedance bandwidth, but the impedance matching is low. An acceptable perfor-
mance in terms of bandwidth and impedance matching is achieved for F = 2.25 mm (see
Figure 3d).

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

Figure 3. Effect of (a) square notch width “Px”, (b) strip angle, (c) plow-shaped horizontal strip “D”,
and (d) T-shaped resonator length “F” on antenna’s performance.

2.2. MIMO Antenna Configuration

The proposed single antenna element was transformed into a four-element MIMO
configuration to achieve a high data rate and high channel capacity in the mmWave
spectrum. Figure 4 shows the design of the proposed MIMO antenna. The MIMO antenna
is designed by placing the above-presented antenna element in a polarization diversity
configuration, as shown in Figure 4a, whereas the back side consists of independent partial

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Electronics 2022, 11, 2450

ground planes loaded with a square notch (see Figure 4b). The dimensions of the proposed
MIMO antenna are noted to be 24 × 24 mm2 . From the figure, one can observe that there is
no decoupling network designed between the antenna elements to achieve high isolation.

(a)

(b)

Figure 4. Proposed MIMO antenna (a) front-view and (b) back-view.

3. Experimental Results and Discussion

3.1. S-Parameters
To verify the simulated data, the proposed MIMO antenna was fabricated and tested
using an in-house facility. Figure 5 shows the proposed antenna fabricated prototype. The S-
parameters of the proposed MIMO antenna, both simulated and measured, are shown in
Figure 6. For simplicity, the reflection coefficients of only two antenna elements are shown.
Figure 6a shows the simulated and measured reflection coefficients of antenna-1 and

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Electronics 2022, 11, 2450

antenna-2. From the simulated reflection coefficients, shown in Figure 6a, it is observed that
antenna-1 resonates from 22.2 to 31.66 GHz, whereas antenna-2 operates in the frequency
range of 22.4–32.57 GHz. On the other hand, the measured results show that antenna-1 and
antenna-2 provide impedance bandwidths ranging from 22.95 to 31.53 GHz and 22.43 to
31.66 GHz, respectively (see Figure 6a). The simulated and measurement isolation results
are depicted in Figure 6b. The isolation between adjacent antenna elements is noted to
be greater than 25 dB for the entire operating bandwidth. The discrepancies between
the results may arise due to SMA connector losses, fabrication tolerances, and indoor
scattering environments.

Figure 5. Fabricated prototype of proposed MIMO antenna.

(a) (b)

Figure 6. Simulated and measured (a) reflection coefficients and (b) port isolations of the proposed
MIMO antenna.

3.2. Radiation Characteristics

The far-field radiation characteristics of the presented MIMO antenna are assessed
using a traditional method. As a reference antenna, a dual-ridge horn antenna with a

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Electronics 2022, 11, 2450

frequency range of 15–40 GHz is employed, and the designed MIMO antenna is mounted
on a turntable that is positioned on the opposite side. RF absorbers are used to cover the
anechoic chamber’s walls in order to eliminate reflections.
The simulated and measured gain patterns for φ = 0◦ and φ = 90◦ are shown in
Figure 7. The radiation patterns are extracted at 24.5 GHz. It is observed from Figures 7a,c
that antenna-1 and antenna-3 offer omnidirectional radiation properties for φ = 0◦ and
bi-directional (monopole-like) radiation characteristics for φ = 90◦ . The same kinds of
radiation patterns are observed for antenna-2 and antenna-4 (see Figures 7b,d). In this
case, the proposed MIMO antenna shows polarization diversity behavior, as shown in
Figures 7b,d. In addition to this, the proposed MIMO antenna system is also able to provide
pattern diversity in both the planes at the same time, which is clear from the results of
Figure 7. This effect can also be observed from Figure 8 where three-dimensional (3-D)
radiation characteristics of the proposed antenna are plotted. From the results of Figure 8, it
can also be observed that the gain of the MIMO antenna varies in the range of 5.23–5.46 dBi.

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

Figure 7. Far-field radiation characteristics of the proposed MIMO antenna at 24.5 GHz for (a) antenna-
1, (b) antenna-2, (c) antenna-3, and (d) antenna-4.

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Electronics 2022, 11, 2450

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

Figure 8. 3-D radiation patterns of the proposed MIMO antenna at 24.5 GHz for (a) antenna-1,
(b) antenna-2, (c) antenna-3, and (d) antenna-4.

3.3. Total Efficiency and Realized Gain

In Figure 9a, the total efficiency of all the antenna elements is plotted, whereas the
overall MIMO realized gain is depicted in Figure 9b. From Figure 9a, it can be observed
that the total efficiency of the antenna elements is greater than 85% for the entire operating
bandwidth. On the other hand, the simulated gain of the MIMO antenna fluctuates in
the range of 5.23–5.46 dBi, whereas the measured gain varies from 4.98 to 5.66 dBi (see
Figure 9b).

(a) (b)

Figure 9. (a) Total efficiency and (b) realized gain of the proposed MIMO antenna.

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Electronics 2022, 11, 2450

3.4. Surface Current

The simulated surface current distribution of the proposed MIMO antenna for all the
antenna elements is depicted in Figure 10. It can be noted that for all antenna elements,
maximum current is distributed around the feedline, the radiating structure, and the square
notch etched on the ground plane. So, it can be said that the square notch plays an important
role in achieving a wideband response.

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

Figure 10. Surface current distribution for (a) antenna-1, (b) antenna-2, (c) antenna-3, and
(d) antenna-4.

4. MIMO Parameters
MIMO diversity parameters are important to discuss while designing a MIMO antenna
system. These MIMO parameters include envelope correlation coefficient (ECC), diversity
gain (DG), and mean effective gain (MEG). ECC is the measure of how well the antennas
are isolated and can be calculated using the far-field radiation characteristics of the MIMO
antenna [1]. In Figure 11a, the ECC of the presented MIMO antenna system is presented.
Within the desired operating band, the ECC value is observed to be less than 0.008, which
follows the standard value of ≤0.5. The low value of ECC also ensures that the proposed
MIMO system will have independent channel operation. Furthermore, the DG of the
designed MIMO antenna is shown in Figure 11b. The DG can be calculated through ECC
as mentioned in [1]. For the presented MIMO antenna system, the DG value is greater than
9.95 dB for the band of interest (see Figure 11b).

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Electronics 2022, 11, 2450

(a) (b)

Figure 11. (a) Envelope correlation coefficient and (b) diversity gain of the proposed MIMO antenna.

MEG is another important MIMO parameter, which is calculated using the equation
given in [3] at frequencies of 28 GHz, 28.5 GHz, and 29 GHz, respectively, for all the four
antenna elements. MEG actually provides information about how much power is received
by each antenna in the MIMO system. Through Table 1, the MEG of the proposed MIMO
antenna system is less than −3 dB, which satisfies the convention.

Table 1. Mean effective gain of the proposed MIMO antenna.

Frequency (GHz) MEG1 MEG2 MEG3 MEG4

28 −3.50 −3.21 −3.26 −3.10
28.5 −3.48 −3.17 −3.25 −3.33
29 −2.87 −3.1 3.47 −3.88

The comparison among previously presented and designed MIMO antenna systems is
listed in Table 2. It is noted from the table that the size of the proposed MIMO antenna is
small compared to the designs of [13,14,16,19]. Furthermore, the proposed MIMO antenna
system offers high bandwidth and acceptable isolation performance compared to the
designs reported in [12–14,16,17].

Table 2. Comparison among previously presented and proposed mmWave MIMO antennas.

Size Bandwidth Isolation Efficiency Gain

Ref. ECC
(mm2 ) (GHz) (dB) (%) (dBi)
[12] 25 × 15 3 25 >90 8 <0.001
[13] 35 × 30 4 >20 >80 8.3 <0.04
[14] 35 × 30 1 >30 >80 12 <0.0008
[16] 43 × 30 1.95 >30 − 10.21 <0.0008
[17] 24 × 24 5.9 >25 >80 10.44 <0.01
[19] 30 × 30 14 >20 60 8 <0.018
This Work 24 × 24 9.23 >25 >85 5.66 <0.008

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Electronics 2022, 11, 2450

5. Conclusions
In this article, a wideband four-element MIMO antenna system is presented for
mmWave communication systems. The MIMO antenna system is designed in such a
way that it can provide both pattern and polarization diversity at the same time. From the
results, it is noted that the bandwidth of the proposed MIMO antenna system is noted to
be 9.23 GHz, ranging from 22.43 to 31.66 GHz. The isolation between adjacent elements
and diagonal elements is observed to be >25 dB and >18.5 dB, respectively. The MIMO
parameters are also evaluated and their values lie within an acceptable range. Therefore,
the proposed MIMO antenna system could be used as a potential candidate for future
mmWave wireless systems.

Author Contributions: Conceptualization, S.H.K. and N.O.P.; methodology, M.I.K. and K.M.; soft-
ware, S.H.K. and K.M.; validation, N.O.P. and K.M.; formal analysis, N.O.P. and U.R.; investigation,
S.K.; resources, S.K. and N.O.P.; writing—original draft preparation, S.H.K. and M.M.Q.; writing—
review and editing, N.O.P., U.R., and M.M.Q.; visualization, U.R. and M.M.Q.; supervision, S.H.K.
and N.O.P.; project administration, K.M. and U.R.; funding acquisition, N.O.P. and U.R. All authors
have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding: This project received no external funding.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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 electronics
Article
MTM-Inspired Graphene-Based THz MIMO Antenna
Configurations Using Characteristic Mode Analysis for
6G/IoT Applications
Sherif A. Khaleel 1,2, *, Ehab K. I. Hamad 2, *, Naser Ojaroudi Parchin 3, * and Mohamed B. Saleh 1

1 College of Engineering and Technology, Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport,
Aswan 81511, Egypt; [email protected]
2 Electrical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Aswan University, Aswan 81542, Egypt
3 School of Engineering and the Built Environment, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh EH10 5DT, UK
* Correspondence: [email protected] (S.A.K.); [email protected] (E.K.I.H.);
[email protected] (N.O.P.)

Abstract: 6G wireless communications will be immersed in the future with different applications. It
is expected to support all IoT services and satellite communications, and it is expected to support
artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). The THz frequency band has a vital role in 6G
communication. In this study, a new graphene plasmonic two-port Terahertz (THz) MIMO antenna
is analyzed by the characteristic mode theory (CMA), which gives a better insight into the physical
behavior of the MIMO configurations. The proposed MIMO antenna is compact and designed on a
Teflon substrate of 130 × 85 μm2 . The antenna provides a wide impedance bandwidth of 0.6 THz
(3.2–3.8 THz). The CMA is applied to clarify the position at which the mutual coupling gives a
maximum concentrated current distribution. It is mainly used to reveal the preferable MIMO antenna
configuration by the usage of the model significant and model current distribution property. To
Citation: Khaleel, S.A.; Hamad,
reduce the mutual coupling between the radiating elements, a complementary dumbbell-structure
E.K.I.; Parchin, N.O.; Saleh, M.B.
Metamaterial (MTM) unit cell is etched in the ground plane to block the coupling mode without any
MTM-Inspired Graphene-Based THz
affection on the dominant mode. The preferred MIMO configuration gives high isolation of −55 dB
MIMO Antenna Configurations
between the radiating patches. The fundamental characteristics have been discussed in detail. The
Using Characteristic Mode Analysis
for 6G/IoT Applications. Electronics
proposed MIMO design offers several attractive features such as large bandwidth of 0.6 THz, low
2022, 11, 2152. https://doi.org/ envelope correlation coefficient (ECC) of 0.000168, compact size, stable radiation, high gain of 7.23 dB,
10.3390/electronics11142152 and low channel capacity loss (CCL) of 0.006. The proposed MIMO design is suitable for different
applications in the THz band according to the high-performance parameters such as biomedical
Academic Editors: Faisel Tubbal,
applications, security scanning, sensing, IoT, and 6G high-speed wireless communication systems.
Ladislau Matekovits and Raad Raad

Received: 9 June 2022 Keywords: 6G communications; characteristic mode analysis (CMA); dumbbell-structure; graphene;
Accepted: 6 July 2022 metamaterial; MIMO antenna; IoT
Published: 9 July 2022

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral

with regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional affil- 1. Introduction
iations. The new era of the 6 G wireless communication system has gained significant attention
in recent years as a result of the growing need for greater data rates and ultra-high-speed
connectivity. Around 2030, it is anticipated that the 6G wireless communication technology
will be operational [1,2]. Terahertz (THz) frequency bands will be critical components
Copyright: © 2022 by the authors.
of the 6G wireless communication infrastructure [3–5]. The evolution of the 6 G in ter-
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
ahertz frequency was the least studied band in the electromagnetic spectrum, owing to
This article is an open access article
the unavailability of needed materials, sources, measurements, equipment, and detectors
distributed under the terms and
that operate inside the terahertz band [6]. The THz spectrum lies between the microwave
conditions of the Creative Commons
and infrared in the range of 0.1–10 THz. Recently, the terahertz band has been emersed in
Attribution (CC BY) license (https://
different applications such as high data rate transmission in IoT applications [7], biomedical
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
4.0/).

Electronics 2022, 11, 2152. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics11142152 95 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/electronics

Electronics 2022, 11, 2152

applications [8,9], material characterizations [10], and high-speed secure data transmis-
sion [11]. Numerous antennas have been developed for terahertz spectrum uses, including
the Leaky-Wave antenna [12], Yagi-Uda antenna [13,14], Bow-Tie antenna [15], Monopole
Antenna [16], and log-periodic antenna [17]. The planar microstrip patch antenna possesses
numerous advantages over the other types due to the low cost of manufacturing, low pro-
file, simple structure, and Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit (MMIC) compatibility.
Although, the metallic microstrip antenna suffers from low antenna performance such as
gain, bandwidth, and radiation efficiency, especially on the scale of micrometer due to the
low conductivity and mobility [18]. The limitation of the metallic planar microstrip patch
antenna due to its drawbacks pushes researchers to the usage of 2D organic materials such
as graphene, which is extracted from graphite [19–21]. The graphene utilization as a radiat-
ing patch treats the shortage of metallic materials. Graphene as a single-layer honeycomb
lattice structure has excellent electrical, mechanical, thermal, and optical properties [22].
The most important property of graphene is the ability to support the propagation of
the surface plasmon polariton (SPP) waves at the THz window. Additionally, graphene
conductivity can be adjusted dynamically by applying an electric field via an external gate
voltage, which alters the chemical potential and hence the conductivity [23]. As of today,
research in millimeter-wave technology is advancing toward commercial implementation
and is still spurred by the scarcity of bandwidth; the terahertz (THz) band is envisioned as
the near future frontier for communication. In the present day, improved channel capacity
and a high data rate are required for wireless communication to fulfill requirements. So,
MIMO-communication systems operating in the THz range with data transfer rates of
up to Tera-bit/sec (Tbps) are required [24]. Moreover, there are always some obstacles
to the THz wireless communication frequency band such as high attenuation, Multipath
fading, absorptions, and path loss. So, the MIMO system is a good candidate to face
these problems.
In the MIMO antenna, the distance between elements has a very strong impact on
the mutual coupling between the antenna elements. Greater mutual coupling occurs as a
result of closer separation, which raises the correlation coefficients and reduces efficiency.
Thus, it is required to have enough space between elements, which should be taken as
λ/2, or for even better isolation it can be taken as λ/4 of the frequency to have a mutual
coupling less than −15 dB [25]. Reduction in mutual coupling leads to reducing the
Envelop Correlation Coefficient (ECC), increasing diversity gain (DG), and lowering the
Channel Capacity Loss (CCL). It is crucial to note that graphene has inherent benefits
in reducing mutual coupling effects because of its short SPP wavelength resulting from
the slow propagation speed of SPP waves. As a result, graphene-based antenna arrays
with the same spacing between components display fewer mutual coupling effects than
metallic antenna arrays of the same distance. Different techniques and strategies are
presented for the development of the decoupling methods. A neutralization line is used for
isolation improvement between MIMO antenna elements, defected ground structure (DGS),
electromagnetic bandgap (EBG), frequency selective surfaces (FSS), and artificial magnetic
conductor (AMC) metamaterial structures that are considered effective methods to reduce
the isolation between the MIMO antenna elements. The MTM structure is used as a band
stop filter to reduce the coupling. Furthermore, the main parameters that the MTM used to
enhance the isolation process are the structure form, the position of the unit cell, and the
number of elements used. All of these parameters can be analyzed using the characteristic
mode analysis (CMA) technique. CMA has become a popular technique for studying and
constructing antennas, especially owing to the physical understanding acquired regarding
antenna working principles without regard for any specific feeding method. Characteristic
mode theory is a method of modal analysis for antennas of any form. In addition, it clearly
describes the resonating frequency of certain modes, radiation patterns, and the associated
mode current. Fundamental modes are extracted from an eigenvalue issue using the CMA.

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Electronics 2022, 11, 2152

Calculating Z, the Method of Moments (MOM) impedance matrix, is often required to solve
the following eigenvalue equation.

X ( Jn ) = λn R( Jn ) (1)

where X and R are the imaginary and real parts, respectively, of the MOM impedance
matrix Z, Jn s are the modes or eigen-currents, and λn are the eigenvalues. The eigenvalue
problem is solved, for each frequency, using the procedure detailed by Harrington and
Mautz [26]. Antenna analysis using the MOM approach requires an understanding of the
antenna’s structure and its excitation field. In the meantime, just the antenna structure is
needed as a known requirement in CMA. The characteristic modes are obtained by solving
the following mathematical equations:
→
J = ∑ an Jn (2)
n

where Jn is the eigen-current and an is the modal weighting coefficient

Vni
an = (3)
1 + jλn

where λn is the eigenvalue and Vni is the modal excitation coefficient. The modal signifi-
cance, MSn represented by the normalized amplitude of the current modes is calculated
as follows:
1
MSn = (4)
1 + jλn
Model significance demonstrated how each mode is near to resonance at each fre-
quency. It reaches the maximum value of 1 at its resonance frequency (when λn = 0). The
modal significance ranges from 0 < MSn ≤ 1. The resonance mode is associated with a
model significance of unity. In other words, the characteristic angle β n can be calculated
as in Equation (5). The characteristic angle has the advantage that its value changes more
quickly making it ideal for analysis.

β n = 180 − tan−1 (λn ) (5)

The CMA analysis is carried out using CST microwave studio using two different
solvers, which are a surface integral solver and a multi-layer solver. The model significant
( MSn ), characteristic angle ( β n ), and the eigenvalue λn , all indicate the behavior of the
concerned structure. At resonance mode, the value of λn is equal to 0, while ( MSn ) is equal
to 1 and the value of the characteristic angle ( β n ) is equal to 180◦ . The inductive mode that
stores the magnetic energy occurs when λn > 0 or β n < 180◦ . In contrast, the capacitive
mode stores the electric energy when the value of λn < 0 or β n > 180◦ .
Herein, in this paper, a graphene plasmonic microstrip nano-antenna is proposed to
be used in the 6G wireless communication system applications to operate at a 3.5 THz
frequency band. A three configurations graphene plasmonic two-ports MTM microstrip
patch antenna is reported based on the theory of characteristic mode analysis (CMA), which
gives us the opportunity to reach the optimum design of the antenna without wasting
a lot of time in the try and error iteration process. The CMA is also used to detect the
optimal configuration that gives high isolation and good performance to withstand the
current distribution and the model significance. In order to reduce the mutual coupling
between the two-port graphene plasmonic microstrip nano-antenna, a metamaterial unit
cell of Dumbbell-structure is introduced. The diversity performance is verified by the usage
of the envelope correlation coefficient (ECC), channel capacity loss (CCL), and diversity
gain (DG). The strategy of the proposed design is demonstrated in the following order:
firstly, the design procedure of a single element graphene plasmonic nano-antenna at the
resonance frequency of 3.5 THz by the usage of CMA to obtain the optimum dimensions

97
Electronics 2022, 11, 2152

then a verification of the desired is carried out by another software such as HFSS and ADS
to invoke the equivalent circuit model to verify the intended performance. Secondly, the
graphene plasmonic two-port MIMO array antenna is used to increase the gain with three
configurations. Thirdly, the characteristics of the Dumbbell-structure MTM unit cell is
investigated and etched in the antenna to reduce the mutual coupling between the two
elements. Finally, the diversity performance of the graphene-MIMO configuration is also
carried out with and without the MTM, and this design is validated using the HFSS and
ADS software.

2. Graphene Patch Antenna Design

2.1. Graphene’s Conductivity and Dispersion Relation
Graphene, as a carbon-based material, has been prepared with different techniques.
A single layer of graphene was extracted from the bulk graphite crystal structure using a
mechanical exfoliation approach. Chemical vapor deposition (CVD), thermal exfoliation,
and carbon segregation [27] are other preparation methods for the graphene layers. At the
THz frequency band, this exceptional material exhibits excellent mobility, transparency,
flexibility, and environmental stability. As a result, it is the best choice that can be used
in antenna applications. In comparison to other nano-plasmonic materials such as gold
and silver, graphene is an excellent contender for promoting the propagation of SPP waves.
The dispersion relation of Transverse Magnetic (TM) of SPP depends on the conductivity of
graphene given by [28].  
σs ε r1 + ε r2 coth Ke f f to
−i = (6)
ωε 0 Ke f f
where ε r1 and ε r2 are the relative permittivity of air over the graphene layer and the
dielectric constant of the substrate materials, respectively. Keff , is the wavenumber of the
SPP wave which can be expressed by:
 
K e f f = K0 η e f f (7)

where ηe f f is the effective refractive index of SPP and K0 is the free space wavenumber
K0 = 2πλ . According to Kubo’s formula [29,30]. The graphene conductivity is the sum of
both intraband and interband conductivity, and can be described as:

σs = σinter + σintra (8)

⎡ 1 ⎤
2
⎢   (ω 
− jτ −1 )
  ⎥
  ⎢  ⎥
je2 ω − jτ −1 ⎢ ∞E ∂ f d ࣟ ∂ fd − ࣟ ⎥
σs (ω, μc , τ, T ) = ⎢
×⎢ 0 − dࣟ− ⎥ (9)
∂ࣟ ∂ࣟ ⎥
π 2 ⎢     ⎥
⎣  ∞ fd − ࣟ − fd ࣟ ⎦
2 dࣟ
0
(ω − jτ −1 ) −4( ࣟ /)2
  1
fd ࣟ =   (10)
e ࣟ c B +1
( −μ )/K T

where T is the temperature, K B is the Boltzmann constant,  is the reduced Plank’s con-
 μc is the chemical potential, e is the charge of electron τ is the relaxation time and
stant,
f d ࣟ is the Fermi-Dirac distribution. The first term in the preceding equation denotes
graphene’s intraband conductivity, whereas the second term denotes graphene’s interband
conductivity. Intraband conductivity dominates in the MW and THz bands, whereas inter-

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band conductivity dominates in the near-infrared and visible spectrums [31]. Graphene’s
intraband and interband conductivities can be expressed as:
  
e2 K B T μc −μc /K B T
σintra (ω, μc , τ, T ) = − j + 2 ln e + 1 (11)
π 2 (ω − jτ −1 ) K B T
  
je2 2|μc | −  ω − jτ −1
σinter (ω, μc , τ, T ) = − ln (12)
4π  2|μc | + (ω − jτ −1 )

2.2. Graphene Modeling

The graphene layer is simulated and optimized using CST Microwave Studio, which is
based on the Finite Element Method (FEM). This program has two built-in graphene models,
namely “graphene” and “graphene-Eps”. The first model uses a single layer of graphene
with a thickness of 0.345 nm, whereas the second uses a multilayer of graphene sheets with
varying thicknesses. In this paper, we proposed an application of a single layer of graphene
sheet of 0.34 nm thickness for our presented graphene plasmonic nanoantenna. Figure 1a
shows the graphical representation for the surface conductivity of the graphene layer at
zero value of chemical potential and the relaxation time is 0.1 p sec at room temperature
which is identical to the one presented by Llatser et al. [32].

(a) (b)

(c)

Figure 1. Surface conductivity of graphene for (a) μc = 0 eV and τ = 0.1 ps, (b) different relaxation
times at μc = 0 eV, and (c) different chemical potential values at τ = 0.1 ps T = 300 K.

The real and imaginary parts of our simulated graphene are presented in Figure 1b,c
for various relaxation time (τ) and chemical potential (μc) values, respectively, using the

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MATLAB program. This figure demonstrates that the overall conductivity of a graphene
slab is strongly reliant on the chemical potential and the relaxation time. Chemical potential
is proportional to carrier density, which can be varied via an external gate voltage or
chemical doping:  ∞
2
n= E [ f d (E − μc ) − f d (E + μc )]dE (13)
π v f 0
2 2

The relationship between the chemical potential and gate voltage is explained by [33].
Tunability is required for the wideband operation of the proposed antennas which can
prevent path loss and enhance data rates in THz communication systems. Tunable antennas
have been considered the best tools for manipulating the interaction of light with electrons
present in materials. The fundamental capabilities of graphene antennas are vastly utilized
in a broad scope of practices, including high-speed communication with high data rate,
terahertz detection energy harvesting, and optical light emission.
 
eμc 2 h
Vg = (14)
π 2 v f 2 ε 0 ε r

where h is the substrate thickness and ε r is the relative permittivity of the substrate material.
The conductivity of graphene can be changed with the relaxation time (τ) as follows [34].

nπ
τ  μg  (15)
ev f

where μ g is the electron mobility of graphene and v f is the Fermi velocity. The relaxation
time increases with the chemical potential values. Long relaxation time supports the
propagation of the SPP wave.

3. Antenna Design
3.1. Single Element Patch Antenna
Initially, a conventional microstrip patch antenna with a graphene plasmonic layer
is engraved on the top side of Teflon with a relative permittivity of 2.1, and a thickness
of 10 μm. The proposed antenna is designed to resonate at 3.5 THz. The dimensions of
the patch are recognized by the usage of the characteristic mode analysis (CMA) using the
integral equation solver in the CST microwave studio. The optimum width and length of
the patch are 32 μm and 25 μm, respectively. The single element of the patch antenna is
matched to a transmission line of 50 Ω characteristic impedance using a quarter-wavelength
impedance transformation. The model significance and the characteristic angel curves
are shown in Figure 2a,b. Mode 1 is the resonance mode (desired mode) at a frequency
of 3.5 THz in which the characteristic angle is 180◦ and the model significance in this
frequency is the highest value (closely to unity). The validation process of the CST result
can be achieved by the usage of HFSS and the equivalent circuit model using ADS software.
The values of the electrical RLC components are calculated, and the electric circuit model
of the antenna is developed using the circuit theory approach [35].
The desired current distribution specifies the optimum position for the excitation
process so, the proposed structure of the single-element antenna is shown in Figure 3.
The calculated value of the circuit parameters is listed in Table 1. Figure 4 shows the
circuit model connection diagram of the proposed antenna. The results obtained from
the HFSS and ADS circuit theory approach are in good agreement with those obtained
using CST software. The |S11 | curve of the graphene plasmonic antenna is illustrated
in Figure 5. There is a small deviation in the |S11 | curves, which may be due to the
different numerical approaches used in different software. The 3D radiation pattern of
the proposed graphene plasmonic antenna is depicted in Figure 6. Figure 7 shows the
graphene’s frequency-reconfigurable behavior of the graphene plasmonic antenna when
the chemical potential applied varied between 0.5 and 2.5 eV. This figure reveals that

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the plasmonic resonance frequency of the proposed antenna increases via the chemical
potential and can be dynamically controlled in a wide frequency range from 2.75 to 4 THz.
So, this design has dynamic reconfigurability by applying an external electric field.

(a) (b)

Figure 2. (a) Significant and (b) characteristic angle of the first four modes of the proposed patch antenna.

Ws

Wp
Lp Ls
Lf1 Wf1
Lf
Wf

Figure 3. Schematic of the graphene plasmonic patch antenna.

Table 1. The proposed antenna parameters.

Par. Value (μm) Par. Value (μm)

Ws 130 Ls 85
Wp 35 Lp 25
Wf 12 Lf 25
Wf1 5 Lf1 10
Single Element Parameters of ADS Circuit
L1 5.25 pH L2 0.6499 pH
C1 1.544 fF C2 3.5 fF
R1 200.23 Ω
Two Element Parameters of ADS Circuit
L3 = L5 1.5 pH L 6 = L6 1.8 pH
C3 = C5 1.1 fF C 4 = C6 1.8 fF
R2 = R3 = R4 100 Ω C7 0.4 fF
L7 0.6 pH - -
Dumbbell-Structure MTM parameters
ro 12 X 7
y 25 - -

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The Feedline of The graphene

the antenna Patch resonator

Figure 4. ADS equivalent circuit model of the proposed graphene antenna.

Figure 5. |S11 | of the single element graphene plasmonic patch antenna with different simula-
tion programs.

Figure 6. 3D radiation pattern of the proposed antenna.

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Figure 7. |S11 | parameters of the graphene plasmonic antenna for different chemical potential.

3.2. Two Elements Graphene Plasmonic MIMO Antenna Configurations

The MIMO system’s advantage is that it provides data rate augmentation even in
the presence of signal fading, multipath fading, and interference. The MIMO system was
designed to meet the requirements of acceptable MIMO parameters because of the need to
transmit more data over greater distances. Mutual coupling between elements in a MIMO
array could alter the performance of a single-element antenna. The distance between
the MIMO units regulates this mutual coupling, which is formed via electromagnetic
interaction between them. The optimum separation distance between adjacent MIMO
elements is the system’s most important goal. An antenna with a large distance between
elements ensures non-correlation but increases the overall antenna size, whereas a small
distance will increase the mutual coupling between the elements. So, mutual coupling
is an important parameter that should be studied that faces the MIMO antenna systems.
The two-element graphene plasmonic microstrip MIMO patch antennas are illustrated
in the following part. In order to create the optimal MIMO antenna configuration, it is
necessary to first determine the orientation of the optimal elements to achieve the desired
high level of isolation. Figure 8 demonstrates the proposed three configurations that
are used in the antenna design. The first configuration (Ant. A) is shown in Figure 8a
the two elements have a 0◦ orientation side by side with the first element. The second
configuration (Ant. B) is shown in Figure 8b where the two elements are orthogonally
oriented with a 90◦ between them. In the last configuration (Ant. C), the two elements
have a 180◦ orientation as shown in Figure 8c. The simulated reflection coefficients |S11 |
and transmission coefficients |S21 | versus frequency of the three MIMO configurations are
investigated in Figure 9. The transmission coefficients |S21 | are an important parameter
while designing the MIMO system. It is the measurable parameter of the mutual coupling
between the MIMO elements.
These are three possible orientations that can be used using two elements MIMO
antenna. Figure 9 illustrates the |S11 | parameters of the three MIMO configurations that
are designed to resonate at 3.5 THz. The |S21 | curves reveal that Ant. C has the lowest
mutual coupling of −25.6 dB within the entire interested frequency band rather than the
other configurations of Ant. B that has a −22.4 dB in addition, the Ant. A has a mutual
coupling of −18 dB The three graphene patch MIMO configurations are printed on Teflon
substrate with a relative permittivity (ε r ) of 2.1 and a thickness of 10 μm. The CMA is
used to describe the behavior of the graphene plasmonic MIMO antenna configurations
with the help of model significant (Ms), and the model current distribution for the three
configurations of Ant. A, Ant. B and Ant. C.

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Figure 8. The proposed three different MIMO antenna configurations (a) 0◦ orientation, (b) 90◦
orientation, (c) 180◦ orientation.

Figure 9. S–parameters (S11 and S21 ) of the three different MIMO configurations.

3.3. Analysis of the Graphene Plasmonic MIMO Configurations

The evaluation of the two-element graphene plasmonic MIMO antenna structure
is carried out and optimized using CMA for three different configurations. Firstly, in
Ant. A structure, the model significance, and the model current distribution curves at the
resonance frequency of 3.5 THz are investigated in Figures 10a and 11a, respectively. The
model significance curve indicates the first four modes of operation through the entire
band. It can be seen that the four modes play a significant role in the desired bandwidth
(Ms ≥ 0.707), but modes 1 and 2 give a high contribution in the desired bandwidth rather
than modes 3 and 4. Moreover, modes 1 and 2, have the highest values (close to unity).
So, it is expected that one of these modes is responsible for the antenna resonation at
3.5 THz and the other one is responsible for coupling between the two-elements’ graphene
plasmonic MIMO antenna. The model current distribution makes the divergence between
the first two modes. From the current distribution depicted in Figure 11a; mode (Jn1 ) is
the dominant mode that is responsible for the antenna resonation and mode (Jn2 ) causes
the coupling between the two-radiating elements of the MIMO antenna because of the

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high current density between the elements which, in turn, affects the overall antenna
performance negatively. Therefore, it is imperative that the characteristics of this mode
need to be tuned again with a certain approach. In addition, mode (Jn3 ) and mode (Jn4 )
have no impact on the coupling between the MIMO elements. Secondly, in Ant. B, the
model significant curve shown in Figure 10b illustrates the first four modes. It can be seen
that all modes have the opportunity to contribute to the radiating bandwidth (Ms ≥ 0.707)
with different levels of acceptance such as modes 1 and 3, which have the highest values of
Ms , while modes 2 and 4, have the lowest one. So, the model significant property is not
sufficient to specify all the modes and clarify which of them is responsible for the coupling,
non-coupling, and resonance effect. The model current distribution in Figure 11b is a good
candidate that is used to illustrate this point. This figure reveals that modes (Jn3 ) and, (Jn4 ),
have a current null between the antenna elements, and mode (Jn1 ) is the resonance one while
mode (Jn2 ) is the coupling mode that needs to be characterized and tuned again to reduce
the mutual coupling between the graphene plasmonic MIMO antenna elements. Finally, in
Ant. C configuration, the model significant curve depicted in Figure 10c demonstrates the
first four modes that participate in the desired bandwidth (Ms ≥ 0.707). It is interesting
to note that, modes 1,2, and 3 only contribute to the desired bandwidth of the antenna
as they have the highest value of Ms . However, mode 4 can be neglected because of its
low value of Ms within interested bandwidth. This result can be assured by introducing
the model current distribution in Figure 11c. From this curve, we can overlook mode (Jn3 )
and (Jn4 ) as the current density concentration is very weak between the patches. So, mode
(Jn1 ) is the resonance mode, and mode (Jn2 ) is the coupling one. The model significance
and model current distribution curves of the proposed three configurations of the MIMO
antenna reveal that the configuration of the designed antenna is responsible for the degree
of the coupling between the two elements. The model current distribution indicates that
the best configuration is Ant. C which gives a low coupling between the patches and low
current density concentration in comparison with Ant. A and Ant. B.

3.4. De-Coupling Structure of Dumbbell Shape MTM Unit Cell

As the distance between the elements of the MIMO antenna is responsible for the
mutual coupling issue, the performance of the antenna seriously deteriorates as this distance
decreases. The three configurations of the MIMO antenna introduced above suffer from
mutual coupling problems, so, a de-coupling structure is needed to overcome this problem.
A complimentary new shape of Dumbbell-structure MTM unit cell is etching in the ground
plane with a strong band rejection characteristic (Band-stop Filter) illustrated in Figure 12
and its dimensions listed in Table 1. The S-parameter curve depicted in Figure 13 illustrates
that the Dumbbell-structure MTM unit cell has a high band-stop characteristic |S21 |. The
permittivity and permeability of the unit cell in Figure 14a,b reveal that this structure is an
MTM unit cell with a negative value if (ε r and μr ) in the desired bandwidth. The MTM unit
cell of the Dumbbell-structure that is etched in the ground plane will reduce the mutual
coupling between the two elements of the graphene MIMO configurations due to its band
rejection characteristic at the desired frequency band. As mentioned before, in the proposed
three configurations there is only one mode responsible for the coupling between the two
elements (mode 2) in all configurations. So, this mode should be returned to improve the
isolation. The MTM unit cell is designed to produce a current flow distribution in the
opposite direction of the coupling mode current (mode 2). The characteristic mode theory
(CMA) has a vital role in illustrating the behavior of the graphene MIMO systems with and
without introducing the Dumbbell-structure unit cell by the usage of model significant and
model current distribution. The Ant. C is the best choice to invoke the MTM unit cell on its
ground plane as it has a good characteristic rather than the other configurations.

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(a) (b)

(c)

Figure 10. Model Significant of the proposed MIMO configurations (a) Ant. A, (b) Ant. B, and (c) Ant. C.

In Ant. C configuration, with the presence of an MTM unit cell as depicted in Figure 15,
the model current distribution of the first four modes is shown in Figure 16. It can be seen
that the mutual coupling is reduced and the path of the current through the MTM design
is orthogonal to the path of the current that occurred due to the coupling mode (mode 2).
So, the net interference between the two patches is remarkably reduced. This result can be
assured from the model significance curve illustrated in Figure 17, we can note that the first
four modes of operations and only mode 1 affects the desired bandwidth ( Ms ≥ 0.707).
Mode 2, which is responsible for the coupling is moved away from the bandwidth in
the condition that the resonance mode 1 does not affect and stays the same. Moreover,
modes 3 and 4 do not affect the desired bandwidth which can be seen from the model
current distribution and model significant curves. At last, from the study of the CMA
analysis in the three proposed configurations of graphene MIMO antenna, introducing
the Dumbbell-structure MTM unit cell in the ground plane has a good impact on the
MIMO antenna parameters, especially in the interference problem between the patches
that enhance the overall performance of the antenna. Ant. C, in the presence of an MTM
unit cell, is the preferable configuration of the two-element graphene plasmonic MIMO
structure, which gives high isolation between the patches as shown in Figure 18, which
presents the |S11 | and |S21 | of the proposed antenna with and without the presence of
the MTM unit cell.

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(a)
(b)

Jn1 Jn2 Jn1 Jn2

Jn3 Jn4 Jn3 Jn4

(c)

Jn1 Jn2

Jn3 Jn4

Figure 11. Model current distribution (Jn1 –Jn4 ) of the proposed MIMO configurations (a) Ant. A,
(b) Ant. B, and (c) Ant. C.

Figure 12. Simulation set up and dimensions for the Dumbbell-structure MTM unit cell.

Figure 13. S–Parameters of Dumbbell-structure MTM unit cell.

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(a) (b)

Figure 14. Extracted (a)permittivity and (b) permeability of Dumbbell-structure MTM unit cell.

*URXQGSODQH070
XQLWFHOO

6XEVWUDWHPDWHULDO

*UDSKHQHSDWFKHV

6XEVWUDWHKLJKHVWKV
Figure 15. Ant. C structure in the presence of MTM unit cell.

Jn1 Jn2

Jn3 Jn4
Figure 16. Model current distribution of Ant. C with the MTM unit cell.

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Figure 17. Model significant of Ant. C with the MTM unit cell.

Figure 18. S–Parameters (S11 and S21 ) of Ant. C with and without the MTM unit cell.

The S–Parameters and the ADS for the equivalent circuit models of the proposed
design are listed in Figures 19 and 20 respectively. The isolation coefficient |S21 | has been
reduced from −25 dB to −55 dB because of the introduction of the Dumbbell-structure
MTM unit cell in the ground. The ADS software is used to validate the results by using the
equivalent circuit model (ECM) analysis. The ECM consists of a two-input port with 50 Ω
input impedance and is separated by the resonator circuit that represents the Dumbbell-
structure MTM unit cell. The calculated values of the circuit elements are listed in Table 1.
The S–Parameters of the ECM analysis is compared with the CST microwave studio. It can
be seen that the ADS results are in good agreement and coincide with the CST result with a
little change due to the values of the RLC components.

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Figure 19. S–Parameters of Ant. C with CST and ADS equivalent circuit model.

First Element of
MIMO Antenna

Resonator circuit RLC

Second Element of
MIMO Antenna


Figure 20. Equivalent circuit model of the proposed structure of two-element MIMO configurations
with the MTM unit cell.

3.5. Analysis of MIMO Antenna Parameters

In this section, we discuss the most important parameters of the MIMO antenna
structure. These parameters are very crucial in the MIMO systems. As the demand for
a higher data rate for long-distance transmission is one of the major motivations behind
the MIMO configuration to ensure the compatibility of the graphene plasmonic MIMO
antenna in the THz frequency band. The envelope correlation coefficient (ECC), diversity
gain (DG), and channel capacity loss (CCL) are evaluated and discussed [36,37]. The ECC
is defined as the correlation between the patches in the chosen MIMO configuration. The
lower amount of ECC between the MIMO elements means higher MIMO performance.
There are two methods to extract the ECC parameters, the first one is by extracting from
the S–Parameters as in [38].

∗ S + S∗ S 2
S11
ECC = ρij =   12
 21 22
  (16)
1 − |S11 | + |S21 |2
2
1 − |S22 |2 + |S12 |2

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∗ and S∗ represent the conjugate of S and S , respectively. The second one is by

where S11 21 11 21
extracting from the 3D radiation pattern as illustrated in [25].
   2
4π Fi (θ, ϕ)• Fj (θ, ϕ) dΩ
ECC = ρij =  2  2
(17)
4π | Fi ( θ, ϕ )| dΩ 4π Fj ( θ, ϕ ) dΩ

where Fn (θ, ϕ) is the 3D field radiation pattern of the elements associated with the nth
port, • denotes the Hermitian product operator and Ω represents the solid angle. The
evaluation of the ECC using a far-field radiation pattern is a complex method, so the
S–Parameters method is very convenient to calculate the ECC between the two antenna
elements as it is faster and easy to be used as it depends only on the port parameters
of the antenna system. The agreeable limit of the ECC is lower than 0.5. The proposed
graphene plasmonic MIMO antenna is simulated and ECC is calculated and displayed
in Figure 21a. This figure reveals the comparisons between the MIMO elements with
and without introducing the complementary Dumbbell-structure MTM unit cell in the
ground plane. The ECC without MTM has a value of 0.0189, while the ECC with MTM
is reduced to 0.000168 through the entire bandwidth of operation. The lower value of
ECC indicates a lower correlation between antenna elements. This value guarantees good
MIMO performance of the proposed antenna. Another way to describe and evaluate the
performance of the MIMO antenna structure is the diversity gain (DG), which describes the
losses that occur in the transmitted power. The formula given in [39] is used to calculate
the DG value: 
DG = 10 1 − ( ECC )2 (18)

(a) (b)

(c)

Figure 21. (a) Envelop correlation coefficient (ECC), (b) Diversity gain (DG), and (c) channel capacity
loss (CCL) of Ant. C with and without the presence of the MTM unit cell.

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It can be seen that the DG depends on the value of ECC, moreover, equation (18) states
that the small value of ECC produces a higher value of DG and makes the MIMO antenna
suitable for diverse applications. Figure 21b depicts the DG value of the proposed MIMO
structure in the presence and absence of the MTM structure it has a value of 9.999 and
9.904, respectively.
Channel capacity loss (CCL) is one of the most significant MIMO parameters that
describe the potential loss of channel capacity due to the correlation between the MIMO
antenna elements, in other words, CCL defines the maximum limit of information transmis-
sion rate without significant loss. It should be less than 0.5 bits/s/Hz for a well-designed
MIMO configuration. The CCL is indicated in (19) as reported in [39].

CCL = − log2 [det(Φk )], (19)

 
ρ11 ρ12
Φk = (20)
ρ21 ρ22
  
2
ρii = 1 − |Sii |2 + Sij , and (21)
 
ρij = − Sii∗ Sij + Sij∗ S jj , (22)

where Φk indicates the correlation matrix at the receiving antenna. Figure 21c depicts the
simulated CCL of the proposed MIMO antenna. It recorded the specified limit for the
proposed MIMO configuration. A comparison between the CCL curves with and without
introducing the MTM unit cell. So, it has a value of 0.006 and 0.840, respectively. It can be
confirmed that the proposed design of graphene plasmonic MIMO configuration delivers
a higher transmission data rate in any scattering environment. Figure 22 illustrates the
representation of the far-field radiation pattern component of the E and H plane at 3.5 THz.
The E and H plane radiation patterns are represented in terms their components. The
proposed graphene plasmonic MIMO antenna radiation patterns are illustrated in the
presence and the absence of the MTM unit cell. The proposed MIMO configuration exhibits
a little change in the E and H planes as shown in Figure 22. At last, the E and H patterns
indicate that no significant difference between the main lobe pattern with and without the
Dumbbell-structure MTM unit cell.

D E

Figure 22. Far-field radiation of Ant. C with and without MTM unit cell (a) E-plane and (b) H-Plane.

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3.6. Performance Analysis with State-of-the-Art of Printed THz Antennas

In this part, comparisons between proposed optimized Ant. C design with previously
reported antennas has been performed for the terahertz frequency band. The comparison
is conducted based on performance parameters such as gain, size of the antenna elements,
and resonance frequency. Moreover, the MIMO parameters such as ECC, DG, and CCL
are tabulated in Table 2. Based on the presented data, we can conclude that the proposed
graphene plasmonic MIMO antenna has the best isolation and ECC. Although the proposed
design presents a high gain with all compared references, the design in [40] has a higher
gain, but gives low isolation and CCL. Finally, the proposed antenna demonstrates a
superior MIMO performance to that of the other listed designs in Table 2. So, it is a good
candidate to be used in 6G for mobile generation and medical applications. It has a suitable
compact size to easily integrate with on-chip integrated circuits.

Table 2. Comparison of the proposed antenna performance with the state-of-the-art works.

Freq. Antenna Size Mutual Coupling Gain

Ref. Isolation Technique ECC/DG (dB) CCL
(THz) (μm2 ) (dB) (dB)
(1–10)
[14] 620 × 800 Separated Distance −20: −45 7 0.01/10 0.5
(15–30)
[40] 0.472 600 × 300 Separated Distance −52 4.27 0.0458/9.99 0.00018
[41] 1.82 60 × 40 Separated Distance −25 4.45 0.0372/9.99 -
[42] 0.2–10 125 × 125 elliptical fractal slots −20 8.2 0.0022/9.98 0.31
[43] 0.33–10 1000 × 1400 DGS −25 19 0.0015/9.99 0.25
[44] 1.68 and 1.81 60 × 40 Slots −40 - 0.17/9.99 -
[45] 2.3, 3.2 and 4.5 50 × 40 Decoupling structure −17, −30 and −23 5 0.2/10 -
[46] 1.1–1.7 84 × 84 FSS −25 15 0.01/- -
[47] 1.1 380 × 380 MTM −20 8.28 - -
[48] 1.76 56 × 56 Slots −50 4.02 0.0086/9.989 -
MTM+CMA+
Proposed Work 3.5 130 × 85 −55 7.23 0.000168/9.999 0.006
Elements Arrangement

4. Conclusions
In this paper, a high-performance graphene plasmonic two-port MIMO antenna has
been introduced to be used in terahertz wireless communication applications. In the
theory of characteristic mode analysis (CMA) with the help of a complementary Dumbbell-
structure MTM unit cell, the mutual coupling between the antenna elements has been
significantly reduced. The MTM structure acts as a band stop filter in the desired bandwidth.
It is etched in the ground plane so as to reduce the mutual coupling from −25 dB to −55 dB
in the presence of the MTM unit cell. The CMA has been used to study the behavior of the
antenna modes of operations and clarify the mode responsible for the coupling between
the elements and detect the optimum position of this mode which can be illuminated by
the MTM structure without any distortion in the main antenna resonance mode (dominant
mode). Furthermore, the MIMO antenna parameters such as ECC, DG coefficients, and
CCL are investigated and presented to confirm the suitability of the proposed graphene
MIMO antenna for different THz applications. The proposed MIMO antenna resonates
at 3.5 THz with a return loss of −35 dB and exhibits a wide impedance characteristic
bandwidth covering 3.2 to 3.8 THz frequency spectrum in the THz regime (BW = 600 GHz).
The designed MIMO antenna maintains maximum isolation of −55 dB at the resonance
frequency of 3.5 THz. The good MIMO performance is ensured by achieving the MIMO
performance parameters (ECC = 0.000168, DG = 9.999, and CCL = 0.006) within acceptable
limits. The proposed MIMO antenna design in the future can be used as a massive MIMO
and used the reconfigurable intelligent surfaces to be suitable for the 6G communication
technology The proposed MIMO antenna is suitable for high-speed short-distance indoor
communication applications such as video-rate imaging, biomedical imaging, sensing, and
security scanning in the terahertz frequency band.

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Author Contributions: S.A.K. raised the idea, wrote the manuscript, and perform the numerical
simulations, E.K.I.H. and N.O.P., revised the manuscript and perform the theoretical analysis, N.O.P.
and M.B.S., discussed the numerical results in the main manuscript; S.A.K. and E.K.I.H. contribute to
the simulation results and the validation, improved the revised version. All authors have read and
agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding: This research received no external funding.
Institutional Review Board Statement: Not applicable.
Informed Consent Statement: Not applicable.
Data Availability Statement: All the data have been included in the study.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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 electronics
Article
Ultra-Wideband Pentagonal Fractal Antenna with Stable
Radiation Characteristics for Microwave Imaging Applications
Muhammad Abbas Khan 1 , Umair Rafique 2, *, Hüseyin Şerif Savci 3 , Anis Nurashikin Nordin 4 ,
Saad Hassan Kiani 5,6 and Syed Muzahir Abbas 7, *
1 Department of Electrical Engineering, Balochistan University of Information Technology, Engineering and
Management Sciences, Quetta 87300, Pakistan; [email protected]
2 Department of Information Engineering, Electronics, and Telecommunications, Sapienza University of Rome,
00184 Rome, Italy
3 Electrical and Electronics Engineering Department, Istanbul Medipol University, Istanbul 34810, Turkey;
[email protected]
4 Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, International Islamic University Malaysia,
Kuala Lumpur 43200, Malaysia; [email protected]
5 Department of Electrical Engineering, IIC University of Technology, Phnom Penh 121206, Cambodia;
[email protected]
6 Smart Systems Engineering Laboratory, College of Engineering, Prince Sultan University,
Riyadh 11586, Saudi Arabia
7 Faculty of Science and Engineering, School of Engineering, Macquarie University,
Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
* Correspondence: umair.rafi[email protected] (U.R.); [email protected] (S.M.A.)

Abstract: For microwave imaging applications, a design for an ultra-wideband (UWB) fractal antenna
is presented. The antenna design is composed of a pentagonal fractal patch radiator fed by a modified
co-planar waveguide (CPW) ground plane. It is built on a low-loss Rogers RT/Duroid 5880 dielectric
substrate with a dimensions of 24 × 30 × 0.787 mm3 . According to the measurements, the designed
Citation: Khan, M.A.; Rafique, U.;
antenna offers a fractional bandwidth of 123.56% ranging from 3 GHz to 12.7 GHz. In addition,
Savci, H.Ş.; Nordin, A.N.; Kiani, S.H.; a maximum gain of 3.6 dBi is achieved at 8.5 GHz. From the results, it is also observed that the
Abbas, S.M. Ultra-Wideband proposed antenna structure attains constant radiation characteristics in the operating bandwidth,
Pentagonal Fractal Antenna with which is useful for microwave imaging applications. The time domain analysis of the proposed
Stable Radiation Characteristics for design is also performed, and it is observed that the designed antenna offers a group delay of ≤1.5 ns,
Microwave Imaging Applications. which ensures minimum pulse distortion.
Electronics 2022, 11, 2061. https://
doi.org/10.3390/electronics11132061 Keywords: microwave imaging; ultra-wideband; fractal antenna; co-planar waveguide; fractional
Academic Editor: Andrea Randazzo bandwidth; group delay

Received: 9 June 2022

Accepted: 29 June 2022
Published: 30 June 2022
1. Introduction
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral Near-field microwave imaging has gotten a lot of attention in recent years, especially
with regard to jurisdictional claims in for detecting and localizing cancer tissues in the human body [1]. Microwave imaging
published maps and institutional affil- offers promising solutions for a number of biological applications [2] when compared to
iations.
existing approaches such as ultrasound [3] and mammography [4]. In this technique, short
pulses of low power are emitted by antennas towards the human body. The backscattered
radiation is then collected by the antennas and processed to form an image. One of the
examples is shown in Figure 1. From the figure, one can observe that multiple antennas
Copyright: © 2022 by the authors.
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
operating in the near field are placed around the breast. The antennas forming the array
This article is an open access article
are sequentially selected to transmit pulses into the breast. Then, the backscattered signals
distributed under the terms and
are collected by the receiving antennas. Finally, a suitable signal processing technique is
conditions of the Creative Commons applied to backscattered signals for image reconstruction.
Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// Microwave imaging antennas should have a wide bandwidth and be able to provide
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ constant radiation performance. Furthermore, the antenna’s time domain performance
4.0/).

Electronics 2022, 11, 2061. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics11132061 117 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/electronics

Electronics 2022, 11, 2061

should be sufficient to allow transmitted pulses to pass through human tissues with mini-
mal signal distortion. Ultra-wideband (UWB) technology may be useful in meeting these
criteria as the pulse duration in UWB systems is often on the scale of a few nanoseconds,
resulting in a bandwidth of a few gigahertz. In addition, the antenna size should be small
enough so that it can easily be integrated into microwave imaging systems. To accom-
modate this requirement, researchers presented a variety of antenna designs. From the
presented designs, planar antennas received a lot of attention due to their small size and
light weight.

Figure 1. A typical near-field microwave imaging system for breast cancer detection [5] (Reprinted
from an open access article published under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License).

For UWB microwave imaging systems, the authors in [6] presented a modified square
monopole antenna design. In the ground plane, a pair of loop sleeves was designed,
which tend to achieve an impedance bandwidth in the frequency range of 3.19–11.03 GHz.
Although the designed antenna offers a wide impedance bandwidth, its efficiency is decreas-
ing with an increase in frequency. For body-centric imaging applications, Danjuma et al. [7]
designed a co-planar waveguide (CPW)-fed quasi-cross slot-based circular monopole an-
tenna. The presented antenna can operate at frequencies ranging from 3 GHz to more than
11 GHz. A Hibiscus petal-like patch antenna was presented in [8] for microwave imaging
systems. To obtain an impedance bandwidth in the frequency range of 3.04–11 GHz, a
tapered microstrip feed line and a partial trapezoid ground plane were used. The per-
formance of the antenna was evaluated in the time domain and a high value of group
delay was observed for the side-by-side configuration, which is not useful for microwave
imaging applications. In [9], an octagonal planar antenna was designed to detect malignant
tissues in the human body. To achieve UWB response, the radiating element was fed by a
50 Ω microstrip feeding line and a step impedance transformer. For improved radiation
characteristics, a circular slot including a symmetrical metal cross was designed in the
octagonal radiator. From the presented configuration, the authors achieved an impedance
bandwidth of 12 GHz from 3 GHz to 15 GHz.
Lee et al. [10] introduced a UWB-resistive dipole antenna for microwave imaging
applications. They demonstrated that the designed dipole antenna offers minimal internal
reflections compared to other UWB antenna structures. They employed chip resistors on
both arms of the dipole antenna according to the technique presented in [11], and observed
a UWB response ranging from 1 GHz to 10 GHz. However, this kind of configuration led
to a large antenna size and was complex in nature. A square fractal monopole antenna
with a slotted partial ground plane was presented in [12] for imaging purposes. The
designed antenna-measured results demonstrate that it offers a fractional bandwidth
(FBW) of 117.88% from 3.1 GHz to 12 GHz. A modified square monopole antenna design
was presented in [13] for medical applications. With the use of modified square patch

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Electronics 2022, 11, 2061

and inverted U-shaped parasitic elements, the authors achieved a 5.2 GHz impedance
bandwidth from 3.8 GHz to 9 GHz. Another square monopole antenna with a T-slot-loaded
ground plane was designed in [14] for UWB microwave imaging applications. In addition
to the T-slot, a parasitic element with a π shape was placed beneath the microstrip line to
achieve a UWB response in the frequency range of 2.91–14.72 GHz.
Ojaroudi and Ghadimi [15] utilized the same technique as presented in [14] to design
a multi-resonance UWB antenna for microwave imaging applications. In this design, an
E-shaped slot was etched in the ground plane, and an E-shaped parasitic structure was
designed behind the microstrip feeding line. The presented configuration extends the
upper-frequency limit of the antenna from 10.3 GHz to 15 GHz. The designs presented
in [14,15] were able to provide a UWB response, but their radiation characteristics were
not stable over the operating bandwidth. In [16], three T-shaped slots were etched in
the ground plane to achieve resonance ranging from 2.96 GHz to 15.8 GHz. Lasemi and
Atlasbaf [17] designed compact UWB fractal antennas for breast tumor detection. The
Sierpinski gasket configuration was used for one antenna, and a ring-inscribed hexagonal
fractal antenna was used for the other. According to the measurements, the designed
antennas operate well from 2.95 GHz to 12 GHz. However, the time domain performance
of the presented designs reveals that the transmission phase of the antennas was not stable
over the operating bandwidth, which ultimately led to pulse distortion.
A negative index mematerial-based planar antenna was designed in [18] for microwave
imaging applications. To achieve a compact size, the edges of the triangular patch were
loaded with four left-handed metamaterial unit cells. To achieve negative permittivity and
permeability, each metamaterial unit cell was composed of a modified split-ring resonator
(SRR) and a capacitance-loaded strip. Measurement results show that the presented antenna
operates well from 3.4 GHz to 12.5 GHz and offers a maximum gain of 5.16 dBi at 10.15 GHz.
The same technique was utilized in [19] to design a compact planar metamaterial antenna.
In this design, a trapezoidal patch radiator was used, which was fed through a stepped
tapered microstrip feed line. The presented antenna was able to operate in the frequency
range of 4.23–14 GHz. In [20], a wearable textile antenna with a full ground plane was
designed for breast cancer detection. Photonic bandgap (PBG) and substrate-integrated
waveguide (SIW) technology were utilized for antenna design. The antenna was fed using a
grounded CPW (GCPW) through a SIW transition. The results demonstrate that the antenna
offered an impedance bandwidth of 21 GHz from 7 GHz to 28 GHz. The presented antenna
operates at higher frequencies that are not useful for biomedical applications. In addition,
the use of PBG and SIW technologies offers complexities in the fabrication process.
In this article, a CPW-fed pentagonal fractal antenna is designed for near-field mi-
crowave imaging applications, especially for breast cancer detection. The results demon-
strate that the antenna ranges from 3 GHz to 12.7 GHz, with a peak gain of 3.6 dBi at
8.5 GHz. Furthermore, from the time domain analysis, it is noted that a group delay for
both face-to-face and side-by-side configurations is ≤1.5 ns, ensuring minimum pulse
distortion, which is a fundamental criterion of near-field microwave imaging systems. To
further demonstrate the suitability of the proposed antenna, a comparison is presented
among proposed and previously published UWB antennas meant for microwave imaging
applications (see Table 1).
From Table 1, it can be noted that all the antennas have fractional bandwidth >100%.
The designs presented in [9,10,20] have maximum and approximately equal fractional
bandwidth, but their electrical dimensions are large in comparison to the proposed design.
The rest of the antennas exhibit low fractional bandwidth compared to the proposed
antenna design. Furthermore, the proposed fractal antenna offers a high impedance
bandwidth compared to the designs presented in [6–8,10,12,17,18].

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Table 1. Comparative analysis among proposed and previously presented planar monopole antennas
for microwave imaging applications.

Dimensions Dielectric Frequency Fractional Impedance Peak Average

Ref. Dielectric Material
(mm2 ) (λ2 ) Constant Band (GHz) Bandwidth (%) Bandwidth (GHz) Gain (dBi) Efficiency (%)
[6] 20 × 25 0.47 × 0.59 FR-4 4.3 3.19–11.03 110.26 7.84 6 80
[7] 33.14 × 14.90 0.77 × 0.34 FR-4 4.4 3–11 114.28 8 4.74 −
[8] 31 × 31 0.72 × 0.72 Rogers RT/Duroid 5870 2.33 3.04–11 113.39 7.96 5 −
[9] 29 × 27 0.87 × 0.81 FR-4 4.4 3–15 133.33 12 − −
[10] 51 × 95 0.93 × 1.74 FR-4 4.4 1–10 163.63 9 − −
[12] 23.1 × 32 0.58 × 0.8 FR-4 4.6 3.1–12 117.88 8.9 3.54 −
20 × 28 0.49 × 0.69 4 −
[17] FR-4 4.4 2.95–12 121 9.05
16 × 22 0.39 × 0.54 3.7 −
[18] 16 × 21 0.42 × 0.55 FR-4 4.4 3.4–12.5 114.5 9.1 5 85
[19] 10.2 × 15.5 0.3 × 0.47 FR-4 4.3 4.23–14 107 9.77 5 85
[20] 50 × 60 2.9 × 3.5 Denim substrate 1.4 7–28 120 21 10 88.5
Proposed 24 × 30 0.62 × 0.78 Rogers RT/Duroid 5880 2.2 3–12.7 123.56 9.7 3.6 88

2. Pentagonal Fractal Antenna Design

Figure 2 illustrates the geometry of the proposed UWB antenna. The proposed design
is composed of a modified CPW-fed pentagonal fractal radiator, printed on a low-loss
Rogers RT/Duroid 5880 dielectric substrate with a relative permittivity (ε r ) of 2.2. The
thickness of the dielectric substrate for the antenna design is chosen to be 0.787 mm. The
overall dimensions of the antenna are 24 × 30 mm2 . From Figure 2, one can note that a
trapezoidal ground plane is used for better impedance matching in the band of interest.
Furthermore, the CPW feed technique is utilized because it is easy to design and fabricate
and it provides low losses [21]. The rest of the design parameters’ values are as follows:
WS = 24 mm, LS = 30 mm, W f = 2.5 mm, L f = 12 mm, t = 1.5 mm, g = 0.3 mm, L g = 5.5 mm,
Wg = 4.2 mm, Rb = 3 mm, Re = 1 mm, S1 = 9.6 mm, S2 = 7.6 mm, S3 = 5.4 mm, S4 = 3 mm,
R1 = 7 mm, R2 = 5 mm, and R3 = 2.8 mm.

Figure 2. Geometry of the proposed CPW-fed pentagonal fractal antenna.

The design steps of the proposed CPW-fed pentagonal fractal antenna are shown in
Figure 3a–d. In the first step, a CPW-fed circle-inscribed pentagonal radiator is designed,

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as shown in Figure 3a. The pentagonal radiator’s dimensions are calculated using the
following expression [22].
7.2
fl = GHz (1)
( L + r + p) × k
where
A
L = 2A, r= (2)
4
where A denotes the radius of the of the pentagonal radiator, which is equal to 9.6 mm. The
parameters f l and k in Equation (1) correspond to the lowest operating frequency of the
antenna and the effective relative permittivity (ε re f f ) of the dielectric substrate, respectively.

(a) (b) (c)

(d)

Figure 3. Design evolution of the proposed CPW-fed pentagonal fractal antenna (a) Step 1, (b) Step 2,
(c) Step 3, and (d) Step 4 (proposed).

The antenna design shown in Figure 3a is simulated in the CST Microwave Studio
and the respective reflection coefficient (S11 ) is given in Figure 4. From the figure, it is
observed that the design shown in Figure 3a provides a dual-band response at 4 GHz and
around 12 GHz. In the second step, another circle-inscribed pentagonal patch is added in
the Step-1 design, as shown in Figure 3b. This modification tends to excite higher order
modes and ultimately leads to a UWB response in the band of interest (see Figure 4, Step-2).
For improved matching, another pentagonal radiator is added in the Step-2 design, as
depicted in Figure 3c. This design offers improved impedance matching in the band of
interest, as shown in Figure 4. To further optimize the response, another pentagonal patch
is designed with the Step-3 design, as shown in Figure 3d. In this step, the ground plane
shape is changed to a trapezoidal shape (see Figure 3d). This modification led to a UWB
response in the frequency range of 3.38–12.89 GHz, as shown in Figure 4.

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Figure 4. Reflection coefficient (S11 ) of different antenna designs shown in Figure 3.

The simulated surface current distribution plots for the proposed antenna are shown
in Figure 5. The surface current is plotted for three different frequencies, i.e., 4 GHz, 8 GHz,
and 12 GHz. It is evident from the figure that at 4 GHz, the dense current is distributed
on the feed line, on the edges of the ground plane, and in the lower portion of the patch
radiator, as shown in Figure 5a. For higher frequencies, the current is uniformly distributed
on the surface of the radiator and modified the CPW ground plane (see Figure 5b,c).

(a) (b) (c)

0 dB(A/m) 20
Figure 5. Simulated surface current distribution of the proposed CPW-fed pentagonal fractal antenna
at (a) 4 GHz, (b) 8 GHz, and (c) 12 GHz.

A parametric study was performed to understand the behavior of the proposed UWB
antenna by varying the gap between the microstrip feeding line and the ground plane,
denoted as g, and the gap between the ground plane and the main radiator, denoted as
t. From Figure 6a, it is observed that when the value of g is increased from 0.3 mm to
0.9 mm, the bandwidth of the antenna decreases. The maximum impedance matching is
obtained for g = 0.3 mm (see Figure 6a). On the other hand, when the value of t is changed
from 0.5 mm to 1.5 mm, the impedance bandwidth of the antenna improves, as shown in
Figure 6b. For t >1.5 mm, the bandwidth of the antenna is reduced (see Figure 6b).

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(a) (b)

Figure 6. Effect of parameter (a) g and (b) t on the antenna’s performance.

3. Fabricated Prototype and Measurements

To verify the simulation results, the designed antenna was fabricated using the miling
process. The prototype of the fabricated antenna is shown in Figure 7a. The S11 of the
proposed antenna was measured by Rohde Schwarz (R&S) using the vector network
analyzer (VNA) ZVA-67. The simulated and measured S11 characteristics are shown
in Figure 7b. The antenna has a computed impedance bandwidth of 9.51 GHz in the
frequency range of 3.38–12.89 GHz and a measured impedance bandwidth of 9.7 GHz in the
frequency range of 3–12.7 GHz (see Figure 7b). Some discrepancies are observed between
the simulated and measured results, which could arise due to fabrication tolerances, SMA
connector losses, and the scattering measurement environment.

(a) (b)

Figure 7. (a) Fabricated prototype. (b) Simulated and measured S11 of the proposed CPW-fed
pentagonal fractal antenna.

The simulated and measured radiation characteristics of the proposed fractal antenna
are shown in Figure 8. For both the YZ and XZ planes, radiation characteristics are observed
at three different frequencies: 4 GHz, 8 GHz, and 12 GHz. From the figure, it is observed
that the designed antenna exhibits bi-directional radiation properties for the YZ plane and
omnidirectional characteristics for the XZ-plane. It is also observed from Figure 8 that the
radiation patterns are almost constant for the entire operating bandwidth, which is a useful
property for microwave imaging applications.

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Electronics 2022, 11, 2061

(a) (b)

(c)

Figure 8. Simulated and measured radiation characteristics of the proposed CPW-fed pentagonal
fractal antenna at (a) 4 GHz, (b) 8 GHz, and (c) 12 GHz.

Figure 9 shows the realized gain and efficiency of the proposed antenna. The peak
gain of the antenna is noted to be 3.6 dBi at 8.5 GHz, while the minimum gain is 0.6 dBi
at 3 GHz, as shown in Figure 9. Furthermore, the efficiency of the antenna is noted to be
>80% for the entire operating bandwidth (see Figure 9).

Figure 9. Realized gain and efficiency of the proposed CPW-fed pentagonal fractal antenna.

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Electronics 2022, 11, 2061

4. Time Domain Analysis

For near-field microwave imaging applications, it is necessary to assess the perfor-
mance of the antenna in the time domain [23]. For this purpose, two identical antennas are
placed 30 cm apart from each other in two different configurations, i.e., face to face and
side by side, respectively, as shown in Figure 10a,b, in which both the antennas work in the
transceiver mode.

(a)

(b)

Figure 10. (a) Face-to-face and (b) side-by-side configuration for the evaluation of time domain
performance of the proposed antenna CPW-fed pentagonal fractal antenna.

To excite the antennas, a Gaussian pulse, centered at 8 GHz with a frequency band
of 1–15 GHz, is utilized. Figure 11a shows the normalized amplitudes of both input and
output signals for both configurations. The cross-correlation between transmitted and
received signals is calculated using Equation (3), which is known as the fidelity factor
(FF) [24].  ∞ 
Yt (t)Yr (t + τ )dτ
FF = max  ∞ −∞ 2  ∞ (3)
−∞ |Yt ( t )| dt −∞ |Yr ( t )| dt
2

where Yt (t) and Yr (t) represent transmitted and received signals, respectively; and τ
represents the group delay. The FF values for face-to-face and side-by-side configurations
are noted to be 96.85% and 88.52%, respectively. The high value of FF for the face-to-face
configuration shows that the transmitted signal will be less distorted.
The group delay for both the configurations, shown in Figure 10, is presented in
Figure 11b. The group delay is defined as the negative rate of change of the transfer function
phase, φ(ω ) with respect to frequency. The group delay quantifies the transition time taken by
the signal to travel through a device [23]. Mathematically, it can be calculated as:

dφ(ω ) dφ(ω )
τ (ω ) = − =− (4)
dω 2πd f

For UWB applications, |τ | ≤ 2 ns is desirable to ensure linearity of the phase in the

far-field region. From Figure 11b, one can observe that the |τ | value is ≤ 1.5 ns for the
entire frequency range [25].

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Electronics 2022, 11, 2061

(a) (b)

Figure 11. (a) Pulse response and (b) group delay of the proposed antenna CPW-fed pentagonal
fractal antenna.

5. Conclusions
A compact UWB planar antenna is reported for near-field microwave imaging applica-
tions. The radiator geometry consists of a modified CPW-fed pentagonal fractal structure.
To improve the impedance matching, a trapezoidal-shaped ground plane is utilized. The
proposed design has an impedance bandwidth of 9.7 GHz, ranging from 3 GHz to 12.7 GHz,
and offers a fractional bandwidth of 123.56%. It is also observed from the results that the
proposed antenna exhibits constant radiation characteristics in the operating bandwidth,
which is useful for near-field microwave imaging. The performance of the proposed
antenna is also assessed in the time domain, and acceptable characteristics are observed.

Author Contributions: Conceptualization, M.A.K., U.R. and S.H.K.; methodology, M.A.K., A.N.N.
and S.H.K.; software, U.R., H.Ş.S., U.R., S.H.K. and S.M.A.; validation, M.A.K., U.R., S.H.K. and
S.M.A.; formal analysis, H.Ş.S. and A.N.N.; investigation, U.R., A.N.N. and S.H.K.; resources, H.Ş.S.,
A.N.N. and S.M.A.; writing—original draft preparation, M.A.K. and S.H.K.; writing—review and
editing, U.R., H.Ş.S., A.N.N. and S.M.A.; visualization, U.R.; supervision, A.N.N. and S.H.K.; project
administration, M.A.K., U.R. and A.N.N.; funding acquisition, S.M.A. All authors have read and
agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding: This research received no external funding.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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5. El Misilmani, H.M.; Naous, T.; Al Khatib, S.K.; Kabalan, K.Y. A survey on antenna designs for breast cancer detection using
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6. Ojaroudi, M.; Civi, Ö.A. High efficiency loop sleeve monopole antenna for array based UWB microwave imaging systems.
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July 2016; pp. 1781–1782.
7. Danjuma, I.M.; Akinsolu, M.O.; See, C.H.; Abd-Alhameed, R.A.; Liu, B. Design and optimization of a slotted monopole antenna
for ultra-wide band body centric imaging applications. IEEE J. Electromagn. Microw. Med. Biol. 2020, 4, 140–147. [CrossRef]
8. Mahmud, M.; Islam, M.T.; Samsuzzaman, M. A high performance UWB antenna design for microwave imaging system. Microw.
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Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 16–19 October 2016; pp. 1–4.
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Textile Antenna for Breast Cancer and Wireless Body Area Network Applications. Micromachines 2021, 12, 322. [CrossRef]
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 electronics
Article
A Novel and Compact Slotted-Decahedral Antenna for
5G Devices
Karen Nallely Olan Nuñez and Roberto S. Murphy Arteaga *

Electronics Department, Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Óptica y Electrónica (INAOE), Tonantzintla,

Puebla 72840, Mexico; [email protected]
* Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +52-222-736-9044

Abstract: In this paper, a compact SISO (Single-Input Single-Output) antenna with a novel slotted-
decahedral geometry is presented. The design was performed using a full-wave simulator (FWS). A
decahedral patch with an eight-pointed star-shaped slot and two rectangular grooves is the main
characteristic of the proposed novel radiator. The decagon shape, eight-pointed star-shaped slot,
rectangular grooves, and separate section give rise to radiation. The SISO antenna operates from 23.1
to 29.94 GHz covering the proposed frequency bands for 5G wireless communication systems. The
radiation pattern stability, moderate to high gain values (6.5 dBi, average), good radiation efficiency
(higher than 89.4%), wide impedance bandwidth (6.84 GHz), compactness (13 × 13 × 0.787 mm3 )
and ease of manufacture are the principles advantages of this novel geometry. The experimental
validation of the SISO antenna was performed, and good agreement was obtained with simulation
results, and an equivalent circuit model was proposed. The proposed SISO antenna can be easily
integrated into wireless sensors, drones, backhaul, and 5G devices which support IoT, working in the
n257, n258 and n261 frequency bands.

Keywords: 5G; antennas; SISO antennas; n257; n258; n261

Citation: Olan Nuñez, K.N.; Murphy

Arteaga, R.S. A Novel and Compact
Slotted-Decahedral Antenna for 5G 1. Introduction
Devices. Electronics 2022, 11, 1813. Nowadays, the 5G standard of communications is ubiquitous and pervasive, taking
https://doi.org/10.3390/ every day more importance for our daily lives. And we can be sure that its impact will
electronics11121813
continue to grow, as there are more devices and applications that require the signal transfer
Academic Editors: Faisel Tubbal, quality that this network can offer. Moreover, human endeavor is shifting toward the
Ladislau Matekovits and Raad Raad Internet of Things (IoT), also called the Internet of Everything (IoE), to provide, control,
and monitor a slew of routinely activities in the fields of personal and commercial com-
Received: 19 May 2022
munications, industry, health services, banking, safety, education, and entertainment, to
Accepted: 30 May 2022
mention just a few [1,2].
Published: 7 June 2022
The initial 5G network operating bands are divided into two sub-bands, called FR1
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral and FR2 (for Frequency Range). The first consists of a host of assigned frequencies between
with regard to jurisdictional claims in 450 MHz and 6 GHz, thus also dubbed “the sub 6 GHz band”. The second one comprises
published maps and institutional affil- allocated frequencies between 24.25 to 52.6 GHz [3–7]. In this one, the frequencies that are
iations. being exploited cover the n257 (26.50 GHz to 29.50 GHz), n258 (24.25 GHz to 27.50 GHz),
and the n261 (27.50 GHz to 28.35 GHz) sub-bands. Some of the antennas designed for
FR1, however, are the basis for those used for FR2 [8–10]. In this frequency range, special
attention has been placed for applications around 28 GHz, since it can operate with a
Copyright: © 2022 by the authors.
broader bandwidth [11].
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
This article is an open access article
This paper focuses on the design of a Single Input Single Output (SISO) antenna to
distributed under the terms and
cover the needs for devices using the frequency bands from 24.25 GHz to 29.50 GHz. In
conditions of the Creative Commons fact, the antenna was designed, simulated, fabricated, and measured, demonstrating a very
Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// good response from 23.1 GHz to 29.94 GHz.
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ Moreover, this antenna can be used as the basis for Multiple Input Multiple Output
4.0/). (MIMO) systems. MIMO allows for size optimization, broader bandwidth, stable radiation

Electronics 2022, 11, 1813. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics11121813 129 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/electronics

Electronics 2022, 11, 1813

patterns and higher gains, among other fundamental figures of merit [12–24]. These,
however, require careful design considerations, especially related to coupling. This has
become a very important field of endeavor, tackled by many researchers around the
world [25–33].
The paper is organized as follows. Section 2 details the antenna design process,
based on full wave simulations. Experimental results are presented and discussed in
Section 3. Section 4 presents a discussion of the results, compared to similar recently
reported structures. The paper closes with general conclusions, presented in Section 5.

2. Materials and Methods

The proposed novel geometry, named “slotted-decahedral antenna”, is shown in
Figure 1, which includes its geometrical design parameters.

Figure 1. Proposed novel geometry and design parameters.

The geometry is based on a decahedral patch with an eight-pointed star-shaped slot at

its center, and two rectangular grooves at the end of the radiator, which enhance stability
in the shape of the radiation pattern across the impedance bandwidth (from 23 GHz to
29.9 GHz) through its resonating response. A commercial Rogers 4350B substrate was used
for the proposed antenna design, which has a thickness of 0.787 mm, a loss tangent δ of
0.004 and a relative dielectric constant (εr ) of 3.66.
The width of the feed line (1 mm) and the spacing between the feed line and top
ground (0.3 mm) were chosen considering connector dimensions. The 2 mm wide line has
a characteristic impedance of 50 Ω to achieve impedance matching.
The structure was defined on a full-wave simulator, including as many material,
geometrical and process-related parameters as possible. This structure is shown in Figure 2,
a render that is very close to the real structure.

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Electronics 2022, 11, 1813

Figure 2. Antenna structure defined in the full-wave simulator, including the connector (h = 0.787 mm,
t = 17.5 μm).

The design evolution and a comparison of four important figures of merit during the
design process is shown in Figure 3, step #5 being the final design. Figure 3a illustrates the
five design steps; (b) the reflection coefficient at the input port, using a reference impedance
of 50 Ω; (c) the behavior of peak gain and radiation efficiency for every design step; and
(d), the radiation patterns obtained for each design step. Something that is noteworthy in
this figure is the change in shape of the radiation pattern, that is, each design step causes
the pattern to become more directive and more symmetrical.

Figure 3. Design evolution and comparison of (a) Steps of the design process and antenna dimensions;
(b) Return loss; (c) Peak gains and radiation efficiencies at 28 GHz; and (d) 2D—normalized radiation
patterns at 28 GHz.

During the design process different shapes for the antenna were tested, as well as
different shapes for the slots. Figure 4 shows six 3D-radiation patterns from the full-wave
simulator. The same figure contains squares and ellipses highlighting the points where the
radiation is the least intense.

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Electronics 2022, 11, 1813

Figure 4. 3D—radiation patterns (in dB) from simulation, at the left—side of different antenna shape,
and at the right-side of different slot shape.

The best performance, considering the radiation pattern shape, gain, radiation effi-
ciency and impedance bandwidth, is obtained when the antenna shape is 10 sided and the
slot is 8-pointed, herein named “eight-pointed star-shaped slot”.
To verify the working principle, the electric and magnetic fields were plotted; these
graphs are shown in Figure 5. At the lower frequency, 23 GHz, resonance is mainly due to
the decagon shape and rectangular grooves.
In the medium frequency range and beyond—that is 28 GHz to 30 GHz—some other
effects occur. When the fields reach the rectangular grooves, Figure 6, the magnetic field
(Bi ) induces an electromotive force (induced EMF) in the separate section. The induced
EMF gives rise to a magnetic field (BEMF ) going in the opposite direction, propagating in
this small separate section of the antenna. This occurs when the phase of the magnetic
field reaches its first positive half-cycle maximum (phase = 90◦ ). On the contrary, when
the second maximum of the negative half cycle occurs (phase = 270◦ ) the magnetic field
produced in the separate section now goes in the opposite direction than that generated
with the 90◦ phase. This change in the direction of magnetic field happens continuously,
since the phase of the electromagnetic wave changes as it propagates. Moreover, the electric
field (associated to the induced EMF, EEMF ) in the separate section also causes this section
to enter a state of resonance. Furthermore, the initial electric field (from the excitation
pathway, Ei ) is cancelled at the rectangular opening. At the same time, around 28 GHz and
30 GHz, the eight-pointed star-shaped slot at the center, becomes resonant.

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Electronics 2022, 11, 1813

Figure 5. (a) Electric field (b) magnetic field (in magnitude) plotted in the upper layer of the metal at
23 GHz, 28 GHz, and 30 GHz.

Figure 6. Magnetic and electric fields around the rectangular grooves.

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Electronics 2022, 11, 1813

On the other hand, the 33 GHz and 45 GHz frequency bands from |S11 | in Figure 3a
(step#5), are generated by the 8-pointed star slot, at its center, and by the two rectangular
grooves. However, when analyzing some radiation parameters, such as, radiation efficiency,
gain, and radiation pattern, the structure presents some nulls and secondary lobes, such as
Figure 7 shows. Besides, the radiation efficiency is about 84% and 91% at 33 and 45 GHz,
respectively. In consequence, these bands are not considered in the bandwidth of the novel
proposed SISO antenna.

Figure 7. Magnetic and electric fields (in magnitude) and 3D—radiation patterns (in dB) at 33 and
45 GHz, respectively.

3. Results
To verify that the proposed design performs correctly in the frequency band from
23.1 to 29.94 GHz, apt for 5G technologies, the antenna was fabricated and measured. Its
performance was then assessed from measured and simulated results.
A photograph of the fabricated antenna, including connectors, is presented as Figure 8a,b.
The challenge in the manufacture of this prototype was making the perforations in the
substrate to be able to use the connector, as well as the paths from the upper ground to the
lower ground plane.

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Electronics 2022, 11, 1813

Figure 8. Fabricated antenna; (a) Front view, and (b) back view.

The measurements were performed using an Anritsu Vector Network Analyzer (VNA),
in conjunction with an automatic calibration device (Autocal 36585 V). Figure 9 shows the
experimental setup.

Figure 9. Measurement setup to (a) calibration, (b) S-parameters, and (c) radiation test.

The return loss at the input port from simulation and measurement is shown in Figure 10a.
Moreover, the same figure shows a small frequency shift (600 MHz and 550 MHz) between
measurement and simulation, which does affect the operating bandwidth.

Figure 10. (a) Comparison of theoretical (using a full—wave simulator, FWS), equivalent circuit, and
experimental reflection coefficient at the input port of the proposed design; and (b) the proposed
equivalent circuit suitable for the 23 to 30 GHz frequency range.

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Electronics 2022, 11, 1813

In order to measure the radiation pattern, two antennas were built to determine the
appropriate parameters following the methodology described in [34], which requires the
two antennas to be identical. As can be seen on Figure 10a, the response of the two antennas
is practically identical in the frequency range of interest, and thus we can conclude that
they behave as identical electrically.
Additionally, a proposed equivalent circuit is shown in Figure 10b. The lumped
elements represent the multiple phenomena occurring in this frequency range, and the
model is seen to have a good correlation with full-wave simulation (FWS) results, carried
out in Ansys Electronics’ HFSS. The values of the proposed model are R1 = 10.29 Ω,
R2 = 29 Ω, R3 = 30.2 Ω, L1 = 3 nH, L2 = 2.22 nH, L3 = 1.45 nH, C1 = 0.01 pF, C2 = 0.04 pF,
and C3 = 0.049 pF. Such values were obtained through an optimization process using
ADS (Advance Design System, version 2022) simulations. Here, C2 and C3 represent the
rectangular grooves. R1 -L1 -C1 correspond to the response around 23 GHz, R2 -L2 -C2 to that
around 26.5 GHz, and R3 -L3 -C3 account for the response about 29.7 GHz. All together, they
model the behavior of the antenna from 23 to 30 GHz.
The measured and simulated 2D-radiation patterns are graphed in Figure 11, while
the gain values across the impedance bandwidth are shown in Figure 12.

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Figure 11. 2D—Normalized radiation patterns at (a) 23 GHz, (b) 28 GHz, and (c) 30 GHz from
simulation and measurement.

136
Electronics 2022, 11, 1813


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Figure 12. Measured and simulated gains from 23 to 30 GHz at θ = 0◦ .

Once the performance of the proposed SISO antenna has been tested and validated,
its principal figures of merit were determined to compare it with related works. This
comparison is summarized in Table 1.
The proposed design has a compact size, which makes it suitable for integration into
compact 5G devices that support IoT, and presents a wide impedance bandwidth covering
the n257, n258, and n261 bands.
The gain values in Figure 12 are above 6 dBi at 24 GHz and up to 9.2 dBi at 29.9 GHz,
from simulation, and above 5 dBi and up to 9 dBi from measurement. It is important to note
that these values are high considering they were obtained with a single radiating element
(SISO antenna).
The cross-polarization and co-polarization, in dB, are shown in Figure 13, from the
full-wave simulator, the co-pol values are higher than 0 dB and the cross-pol values are
around −40 dB.

 
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Figure 13. Co-polarization, cross-polarization, and radiation efficiency over the bandwidth of operation.

The radiation efficiency is also shown in Figure 13; it was obtained from the full-wave
simulation, considering finite conductivity, the loss coefficient of the substrate, and other
effects, such as mismatching of impedances of the proposed antenna and the connector’s
impedance across the impedance bandwidth, as well as the coupling between the holding
plates and the antenna. The values are better than 89% (at 29.9 GHz) and up to 92% (at
24 GHz).
The radiation efficiency is reduced when including the connector during the simula-
tion: 8% less at 23.1 GHz, 7% less at 28 GHz, and 9% less at 29.9 GHz. Besides, the shape of
the radiation pattern is affected by the connector (holding plates and backplane).
Although during the simulations many parameters were considered, some others
cannot be predicted and added to the simulation, such as imperfections in the metal of the
radiator element, reduction of the metal layer during manufacture, small differences in the
thickness of the substrate, imperfections inherent to the substrate, reflections due to the

137
Electronics 2022, 11, 1813

size of the connector being comparable to the size of the antenna, as well as random errors
due to setup calibration, cable attenuation (1.96–2.32 dB/m [35]), and misalignment of the
device under test.
We thus attribute the difference in gain between experimental and simulation results,
shown in Figure 12, to these effects.
Despite obtaining lower gains during the experimental validation, we believe that the
attained gain values are good, since they have a similar behavior to those of simulation,
and they are higher than 5 dBi throughout the impedance bandwidth. The average gain
from measurement is 6.44 dBi whereas the simulated one is 6.56 dBi.
The radiation patterns show good correlation with the simulated patterns. These have
one only beam, normal to the decahedral geometry, and an HPBW close to 40◦ .
The back lobes (in the three patterns) are apparently large, but this is only an apprecia-
tion, these lobes have lower values than the principal beam.

4. Discussion
Considering the recent 5G developments regarding antennas, a comparison with
reported works for the same frequency band for 5G technology above of 6 GHz (5G mm-
wave frequency band) is shown in Table 1.
It should be noted that this table contains two types of SISO (Single-Input Single-
Output) antennas, for a fair comparison; SISO antennas of a single element [36,37] and
SISO antennas of multiple elements [38–40].
Moreover, is important to highlight that the listed designs are the most recent develop-
ments (2020–2021).
The antenna herein proposed has many advantages when compared with [36], such
as higher gain, higher radiation efficiency, higher bandwidth, and compactness.
The designs presented by [38–40] have higher gains than our proposal, but it is
important to note that those works are arrays of elements. Thus, it is reasonable to expect
higher gains.
Our design bests that of [38] in impedance bandwidth, HPBW, and above all, it is
much more compact.
With respect to [39], the proposed design in this work is better in impedance band-
width, HPBW, radiation efficiency, and volume (considering that it requires two sub-
strate layers).
Furthermore, the design presented by [40] requires two substrate layers, and the total
area is large compared with our work. That work, however, attains good values of gain,
impedance bandwidth, and polarization.
A single element antenna is reported in [37], but it has a narrow bandwidth of just
1.5 GHz. Despite having a high gain value this design is large (19 times larger than ours),
and its HPBW is narrow.

Table 1. Comparison with Related Works Operating at 28 Ghz (SISO Antennas).

Work
[36] [38] [39] [40] [37] This Work
Parameter
Rogers Duroid
Rogers Rogers 5880 Rogers
Substrate and Rogers 5880 RT5880 Rogers 4350 B
RT/Duroid 5880 h1 = 1 mm RT/Duroid 5880
thickness (h) h = 0.787 mm h1 = 0.5 mm h = 0.787 mm
h = 0.52 mm h2 = 0.508 mm h = 0.127 mm
h2 = 0.8 mm
Total area (mm2 ) 21.9 × 5.64 75 × 100 34 × 36 ~ 40 × 40 48 × 67 13 × 13
(λ0 at 28 GHz) 2.05 λ0 × 0.53 λ0 7 λ0 × 9.34 λ0 3.18 λ0 × 3.36 λ0 3.74 λ0 × 3.74 λ0 4.48 λ0 × 6.26 λ0 1.21 λ0 × 1.21 λ0
2 × 2 Dual Reconfigurable Single element
Antipodal off-center-fed Magneto-electric dipole Leaky-wave antenna based on
Design type 2 × 2 Patch array
Vivaldi antenna dipoles 1 × 2 array antenna based on decahedral
(array) a HMSIW geometry
Reflection coefficient −25 dB ~−18 dB ~−15 dB ~−15 dB ~−15 dB −21.5 dB

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Electronics 2022, 11, 1813

Table 1. Cont.

Work
[36] [38] [39] [40] [37] This Work
Parameter
4.66 GHz 720 MHz 3 GHz 1.5 GHz 6.84 GHz
Impedance bandwidth 7 GHz (24.4–31.4 GHz)
(28 GHz band) (27.75–28.47 GHz) (27.2–30.2 GHz) (28–29.5 GHz) (23.1–29.94 GHz)
3.4 dBi
9.97 dBi 13.1 dBi 6.56 dBi
Gain 3.6 dBi 10 dBic 8.2 ± 0.6 dBi
12.3 dBi 13.2 dBi Average
7.4 dBi
Polarization N.A. Linear Dual linear Circular N.A. Linear
>86% >96% 88%
Radiation efficiency N.A. N.A. >89.4%
(28 GHz band) (28 GHz band) (28 GHz band)
266◦ (E-plane) 29.9◦ (E-plane) 12◦ (xz-plane) 40◦ (E-plane)
HPBW N.A. 29◦
160◦ (H-plane) 60.0◦ (H-plane) 11◦ (yz-plane) 65◦ (H-plane)
14.44–20.98 GHz
5.9 GHz 28 GHz
Operation frequencies 24.34–29 GHz 28 GHz bands 28 GHz band 28 GHz bands
28 GHz 38 GHz
33–40 GHz
Design complexity high low high high medium medium
Fabrication Easy Easy Difficult Difficult Easy Easy
N.A. is Not Available. HMSIW is Half-Mode Substrate Integrated Waveguide. HPBW is Half Power Beam Width.

5. Conclusions
In this paper we present a novel antenna design based on a decahedral patch with an
eight-pointed star-shaped slot and two rectangular grooves at the end of the radiator.
This design has a very compact size (13 × 13 × 0.787 mm3 ), wide impedance band-
width (6.84 GHz) covering the proposed bands for 5G technology, above 6 GHz (n257,
n258, and n261), specifically from 23.1 GHz to 29.9 GHz, stable radiation pattern, average
gain of 6.56 dBi (values from 5.3 dBi to 9.28 dBi), and radiation efficiency better than 89%,
from simulation.
The performance of the proposed novel geometry (SISO antenna) is suitable for com-
pact 5G devices that support IoT. The experimental validation was performed, showing
a very good agreement with simulation results, especially in return loss, gain and radia-
tion pattern.

Author Contributions: K.N.O.N. conceived the idea, designed the structure, and wrote the principal
ideas. R.S.M.A. revised the manuscript, contributed some ideas, and supervised the work. All authors
have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding: This research was funded by CONACyT, México, under grant numbers 852217 and 285199.
Institutional Review Board Statement: Not applicable.
Informed Consent Statement: Not applicable.
Data Availability Statement: Not applicable.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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 electronics
Article
A New mm-Wave Antenna Array with Wideband
Characteristics for Next Generation Communication Systems
Mehr E Munir 1 , Abdullah G. Al Harbi 2 , Saad Hassan Kiani 3 , Mohamed Marey 4 , Naser Ojaroudi Parchin 5, *,
Jehanzeb Khan 1 , Hala Mostafa 6 , Javed Iqbal 7,8 , Muhammad Abbas Khan 9 , Chan Hwang See 5
and Raed A. Abd-Alhameed 10

1 Department of Electrical Engineering, Iqra National University, Peshawar 25000, Pakistan;

[email protected] (M.E.M.); [email protected] (J.K.)
2 Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Jouf University, Sakaka 42421, Saudi Arabia;
[email protected]
3 Department of Electrical Engineering, IIC University of Technology, Phnom Penh 121206, Cambodia;
[email protected]
4 Smart Systems Engineering Laboratory, College of Engineering, Prince Sultan University,
Riyadh 11586, Saudi Arabia; [email protected]
5 School of Engineering and the Built Environment, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh EH10 5DT, UK;
[email protected]
6 Department of Information Technology, College of Computer and Information Sciences, Princess Nourah bint
Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia; [email protected]
7 Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Gomal University,
D.I. Khan 29050, Pakistan; [email protected]
8 School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Engineering Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia,
Nibog Tebal 14300, Penang, Malaysia
9 Department of Electrical Engineering, Balochistan University of Information Technology, Engineering and
Management Sciences, Quetta 87300, Pakistan; [email protected]
Citation: Munir, M.E.; Al Harbi, A.G.; 10 Faculty of Engineering and Informatics, University of Bradford, Bradford BD7 1DP, UK;
Kiani, S.H.; Marey, M.; Parchin, N.O.;
[email protected]
Khan, J.; Mostafa, H.; Iqbal, J.; Khan,
* Correspondence: [email protected]
M.A.; See, C.H.; et al. A New
mm-Wave Antenna Array with
Abstract: This paper presents a planar multi-circular loop antenna with a wide impedance bandwidth
Wideband Characteristics for Next
for next generation mm-wave systems. The proposed antenna comprises three circular rings with
Generation Communication Systems.
Electronics 2022, 11, 1560. https://
a partial ground plane with a square slot. The resonating structure is designed on a 0.254 mm thin
doi.org/10.3390/electronics11101560 RO5880 substrate with a relative permittivity of 2.3. The single element of the proposed design
showed a resonance response from 26.5 to 41 GHz, with a peak gain of 4 dBi and radiation efficiency
Academic Editors: Dimitra
of 96%. The proposed multicircular ring antenna element is transformed into a four-element array
I. Kaklamani and Manuel Arrebola
system. The array size is kept at 18.25 × 12.5 × 0.254 mm3 with a peak gain of 11 dBi. The antenna
Received: 3 April 2022 array is fabricated and measured using the in-house facility. The simulated and measured results are
Accepted: 11 May 2022 well agreed upon and are found to be suitable for mm-wave communication systems.
Published: 13 May 2022

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral

Keywords: circular rings; dual-beam; mm-wave; efficiency; gain; linear array
with regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional affil-
iations.
1. Introduction
With the evolution of communication systems in modern telecommunication infras-
tructure, 5G is standardized throughout the world, offering high channel capacity character-
Copyright: © 2022 by the authors.
istics with an increased number of users connected and low latency over the communication
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
channel [1–4]. The 5G spectrum is categorized into two broad regions as Sub6 GHz, ranging
This article is an open access article
under 6 GHz frequency, and mm-wave region, in which frequencies above 24 GHz and
distributed under the terms and
above are adopted. The bands of 28 GHz and 37 GHz and 39 GHz are licensed mm-wave
conditions of the Creative Commons
Attribution (CC BY) license (https://
bands in the mm-wave spectrum, for which in order to overcome high attenuation and
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
propagation losses, high gain antenna arrays are required [5–8]. These antenna arrays
4.0/).
include higher numbers of radiating elements with low-loss feeding networks [7,8]. There

Electronics 2022, 11, 1560. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics11101560 143 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/electronics

Electronics 2022, 11, 1560

are several antenna systems reported in the literature [9–15]. These antenna systems include
substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) antenna systems, air filled gap structures (AFGs),
and planar structures. In [9], a multilayer antenna array with wideband and high gain
characteristics is presented. The frequency range of the reported antenna is 57–71 GHz,
with a peak gain of 13.9 dBi and minute sidelobe levels, with the number of Vias included.
However, due to the nature of bonding films and asymmetric Vias inside SIW, the reported
structure is complex to build and integrate into RF circuits. Waveguide antennas usually
accomplish high gain, but the large volume of the metallic waveguide with a high manu-
facturing price is the main hitch for bulk production. In [10], an 8 × 8 element SIW array
is presented with a bandwidth range from 35.4–41.7 GHz, total peak radiation efficiency
of 82% and realized gain of 26.1 dBi. The array is difficult to assemble due to the higher
numbers of Vias included. Planar antenna arrays are simple to assemble compared to
SIWs. The transmission line losses are high compared to SIW, but they can be neglected
with careful feed network modeling. A four-element T shape planar antenna array is
presented in [11]. The peak gain achieved is 11.5 dBi and the bandwidth attained is 8 GHz,
approximately. A modified four-element hook shape antenna array in [12] exhibited a
dual-beam radiation response, with a small angular beamwidth of twenty-four Degree. A
four-element planar antenna in [13] shows a dual-band response at the central frequency of
28 GHz and 38 GHz. The reported antenna showed a peak gain of 7 dBi, but the bandwidth
at both resonances is extremely low. Metamaterial-induced mm-wave antennas have also
been reported, but they are difficult to assemble and the cost and complexity generally
increase [14,15].
In [16], a circular shape antenna with a slotted loop structure is presented for Bluetooth
and Wi-Fi applications, covering resonance from 2.4 to 3.1 GHz. The antenna is fabricated on
an FR4 substrate with a thickness of 1.6 mm. The size of the single element is 35 × 35 mm2 .
This design is then transformed into a four-element linear array system using the Wilkinson
power divider. In the four-element array, the radiating elements are separated at 40 mm
apart and the total dimension of the proposed array is 155 × 75 mm2 . The peak gain
achieved is 8.39, while total efficiency is 77%.
Similarly, Ref. [17] presents a single element with a super bandwidth operating from
6.5 to 100 GHz. The proposed antenna offers stable radiation patterns at lower resonance
frequencies but at higher frequencies, the radiation patterns deviate. The size of the antenna
is 20 × 20 mm2 only while the maximum gain achieved is 10 dB.
Therefore, to address those limitations, in this paper, a three circular novel shape
four-element antenna array is presented with dual-beam characteristics. The proposed
antenna is simple in structure and provides high gain and dual beam characteristics with a
narrow beamwidth. The proposed antenna offers a wide frequency bandwidth of 15.5 GHz
and radiation efficiency above 90%. This paper is organized as follows. Section 1 covers
the introduction. Section 2 shows the complete design analysis and array transformation.
Section 3 shows the results and discussions from the simulated and obtained measured
results with a comparison table. In the Section 4, the conclusion of the proposed work
is provided.

2. Antenna Design
The proposed multi circular loop ring mm-wave antenna is designed on an ultra-
thin Ro5880 substrate, with a relative permittivity of 2.3. The substrate is 0.254 mm in
height. Figure 1 shows the proposed antenna’s front and back view. The dimensions of the
proposed antenna in mm are as follows: A = 0.3, E = 6.75, M = 9, N = 11.5, DD = 1, O = 4.75.
The wide bandwidth characteristic of the proposed antenna is achieved using several
numbers of the conducted parametrical studies. These studies included ring interspacing,
transmission line feed modeling, and square slot on the ground plane. Figure 2 shows the
overall response of the parametrical studies.

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Electronics 2022, 11, 1560

(a) (b)

Figure 1. (a) Front (b) back views of the proposed antenna.

As observed in Figure 2a, the parameter DD has a significant impact on the resonance
response attained. The ground slot parametrical studies were conducted with a 0.1 mm
apart value. As shown, at 0.8 mm, the antenna showed resonance from 27 to 42.6 GHz,
while for 0.9 mm, the bandwidth ranged from 26.7 to 42.0 GHz. The optimum response
was attained at a 1 mm ground slot value, exhibiting bandwidth characteristics from 26
to 41 GHz. It was observed that the ground slot affects higher frequency. In addition, the
reflection coefficient response overall moves to lower values. Next, the parametric response
concerning the distance between the circular loops is analyzed. The distance impact is
analyzed at a 0.1 mm value. As observed in Figure 2b, the lower frequency range is affected
by the starting values of 0.65 and 0.7 mm. The optimum response was achieved at 0.75 mm,
as after this value, the reflection coefficient response is degraded. Figure 2c shows the feed
line modeling effect for the proposed structure. As observed in Figure 2c, at the initial
value of 6.55 mm, the resonance response stretches up to 42 GHz but the starting frequency
response also moves forward. With the gradual increase of 0.05 mm, the resonance response
moved backwards and the optimum response was achieved at 6.75 mm. Figure 2d shows
the single element reflection coefficient obtained.

(a) (b)

Figure 2. Cont.

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Electronics 2022, 11, 1560

(c) (d)

Figure 2. Parametrical studies for (a) slot length (DD), (b) distance among circular loops (c) feedline
length (E) and (d) single element.

3. Results and Discussions

The proposed multi circular is fabricated and tested using the in-house facility.
Figures 3 and 4 show the simulated and measured reflection coefficient and efficiency
with the measured gain. As observed in the figure, the reflection coefficient response is in
good agreement. The measured gain differs 0.2 dB from the simulated gain at 28 GHz. The
simulated radiation and total efficiency are above 95% at 28 GHz.

Figure 3. Single element simulated and measured reflection coefficient.

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Electronics 2022, 11, 1560

Figure 4. Single element gain and efficiency.

Array Transformation
The proposed design is transformed into a four-element linear array to achieve high
gain characteristics. The array is shown in Figure 5. As observed in the figure, the array
total length and width are 18.5 × 22.5 mm, respectively. The ground plane length is kept at
12.5 mm. The feed network is composed of a 50 Ω feed line, divided into a 100 Ω feedline,
which is further subdivided into 70.7 Ω. The end feedlines connecting each radiating
elements are 100 Ω feed lines. The widths of the feedlines are as follows: 50 Ω = 0.7 mm,
100 Ω = 0.28 mm and 70.7 Ω = 0.36 mm. Figure 5c shows the surface current distributions
of the feed network at 28 GHz. As observed, the array network distributes power equally
among the radiating elements. Figure 6 shows the simulated and measured reflection
coefficient response of the proposed four-element array system. From the figure, it is clear
that the simulated and measured results are in good agreement. The minute disruptions
are the result of fabrication and measurement errors.

(a) (b)

Figure 5. Cont.

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Electronics 2022, 11, 1560

Figure 5. (a) Front layer, (b) back layer, and (c) surface current distributions of the proposed four-
element antenna.

(a) (b)

Figure 6. (a) Fabricated prototype (b) simulated and measured S-parameters.

The performance parameters of the proposed antenna array are shown in Figure 7.
The radiation efficiency throughout the band of interest is above 89% and the measured
efficiency is above 84%. At 28 GHz, the radiation and total efficiency is 94% and 93%,
respectively. The gain of the proposed array ranges from 9 dBi to 11.5 dBi. The gain of
the antenna array becomes low at the higher frequency end. The simulated gain of the
array at 28 GHz is 10.7 dBi and the measured gain is 10.5 dBi. The peak gain achieved
is 11.5 dB at 30.5 GHz. Figure 8 shows the proposed antenna array radiation patterns at
28 GHz resonance. The patterns show the far-field characteristics for Phi 90 and Phi = 0. As
observed in the figure, the array exhibits a dual-beam characteristic with a very narrow

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beamwidth, as required for mm-wave systems. The simulated and measured radiation
patterns are in good agreement. Figure 9 shows the 3D antenna radiation pattern of the
28 GHz system.

Figure 7. Performance parameters of array systems.

(a) (b)

Figure 8. Radiation patterns at 28 GHz (a) Phi = 0 (b) Phi = 90.

Table 1 summarizes the proposed antenna contribution in the literature. The proposed
antenna system is compared with Refs. [4,11,13,14,18,19]. Refs. [3,11,19] are based on the
planar monopole antenna array, while Refs. [4,18] are based on the SIW technique. From
the table, it is concluded that the proposed antenna array is well designed and delivers
high gain with reduced size and wide bandwidth characteristics.

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Figure 9. 3D antenna gain.

Table 1. Proposed four-element array comparison with the published literature.

Antenna
Ref. Frequency Size Configuration Gain Efficiency
Elements
[4] 53–71 2×2 23 × 24 SIW 10 82
[11] 26–30 1×4 18.5 × 24 Planar 11 94
[13] 25.5–29.5 1×4 20 × 22 Planar 10.2 80
[16] 2.45–3.1 1×4 155 × 75 Planar 8.39 77
[17] 6.5–100 1 20 × 20 Planar 10 N/A
[18] 25.05–34.92 1×4 45 × 20 SIW 12.5 85
[19] 23.34–33.92 1×4 37.6 × 14.3 Planar 10.7 90
Proposed 26–38.5 1×4 18.5 × 12.5 Planar 11.5 95

4. Conclusions
This paper presented a novel circular ring shape antenna on a thin RO5880 substrate.
The antenna exhibited a wideband response from 26.5 to 41 GHz, with gain varying between
3 and 5.4 dBi and radiation efficiency greater than 90% throughout the bandwidth. The
proposed antenna was transformed into a four-element linear array system. The size of the
array was 18.5 × 12.5, which is quite small, and the bandwidth of the array was observed
to be from 26 to 38.5 GHz. The peak gain achieved was 11.5 dBi, while at 28 GHz, it was
observed to be 10.7 dBi. The proposed four-element array is fabricated, and the simulated
and measured results were found to be in good agreement. Through the performance
comparison with the reported literature, the proposed antenna system was found to be a
potential candidate for next generation mm-wave communication systems.

Author Contributions: Conceptualization, R.A.A.-A., M.E.M. and S.H.K.; methodology, J.I., M.A.K.
and A.G.A.H.; software, M.E.M. and S.H.K.; validation, C.H.S., M.A.K. and A.G.A.H.; formal analysis,
N.O.P.; investigation, J.I. and N.O.P.; resources, M.M. and H.M.; data curation, M.M. and H.M.;
writing—original draft preparation, M.E.M. and S.H.K.; writing—review and editing, J.I., N.O.P.,
C.H.S. and S.H.K.; visualization, J.K.; supervision, M.M. and J.K.; project administration, S.H.K.;
funding acquisition, M.M., R.A.A.-A. and C.H.S. All authors have read and agreed to the published
version of the manuscript.

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Electronics 2022, 11, 1560

Funding: Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University Researchers Supporting Project number
(PNURSP2022R137), Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The work
of Mohamed Marey is supported by Prince Sultan University.
Institutional Review Board Statement: Not applicable.
Informed Consent Statement: Not applicable.
Data Availability Statement: All data have been included in the study.
Acknowledgments: Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University Researchers Supporting Project
number (PNURSP2022R137), Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The work of Mohamed Marey is supported by Prince Sultan University.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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 electronics
Article
A Compact Sub-GHz Wide Tunable Antenna Design for
IoT Applications
Rifaqat Hussain 1 , Saad I. Alhuwaimel 2 , Abdullah M. Algarni 1 , Khaled Aljaloud 3 and Niamat Hussain 4, *

1 Electrical Engineering Department, King Fahd University for Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM),
Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia; [email protected] (R.H.); [email protected] (A.M.A.)
2 King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, Riyadh 12354, Saudi Arabia; [email protected]
3 College of Engineering, Muzahimiyah Branch, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2454,
Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia; [email protected]
4 Department of Smart Device Engineering, School of Intelligent Mechatronics Engineering, Sejong University,
Seoul 05006, Korea
* Correspondence: [email protected]

Abstract: This work presents a compact meandered loop slot-line 5G antenna for Internet of Things
(IoT) applications. Recently, sub-gigahertz (sub-GHz) IoT technology is widely spreading. It enables
long-range communications with low power consumption. The proposed antenna structure is
optimized to operate at sub-GHz bands without any additional complex biasing circuitry or antenna
structure. A miniaturized design was achieved by a meandered structured loop slot-line that is loaded
reactively with a varactor diode. Wideband frequency reconfigurability (FR) was achieved by the use
of the varactor diode. The proposed antenna resonates over the frequency band of 758–1034 MHz
with a minimum bandwidth of 17 MHz over the entire frequency band. The RO4350 substrate with
dimensions of 0.18λg × 0.13λg mm2 is used to design the proposed antenna design. The efficiency
and gain values varied from 54–67% and 0.86–1.8 dBi. Compact planar structure, narrow-band
operation (suitable for NB-IoT) and simple biasing circuitry, which allows for sub-GHz operation, are
Citation: Hussain, R.; Alhuwaimel,
S.I.; Algarni, A.M.; Aljaloud, K.;
unique and attractive features of the design.
Hussain, N. A Compact Sub-GHz
Wide Tunable Antenna Design for Keywords: sub-GHz; meandered loop; frequency agile; IoT antenna; 5G antenna
IoT Applications. Electronics 2022, 11,
1074. https://doi.org/10.3390/
electronics11071074
1. Introduction
Academic Editors: Faisel Tubbal,
Ladislau Matekovits and Raad Raad The exponential Internet of things (IoT) growth with the use of small-cell devices
results in the massive expansion of the traffic loads. This demand has revolutionized
Received: 31 January 2022 the current technology into 5G, which requires ultra-low latency, a high data rate, and
Accepted: 27 March 2022 improved capacity. By 2030, multibillion IoT technology users are expected. The growth of
Published: 29 March 2022
sub-GHz low-cost and reliable RF front-end devices is increasing as a requirement of this
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral massive connectivity. Such systems are good candidates as the spectrum below 1 GHz is
with regard to jurisdictional claims in less crowded and reliable propagation can be ensured in large infrastructures. The Global
published maps and institutional affil- System for Mobile Communications (GSMA) industry completely described the details
iations. of 3GPP standards for both NB-IoT and LTE-M technologies as part of the developing
specifications for 5G. NB-IoT and LTE-M technologies are continuously evolving as a part
of 5G as per 3GPP. Both technologies are suitable for 5G-enabled NB-IoT devices.
NB-IoT applications include street lighting, electronic appliances, sensors, actuators,
Copyright: © 2022 by the authors.
and other machines that can be connected to the internet and with each other through
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
device-to-device (D2D) connectivity. NB-IoT networks are suitable for a large number
This article is an open access article
of connected devices with extended battery life. For such applications, long-range and
distributed under the terms and
low-power consumption communications are required to work in the sub-GHz bands. As a
conditions of the Creative Commons
result, designing compact structure sub-GHz antenna systems that work over multiple fre-
Attribution (CC BY) license (https://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
quency bands lower than 1 GHz has become a necessity. This is attainable using frequency
4.0/).
reconfigurable (FR) antennas that have omni-directional radiation characteristics, which

Electronics 2022, 11, 1074. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics11071074 153 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/electronics

Electronics 2022, 11, 1074

extend the antenna coverage area [1]. The proposed NB-IoT antenna design is suitable for
numerous applications, such as healthcare, pet tracking, kid monitoring, smart metering,
parking alarms, event detectors, and home appliances.
With the fast-growing IoT applications, the need for efficient power management
and communication over long distances are challenging requirements. In the literature,
several IoT antenna designs that address various IoT application challenges at different
frequencies have been reported. The reported solutions include compact and low-profile
antenna designs for multi-standard IoT antennas with wide-range frequency coverage
in sub-6 GHz bands. These various antenna designs include inverted-F antennas, loop
antennas, and monopole antennas.
Antenna designs based on monopoles for IoT applications were presented in [2–4].
Such solutions could be appropriate for wideband antenna operation intended to cover
many wireless communication systems standards. In [2], a compact (20 mm × 30 mm)
multi-band single element antenna is presented. The proposed antenna covers the following
frequency bands: 1.79–2.63 GHz, 3.46–3.97 GHz, 4.92–5.85 GHz, and 7.87–8.40 GHz. This is
an integrated 4G/5G antenna design to operate at sub-6 GHz and in the mm-wave band.
Slots and monopoles were utilized to achieve the desired integrated operation. This is one
of the pioneering works in 4G/5G integrated solutions. A compact structure monopole
antenna that is resonating over the frequency band from 3 to 12 GHz, the board dimensions
are 9.45 mm × 18.5 mm was presented in [3]. In this work, a slot antenna based 4G/5G
integrated solution was provided using a dual-function planar connected array. The authors
in [4], a multi-band antenna was presented for IoT applications. The main antenna features
were its suitability for near-field communications in both microwave frequency bands and
ultra-high frequency (UHF) bands. In addition, the antenna is suitable for low-frequency
bands operating in IoT applications. This work also reported a 4G/5G integrated solution
based on a monopole antenna array.
Several patch antenna designs for IoT applications were investigated in [5,6]. A
2.4 GHz high fractional bandwidth compact patch antenna was presented in [5]. The
proposed antenna consists of an inverse S-shaped meander line that is connected to the
rectangular box with a slot. This technique is utilized to reduce the antenna dimensions.
The board dimensions are 40 mm × 1.6 mm. Both parasitic patch and capacitive loading
were used to achieve a gain of −0.256 dBi and an overall efficiency of 79%. The work in [6]
presented a miniaturized patch antenna design that operates in sub-GHz. A 95% miniatur-
ization was achieved, compared to a conventional patch antenna, over the frequency band
805 to 835 MHz. The use of high folding, slots, and slits with inductive loading, utilizing
vias, helped in achieving this excellent miniaturization. The dimensions of the antenna
board with the elevated structure are 30 mm × 31.84 mm × 4.37 mm.
Other antenna types for IoT applications are reported in the literature. For example,
the following: monopole antennas loaded with inverted-L shaped stubs in [7], 3D-printed
antennas [8], loop antennas [9], and glass frame antennas [10]. The solutions provided
in [7,8] are based on monopole antennas and non-planar antenna structures. In [9], a
2.45 GHz transparent conductor antenna for IoT applications was presented. The variations
in the realized antenna gain in the presence of metal frames nearby have been discussed
in detail. The antenna is compact in size, with dimensions of 36 mm × 36 mm × 0.5 mm.
In this work, a dual-band shared-aperture based antenna is presented with high channel
isolation. Some other recent work on antenna designs for IoT applications was also reported
in [11–14]. All these antennas operate above 1 GHz and hence are not suitable for narrow
band IoT applications for long-range communication.
Most of the antenna designs operating in sub-GHz are elevated printed inverted F-
antennas (PIFA), monopole, or dipole antennas [15–19]. In [15], a folded miniaturized patch
antenna was presented for IoT device operating at 805–835 MHz. In [16], digitally tunable
capacitor (DTC) was used to tune the antenna from 600–900 MHz. The digital control
and the low power consumption make this antenna a good candidate for IoT applications.
In [17], a transparent double folded loop antenna was presented for IoT applications. The

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Electronics 2022, 11, 1074

antenna was operating at 2.4 GHz with a bandwidth of 500 MHz. In [18], a 3D printed
antenna-on-package antenna was presented with isotropic patterns for an IoT application
operating at 2.4 GHz. Similarly, in [19], an energy harvesting rectenna was presented for IoT
applications. The proposed antenna design would utilize an energy harvesting mechanism
using rectenna to mitigate the challenges of battery constraint issues. The antenna was
operated at a frequency band of 2.4 GHz.
Also, other frequency reconfigurable antennas closely resembling the proposed an-
tenna are reported in [20–23]. The solutions provided are based on either reactive loading
or meandering structures. However, neither of them was able to achieve a compact planar
structure with sub-GHz operation. Also, the solutions provided in [20–23] are non-planar
structures or non-reconfigurable structures with large antenna dimensions.
Thus, the non-compact and non-planar antennae limited the tuning capabilities, affect-
ing their suitability for small IoT applications and terminal devices. Only a few slot-based
antenna designs that operate in sub-GHz bands are reported in the literature, such as [24,25].
The solutions provided in [24,25] used a simple slot structure to tune the antenna in the
desired frequency. Most of the reported frequency reconfigurable antenna designs are
operating in frequency bands that are above 2 GHz. The proposed design in [24] covers the
frequency bands of 0.9, 1.8, 1.9, and 2.4 GHz. The antenna size is 38 mm × 16 mm. In [25],
a dual antenna design that covers the 0.860 and 2.45 GHz frequency bands was presented.
The antenna is 50 mm × 50 mm in size.
In [26], an energy harvesting antenna design for IoT applications was presented. The
proposed antenna consisted of a rectangular patch along with a filter and rectifier circuitry
operating at a frequency band of 2.4 GHz. The authors provided an energy harvesting
solution without optimizing the antenna. The authors in [27] present a 60 GHz mm-wave
antenna for the IoT. The total bandwidth of this antenna is 9.8 GHz having a peak gain
of 9.6 dBi. The performance of the antenna was thoroughly evaluated to determine the
radiation coverage. The given antenna design is a well-suited option for body-centric IoT
applications because of its compact structure.
Very few antennas for sub-GHz were reported, as it is quite challenging to design
a compact antenna structure. This is because of the poor input impedance matching
with the small antenna size. In [28], a detailed survey based on fractal antennas was
presented. The significance of the fractal antennas for IoT application is well studies
and provided a thorough literature survey on fractal antennas. Various IoT antennas are
reported in the literature [29–31]. In [29], a transparent 2-element 5G MIMO antenna for
sub-6 GHz applications is described. Thus, this work provided a guideline on the use
of transparent for IoT applications. Similarly, a low-profile single-band and dual-band
antenna were presented in [30] for IoT applications. The slot structure was optimized to
operation in single as well as dual band. in [31], the authors proposed an artificial magnetic
conductor-backed compact wearable antenna was proposed. Such antennas are good
candidates for IoT applications. At the expense of complex antenna geometry. Comparing
to other works, the proposed antenna design outperformed in terms of various features are
comprehensively discussed in this article.
The novelty and distinguishing features of the proposed work are described in detail
as follows:
(1) To overcome the challenging requirement for IoT devices to have extended coverage
with minimal power consumption, it is highly desirable to design a compact antenna
for lower frequency bands. The proposed antenna structure is an attempt to meet
the desired performance and standards of narrow-band IoT (NB-IoT) applications for
5G-enabled IoT devices. None of the available literature [2–6,15–23], and [32–36] can
be used for NB-IoT in sub-GHz with wide tuning capability;
(2) A compact meandered loop slot-line antenna with frequency agility suitable for
NB-IoT applications that operate in sub-GHz bands is proposed. The work cited
in [4,6,15–19,21,23] covered sub-GHz bands, but the majority of them were not suitable
for NB-IoT operations;

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Electronics 2022, 11, 1074

(3) The proposed antenna benefits from the following unique features: simple biasing
circuitry, compact planar structure, and it operates over the sub-GHz bands which
fit for NB operations, but most of the existing antennas are not suitable for NB
operation [2,3,6,16–19,21–23,32–36];
(4) Miniaturization was achieved using a unique combination of meandered loop slot-line
along with a reactively loaded slot antenna. A 173% size reduction in area is obtained
using this technique. As per the authors’ information, none of the works achieved
such a high level of miniaturization;
(5) Resonating bands’ smooth variation is noticed over a very wide band from 758 to
1034 MHz with antenna dimensions of 60 × 27 mm2 ;
(6) Moreover, a step-by-step antenna design procedure and analysis are provided to
give general guidelines to understanding how to scale its design for any desired
frequency band;
(7) As per 3GPP Release 13 and 15, the proposed antenna design is suitable to be utilized
in the following NB-IoT bands: B-5, B-8, B-13, B-14, B-17, B-18, B-19, B-20, and B-26.
None of the reported literature can cover such a large number of sub-1 GHz bands.
(8) The proposed NB-IoT antenna is best suited for 5G-enabled NB-IoT devices.
Section 2 of this paper discusses the proposed antenna design details and the theoreti-
cal analysis. The simulated and measured scattering parameters results and the radiation
characteristics of the proposed antenna design are presented in Section 3. Finally, Section 4
provides a set of conclusions about the presented work.

2. Design Details
The major challenges for IoT antenna designs are the requirements for compact antenna
structures and sub-GHz operations for better power management along with long-distance
communication. In this section, the detailed antenna geometry of the proposed design
is presented, equivalent circuit diagram and the physics behind the antenna’s operation,
followed by a step-by-step antenna design procedure.

2.1. Antenna Geometry

Figure 1 shows the proposed a meandered loop slot-line antenna design. The antenna
was designed and fabricated using an RO4350 substrate with dimensions of
27 mm × 60 mm × 0.76 mm. The relative permittivity (εr ) of the substrate is 3.48 and its
loss tangent (tanδ) is 0.0036. The Rogers substrate can be replaced with FR-4 to obtain good
resonance sweeps but with slightly lower radiation efficiency values. For the Rogers-4350
board, the temperature coefficient of the dielectric constant is among the lowest of any
circuit board material. This makes it an ideal substrate for broadband applications. After
optimizing the antenna design, the design is mainly composed of the following: an etched
slot-line structure from the ground plane and a meandered-shaped rectangular slot-line
used to increase the radiating structure’s effective electrical length. The proposed antenna
design dimensions are the following: l1 = 38, l2 = 36, l3 = 19, l4 = 11, l5 = 7.5, w1 = 5.5,
w2 = 3.5, w3 = 6, w4 = 4.
The proposed antenna top layer detailed view is shown in Figure 1a. It is composed
of a matched 50 Ω input impedance (Zin ), a microstrip feedline, and the biasing circuitry
of the varactor diode. The varactor diode biasing circuit (Dv) consisted of a series of
combinations of RF chokes (L1 and L2 ) and current limiting resistors (R1 and R2 ). Sorting
posts (SP) were used to connect the bottom layer varactor diode to the biasing circuitry
in the top layer. RF chokes were used to isolate the radiating structure from the power
supply. The reverse-biased varactor diode acted as a DC blocking capacitor. Hence, the
DC biasing part and the RF radiating structure are well isolated and have a very minimal
effect on the antenna’s performance. SMV 1233 varactor diode is used [37]. The varactor
diode (SMV1233) maximum reverse bias current is 20 nA. From the maximum current
specifications, the maximum biasing circuit power loss is −87.7 dBm.

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Electronics 2022, 11, 1074

Figure 1. Proposed antenna (a) Top view (b) Bottom view (All dimensions are in millimeters, mm).

The ground plane detailed view is shown in Figure 1b. After optimization, the
rectangular slot operates at below 1 GHz frequency band. After several parametric sweeps
of the structure’s length and width, the resultant structure is shown. The 1 mm wide
uniform slot-line is used throughout the meandered structure. The final optimized antenna
dimensions are shown in Figure 1b. The varactor diodes’ exact positions and placements are
critical as they help in achieving wide frequency band tuning. The LPKF S103 machine [38]
was used to fabricate the antenna. The fabricated model top and bottom layers are shown
in Figure 2a,b, respectively. The other antenna design dimensions are shown in Figure 1.
An increase in the slot length will increase the electrical length of the antenna, and hence
the antenna will resonate at a lower frequency band. On the other hand, any change in
the slot width will result in poor matching. The given optimal slot width gave us the best
Zin matching.

Figure 2. Fabricated antenna (a) Top view (b) Bottom view (dimensions are in millimeters, mm).

2.2. Antenna Operation

Slot-based FR antennas gain more attraction as they are low-profile planar structures,
easy to integrate, and able to operate in wide frequency bands. In the literature, open
and closed-ended slot designs were investigated and reported. The closed ends or short-
circuited slot antenna can be modeled as λ/2 transmission line which corresponds to its
fundamental frequency of resonance [39]. These antennas may be loaded with capacitive

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reactance. The antenna resonance can be optimized over a wide frequency band. The
rectangular slot antenna fundamental resonance frequency is given by the following [40]:
c c
fr = ×  (1)
( lm + wm ) r +1
4 f res ε1.5ε r

lm = l1 + l2 + 4l3 + 2l4 + 2l5 , wm = 4w1 + 4w2 + w3 + w4 , c is the speed of light in free

space, εr is the relative permittivity of the substrate, fr is the modified rectangular antenna’s
fundamental resonance frequency, and the term (lm + wm ) is the mean circumference of
the meandered rectangular ring slot antenna. In the proposed design, the effective mean
circumference can be an estimate of several rectangular slots that determine the overall
fundamental resonance frequency.
The meandered loop-slot structure was reactively loaded using a varactor diode
(Dv ), as shown in Figures 1 and 2. The varactor diode was utilized to vary the slot-line
capacitance at a certain point. As a result, it helped in bringing the resonance frequency
down to the lower band. The reactive loading is a non-uniform operation, and it can be
determined using the location of the varactor diode (Lv1 ), its capacitance value Cv and the
impedance (Zo ) of the slot line structure. The resonance frequency of the reactive loaded
slot can be determined using the transmission line equivalent circuit model as given in the
following [41]:

tan(β Lt ) + tan(β (Lt − Lv )) − ωCv Zin tan(β L1 )tanβ (Lt − Lv ) = 0 (2)

where Lt is the total length of the slot (Lt = lm + wm ), β is the propagation constant. This
constant depends on the frequency of operation Lv is the distance of diode placement from
the feedline, Cv is the varactor diode capacitance, and ω is the angular frequency. The
reactively loaded slot antenna resonance frequency can be numerically determined by
solving Equation (2). The resonance frequencies obtained for the optimized design using
HFSS were also compared with theoretical values based on Equation (2). The two results
(theoretical, HFSS-based) obtained are (750 MHz and 764 MHz), (826 MHz, 836 MHz),
(901 MHz, 885 MHz), (981 MHz, 964 MHz), (1052 MHz, 1029 MHz). A small variation in
values is observed. Thus, the mathematical expression derived is useful to obtain an insight
into the effective reactive loading of the slot antenna structure.
Figure 3 shows the equivalent circuit model of the proposed meandered loop-slot
antenna. The series combination of a microstrip feedline (series Lf Cf circuit) and an RLC
resonating circuit that represents the loop-slot radiating structure is shown in Figure 3a.

Figure 3. Equivalent circuit model (a) Meandered loop-slot with feedline (b) Varactor diode (c) Com-
plete circuit model.

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The varactor diode equivalent circuit and the complete antenna design equivalent
circuit model are shown in Figure 3b,c, respectively [42]. The antenna equivalent circuit
model analysis assists in gaining a better understanding of the proposed antenna design
multi-band operation, the slot reactive loading, and FR antenna operation. ADS can be
used to obtain the antenna circuit element values and the antenna reactive loading parts
can be extracted by using the S-parameters [43].

2.3. Antenna Design Procedure

This section provides a step-by-step antenna design procedure and optimization steps
to obtain the final design. The first step to designing the proposed antenna was designing a
rectangular slot-line antenna structure with dimensions 24 mm × 15 mm, fed with 50 Ω
microstrip line. The antenna was resonating above the 2 GHz bands. The dimensions of
the slot were optimized to make it resonate above 1.5 GHz by increasing the electrical
length of the radiating slot. To further reduce the resonance frequency to lower bands,
the rectangular structure was turned into a meandered structure to achieve a resonance
frequency that is below 2 GHz, as shown in Figure 4a. For the given meandered structure,
the slot structure was resonating at 1.75 GHz. The antenna was further optimized by
increasing its electrical length, as shown in Figure 4b. The given structure was working
at 1.305 GHz. The width of each slot as well as the distance between different meandered
slots were optimized to tune the antenna to be effectively loaded with varactor capacitance
to cover the maximum sub-GHz bands of the proposed antenna structure. For the same
antenna structure as shown in Figure 4b, the theoretical resonance value calculated based
on Equation 1 was 1.287 GHz. Hence, a very close agreement between the theoretical and
simulated values was observed.

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

Figure 4. Zin curves (a) Stage-1 Zin curves (b) Zin curves of the optimized design (c) Zin curves with
varactor loading (d) Re{Zin } for various capacitance values.

A single varactor diode was utilized to bring the resonance frequency down to sub-
GHz bands, as well as a continuous sweep of frequencies was obtained over a wide band.
Figure 4a–c show the real(Re ) and imaginary(Im ) parts of input impedance (Zin ). It can
be seen that Re{Zin } is around 50Ω while the Im{Zin } is crossing the zero value at the
resonating bands. The placement of the diode was very critical as the input impedance (Zin )
matching was dependent on it. The varactor diode’s various locations resulted in different
reactive loading effects on the radiating structure. To obtain an optimum Zin matching,
several parametric analyses were performed, including its placement on the slot structure.

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The antenna optimized dimensions and the placement of diodes resulted in a continuous
frequency sweep from 758∼1034 MHz, which can thus support several narrow-band IoT
applications below 1 GHz. Figure 4d shows the Re{Zin } for different capacitance values of
0.84, 0.90, 1.24, 2.09, and 5.08 pF. It has been observed that the capacitive loading helped in
matching the Zin at different resonating bands for different values of reverse bias voltages
across the varactor diode.

3. Results of Simulation and Measurements

For the proposed meandered loop-slot antenna, the simulation and modeling were
performed using HFSSTM . The various dimensions of antenna design have been optimized
to achieve the sub-1 GHz band. This included optimal varactor diode placement, maximum
effective reactive loading, as well as antenna placement on the PCB board. The S-parameters
were measured using the Agilent N9918A VNA, while the antenna efficiencies and gain
patterns were computed using the SATIMO Star lab anechoic chamber.

3.1. Reflection Coefficient Curve

The reflection curves characterize the proposed antenna design. The simulated and
measured results of the reflection curves are shown in Figure 5. Figure 5a shows the pro-
posed antenna design simulated reflection coefficient curves (S11 ). The resulted curves are
for the design with varactor diode capacitance values from 0.84–5.08 pF and the correspond-
ing reverse bias voltage values ranges from 15 to 0 V. A smooth variation in the resonating
bands was observed from 753–1040 MHz with a −10 dB bandwidth of 17 MHz. The wide
frequency sweeping with narrowband operations is the proposed antenna design’s key
characteristic. The proposed slot radiating structure can easily cover several IoT bands in
the sub-GHz range.

(a) (b)
Figure 5. Reflection coefficient curves of the antenna (a) Simulated S11 (b) Measured S11 .

The proposed antenna’s measured S-parameters are shown in Figure 5b. It is clear
from the figure that the measured results are in good agreement with the simulation results.
In the event of any small variation between the two results, it can be compensated for as
continuous frequency sweeps have been obtained for both. This demonstrates the main
advantage of using varactor diode capacitive loading for these types of operations.
The slight variations in both simulated and measured S11 are mainly due to the
substrate properties, fabrication tolerances, and varactor diode modeling flexibility in
HFSS [44,45]. The HFSS does not consider diode losses and packaging effects. Also,
manual soldering of the SMA connector might affect the values of input impedance Zin .
The additional harmonics are the higher-order resonances of the slot antenna. In an ideal
simulating software environment, higher-order modes are poorly matched with the input

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impedance Zin , and hence are visible. However, the measured Zin is only matched with its
fundamental mode of operation within the given frequency bands, and the poorly matched
bands did not appear for the measured values. Hence, no harmonics are observed for the
measured S11 results.

3.2. Current Density Analysis

For single antenna designs, current density analysis is usually performed to under-
stand the radiation characteristics, determine the active parts of the radiating structure,
and find the effective electrical length of the antenna. For the proposed antenna design,
the current density distribution is plotted to understand the antenna’s behavior at the
resonating frequency bands. It has been observed that current density distribution varies
over different operating bands. It has been observed that a large portion of the antenna is
radiating at lower frequency bands and vice versa. Such analysis can be utilized to optimize
the antenna’s dimensions by eliminating non-radiating antenna parts. The surface current
distributions of the proposed antenna design were analyzed at various bands of resonance.
Figure 6a,b shows the current distribution for non-optimized design for frequency bands at
1.95 GHz and 1.75 GHz, respectively. For the optimized design, the surface current densities
at frequency bands of 1029 MHz and 764 MHz are shown in Figure 6c,d, respectively. From
the given figures, it can be seen that the current density has a different distribution for
different frequency bands. Figure 6d shows the current density distribution at 764 MHz. It
can be seen that the maximum current variation is along the outermost part of the loop slot
structure. The effective electrical length can be mapped to the corresponding resonating
band. The slot length variations affect the first and other resonating bands for different
values of capacitive loading. Thus, the analysis helped in understanding the antenna’s
operation and gave useful insights about operating at different frequency bands.

Figure 6. Surface current density at (a) 1950 MHz, (b) 1750 MHz, (c) 964 MHz, and (d) 764 MHz.

3.3. Radiation Patterns

The radiation characteristics of the proposed antenna design at different frequency
bands characterize the antenna. The proposed antenna simulated 3-D gain patterns at
885 MHz and 1029 MHz are shown in Figure 7a,b, respectively. The gain patterns of the
proposed antenna design, omnidirectional behavior was observed at the resonating bands.
The gain patterns that result from simulation and measurements and antenna efficiency
(%η) values of the antenna are listed in Table 1 and are shown in Figure 8. From the resulting
values, it can be concluded that the proposed antenna will have good performance when
operating in the sub-GHz bands.

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Electronics 2022, 11, 1074

Figure 7. Simulated 3-D antenna gain patterns at (a) 885 MHz (b) 1029 MHz.

Table 1. Peak gain (PG) and efficiency (%η) values of the proposed antenna.

Simulated Results Measured Results

fs (MH) PG (dBi) %η fm (MHz) PG (dBi) %η
764 0.86 55 758 - -
836 0.98 60 827 0.86 54
885 1.2 63 875 0.96 59
964 1.4 67 976 1.13 64
1029 1.8 70 1033 1.42 67

(a) (b)
Figure 8. Simulated and measured realized gains (a) 2.09 pF, 2.5V (b) 0.84 pF, 15V.

The proposed antenna design radiation characteristics were validated by performing

measurements with the setup shown in Figure 9. The 2D simulated and measured gain
patterns at 885 MHz and 1029 MHz are shown in Figure 10 for ϕ = 0◦ and ϕ = 90◦ cut. It
can be observed that in the given mode of operation at each resonating band, the antenna
has omnidirectional behavior. Figure 10a,b show the simulated and measured radiation
patterns for ϕ = 0◦ cut while Figs. Figure 10c,d show the simulated and measured radiation
patterns for θ = 90◦ . The proposed work is intended to be utilized in 5G-enabled IoT devices
that mostly operate at lower power. Therefore, with typical signal power densities, this
antenna would work well.

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Electronics 2022, 11, 1074

Figure 9. Antenna’s farfield measurement setup.

Figure 10. Simulated and measured total gain patterns (a) ϕ = 0◦ at 885 MHz (b) ϕ = 0◦ at 1029 MHz
(c) θ = 90◦ at 885 MHz (d) θ = 90◦ at 1029 MHz.

Table 2 presents a detailed comparison that compares the distinguishing features of

the most relevant IoT antennas available in the literature. The various features included
antenna type, size, bands covered, suitability for NB-IoT operation, %η, planar structure,
percentage miniaturization obtained, continuous frequency sweep, and the number of
sub-GHz NB-IoT bands covered. Most of the IoT antennas reported are either wide-band
monopole (MP) or non-planar PIFA designs. For such antennas, it is quite challenging to
obtain a sub-GHz continuous frequency sweep over a wide band. Although, the proposed
antenna design is competitive in terms of its compactness with some of the available
designs, it outperformed in sub-GHz bands with wide tunability and NB-IoT operation

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for better power management, long battery life, and enabled devices for long-distance
communications, etc.

Table 2. Proposed IoT antenna versus related works.

Bands sub-GHz
Ref. Ant. Type Ant. Size mm2 /mm3 NB IoT? %η Planar? Gain (dBi)
GHz Bands?
[2] monopole 0.34λg × 0.23λg 2.2, 3.5, 5.5, 8 No 54–86.3 Yes 0 6.9
3.1–8.5
[3] monopole 0.34λg × 0.23λg No - Yes 0 −0.78
(wide-band)
[4] monopole 0.18λg × 0.36λg 0.915, 2.45 Yes 93, 95 Yes 1 1.9, 3.85
[5] monopole 0.41λg × 0.58λg 2.4 Yes 79 Yes 0 −0.256
[6] patch 0.15λg × 0.61λg 0.82 No - No 1 −2.5
[15] monopole 0.503λg × 0.19λg 0.9, 1.8, 2.3, 2.6 Yes 80–90 Yes 1 3–4
[16] monopole 0.15λg × 0.16λg 0.85, 2.1 No 40–67.2 Yes 1 1–3.2
[17] monopole 0.14λg × 0.1λg × 0.28 0.85, 2.4 No 70, 90 Yes 1 -
[18] PIFA 0.23λg × 0.05λg 0.829, 1.95 No 60–73 No 1 -
[19] PIFA 0.044λg × 0.16λg 0.836, 2.2, 3.6 No 48–83 No 1 0.5–5.2
[20] slot 0.035λg × 0.035λg 1.32–1.49, 1.75–5.2 Yes 45–81 Yes 0 0.5–4.5
[21] PIFA 0.15λg × 0.12λg 0.22, 0.80, 4.7, 4.96 No 60–85 No 2 -
[22] patch 0.75λg × 0.75λg 3.01, 3.83, 4.83, 5.76 No 42–60 Yes 0 1.43–3.06
[23] PIFA 1.55λg × 1.55λg 0.41–0.91, 2.1–3.5 No 10–50 No 1 −6.1, 4.9
[32] slot 1.58λg × 1.94λg 1.82, 1.93, 2.1 No 85–89 No 0 3.2–6.3
[33] slot 1.2λg × 1.33λg 5∼6 No - Yes 0 1.36–1.87
[34] slot 0.65λg × 0.36λg 3.0 No - Yes 0 −0.44–2.97
[35] slot 0.55λg × 0.16λg 5.73–5.97 No 60 No 0 1.28
[36] slot 0.014λg × 0.0425λg 2.45–3 No - No 0 −25
Prop. slot 0.18λg × 0.13λg 0.758–1.034 Yes 54–67 Yes 9 0.86–1.8

In Table 2, the proposed is compact and better than [2–6,15–23], and [32–36] in terms
of antenna size. Although, some work as cited in [4,6,15–19,21,23] covered single sub-
GHz bands but without tuning capability to switch between different bands. Some of
the designs as presented in [4,6,15–19,21,23] are good for covering the sub-GHz band,
but the majority of them are not suitable for NB-IoT operations. Both planar and non-
planar IoT antennas, [2–6,15–23,32–36], are reported in Table 2. None of the antennas as
reported in [2–6,15–23,32–36] have a continuous frequency sweep in the sub-GHz band.
The proposed antenna is the only candidate that can cover sub-GHz bands over a wide
frequency range.

4. Conclusions
A miniaturized meandered loop slot-line antenna that is suitable for IoT applica-
tions was proposed in this work. The presented antenna was optimized using bending,
meandering, and reactively loading the slot methods to operate in the sub-GHz bands.
Recently, sub-GHz IoT technology is becoming more popular in order to enable devices
to achieve long-range communications with low power consumption. A very wideband
tuning, 758 to 1034 MHz, was achieved. The antenna’s reconfigurability was also investi-
gated in this work. A good understanding of the general antenna design guidelines for this
antenna system type was developed. The proposed antenna design was fabricated on a
RO4350 substrate with dimensions of 60 mm × 27 mm. The compact planar structure of
the antenna, its simple biasing circuitry, its ability to operate over a wide band of sub-GHz,
and its narrow-band operation are unique features of this design.

Author Contributions: Conceptualization, R.H.; software, R.H., A.M.A. and S.I.A.; validation, R.H.
and A.M.A.; writing—original draft preparation, R.H.; writing—review and editing, R.H., N.H., S.I.A.
and K.A. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding: This research received no external funding.
Acknowledgments: The authors would like to acknowledge the support provided by Researchers
Supporting Project number (RSP2022R474), King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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 electronics
Article
A Novel Meander Bowtie-Shaped Antenna with
Multi-Resonant and Rejection Bands for Modern
5G Communications
Yanal S. Faouri 1 , Sarosh Ahmad 2,3, *, Naser Ojaroudi Parchin 4 , Chan Hwang See 4 and Raed Abd-Alhameed 5

1 Department of Electrical Engineering, The University of Jordan, Amman 11942, Jordan; [email protected]
2 Department of Signal Theory and Communication, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Leganes,
28911 Madrid, Spain
3 Department of Electrical Engineering and Technology, Government College University Faisalabad,
Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan
4 School of Engineering and the Built Environment, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh EH10 5DT, UK;
[email protected] (N.O.P.); [email protected] (C.H.S.)
5 Faculty of Engineering and Informatics, University of Bradford, Bradford BD7 1DP, UK;
[email protected]
* Correspondence: [email protected]

Abstract: To support various fifth generation (5G) wireless applications, a small, printed bowtie-
shaped microstrip antenna with meandered arms is reported in this article. Because it spans the broad
legal range, the developed antenna can serve or reject a variety of applications such as wireless fidelity
(Wi-Fi), sub-6 GHz, and ultra-wideband (UWB) 5G communications due to its multiband characteriza-
tion and optimized rejection bands. The antenna is built on an FR-4 substrate and powered via a 50-Ω
microstrip feed line linked to the right bowtie’s side. The bowtie’s left side is coupled via a shorting
pin to a partial ground at the antenna’s back side. A gradually increasing meandering microstrip line
Citation: Faouri, Y.S.; Ahmad, S.;
is connected to both sides of the bowtie to enhance the rejection and operating bands. The designed
Parchin, N.O.; See, C.H.;
antenna has seven operating frequency bands of (2.43–3.03) GHz, (3.71–4.23) GHz, (4.76–5.38) GHz,
Abd-Alhameed, R. A Novel Meander
Bowtie-Shaped Antenna with
(5.83–6.54) GHz, (6.85–7.44) GHz, (7.56–8.01) GHz, and (9.27–13.88) GHz. The simulated scattering
Multi-Resonant and Rejection Bands parameter S11 reveals six rejection bands with percentage bandwidths of 33.87%, 15.73%, 11.71,
for Modern 5G Communications. 7.63%, 6.99%, and 12.22%, respectively. The maximum gain of the proposed antenna is 4.46 dB. The
Electronics 2022, 11, 821. https:// suggested antenna has been built, and the simulation and measurement results are very similar. The
doi.org/10.3390/electronics11050821 reported antenna is expanded to a four-element design to investigate its MIMO characteristics.
Academic Editors: Faisel Tubbal,
Ladislau Matekovits and Raad Raad
Keywords: multi-band; UWB; 5G communications; sub-6 GHz; notches; bowtie-shaped; multiband;
MIMO; time-domain analysis
Received: 7 February 2022
Accepted: 4 March 2022
Published: 6 March 2022

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral 1. Introduction

with regard to jurisdictional claims in Modern wireless communication devices, which have evolved fast over the last four
published maps and institutional affil- decades, are required to support a variety of applications, including real-time voice com-
iations. munication, text messaging, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Global Positioning System (GPS), video apps,
and among others. All these applications operate in distinct frequency bands, necessitating
the use of frequency reconfigurable antennas or multiband antennas to handle several
applications with a single antenna. Frequency diversity can be configured electronically by
Copyright: © 2022 by the authors.
utilizing varactors [1–3], micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) [4], PIN diodes [5,6], or
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
liquid metal [7]. On the other hand, designing an antenna in which its reflection coefficient
This article is an open access article
distributed under the terms and
spans the UWB range has grown in popularity, for its lowliness, inexpensive production
conditions of the Creative Commons
costs, small power consumption, simplicity of production, and large bandwidth; so, the
Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// federal communication commissions (FCC) allowed UWB to use the unlicensed operating
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ band from 3.1 to 10.6 GHz in 2002 [8]. Several UWB antennas utilize this band completely,
4.0/).

Electronics 2022, 11, 821. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics11050821 167 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/electronics

Electronics 2022, 11, 821

as in [9], or obtained the other definition of the UWB by covering more than 500 MHz of
bandwidth, as in [10].
Numerous distinct geometries of multiband and or UWB antennas with one or more
notches have been documented in the literature. A lanky leaf antenna was reported
in [11] to produce two rejection bands within the UWB range of 2.8–10 GHz. A small
monopole antenna was adjusted in [12] to produce triple rejection bands within the UWB
of 2.285–19.35 GHz with 5.88 dB gain and utilizes three PIN diodes. Four nested hexagonal
fractal antennas were designed in [13] to operate in multiple frequency bands. For one of
their designs, ’Antenna III’ has five resonant frequencies in the UWB of 1.92–13.45 GHz
with only one notch at a level around −6 dB and a peak average gain of 2.96 dB. A hexagonal
shape microstrip patch with its edges being replaced by round curves operating in the
frequency range 3–27.57 GHz [14] was adjusted by adding an inverting stub and other two
slots of triangular shape to create triple frequency notches with bandwidths of 1.63 GHz,
1.09 GHz, and 0.76 GHz in an SWB with a 179.4% percentage bandwidth (PBW) [15].
In [16], a monopole antenna based on the split-ring resonator technique is well-designed to
produce three operating bands. The antenna has a resonance at 2.45 GHz in addition to
dual bands within the UWB range 3.4–11.8 GHz. A unit-cell metamaterial of dimensions
10 × 10 mm2 was extended into a 2 × 1 and 2 × 2 MIMO in [17]. These models provide two
distinct bands to operate in the s- and x-band with resonances at 4.27 GHz, 5.42 GHz, and
12.4 GHz. A single-sided bowtie or a monopole bowtie in one layer with meander arms on
the other layer was investigated in [18] to operate at three resonating bands. An isosceles
triangular microstrip antenna coupled electromagnetically to unequal an arms V-shaped
parasitic has been proposed in [19] to provide triple spectrums. This configuration can
support six resonating bands at resonant frequencies of 2.88 GHz, 3.64 GHz, 3.95 GHz,
4.38 GHz, 4.81 GHz, and 5.6 GHz with five rejection bands between them where two of
these rejection bands have a reflection coefficient level larger than 5 dB. Four spectrums
for sub-6 GHz and mm-wave applications that have been radiated from a slotted patch
of conical shape connected to a small triangular patch were proposed in [20]; the design
resonant frequencies were 2.4 GHz, 5.2 GHz, 5.8 GHz, and 27.5 GHz. An antenna element
of the ‘F’ shape placed above a truncated ground plane has been proposed in [21] to operate
in four reconfigurable frequency modes.
The design and exploration of a UWB/multi-band 5G antenna with Hexa-frequency
stopping bands and seven passing bands are presented in this work, incorporating a
meander line structure that can be also integrated into a designing coupler [22] or power
divider [23]. This design incorporates both multiple resonant modes and frequency rejection
strategies to provide seven operational bands. The antenna was designed in the style of
a bowtie, with each side made up of a meander line. The antenna exhibits a directional
pattern with a major lobe and back lobe at lower frequencies as an alternative to the
normal omnidirectional radiation pattern that would be formed from a similar limited
ground arrangement. The proposed antenna has been further investigated compared
to [24] by addressing an equivalent circuit model, and the circuit components’ value effect
is parametrized in addition to the time-domain analysis of the output signal. The suggested
antenna has been manufactured, and the similarity between simulation and measured
results were observed. Finally, an expansion of the designed antenna has been extended
to form a four-port MIMO antenna to investigate the mutual coupling along with other
MIMO characteristics at all resonating bands.

2. Proposed Antenna Design

A full parametric study is conducted on all variables to acquire the dimensions re-
ported in Table 1. The proposed antenna with allocated parameters is illustrated in Figure 1.
The antenna was built on a double-sided FR-4 substrate with a dielectric constant of 4.4
and a loss tangent of 0.02. The antenna’s overall dimensions are 30 × 30 × 1.6 mm3 . The
right side of the bowtie is linked to the feed line, while the other portion of the bow tie
is grounded using a shorting via to enhance the resonances since without the shorting

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pin; only two resonances are developed. Both bowtie-shaped resonators are located at the
top layer as shown in Figure 1a where each side of the bowtie has a gradually increasing
meander line arms. The arm’s length, width, and spacing have been optimized to produce
several resonances with an acceptable bandwidth for the utilized services and several
notches with an acceptable rejection level to filter out other services. Figure 1b shows the
modified ground plane that has been adjusted to sweep over the UWB scope. Figure 1c
displays a side view of the board to indicate the shorting pin placement.

Table 1. Suggested Antenna Lengths in mm.

Parameter Value Parameter Value

WS 30 LS 30
LG 11 W1 1.5
W2 2.5 W3 2.8
W4 0.6 W5 0.4
W6 0.5 W7 1
W8 13.2 W9 15.3
L1 18.75 L2 13.25
L3 9.25 L4 1.75
L5 4.25 L6 6.75
L7 0.25 L8 1.25
L9 5.25 L10 23.25

(a) (b) (c)

Figure 1. The suggested antenna; (a) front view, (b) back view, and (c) side view.

To reach the proposed design, it first passes through mainly two steps as shown in
Figure 2a. First, a meander bowtie antenna is considered on a full ground plane (ANT I)
which produces three frequency bands that require to be enhanced as depicted in Figure 2b.
Then in (ANT II), a partial ground plane is utilized for better antenna characteristics
that result in three operating bands in addition to other bands that required impedance
matching. To optimize the matching impedance, the meandered arm’s length, width,
and spacing are considered as shown in (ANT III), which produces the proposed seven
resonating bands with optimized rejection bands.

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(a)

(b)
Figure 2. (a) Proposed antenna design steps; (b) reflection coefficient comparison for the design steps.

3. Results and Discussion

The designed antenna is built as shown in Figure 3a to validate the simulation results
that are obtained through high-frequency structure simulator (HFSS) software, which were
fine-tuned using an intense parametric optimization procedure to generate the reflection
coefficient displayed in Figure 3b, where the simulated and measured S11 are in good
agreement. The antenna 6-dB bandwidth ranges from 2.52 GHz to 13.83 GHz, and its 10-dB
bandwidth spans over 2.55–10.94 GHz, which satisfies UWB requirements. Due to the multi-
band behavior of the proposed antenna; the 6-dB bandwidth can be considered to provide
seven resonating bands. These bands have bandwidths of (2.52–2.68) GHz, (3.9–4.4) GHz,
(4.9–5.2) GHz, (5.8–6.7) GHz, (6.8–7.4) GHz, (7.6–8.2) GHz, and (9.3–13.8) GHz, respectively,
in addition to an acceptable 10-dB impedance bandwidth in both simulation and measure-
ments if they were considered. Besides these resonating bands, the suggested antenna
was also acquired with six frequency notches with a notch level ≥−5 dB. The rejecting
bands’ centered frequencies ‘fc ’ are 3.24 GHz, 4.71 GHz, 5.48 GHz, 6.81 GHz, 7.51 GHz, and
8.7 GHz and the percentage bandwidths (PBW) are 41.36%, 14.65%, 15.15%, 5.29%, 5.99%,
and 18.04%, respectively. Together, several resonances modes and notch-band techniques
have been used in this design to pass or suppress different communication services.

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(a)

(b)

(c)

Figure 3. Cont.

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(d)
Figure 3. (a) The top and bottom layers of the fabricated proposed antenna, (b) simulated and mea-
sured antenna reflection coefficient, (c) proposed antenna design steps, and (d) reflection coefficient
comparison for the design steps.

The simulated and measured peak realized gain graph is depicted in Figure 3c. A
good agreement is noticed between the two traces where the gain tends to increase as
the frequency increases with a sharp reduction at the rejecting band’s center frequencies.
The simulated results of the gain at the six notches’ center frequencies are −8.2515 dB,
−0.6843 dB, −0.2025 dB, 1.6513 dB, 2.5284 dB, and 0.78 dB, respectively. Table 2 summarizes
the measured values of different aspects of the proposed antenna at these rejecting bands
and the seven resonant frequencies. The proposed antenna peak realized gains within each
resonance are tabulated in Table 2, where the maximum gain reaches 4.46 dB at 13.74 GHz.
The graphs of the simulated and measured radiation efficiency are depicted in Figure 3d,
and the results well agreed with the efficiencies attained at the operating band and a
reduction at the rejecting bands. The maximum efficiency is found to be 90.3% at 9.82 GHz,
while the lowest radiation efficiency reaches 50.14% at 6.53 GHz, which belongs to the
fourth notch.
The fabricated antenna is tested in its characteristics by mounting the antenna in a
suitable anechoic chamber to conduct the required measurements as shown in Figure 4a.
The radiation pattern at all resonances-centered frequencies is measured and compared
with the simulation. The pattern at eight selected frequencies in which the S11 curve
has deepest locations is plotted in Figure 4b–i for both the E-plane, which represent the
YZ-plane (φ = 90◦ ), and the H-plane, which represents the XZ-plane (φ = 0◦ ). In the
H-plane, the antenna has shown an omnidirectional pattern at the first two resonances
and starts to exhibit directional radiation pattern towards single or multiple orientations.
The E-plane demonstrates an omnidirectional radiation pattern at the first resonant while
the beam starts to acquire different directional patterns at the other resonances, and this is
due to the partial ground and other modes being involved as frequency was increased. A
good agreement between the simulated and measured patterns are noticed for the shown
patterns. The radiation pattern at the rejection band-centered frequencies is also monitored,
and it has a similar behavior but with much less power compared to the resonating band,
and the pattern at the first notch-centered frequency is plotted in Figure 4j.

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Table 2. Measured characteristics of the proposed antenna at the notches.

Notch No. 10−dB BW (GHz) fc PBW % Gain at fc

1 2.88–3.93 3.1 33.87 −6.35
2 4.15–4.88 4.64 15.73 −0.69
3 5.23–5.88 5.55 11.71 −1.20
4 6.44–6.97 6.95 7.63 0.70
5 7.29–7.82 7.58 6.99 1.07
6 8–9.08 8.84 12.22 0.98
Measured Characteristics of the Proposed Antenna at the Resonances
Band No. 6−dB BW (GHz) fr PBW % Gain at fr
1 2.43–3.03 2.7 22.22 1.02
2 3.71–4.23 4.05 12.84 3.52
3 4.76–5.38 5.05 12.28 3.77
4 5.83–6.54 6.04 11.75 3.82
5 6.85–7.44 7.15 8.25 4.06
6 7.56–8.01 7.90 5.78 3.5
7 9.27–13.88 11.55 39.83 4.46

(a)

(b) (c)

Figure 4. Cont.

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(d) (e)

(f) (g)

(h) (i)

Figure 4. Cont.

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(j)

Figure 4. (a) Proposed antenna in the anechoic chamber. Simulated and measured antenna
co-polarized radiation pattern for E- and H-planes at (b) 2.7 GHz, (c) 4.05 GHz, (d) 5.05 GHz,
(e) 6.04 GHz, (f) 7.15 GHz, (g) 7.90 GHz, (h) 11.55 GHz, (i) 13.11 GHz, and (j) 3.1 GHz.

4. Time-Domain Characteristics
A significant aspect of UWB systems is the computation of the dispersion that happens
when the antenna radiates and receives a pulse signal. The pulse-based UWB systems that
utilize delivering very tiny pulses in time have a unique set of design requirements for
antennas. As a result, more research and examination into the time domain behavior of
a UWB antenna is needed. The pulse distortion and fidelity factor of the emitted pulse
are the most important time-domain characteristics. They determine the amount of pulse
distortion caused by the antenna.
In the proposed design, a normalized 5th order Gaussian derivative is set as an input
signal. The pulse duration is 370 ps, as shown in Figure 5a, and it will have the wideband
spectrum in the frequency domain as demonstrated in Figure 5b. The nth Gaussian pulse is
represented in the time domain by Equation (2) where Hn (t) is the nth Hermit polynomial,
and its fifth-order polynomial is given in Equation (3) [25]:

− t2
G (t) = Ae 2σ2 (1)

dn G 1 t
G n (t) = = (−1)n √ 2 · Hn √ · G (t) (2)
dtn ( 2σ) 2σ

H5 (t) = 32t5 − 160t3 + 120t (3)

The Fourier transform of the input signal is depicted in Figure 5c and resembles the
reflection coefficient generated in the frequency domain and described in Figure 3b. The
output normalized signal is shown in Figure 5d, and it has a pulse width of 3.74 ns, in
which the signal distortion is around 50% in the first 1 ps; then, it reduces rapidly after that.

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(a)

(b)

(c)

Figure 5. Cont.

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(d)

Figure 5. Time-domain results of the proposed antenna showing (a) input pulse, (b) input spectrum,
(c) Fourier transform of the input signal, and (d) output signals.

5. Equivalent Circuit Analysis

Creating an equivalent circuit of lumped components for such a design analyzed in
this paper is not an easy process. First, the antenna real and imaginary input impedance
must be monitored to predict the best resonator to be used and whether they have common
behavior or not. As can be noticed from Figure 6, the first six resonances have an impedance
close to 50 Ω near the resonating frequency, while for the last wideband, the impedance
is widely spanned near the 50 Ω line. An assumed circuit model is displayed in Figure 7,
where the inductance (Lf) represents the input feedline and the first parallel RLC model
to match the shorting pin used in the design; then, several series resonators are employed
to create the first six bands, which are representing the meandered bowtie arms. Finally,
the partial ground plane, which has a major effect in the wideband of the seventh band, is
modelled by the rest of the circuit.

Figure 6. Real and imaginary impedance for the designed model.

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Figure 7. Equivalent circuit model.

The proposed circuit model is optimized using an ADS environment and has an
approximated S-parameter result matched favorably with the simulated and measured
results discussed before, and it is shown in Figure 8. The optimized values of the lumped
circuit components are summarized in Table 3.

Figure 8. Comparison between simulated and calculated reflection coefficient.

Table 3. Comparison between the simulated and calculated Q and ROC of the proposed antenna.

Notch 1 Notch 2 Notch 3 Notch 4 Notch 5 Notch 6

Q Simulated 3 9.47 7.51 21.28 19.76 7.37
Q Calculated 4.53 6.92 9.33 11.17 18.5 3.55
ROC Simulated 7.68 11.32 8.09 12.43 9.71 4.11
ROC Calculated 8.1 8.23 10.45 7.25 8.57 1.12

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Two elements, the quality factor (Q) that represents the ratio of the stored to the dissi-
pated energy in each cycle, and the roll-off criteria (ROC) which represent the variation in
the reflected signal versus frequency, are completely linked to the selectivity and sharpness
of the rejection mechanism. For the frequency rejection bands, the quality factor of the RLC
series and parallel resonators can be calculated as [26].

fc
Q= (4)
BW−3dB

ΔS11 (dB)
ROC = (5)
Δ f ( GHz)
where BW−3dB represents the notch bandwidth at a level of 3 dB below its maximum, and
ΔS11 (dB) is the variation in the reflection coefficient within the frequency band represented
by Δf (GHz). The calculated quality factor and ROC of the six rejection bands based on
Equations (4) and (5) are summarized in Table 4.

Table 4. Lumped component values of the equivalent circuit model (R in Ω, C in pF and L in nH).

R1 = 28.81 R2 = 37.43 R3 = 55.52 R4 = 120.53 R5 = 27.31 R6 = 114.96

L1 = 3.80 L2 = 31.96 L3 = 47.75 L4 = 5.52 L5 = 40.02 L6 = 147.98
C1 = 0.14 C2 = 0.095 C3 = 0.031 C4 = 0.052 C5 = 0.022 C6 = 0.033
R7 = 3.38 k R8 = 70.24 R9 = 81.69 k R10 = 9.21 k Lf = 1.84
L7 = 902.61 L8 = 34.62 L9 = 26.96 L10 = 1.09 m R11 = 0.35
C7 = 1.98 C8 = 0.018 C9 = 1.98 μ C10 = 0.18 C11 = 0.58

6. Quad Port MIMO Antenna Analysis

The multiband single element antenna proposed is expanded to a four-port MIMO
antenna place such that the adjacent elements are orthogonal to each other. The substrate
size is 70 × 70 mm2 and 10 mm distance between orthogonal antenna elements, as shown
in Figure 9. The current distribution at the center frequency of the six rejection bands is
plotted and shown in Figure 10a–f to determine the antenna portion that is responsible for
each notch. The first notch, at a center frequency of 3.24 GHz, is caused by the first two
arms of the right bowtie portion, whereas the left feed line and the left bowtie portion have
a dominant effect for creating the second notch at 4.64 GHz. At 5.48 GHz, which is the
center of the third notch, the right feed line and the last arm of the bowtie are dominant.
For the last three notches at 6.81 GHz, 7.51 GHz, and 8.7 GHz, the responsible potions
are the lower portion of the feed line, the two feedlines, and the middle portion of the
feedlines, respectively.
The total active reflection coefficient (TARC) of the four-port MIMO antenna is depicted
in Figure 11. TARC relates the total incident power to the total radiated power, and it is
noticed that the MIMO antenna has a TARC similar to the reflection coefficient of the single
element with a similar number of resonating bands and center frequencies. The mutual
coupling between all four ports is plotted in Figure 12. The average mutual coupling
between the elements at the operating bands center frequency is below −17 dB across the
seven resonating bands, while it is a little higher (−13 dB) at the first resonant between the
adjacent elements, and it is much lower between diagonal elements.
The Envelope Correlation Coefficient (ECC) and diversity gain (DG) are useful metrics
for assessing the diversity of MIMO antenna elements [4]. The ECC (much lower than 0.5)
and DG (∼ =10 dB) of the proposed MIMO are displayed in Figure 13, and they are calculated
from the scattering parameters between the two ports of high mutual coupling as given
by Equations (6) and (7), respectively. Other MIMO characteristics such as mean effective
gain (MEG) and channel capacity loss (CCL) for the seven resonating bands are tabulated
in Table 5, and the results are satisfying the determined limit for these quantities, such as

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the CCL, is below 0.4 bit/s/Hz; the MEG ratios between the investigated ports are close or
equal to unity.
|S11 ∗ S12 + S21 ∗ S22 |2
ECC =    (6)
1 − |S11 |2 − |S21 |2 1 − |S22 |2 − |S12 |2

DG = 10 1 − | ECC |2 (7)

Table 5. Proposed MIMO antenna characteristics at the resonant frequencies.

MEG 1 (dB) MEG 2 (dB) MEG 1/MEG 2 CCL (bit/s/Hz)

Resonant 1 −3.57 −3.52 0.99 0.38
Resonant 2 −3.09 −3.12 1.01 0.06
Resonant 3 −3.22 −3.21 1 0.14
Resonant 4 −3.27 −3.27 1 0.18
Resonant 5 −3.07 −3.03 0.99 0.03
Resonant 6 −3.05 −3.05 1 0.03
Resonant 7 −3.15 −3.16 1 0.09

Figure 9. Four-element MIMO antenna configuration.

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(a) 3.24 GHz (b) 4.64 GHz

(c) 5.48 GHz (d) 6.81 GHz

(e) 7.51 GHz (f) 8.7 GHz

Figure 10. Current distribution at the rejection bands center frequency; (a) at 3.24 GHz, (b) at
4.64 GHz, (c) at 5.48 GHz, (d) at 6.81 GHz, (e) at 7.51 GHz, (f) at 8.7 GHz.

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Figure 11. The total active reflection coefficients of the MIMO antenna.

Figure 12. The transmission coefficients between all four ports.

Figure 13. ECC and DG for the four-port MIMO Design.

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7. Comparison with Related Works and Served Applications

The proposed antenna results are compared with the related works available in the
literature for different aspects and the comparisons are tabulated in Table 6. The proposed
antenna has a relatively smaller size and can pass low frequencies due to the meander arm
structure. Additionally, the proposed antenna can operate at seven distinguished bands by
satisfying the UWB license range. The maximum gain is acceptable for such a monopole
antenna, and it is lower than some works in the literature due to the multiband mode
of operations.

Table 6. Comparison of this work with other multiband antennas.

Ref. Radiator Shape Resonances (GHz) Gain (dB) Size (mm2 ) No. of Spectrums Covered Bands
[16] Split Ring 2.45, 5.2, 9.7 7 40 × 30 3 S, C, X
[17] Split Ring metamaterial 4.27, 5.42, 12.4 - 20 × 20 3 C, X
Bowtie and
[18] 1.62, 4.22, 7.13 8.2 20 × 10.4 3 L, C
meandered lines
Triangle and 2.88, 3.64, 3.95,
[19] 10.5 70 × 50 6 S, C
V-parasitic 4.38, 4.81, 5.6
[20] Slotted conical patch 2.4, 5.2, 5.8, 27.5 5.85 30 × 30 4 S, C, Ka
F-shape element on a 2.1, 2.4, 3.35, 3.5,
[21] 3.88 40 × 35 6 S, C
truncated ground plane 5.28, 5.97
2.7, 4.05, 5.05, 6.04,
Proposed Antenna Meandered Bowtie 4.46 30 × 30 7 S, C, X
7.15, 7.9, 11.55

8. Conclusions
The proposed design can be used for broadband radio applications within the first
resonance, long-distance radio telecommunications; sub-6 GHz and other C-Band applica-
tions can be served by utilizing the second to fifth spectrums; X-Band radar applications
can be supported by the sixth spectrum (7.6–8.2) GHz, and space communications, terres-
trial broadband, satellite communications, amateur radio systems aided by the last vast
spectrum (9.27–13.83) GHz. In addition, it can support the fifth generation (5G) FR1 band
that is intended to cover up to 7.125 GHz. The achieved notches are intended to avoid
interfering with WiMAX through the first notch, aeronautical radio navigation, which falls
within the second and the sixth notches, the 5 GHz Wi-Fi band within the third rejecting
band, and fixed and mobile satellite transmission within the fourth and fifth stopbands.
A printed microstrip meandered bowtie antenna is investigated and fabricated on
an FR-4 substrate. The upper layer contains the two portions of the bowtie, where the
right segment of the bowtie is coupled to the feedline, and the left portion is linked to the
ground in the back layer through a shorting pin. Although the structure seems small and
simple, the antenna exhibits seven resonating bands and six rejecting bands by optimizing
the meandered arm’s length, width, number, and spacing, making the antenna suitable for
sub-6 GHz and UWB 5G communications. The antenna has a maximum gain and radiation
efficiency of 4.46 dB and 90.3%, respectively. The MIMO configuration of the proposed
antenna shows an acceptable value for ECC, DG, MEG, and CCL. The antenna is best suited
for an end-user customer to accept and reject different communication services by just
utilizing the corresponding band.

Author Contributions: Conceptualization, Y.S.F. and S.A.; methodology, Y.S.F. and S.A.; software,
Y.S.F.; validation, Y.S.F., N.O.P., C.H.S., R.A.-A. and S.A.; formal analysis, N.O.P., C.H.S., R.A.-A.
and Y.S.F.; investigation, Y.S.F. and S.A.; resources, Y.S.F. and S.A.; data curation, Y.S.F. and R.A.-A.
writing—original draft preparation, Y.S.F.; writing—review and editing, Y.S.F., C.H.S. and S.A.;
visualization, Y.S.F., N.O.P., C.H.S. and R.A.-A.; supervision, Y.S.F.; project administration, Y.S.F.,
funding; N.O.P., C.H.S., R.A.-A. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of
the manuscript.

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Funding: This paper is also partially funded by British Council “2019 UK-China-BRI Countries
Partnership Initiative” program, with project titled “Adapting to Industry 4.0 oriented International
Education and Research Collaboration.
Data Availability Statement: The data is available with the author upon request.
Acknowledgments: The authors would like to thank the Deanship of Scientific Research at the
University of Jordan for providing the facilities for conducting this research for the year 2019–2022.
The authors wish to express their thanks to the support provided by British Council “2019 UK-
China-BRI Countries Partnership Initiative” programme with project titled “Adapting to Industry 4.0
oriented International Education and Research Collaboration”.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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16. Yeboah-Akowuah, B.; Tchao, E.T.; Ur-Rehman, M.; Khan, M.M.; Ahmad, S. Study of a printed split-ring monopole for dual-
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17. Mansoul, A.; Seddiki, M.L. Multiband reconfigurable Bowtie slot antenna using switchable slot extensions for WiFi, WiMAX, and
WLAN applications. Microw. Opt. Technol. Lett. 2018, 60, 413–418. [CrossRef]
18. Qi, J.; Ren, J.; Qiu, J. A triple-band antenna based on bowtie and meander-line structures. In Proceedings of the 2017 IEEE
International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation & USNC/URSI National Radio Science Meeting, San Diego, CA, USA,
9–14 July 2017; pp. 2479–2480.
19. Elsadek, H.; Nashaat, D.M. Multiband and UWB V-shaped antenna configuration for wireless communications applications.
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21. Ullah, S.; Ahmad, S.; Khan, B.A.; Flint, J.A. A multi-band switchable antenna for Wi-Fi, 3G Advanced, WiMAX, and WLAN
wireless applications. Int. J. Microw. Wirel. Technol. 2018, 10, 991–997. [CrossRef]
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bended lines. Wirel. Netw. 2021, 27, 677–684. [CrossRef]
23. Roshani, S. A Wilkinson power divider with harmonics suppression and size reduction using meandered compact microstrip
resonating cells. Frequenz 2017, 71, 517–522. [CrossRef]
24. Salim, A.; Baqaleb, S.; Faouri, Y. Multiband Meander UWB Bowtie Antenna with Six Rejection Bands. In Proceedings of the 11th
International Conference on Information and Communication Systems (ICICS), Irbid, Jordan, 7–9 April 2020.
25. Mighani, M.; Akbari, M. New UWB monopole planer antenna with dual band notched. Prog. Electromagn. Res. C 2014, 52,
153–162. [CrossRef]
26. Sanyal, R.; Sarkar, P.P.; Sarkar, S. Octagonal nut shaped monopole UWB antenna with sextuple band notched characteristics.
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 electronics
Article
A Wide-Angle Pattern Diversity Antenna System for mmWave
5G Mobile Terminals
Karthikeya Gulur Sadananda 1 , Issa Elfergani 2,3, *, Chemseddine Zebiri 4 , Jonathan Rodriguez 2 ,
Shiban Kishen Koul 5 and Raed A. Abd-Alhameed 3,6

1 Centre for Antennas and Radio Frequency Systems, Department of Electronics and Telecommunication
Engineering, Ramaiah Institute of Technology, Bengaluru 560054, India; [email protected]
2 Instituto de Telecomunicações, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal;
[email protected]
3 School of Engineering and Informatics, University of Bradford, Bradford BD7 1DP, UK;
[email protected]
4 Laboratoired’Electronique de Puissance et Commande Industrielle (LEPCI), Department of Electronics,
University of Ferhat Abbas, Sétif -1-, Sétif 19000, Algeria; [email protected]
5 Centre for Applied Research in Electronics, IIT Delhi, New Delhi 110016, India; [email protected]
6 Information and Communication Engineering Department, Basrah University College of Science
and Technology, Basrah 24001, Iraq
* Correspondence: [email protected] or [email protected]

Abstract: A shared ground shared radiator with wide angular coverage for mmWave 5G smartphones
is proposed in this paper. A four-element corporate-fed array with conventional impedance matched
power divider is designed. Stepped impedance transformers are integrated with the corner most
elements to achieve pattern diversity with wide angular coverage without significant compromise
in gain. The proposed three-port shared radiator conformal commercial antenna could be easily
integrated with commercial mmWave 5G smartphones. All the three ports’ excitations operate in the
28 GHz band. Radiation pattern bandwidth of the multi-port system is high. The gain variation is
Citation: Sadananda, K.G.; Elfergani, from 6 to 11 dBi amongst the ports and across the operating spectrum. The highest mutual coupling
I.; Zebiri, C.; Rodriguez, J.; Koul, S.K.; is 10 dB, in spite of the electrically connected structure. The proposed shared radiator element has
Abd-Alhameed, R.A. A Wide-Angle a wide angular coverage of 100◦ , maintaining high front-to-back ratio when the respective port is
Pattern Diversity Antenna System for excited. Simulation and measurement results for the proposed structure are illustrated in detail.
mmWave 5G Mobile Terminals.
Electronics 2022, 11, 571. https:// Keywords: shared radiator; conformal; mmWave 5G; 28 GHz band
doi.org/10.3390/electronics11040571

Academic Editor: Sotirios K. Goudos

Received: 22 January 2022 1. Introduction

Accepted: 10 February 2022
Due to the tremendous growth in the smartphone data traffic, it is expected that
Published: 14 February 2022
millimeter waves would be useful for decongesting the current communication channels
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral in the microwave domain [1–3]. Experimental characterizations have proved that higher
with regard to jurisdictional claims in frequency carriers could be well suited for cellular communication links [4,5]. Thus,
published maps and institutional affil- exploration of hardware design centered at 28 GHz would be an important design topic.
iations. As per the Friis transmission formula [6], millimeter wave frequencies would experience
additional losses due to the nature of the transmission link. It must also be noted that the
real-world 28 GHz signal would suffer from additional losses due to the building materials
and multipath effects [4]. Hence, high-gain antennas on the mobile phone are the only
Copyright: © 2022 by the authors.
sensible choice to realize a mmWave link, given the constraints of the receiver sensitivity in
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
This article is an open access article
the Ka-band.
distributed under the terms and
Numerous articles and conference proceeding papers have been reported in the past
conditions of the Creative Commons decade. A high-gain corporate fed array is reported in [7], the electrical footprint is high
Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// and hence might not be suitable for direct integration with commercial 5G devices. Phased
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ array presented in [8,9] is complex to fabricate and has low-gain yield for the electrical size
4.0/). occupied. Printed dipole of [10] would occupy a large footprint within the smartphone

Electronics 2022, 11, 571. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics11040571 187 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/electronics

Electronics 2022, 11, 571

limits, proving to be unsuitable for the application at hand. The design reported in [11]
lacks gain switch ability and is incompatible with the modern commercial smartphones.
Gain switch ability is required in mmWave 5G systems to cater to broadcast and
data link modes. In the broadcast mode, a low-gain or wide-beam antenna is required
and in the data link mode, a high gain or narrow beam is required. The same could be
realized using phased arrays by selectively firing up the designated ports [10,11]. The
CPW (coplanar waveguide)-fed antenna design of [12] works in the microwave band, the
authors have demonstrated an orthogonal polarization system, but the same concept might
not be applicable in the mmWave regime. Similarly, the design concept of [13] would
lead to bidirectional radiation patterns, when the antenna is scaled up to millimeter wave
frequencies. The corporate-fed array illustrated in [14] would occupy a larger physical
footprint, when designed for the 28 GHz band. The MIMO concept illustrated in [15]
might not be scaled down to Ka band. However, the design and deployment of phased
arrays would be expensive. Therefore, an electrically compact three-port-wide angular
coverage shared ground antenna system is proposed in this paper. The novel features of
the proposed antenna design are listed below:
• Shared radiator design with minimal physical footprint.
• Shared ground design which is compatible with the system ground plane of the typical
commercial device.
• Conformal shared radiator design which could be panel mountable with commercially
available smartphones.
• Wide angular coverage with three ports without the use of phase shifters.
• Achievement of high gain for the respective port for a minimal occupied physical footprint.

2. Proposed Pattern Diversity Antenna

The multiport electrically connected antenna system is displayed in Figure 1a. It is
a corporate-fed, inset-fed patch antenna array [16–19] with multiple ports. The dielectric
used to realize this microstrip-fed design is Rogers 5880, which has a dielectric constant
of 2.2 ± 0.02 with a corresponding loss tangent of 0.0009. Lower dielectric constant is
necessary to facilitate radiation, especially in the higher frequency of operation. It must also
be noted that the forward gain loss due to higher dielectric loss tangent could be avoided
by this substrate. Rogers substrate is not very flexible as the dielectric composition is rigid,
but with a thickness of 20 mil, flexibility could be expected. However, this substrate cannot
be bent and planarized multiple times as this would fracture the substrate and hamper the
dielectric and metal integrity of the design.

(a)
Figure 1. Cont.

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Electronics 2022, 11, 571

(b)
Figure 1. (a) Proposed three-port electrically connected antenna, (b) Corner bent antenna (All
dimensions are in mm).

The proposed design is an electrically connected multiport radiator with an electrically

large ground with a conventional microstrip feeding technique. A 1.2 mm feed line has
been incorporated to closely match the characteristic impedance SMA (sub-miniature A)
connector. The entire structure is based on the corporate-fed array concept. Here, a four-
element array is designed to achieve wide angular coverage as well as reasonably high gain
for the available physical aperture. The feed line connects to a two-way non-Wilkinson-
based power divider. A Wilkinson-based power divider would have enhanced the isolation
between the terminated loads of the corresponding lines, the inset-fed patch antennas in
this case. However, implementing a Wilkinson-based power divider at higher frequencies
would be difficult due to the size of the miniature resistors and the requirement of a thin-tip
solder. The notch at the T-junction of the power divider facilitates in impedance matching
of the patch radiators and the feeding network. The primary radiators are spaced at an
approximately half-wavelength distance on the substrate.
The outermost elements of the corporate-fed array are also connected to the ports, as
observed in Figure 1a. These ports are connected to the edge along the Y axis of the corner
most elements. The 50 Ω lines originating from ports 2 and 3 are impedance matched to
the shorter edge of the radiator through two low impedance-stepped transformers. The
2.2 mm × 0.6 mm slot, displayed in the inset of Figure 1a, does not contribute to radiation
due to the electrically small size of the slot. When port 2 is excited, the right corner element
contributes to radiation and hence a low gain and wide beam is observed. The same
phenomenon is observed when the connected structure is excited with port 3. As the corner
elements are electrically away from the phase center of the corporate-fed array, beam tilt is
expected for the corresponding port excitation.
The current design of Figure 1a would not be suitable for direct integration with the
mobile terminal, as this would be a broadside radiator and the signal strength would
drastically reduce when it is blocked by a human torso. Hence, the topology of placement
of the proposed shared radiator must be such a way as to reorient radiation away from
the user, when the antenna module is mounted on the mobile device. Hence, corner bent
topology is investigated as illustrated in Figure 1b. Here, the height of the corner bent
radiator is 6.2 mm, which is compliant with the industry standard height of 7 mm. It
must also be noted that the proposed design has an electrically massive system ground
plane; hence, it would be favorable for integration with commercial smartphones. The
feeding network of the proposed topology is in the orthogonal plane as that of the radiating
aperture. Hence, the geometry itself acts as an isolating network between the feed and
the active radiating aperture. The design could be further miniaturized by bending the
portion of the feeding structure of ports 2 and 3. A photograph of the fabricated prototype
is illustrated in Figure 2.

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Electronics 2022, 11, 571

Figure 2. Photograph of the electrically connected antenna.

The input impedance bandwidth corresponding to port 1 is 11.4%, centered at 28.1 GHz,
as seen in Figure 3. The wideband characteristics are realized due to the topology of the
feeding network and the impedance transformers at ports 2 and 3.

Figure 3. Input reflection coefficient of Port 1.

|S11 | for ports 2 and 3 is graphed in Figure 4 and both are operational in the 28 GHz
band. All the S-parameters measurements were performed using Agilent E8364C. It must
be observed that the S-parameters’ measurements are difficult in the present context, as the
connectors used are electrically large and are in close proximity with the antenna structure.
The clearance for the connector cables is also very minimal; hence, the deviation between
simulated and measured results are pretty evident. Additionally, the fabrication errors due
to bending has resulted in the deviation between simulated and measured results.

Figure 4. Input reflection coefficients of port 2 and 3.

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Electronics 2022, 11, 571

The composite radiation patterns when the respective ports are activated are demon-
strated in Figure 5. When port 1 is activated, the high-gain, low-beamwidth mode is
activated. All four elements have in-phase E-fields which aid in beamforming leading
to narrow beams. However, ports 2 and 3 have a wider beam, as the radiators on either
edge are the primary contributors to the wide beam. The higher back lobe specifically for
excitation of port 3 is due to the following reasons: Dual bending of the substrate which
creates cracks within the copper trace of the feeding network, hence leading to radiation
leakages from the discontinuities. Faulty assembly of the electrically large connector with
the feeding line corresponding to port 3, leading to poor transition from the trace pin of
the connector to the feed line. The overall angular coverage is 100◦ indicating a pretty
wide angular coverage. The front-to-back ratio is greater than 10 dB and is maintained
throughout the operating spectrum indicating minimal radiation towards the user.

Figure 5. Radiation patterns of the proposed shared radiator.

The measured mutual coupling is less than 15 dB, as observed in Figure 6, in spite
of the electrically connected geometry. The low mutual coupling is primarily due to the
design of impedance transformers at ports 2 and 3. The forward gains of the designed
antenna system is illustrated in Figure 7a, the radiation efficiency is shown in Figure 7b.
The wider beams for ports 2 and 3 result in lower gain compared to its counterpart of
port 1. An example placement of the proposed design with a commercial smartphone is
demonstrated in Figure 8.

Figure 6. Mutual coupling between the ports.

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Electronics 2022, 11, 571

(a) (b)

Figure 7. (a) Gains of various ports of the shared radiator. (b) Radiation efficiency.

Figure 8. Example placement of the proposed design with a commercial smartphone.

Table 1 illustrates various figures of merit of the proposed dual conformal antenna
system in comparison to previously published designs. It is clear that the proposed system
has wide angular coverage with a panel height less than 7 mm.

Table 1. Comparison of the proposed antenna with previously reported articles.

Ref Frq AS MC AE AC ERV GS MI Con SG

[17] 28 15 × 12 NA NA 70 0.138 Yes No No Yes
[10] 28 45 × 15 <10 NA 90 0.207 Yes No No Yes
[20] 28 20 × 20 <15 NA 80 0.05 No No No Yes
[21] 28 42 × 12 <10 97 90 0.006 No No No Yes
[22] 28 60 × 70 <7 90 NA 0.027 No Yes No Yes
[23] 28 5×5 NA 68 90 0.005 Yes No No Yes
[24] 28 14 × 12 NA 78 NA 0.026 No No No -NA-
[25] 26 22 × 11 <15 NA NA 0.192 No No No Yes
PRW 28 24 × 6.2 <10 97 100 0.07 Yes Yes Yes Yes
Ref = Reference, Frq = Frequency (GHz), AS = Antenna size (in mm × mm), MC = Mutual coupling (dB),
ERV = Effective Radiating Volume (λ0 3 ), AE = Antenna Efficiency (%), AC = Angular coverage (◦ ), G = Gain (dBi),
GS = Gain Switchability, MI = Mobile Integration, Con = Conformal, SG = Shared Ground, PRW = Proposed Work.

3. Conclusions
A three-port conformal antenna system operating in the 28 GHz is proposed, wherein
a standard 50 Ω line is fed to the two-way power divider, which in turn is connected to
the four-way power divider. The four-way power divider is loaded with four inset-fed

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patch antennas operating in the 28 GHz band. The corner elements of the corporate-fed
array are in turn connected to the two ports through impedance transformers. Port 1
excitation would lead to a high-gain–narrow-beam mode preferable for a data link and
ports 2 or 3 excitation would lead to a low-gain–wide-beam mode preferable for broadcast
application. A wide angular coverage of 100◦ is achieved for various excitations of the ports
within the shared radiator antenna system. Mutual coupling is less than 10 dB across the
spectrum and across the ports, in spite of the electrically connected structure. The proposed
antenna could be a potential candidate for future 5G applications.

Author Contributions: Conceptualization, K.G.S., S.K.K. and I.E.; methodology, K.G.S., I.E. and
C.Z.; software, K.G.S. and C.Z.; validation, J.R., K.G.S. and I.E.; investigation, J.R. and K.G.S.;
writing—original draft preparation, K.G.S. and S.K.K.; writing—review and editing, R.A.A.-A., I.E.
and C.Z.; supervision R.A.A.-A. and I.E.; project administration, I.E. and J.R.; funding acquisition, J.R.
All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding: This work is supported by the Moore4Medical project, funded within ECSEL JU in col-
laboration with the EU H2020 Framework Programme (H2020/2014-2020) under grant agreement
H2020-ECSEL-2019-IA-876190, and Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (ECSEL/0006/2019).
Data Availability Statement: All data are included within manuscript.
Acknowledgments: This work is funded by the FCT/MEC through national funds and when applicable
co-financed by the ERDF, under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement under the UID/EEA/50008/2020
project. This work is also partially funded by ECSEL JU in collaboration with the EU H2020 Framework
Programme H2020-MSCA-RISE-2019-2023–872878.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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 electronics
Article
A Multi-Slot Two-Antenna MIMO with High Isolation for
Sub-6 GHz 5G/IEEE802.11ac/ax/C-Band/X-Band Wireless and
Satellite Applications
Abdullah G. Alharbi 1 , Jayshri Kulkarni 2, *, Arpan Desai 3 , Chow-Yen-Desmond Sim 4 and Ajay Poddar 5

1 Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Jouf University, Sakaka 42421, Saudi Arabia;
[email protected]
2 Department of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering, Vishwakarma Institute of Information
Technology, Kondhwa, Pune 411048, India
3 Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, CSPIT, Charotar University of Science and
Technology (CHARUSAT), Changa 388421, India; [email protected]
4 Department of Electrical Engineering, Feng Chia University, Taichung 407, Taiwan; [email protected]
5 Synergy Microwave Corporation, 201 McLean Boulevard, Paterson, NJ 07504, USA; [email protected]
* Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +91-9552466969

Abstract: A tapered symmetrical coplanar waveguide (S-CPW) fed monopole antenna is initially
studied. To achieve multiband characteristics, the radiating element of this monopole antenna is
loaded with multiple narrow slots and multiple slotted stubs (MSS). The designed slot-loading
monopole is further transformed into a two-antenna MIMO type with a gap distance of only 0.12λ
(at 5 GHz), and thus it has a small overall size of 32 × 20 × 0.8 mm3 . By deploying five concentric
ring elements between the two adjacent antenna elements, the desirable isolation of better than
20 dB is yielded. As the low band and high band operation of the proposed two-antenna MIMO is
Citation: Alharbi, A.G.; Kulkarni, J.;
Desai, A.; Sim, C.-Y.-D.; Poddar, A. A
81.08% (3.3–7.8 GHz) and 40% (8.0–12.0 GHz), respectively, it can therefore satisfy the Sub-6 GHz 5G
Multi-Slot Two-Antenna MIMO with New Radio (NR) n77/78/79, IEEE 802.11ac/ax, X-band/C-band wireless and satellite applications.
High Isolation for Sub-6 GHz Furthermore, it has shown a desirable gain of above 3 dBi and a radiation efficiency greater than 69%
5G/IEEE802.11ac/ax/C-Band/X- throughout the two bands of interest.
Band Wireless and Satellite
Applications. Electronics 2022, 11, 473. Keywords: monopole antenna; two-antenna MIMO; slot loaded; Sub-6 GHz; IEEE 802.11ac/ac;
https://doi.org/10.3390/ X-band; C-band
electronics11030473

Academic Editors: Faisel Tubbal,

Ladislau Matekovits and Raad Raad
1. Introduction
Received: 15 January 2022
The main challenging part of designing a compact size MIMO antenna is to obtain a
Accepted: 4 February 2022
very high isolation of >20 dB between the two adjacent antenna elements without affecting
Published: 5 February 2022
the scattering, radiation, and diversity performances. Therefore, several decoupling tech-
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral niques have been reported in recent years for compact size planar MIMO antennas with
with regard to jurisdictional claims in multi-band or broadband operations [1–21]. In [1], a two-antenna MIMO with frequency
published maps and institutional affil- reconfigurable characteristics is designed using radio frequency micro electro mechanical
iations. systems (RF-MEMS) switches. This antenna has a designed footprint of 32 × 98 × 1 mm3 ,
and it can switch among the 0.6, 1.8, 2.4, 3.5, and 5.5 GHz bands with isolation >15 dB. How-
ever, the use of the RF-MEMS switch makes the antenna design more complex. To reduce
the complexity, Ref. [2] has proposed two symmetrically located spider-shaped antennas
Copyright: © 2022 by the authors.
(of size 37 × 56 × 1.6 mm3 ) that can operate in the Wi-Fi/WiMAX/Bluetooth and C-band
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
This article is an open access article
applications. However, it does not cover the entire 5 GHz band. A dual band, a Two-port
distributed under the terms and
antenna functioning in a 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz band with a dimension of 46 × 20 × 1.6 mm3 ,
conditions of the Creative Commons is proposed in [3], but the isolation is only around 12 dB. Therefore, a Wang shaped triple-
Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// band MIMO antenna with a high isolation of 31 dB is reported in [4], but this antenna
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ has occupied a large area of 70 × 52 mm2 . To achieve smaller dimensions for the MIMO
4.0/). antenna, Ref. [5] has designed a two-antenna MIMO with a planar size of only 24 × 20 mm2 .

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Here, a single complementary split-ring resonator (S-CSRR) is loaded into the radiating
element to enhance the performance, as well as operating in the X- and Ku-band. In [6],
a two-port MIMO monopole antenna with a small size of 27 × 16 × 0.8 mm3 is reported.
This antenna is a single band operation (4.85–7.32 GHz), and it has shown good isolation of
>15 dB [6]. To achieve dualband operation with higher isolation, a dualband MIMO antenna
(size 27 × 21 × 1.6 mm3 ) using orthogonal polarisation has been reported [7]. Even though
it can yield very high isolation of >22.5 dB, the two operating bands are rather narrow at
4.15% (5.19–5.41 GHz) and 4.81% (7.30–7.66 GHz). To further achieve triple-band operation,
a MIMO antenna with a compact size of 20 × 14.75 mm2 has been reported in [8]. The
antenna element is composed of an asymmetric coplanar strip (ACS) feedline, along with
an inverted L-shaped slot and a meander line to operate in the WLAN (2.4/5.2/5.8 GHz)
and WiMAX (2.5/3.5/5.5 GHz) applications. Notably, all the MIMO antennas reported
in [1–8] do not apply any decoupling structure between adjacent antenna elements. Hence,
they will suffer from low isolation if a wider operating bandwidth is implemented.
The easiest way to reduce the mutual coupling of any two adjacent antenna elements
is to apply the spatial diversity method. The advantage of this method is that the MIMO
antenna does not require any decoupling structure, such as the one reported in [9] that
has a gap distance of 36 mm (>1/4 wavelength) between the two adjacent antennas, and
good isolation of >30 dB is achieved. However, applying the spatial diversity method
will result in occupying more space and, hence, an increased dimension. To reduce the
mutual coupling without occupying much gap distance between the antenna elements,
several MIMO antenna designs with different decoupling structures, such as the U-shaped
slots [10], T-shape stub [11], comb-shaped structures [12], modified T-shape stub at ground
plane [13], and defected ground structures [14–17], have been reported. However, the
volume size of [10–17] is between (20 × 35 × 0.8 mm3 , 560 mm3 ) and (50 × 50 × 7 mm3 ,
17,500 mm3 ), and none of these MIMO designs exhibit a very wide operational bandwidth
(>80%) and high isolation >20 dB for modern wireless applications with a physical volume
size of below or near 500 mm3 .
To achieve high isolation without increasing the overall volume of the MIMO an-
tenna, recent decoupling techniques such as the loading of the EBG structure [18,19]
and metamaterials [20,21] have been widely used. In [18], the fractal EBG technique is
applied to enhance the isolation to 24.67 dB, but the two-antenna MIMO has a volume
size of 38.2 × 95.94 × 1.6 mm3 , and it covers only a narrow single ISM band from 2.39 to
2.48 GHz. Even though the volume size of the antenna in [19] (55 × 28 × 1.6 mm2 ) is
much less than that of [18], and it has exhibited a wider operating bandwidth of 64.42%
(2.01–3.92 GHz), one can see that it has exhibited isolation of only >15 dB after applying
the EBG structure. In [20], the textile-based antenna has applied a unique metamaterial
inspired decoupling network to enhance the isolation between adjacent antenna elements.
The two bands of interest, in this case, are 56% (1.34–3.92 GHz) and 37.4% (4.34–6.34 GHz),
and isolation of >18 dB was measured. However, this antenna has a very large dimension
of 100 × 60 × 1 mm3 . To achieve a small volume size of 47.5 × 40 × 1.6 mm3 , [21] has
proposed a single band, two-antenna MIMO monopole that has applied a metamaterial
split ring resonator unit to improve the isolation. However, the antenna is a single band
operation with a 10-dB impedance bandwidth of 12.3% (3.35–3.78 GHz) and the isolation is
only 15 dB.
From the study of literature [1–21], it is observed that the reported MIMO antennas
can yield high isolation, but with a narrow operational band or vice-versa. Furthermore,
many of them have required a very large volume size. Therefore, in this paper, a compact
volume size (32 × 20 × 0.8 mm3 , 512 mm3 ) two-antenna monopole MIMO with a dual
wideband operation (3.3–7.8 GHz and 8.0–12.0 GHz), as well as high isolation (>20 dB)
for the wireless and satellite applications is proposed. The proposed two-antenna MIMO
functions in the Sub-6 GHz 5G NR n77 (3.3–4.2 GHz)/n78 (3.3–3.8 GHz)/n79 (4.4–5.0 GHz),
standard C-band uplink (3.7–4.2 GHz)/downlink (5.92–6.425 GHz), extended C-band
uplink (3.4–3.7 GHz)/downlink (6.425–6.725 GHz), 802.11ac (5.15–5.85 GHz)/802.11ax

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(5.92–7.125 GHz), and X-band radar (8.0–12.0 GHz). Therefore, an integration of the Sub-6
GHz 5G, IEEE 802.11ac/ax, X-band, and C-band into a single antenna along with MIMO
configuration would be a good candidate for future wireless and satellite applications.
This manuscript is organized as: Sections 2 and 3 explain the geometry and evolution of
the monopole element and its characteristics, Section 4 analyses the geometry layout of
the two-antenna MIMO along with its working principles. Sections 5 and 6 discuss the
results and diversity performances of the proposed two-antenna MIMO. Section 7 compares
the proposed two-antenna MIMO with the pioneering state of arts and finally, Section 8
concludes the paper.

2. Design Layout of Single Monopole Antenna Element

The design layout and geometry of the single monopole antenna element that will
be further applied for realising the proposed two-antenna monopole MIMO are depicted
in Figure 1. Here, the radiating section (rectangular radiator) of the monopole antenna is
loaded with two narrow L-shaped slots, an inverted-U narrow slot, and two symmetrical
MSS (deployed on the right and left side of the rectangular radiator). To achieve better
impedance matching, a two-steps co-planar waveguide (CPW) feeding line (of width
1.5 mm and 2 mm) is applied, and the tapered structure that is loaded at the bottom of
the rectangular radiator (linked to the feeding line of the CPW) is for yielding a wider
operating bandwidth. As seen from Figure 1, the two co-planar ground planes have an
area of 4 × 7 mm2 each, and it is slightly truncated, with an air gap of 0.5 mm due to the
two-steps CPW feeding line. The antenna structure is engraved on a 0.8 mm FR-4 substrate
having a relative permittivity (εr) of 4.3 and a loss tangent (tanδ) of 0.025. The overall planar
size of this single monopole antenna element is 20 × 13 mm2 .

Figure 1. Layout and geometry of single monopole antenna element (all units in mm).

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3. Antenna Evolution Mechanism

To comprehend the excitation of the two wide operational bandwidths from the
single monopole antenna element, this section explains the antenna evolution mechanism
including the step-wise design and its associated reflection coefficient curve.

3.1. Step-1: Design of Rectangular Radiator

The antenna design begins with a two-step CPW-fed rectangular radiator with a
tapered structure at the bottom, as illustrated in Figure 2a, and it is denoted as ANT#1.
Here, ANT#1 was analysed and numerically simulated using the CST Microwave Studio®
(CST MWS) software. The width and length of the rectangular radiator is optimised using
the CST MWS.

Figure 2. Step-1 of single monopole antenna element, (a) ANT#1 structure, (b) S11 , (c) input impedance.

From Figure 2b, it is clearly observed that ANT#1 has successfully induced a wideband
operation with a 10-impedance bandwidth of 4.74–8.10 GHz (centred at 6.3 GHz). Thus, it
can meet the wideband demand for X- and C-band applications. Figure 2c validates that
the incorporation of a rectangular patch, truncated ground planes and a tapered structure
offers equal amounts of inductive and capacitive reactance at a resonating frequency of
6.3 GHz. Hence, achieving good impedance matching throughout the operating band
(4.74–8.10 GHz).

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3.2. Step-2: Deployment of MSS on Right and Left Side of ANT#1

As can be seen in Figure 2c, the frequency band generated by ANT#1 is not enough to
cover the standard and extended C-band. Therefore, to shift the frequency band towards
the lower spectrum and to match the load impedance of 100 Ω to the 50 Ω feed line, a
series open circuit MSS is embedded into the left and right side of the ANT#1 (which
forms the ANT#2), without disturbing the feeding arrangement of ANT#1, as shown in
Figure 3a. Notably, there are six small slots (each has a size of 0.8 × 0.5 mm2 ) in each MSS
(see Figure 1), and these slots are acting as capacitors and behave like an open circuit to
block the high inductive reactance across the operating frequency range.

Figure 3. Step-2 of single monopole antenna element, (a) ANT#2 structure, (b) S11 , (c) input impedance.

From the reflection coefficient curve of Figure 3b, it is visualised that the incorporation
of the two symmetrical MSS into ANT#1 (that forms the ANT#2) can shift the previous
frequency mode (6.3 GHz) towards the lower spectrum at approximately 5.3 GHz, and a
good 10-dB impedance bandwidth of approximately 3.4–7.0 GHz (low band) is achieved.
Meanwhile, ANT#2 can also generate another high band operation with 10-dB impedance
bandwidth of 9.4–11.1 GHz. Therefore, ANT#2 is able to operate in the IEEE 802.11ac,
C-band and partial X-band applications.
To comprehend the contributions of the MSS that achieves good impedance matching
across the two bands of interest, Figure 3c depicts the input impedance Zin (Ω) diagram
of ANT#2. Here, one can clearly see that good impedance matching has been achieved
throughout the two operating bands of 3.4–7.0 GHz and 9.4–11.1 GHz, as their resistive

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impedances are very much closer to 50 Ω and their corresponding reactive impedances
are near 0 Ω. This validates that the two symmetrical MSS can aid in achieving good
impedance matching across the low band and exciting a new high band.

3.3. Step-3: The Loading of L-Shaped Slots and Inverted U-Shaped Slot
To further integrate the Sub-6 GHz NR 5G bands along with the IEEE 802.11 ac/ax,
C-band, and X-band into a single antenna simultaneously, ANT#3 (as shown in Figure 4a) is
developed by further loading 3 narrow slots, namely, two L-shaped slots and an inverted U-
shaped slot. When these slots are loaded into the rectangular radiator, they get interlocked
with each other and aid in reducing the capacitive reactance. Moreover, these slots also help
to widen the previous frequency band by forcing the current distribution on the surface of
the radiator to flow for a longer time period, as well as diverting the current paths to flow
in various directions with various velocities. This results in the merging of all the currents
coming from various directions with different velocities and offers a wide bandwidth,
which can be seen in Figure 4b that plots the current distributions at 5 GHz for ANT#1 and
ANT#3. To illustrate the wideband characteristics of ANT#3, its corresponding reflection
coefficient is plotted in Figure 4c. It is clearly seen that ANT# 3 is able to yield a dual
bandwidth operation spanning in the range of 81.08% (3.3–7.8 GHz) and 40% (8.0–12.0 GHz)
at the resonant frequency of 5.0 GHz and 10.5 GHz, respectively. Figure 4d shows the input
impedance diagram of ANT#3. Here, one can see excellent impedance matching throughout
the two bands of interest, in which the resistive and reactive impedances are around 50 Ω
and near 0 Ω across the two bands, respectively. Therefore, ANT#3 is considered for further
analysis and will be applied for MIMO applications. The step-wise configuration of ANT#1
to ANT#3 and their associated operating bands are mentioned in Table 1.

Table 1. Step-wise configuration and operating bands of ANT#1 to ANT#3.

Sub-6 GHz IEEE IEEE Impedance

Step C-Band X-Band
5G NR 802.11ac 802.11ax Matching
ANT#1 - Yes Yes - - Good
ANT#2 - Yes - Yes - Good
ANT#3 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Good

Figure 4. Cont.

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Figure 4. Step-3 of single monopole antenna element, (a) proposed monopole antenna element,
(b) current distributions at 5 GHz, (c) S11 , (d) input impedance.

4. Geometry, Design and Analysis of the Proposed Two-Antenna MIMO

Figure 5 depicts the geometry of the proposed two-antenna MIMO without and with
loading the decoupling structure. As seen from Figure 5a, two identical monopole antenna
elements (ANT#3) are closely deployed side by side of each other, with a gap distance of
only 0.12λ (λ is the free space wavelength at 5 GHz), and it is much narrower than the
one reported in [9], with a gap distance of >1/4λ. Nevertheless, this gap distance can still
provide enough space for the deployment of a decoupling structure (5 concentric ring
elements), as shown in Figure 5b. Furthermore, this narrow gap distance can also ensure
that the desired antenna and MIMO diversity performances remain unaffected in a rich
multipath fading environment.

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Figure 5. Geometry of the proposed two-antenna MIMO, (a) without decoupling structure, (b) with
decoupling structure.

4.1. Analysis of the Two-Antenna MIMO without Decoupling Structure

Figure 6 plots the simulated reflection coefficient (S11 and S22 ) and isolation (S12 and
S21 ) curves of the proposed two-antenna MIMO without loading the decoupling structure.
Here, both the S11 and S22 are almost identical, and they have shown wide 10-dB impedance
bandwidths of 81.08% (3.3–7.8 GHz) and 40% (8.0–12.0 GHz). However, the isolation level
(S12 or S21 ) between the two antenna elements at around 4 GHz is approximately 10 dB,
which is undesirable because, as per the requirement of industry and IEEE standards, the
minimum isolation between two adjacent antenna elements should be greater than 15 dB
so that each antenna element will produce independent communication paths, resulting in
a higher data rate as well as uninterrupted internet access, wireless and satellite services.

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Figure 6. Simulated S-parameters of the proposed two-antenna MIMO without loading the decou-
pling structure.

Figure 7 shows the electric field intensity (V/m) distribution across the proposed two-
antenna MIMO at a resonant frequency of 5GHz. As shown in Figure 7a, when antenna
element#1 is excited (while antenna element#2 is terminated by a 50 Ω load impedance),
one can see that the antenna element#2 is highly influenced (coupled) by the strong electric
field generated from the antenna element#1. It is also validated when antenna element#2
is excited, while antenna element#1 is terminated with a 50 Ω load impedance, as seen in
Figure 7b. This clearly indicates that the antenna elements are invincibly mutually coupled
with each other.

Figure 7. Electric field intensity (V/m) of the proposed two-antenna MIMO without decoupling
structure, (a) antenna element#1 excited at 5GHz, (b) antenna element#2 excited at 5GHz.

4.2. Analysis of the Proposed Two-Antenna MIMO with Decoupling Structure

To reduce the mutual coupling between the two antenna elements, a decoupling
structure is loaded between the antenna elements (within the 0.12λ gap distance), as shown
in Figure 5b, in which the decoupling structure is comprised of five concentric ring elements.
In this case, each ring has an inner and outer radius of 1 mm and 1.5 mm, respectively, and
they are printed vertically with a gap distance of 1 mm away from each other. Furthermore,
a very thin strip of 0.25 mm in height is added in between the antenna elements in order to
connect the ground planes. By further observing the reflection coefficient curves in Figure 8,
it is apparent that the deployment of the decoupling structure, as well as connecting the
ground plane, does not affect the impedance bandwidth (as seen from the S11 /S22 curves)

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of both antenna elements. Notably, the decoupling structure has significantly enhanced
the isolation level between the two antenna elements, and a level of >20 dB (seen from
S12 /S21 curves) is observed which was verified by applying two plane waves across the
length of the decoupling structure [22]. The isolation of below −20 dB is achieved as the
equidistance spaced circles act as reflectors and absorb the surface wave which, therefore,
serves as a wide stop band filter and nullifies the surface wave propagation between Ant. 1
and Ant. 2 [23].

Figure 8. S-parameters of two-port MIMO Antenna with decoupling structure.

To further comprehend the validation of the isolating structure, electric field distribu-
tion (V/m) analysis at a resonant frequency of 5GHz is shown in Figure 9, where it can be
easily seen that the antenna element#2 is being prevented from the strong electric field of
antenna element#1, which is due to the five concentric ring elements that act as a band stop
filter to attenuate the correlated signals coming out from antenna element#1. The same
phenomenon is also shown when antenna element#2 is excited, while antenna element#1 is
terminated with a 50 Ω load impedance.

Figure 9. Electric field intensity (V/m) of the proposed two-antenna MIMO with decoupling structure,
(a) antenna element#1 excited at 5GHz, (b) antenna element#2 excited at 5 GHz.

5. Results and Discussion of the Proposed Two-Antenna MIMO

To implement the proposed two-antenna MIMO for wireless and satellite applications
functioning in Sub-6 GHz 5G NR, 802.11ac/ax, C-band, and X-band, a prototype is manu-

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factured and depicted in Figure 10. The scattering, radiating and diversity performances of
the fabricated proposed prototype are verified with simulated performances, and they are
discussed in the below sub-sections. Notably, when analysing the performances of the two-
antenna MIMO, only one antenna element is excited, whereas the other antenna element is
terminated with a 50 Ω load impedance. The Rohde & Schwarz ZNH18 network analyser,
having a frequency range of 30 kHz to 18 GHz, was used for measuring S-parameters,
whereas the anechoic chamber was used to measure the radiation characteristic of the
proposed antenna.

Figure 10. Fabricated prototype of the proposed two-antenna MIMO.

5.1. Simulated and Measured Reflection Coefficient and Isolation

As the reflection coefficient (S11 ) and isolation (S12 ) are analogous to S22 and S21 ,
respectively, Figure 11 only shows the simulated and measured S11 and S12 characteristics
of the proposed two-antenna MIMO. In this figure, both simulated and measured results
are well-validated with each other, and the observed deviation (especially in the high
band) may be due to manufacturing tolerances and minor fabricating errors. Nevertheless,
a dualband operation is clearly shown in Figure 11a, in which the measured low band
and high band operation have exhibited a wide 10-dB impedance bandwidth of 80.54%
(3.3–7.75 GHz) and 41.2% (7.9–12.0 GHz), respectively, while isolation larger than 20 dB
was achieved across the two operating bands of interest, as seen in Figure 11b.

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Figure 11. Simulated and measured S-parameters of the proposed two-antenna MIMO, (a) reflection
coefficient, S11 , (b) isolation, S12 .

5.2. Simulated and Measured Far Field Radiation Patterns

The radiation patterns of the proposed two-antennas MIMO across the E-plane and
H-plane are depicted in Figure 12a–d. As shown in Figure 12a,b, across the two bands of
interest, 5.0 GHz and 10.5 GHz, the two antenna elements at the E-plane are exhibiting
near-omnidirectional patterns and 8-shaped patterns for the co-polarisation (co-polar) and
cross-polarisation (cross-pol) radiation, respectively. Furthermore, it is also noteworthy
that at both frequencies, the radiation patterns of antenna element#1 are exactly mirror
images of the ones shown in antenna element#2. As for its H-plane counterparts, as shown
in Figure 12c,d, across the two bands of interest, 5.0 GHz and 10.5 GHz, respectively, the
two antenna elements at the H-plane are exhibiting bi-directional patterns (co-polar) and
broadside patterns (cross-pol). The above results demonstrated that the proposed two-
antenna MIMO has offered acceptable radiation characteristics to meet the desire MIMO
diversity performances.

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Figure 12. Radiation patterns of antenna element#1 and antenna element#2, (a) 5.0 GHz, E-plane,
(b) 10.5 GHz, E-plane, (c) 5.0 GHz, H-plane, (d) 10.5 GHz, H-plane.

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5.3. Simulated and Measured Realised Gain and Radiation Efficiency

As the two antenna elements are identical to each other, we only plot the gain and
efficiency of antenna element#1, and they are illustrated in Figure 13. In this figure, between
3.5 GHz and 12 GHz, the simulated gain was 3.0–4.66 dBi, while the measured one was
2.65–4.00 dBi. As for its corresponding radiation efficiency, the simulated one was ranging
from 72.5% to 82%, while the measured one was between 69.64% and 76.8%. Thus, the
proposed two-antenna MIMO has exhibited stable gain and efficiency throughout the
operating bands of interest. The simulated and measured peak gain and peak efficiency
are compared and presented in Table 2, and one can see that these results can ensure good
quality of communication.

Figure 13. Gain and radiation efficiency of the proposed two-port MIMO Antenna.

Table 2. Comparison of Simulated and Measured Peak Gain and Peak Efficiency.

Simulated Peak Gain Measured Peak Gain Simulated Peak Measured Peak
Functioning Band
(dBi) (dBi) Efficiency (η)% Efficiency (η)%
Sub-6 GHz 5G NR &
3.00 2.77 72.99 70.10
C-band uplink
IEEE 802.11ac 3.08 2.72 73.50 70.50
IEEE 802.11ax &
3.75 3.35 76.50 72.49
C-band downlink
X-band 3.48 2.91 78.48 70.80

6. Diversity Performance Analysis

To prove the potency of the proposed two-antenna MIMO, the diversity performances
matrix, such as ECC, DG, MEG, CCL, channel capacity, and TARC, are very essential, and
thus they are further verified through simulation as well as measurement.

6.1. Envelope Correlation Coefficient (ECC)

To know how independently antenna elements radiate throughout the operating band,
the ECC is a very essential parameter to be investigated. Ideally, the ECC value should
be equal to zero, which indicates that the antenna elements radiate independently by
producing uncorrelated radiations. However, in a rich fading environment, the value of
ECC is not equivalent to zero. Notably, the ECC value of the proposed two-antenna MIMO

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can be calculated via the S-parameters, as denoted in Equation (1); however, one condition
to be noted is that the two antenna elements must have an efficiency of near 100%, so that
much accurate ECC can be determined. Thus, it is always better to apply Equation (2) via
the far-field radiation patterns to determine the ECC, as the calculation of ECC via this
equation is more accurate.

|S11 ∗ S12 + S21 ∗ S22 |2

ρe =    (1)
1 − |S11 |2 − |S21 |2 1 − |S22 |2 − |S12 |2
 
 → →
4π F1 (θ, ∅) ∗ F2 (θ, ∅) dΩ
ρe = (2)
 → 2  → 2
4π F1 ( θ, ∅) dΩ 4π F2 ( θ, ∅) dΩ

→
where Fi (θ, ∅) is the three-dimensional field pattern of the antenna, when ith port is excited.
Ω is solid angle.
Figure 14 shows the ECC values for various frequency ranges. It is seen that the ECC
values obtained from Equations (1) and (2) are well below 0.05, which are very close to
zero throughout the bands of interest of the proposed two-antenna MIMO. This confirms
that both the antenna elements are uncorrelated from each other, and hence contribute to
increasing the data rate of the system.

Figure 14. ECC of the proposed two-antenna MIMO.

6.2. Diversity Gain (DG) dB

The DG is another metric of interest as it helps the MIMO antenna to resolve multipath
signals, thus improving the receiver’s ability to recover intelligent data from multipath
signals at a fixed rate of transmission. The DG is the parameter used to determine the
increment in signal to noise ratio (SNR) magnitude of each path due to the introduction of
a spatial diversity scheme, and it is calculated by using the below formula mentioned in
Equation (3). 
DG = 10 1 − | ρ e |2 (3)
Figure 15 shows the DG of the proposed two-antenna MIMO. The calculated DG
values obtained from the far-field and S-parameters are very close to 10 dB. This confirms

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that both the antenna elements are strongly uncorrelated with each other and are good
candidates for MIMO applications.

Figure 15. DG of the proposed two-antenna MIMO.

6.3. Mean Effective Gain (MEG)

The MEG determines the performance of antenna elements in a rich multipath fading
practical environment. MEG is the ratio of mean received power to the mean incident
power at the antenna element, and it is obtained using the efficiency method as denoted in
Equation (4).  
K
2
MEGi = 0.5μirad = 0.5 1 − ∑ Sij (4)
j =1

where K is the number of antenna elements, ‘i’ is the excited antenna, and η irad is the
radiation efficiency of the ith antenna.
Further Solving Equation (4), the MEG of each antenna element can be computed by
using Equations (5) and (6):
 
MEG1 = 0.5 1 − |S11 |2 − |S12 |2 (5)
 
MEG2 = 0.5 1 − |S21 |2 − |S22 |2 (6)

where, MEG1 and MEG2 are the MEG of antenna element#1 and antenna element#2,
respectively. By observing Figure 16, one can see that the calculated MEG of the two
antenna elements is identical (approximately −3 dB) across the bands of interest, thus
their corresponding ratio (MEG1 /MEG2 ) is one. Table 3 concludes the MEG values of the
proposed two-antenna MIMO. In this table, the two antenna elements have acquired very
good values, which ascertains that the proposed two-antenna MIMO has a maximum DG,
better isolation across functioning bands, and smaller losses in diversity performances.
Moreover, because the MEG ratios of the two antenna elements are closer to 1, it also
validates better diversity performance from the proposed two-antenna MIMO under a very
rich multipath fading environment of wireless channels.

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Figure 16. MEG of the proposed two-antenna MIMO.

Table 3. Mean effective gains (MEG) of the proposed two-antenna MIMO.

MEG (-dB) of Antenna Elements

Ratio of Antenna Ratio of Antenna
Frequency (GHz)
Antenna Element#1 Antenna Element#2 Element#1/Antenna Element#2/Antenna
Element#2 Element#1
Sub-6 GHz 5G and
−3.10 −3.11 0.99 1.00
C-band uplink
IEEE 802.11ac −3.21 −3.22 0.99 1.00
IEEE 802.11ax 5G and
−3.15 −3.14 1.00 0.99
C-band downlink
X-band −3.05 −3.04 1.00 0.99

6.4. Total Active Reflection Coefficient (TARC)

The TARC validates the diversity performance of a MIMO antenna and is calculated
by using the below Equation (7).
   
2 2
Sii + Sij e jθ + S ji + S jj e jθ
Γ= √ (7)
2

where θ is the input phase angle which is changed from 0◦ to 180◦ at an interval of
30◦ , and Sii and Sjj are the reflection coefficients (dB) of antenna element#1 and antenna
element#2, respectively.
Figure 17 illustrates the measured TARC values which are almost stable and below
−10 dB in the entire band. This validates that the proposed two-antenna MIMO has
obtained good isolation, as well as serving as a good candidate for the integration with the
phase shifter system.

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Figure 17. TARC of the proposed two-antenna MIMO.

6.5. Channel Capacity Loss (CCL)

The CCL is an essential metric to characterise the diversity performance of a MIMO
antenna, as it confirms the higher bound on the rate of transmission. Thus, to ensure a high
data rate, the CCL values must be below 0.5 bits/s/Hz across the operational band, and it
is estimated by the following Equations (8) to (13).
 
Closs = −log2 det μR (8)

where, Ψ R is the correlation matrix and is described as:

 
μ11 μ12
μR = (9)
μ21 μ22

where,  
μ11 = 1 − |S11 |2 + |S12 |2 (10)

μ12 = −(S11 ∗ S12 + S21 ∗ S22 ) (11)

μ21 = −(S22 ∗ S21 + S12 ∗ S11 ) (12)
 
μ22 = 1 − |S22 |2 + |S21 |2 (13)

The simulated and measured CCL values of the proposed two-antenna MIMO using
the S-parameters are demonstrated in Figure 18. Here, average values of CCL less than
0.35 bits/s/Hz are observed in the entire band, which ensure a better performance of the
MIMO antenna by fulfilling the limits defined by the industry standards. Furthermore, the
small discrepancy observed between the simulated and measured CCL values could be
because of fabrication inaccuracies.

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Figure 18. Channel Capacity Loss of the proposed two-antenna MIMO.

6.6. Channel Capacity (bits/s/Hz)

Channel capacity is a vital parameter used to calculate the multiplexing performance
of the MIMO antenna, which is calculated using the equation in [20]. Figure 19 depicts the
comparison graph of the channel capacity for the SISO and MIMO antenna. From Figure 19
it is easily observed that the channel capacity of the proposed two-antenna MIMO is greater
than 10.00 bits/s/Hz in the entire band of interest, that is approximately 1.78 times higher
as compared to the maximum limit of an ideal SISO antenna (approx. 5.65 bps/Hz). Further,
it is also noticed that the channel capacity values are very near to the maximum limit for an
ideal 2 × 2 MIMO system (11.35 bps/Hz).

Figure 19. Channel Capacity of the proposed two-antenna MIMO.

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Electronics 2022, 11, 473

7. Performance Comparison of the Proposed Two-Antenna MIMO with Existing State

of Arts
The performance comparison of the proposed two-antenna MIMO with other existing
two-antenna MIMO types, including bandwidth, dimensions, decoupling structure, gain,
efficiency, ECC, and DG are mentioned in Table 4. Here, it is observed that the proposed two-
antenna MIMO has exhibited wide dual impedance bandwidths with compact dimensions
and good ECC and DG values.

Table 4. Performance comparison of proposed two-antenna MIMO with existing state of art.

Gain Decoupling
Ref Dimension (mm3 ) Sub BW (GHz) ECC DG Isol (dB)
(dBi) Structure
0.6–0.7
1.7–1.9
[1] 32 × 98 × 1 FR-4 2.4–2.7 5.14 0.04 9.8 >15 Not used
3.2–4.1
5.1–5.9
2.24–2.50
3.60–3.99
[2] 56 × 37 × 1.6 FR-4 2 0.08 9.5 >15 Not used
4.40–4.60
5.71–5.90
3.10–3.21
[4] 70 × 52 × 1.6 FR-4 6.20–6.33 5.84 0.025 9.5 >31 Not used
7.60–7.90
2.22–2.54
[9] 90 × 21 × 1.6 FR-4 3.14–3.90 3.22 0.01 10 >20 Not used
5.30–5.90
3.50–3.60 U-shape slot in
[10] 34 × 34 × 1.44 FR-4 4.7 0.01 - >19
5.00–5.40 ground plane
T-shape
[13] 20 × 35 × 0.8 FR-4 epoxy 3.34–3.87 2.5 0.01 - >20
ground stub
[15] 59 × 55 × 8.1 FR-4 3.00–7.00 4 0.2 8.94 >20 DGS
[18] 38.2 × 95.94 × 1.6 FR-4 2.43–2.50 4.25 0.008 9.99 >24 Fractal EBG
[19] 55 × 28 × 1.6 FR-4 2.01–3.92 2 0.01 9.8 >15 EBG
1.34–3.92
[20] 100 × 60 × 1 Jeans 5 0.04 9.0 >18 Meta-Inspired
4.34–6.34
[21] 47.5 × 40 × 1.6 FR-4 3.35–3.78 3.5 0.05 - >15 Metamaterial
This 3.3–7.8
32 × 20 × 0.8 FR-4 4.0 0.05 9.9 >20 Concentric Rings
Work 8.0–12.0

From the above table, the following features of the proposed two-antenna MIMO
are observed:
1. It has the smallest physical dimensions (volume size) as compared to all the antennas
mentioned in Table 1.
2. Unlike [10,13,16–19], the proposed one has exhibited a very wide dual bandwidth
operation.
3. It has a higher gain, as compared to [2,9,10,13,15–17,19].
4. Unlike [2,15], the proposed one has higher ECC and DG.
5. The decoupling structure applied in this work is very simple and easy to design, and
it can yield high isolation of >20 dB, as compared to antennas reported in [1,2,4,9].

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Electronics 2022, 11, 473

8. Conclusions
A two-antenna MIMO functioning in the Sub-6 GHz 5G NR, IEEE 802.11ac/ax, C-
band, and X-band has been successfully studied. Besides showing very wide dual 10-dB
impedance bandwidths of 81.08% (3.3–7.8 GHz) and 40% (8.0–12.0 GHz), the proposed
two-antenna MIMO has also exhibited a gain >3 dBi and efficiency greater than 69%
throughout the two bands of interest. By loading a decoupling structure (five concentric
ring elements) between the two adjacent antenna elements, a very desirable isolation above
20 dB is obtained. The MIMO performance metrics, such as ECC (<0.05), DG (>9.9 dB), CCL
(<0.35/bits/s/Hz), TARC (<−10 dB), and MEG1/MEG2 ratio (approximately equal to 1) are
investigated, and their corresponding values are well within the acceptable practical values.
Furthermore, the calculated channel capacity is larger than 10.00 bits/s/Hz. Therefore,
because of its compact size, good scattering and radiation characteristics, better diversity
performance, the proposed two-antenna MIMO is a potential candidate in futuristic devices
for above aforementioned wireless and satellite applications.

Author Contributions: Conceptualization, A.G.A., J.K. and C.-Y.-D.S.; methodology, A.D.; software,
A.G.A. and J.K.; validation, J.K., C.-Y.-D.S. and A.P.; formal analysis, A.G.A. and A.D.; investigation,
A.G.A. and J.K.; writing—original draft preparation, A.G.A., J.K. and A.D.; writing—review and
editing, J.K. and A.D.; visualization, A.G.A.; supervision, C.-Y.-D.S. and A.P.; project administration,
A.P. and J.K.; funding acquisition, A.G.A. All authors have read and agreed to the published version
of the manuscript.
Funding: This research received no external funding.
Data Availability Statement: All data are included within manuscript.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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216
 electronics
Article
Design and Analysis of Wideband Flexible Self-Isolating
MIMO Antennas for Sub-6 GHz 5G and WLAN
Smartphone Terminals
Jayshri Kulkarni 1, *, Abdullah G. Alharbi 2 , Arpan Desai 3 , Chow-Yen-Desmond Sim 4 and Ajay Poddar 5

1 Sourayan Technologies Pvt. Ltd., Pune 411037, India

2 Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Jouf University, Sakaka 42421, Saudi Arabia;
[email protected]
3 Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, CSPIT, Charotar University of Science and
Technology (CHARUSAT), Changa 388421, India; [email protected]
4 Department of Electrical Engineering, Feng Chia University, Taichung 407, Taiwan; [email protected]
5 Synergy Microwave Corp., Paterson, NJ 07504, USA; [email protected]
* Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +91-9552466969

Abstract: A single radiator that is a part of four-port diversity Multiple-Input Multiple-Output

(MIMO) antenna design is composed of four octagonal rings embedded between the two opposite
sides of a T-shaped conductive layer surrounded by inverted angular edge cut L-shaped and E-
shaped structures. The radiators are placed at the four corners with common ground at the center of
a smartphone to form a four-element mobile MIMO antenna. The printing of the antenna is carried
out on the flexible polyamide substrate (dielectric constant = 3.5 and loss tangent = 0.0027) with
dimensions of 70 × 145 × 0.2 mm3 . A wide impedance bandwidth of (84.12%) 2.39 to 5.86 GHz is
Citation: Kulkarni, J.; Alharbi, A.G.;
achieved for all four radiators. The compact size of the radiators along with their placement enables
Desai, A.; Sim, C.-Y.-D.; Poddar, A.
the proposed MIMO antenna to occupy much less area while preserving the space for 2G/3G/4G
Design and Analysis of Wideband
Flexible Self-Isolating MIMO
antennas. The placement of the antennas results in self-isolation between antenna elements by
Antennas for Sub-6 GHz 5G and achieving isolation greater than 17.5 dB in the desired operating bands. Furthermore, besides
WLAN Smartphone Terminals. showing a high efficiency of 85% and adequate gain above 4 dBi, good diversity performances such
Electronics 2021, 10, 3031. https:// as Envelope Correlation Coefficient (ECC) of less than 0.05, Diversity Gain (DG) of above 9.8 dB, Mean
doi.org/10.3390/electronics10233031 Effective Gain (MEG) of −3.1 dB, Channel Capacity of 21.50 bps/Hz, and Total Active Reflection
Coefficient (TARC) of below −10 dB are achieved by the flexible MIMO smartphone antenna. The
Academic Editors: Faisel Tubbal, effect of bending along the X and Y-axis on the performance of the proposed MIMO antenna is also
Ladislau Matekovits and Raad Raad analyzed where decent performance is observed. This makes the proposed flexible four-element
MIMO antenna a potential candidate to be deployed in future smartphones.
Received: 31 October 2021
Accepted: 1 December 2021
Keywords: smartphone antennas; 5G; multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO); flexible; four-element
Published: 4 December 2021

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral

with regard to jurisdictional claims in
1. Introduction
published maps and institutional affil-
iations. The upcoming promising technology for 5G smartphone communication is the use
of MIMO, which uses two or more antennas for simultaneous transmission and reception
over a communication channel. With the increasing number of mobile users, there is
a need to increase channel capacity, which is possible through MIMO, where multiple
Copyright: © 2021 by the authors.
antennas can be employed in the mobile terminals and base stations [1,2]. Presently, various
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
countries are focusing on sub-6 GHz Long Term Evolution (LTE) bands such as 3.4–3.6 GHz
This article is an open access article
and 3.6–3.8 GHz. In addition, 3.5–4.2 GHz, 3.3–3.4 GHz/4.8–5 GHz, and 3.6–4.2 GHz/
distributed under the terms and 4.4–4.9 GHz are also incorporated by the USA, Japan, and China, respectively, for 5G
conditions of the Creative Commons applications [3]. The allocation of the 5G spectrum for countries is different, stretching from
Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// 3.3–6 GHz, and for future 5G applications, the multiple licensed and unlicensed bands
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ will be amalgamated. Therefore, a multi-port antenna operating between 3.3 and 6 GHz
4.0/). is essential for smartphone applications [4–6]. Employing multiple antennas with MIMO

Electronics 2021, 10, 3031. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics10233031 217 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/electronics

Electronics 2021, 10, 3031

and 5G capability requires high inter-elemental isolation to ensure smooth communication

between the wireless channels along with high data rates in handheld devices. Due to
the use of multipath technology, higher data rates using MIMO technology are possible,
leading to an increase in the range and reliability without extra bandwidth usage. Thus,
spectral efficiency significantly improves and ultimately helps in coping with the necessity
of higher data rates for various services [7]. To achieve the desired Electro-Magnetic (EM)
signal, the antennas are placed in the smartphones. However, if the antennas are non-
conformable, they consume extra space. Therefore, conformal antennas are designed to be
accommodated anywhere within the limited space available inside smartphones. Thus,
conformal antennas save space, which can then be utilized for increasing the functionality
of the smartphones [8].

2. Literature Review
Recently, several researchers have carried out intensive work on MIMO antennas for
mobile phones [9–25]. However, the space limitation in mobile phones brings challenges in
integrating a greater number of antennas with a good value of isolation and lower ECC.
Single-port [9], dual-port [10–16], and quad-port [17–25] MIMO antennas are proposed for
smartphone terminals by researchers. The single-port antenna proposed in [9] resonates
at a dual-frequency band; however, the efficiency of the antenna is much lower, and it
does not cover the 5G band. Dual-port smartphone antennas resonating at dual [10–12],
quad [13], wideband [14,15], and ultrawideband [16] frequency bands are also proposed.
The antenna proposed in [10–12] has acceptable gain, efficiency, and MIMO performance;
however, it resonates at mm-wave 5G band, thus not covering the required sub-6-GHz
5G band. The antenna in [11–13] has a thickness of 5 and 6 mm, respectively, occupying
a larger space within the smartphone and thus hindering practical usage. Antennas
in [14,15] cover applications such as LTE/Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) bands;
however, the gain in [14] is negative and no efficiency is calculated, whereas the antenna
in [15] operates only in the LTE band. The antenna in [16] achieves wide bandwidth,
very high isolation, and the lowest thickness (0.508 mm) as compared to other two-port
antennas; however, to increase the processing capability while attaining much higher
download/upload speeds for applications such as mobile Internet of Things (IoT) and
improved data rates, a greater number of antenna elements are needed. To achieve the same,
various four-port antennas [17–25] are proposed, out of which the antenna in [18,20–23,25]
operates at the sub-6 GHz 5G band while other antennas are resonating at LTE [19] and
WLAN [24] bands. The antenna in [18] has a decent frequency response and isolation
without using any decoupling techniques; however, the efficiency and SAR analysis of
the antenna are not evaluated while the gain achieved is also lower than the proposed
antenna. The four-element antenna [20] is printed on the front and back of the substrate,
where lack of gain and SAR evaluation with lower efficiency make the antenna less usable
in practical smartphone applications. Even though SAR analysis is carried out in [21],
the lower bandwidth in the 5G regime with a lack of planar antenna geometry leads to
the occupation of more space and thus makes the antenna less practical for slim mobile
phones. Even after achieving decent frequency response and MIMO performance, the lack
of SAR analysis and lower flexibility make the antennas in [22,23,25] a weak contender as
compared to the proposed antenna for WLAN and sub-6 GHz 5G smartphone applications.
Moreover, no bending analysis is carried out in any of the dual or four-port antennas
discussed.
The novel contributions of the proposed work are as follows:
1. The antenna is a four-port structure with all the four elements connected to a common
ground plane.
2. The antenna operates in the entire sub-6 GHz 5G band (3.3 GHz–5 GHz) along with
the WLAN band (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz).
3. SAR analysis is carried out at two resonant peaks (3.5 and 5.1 GHz) in order to ensure
the safe usage of the antenna in mobile terminals.

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Electronics 2021, 10, 3031

4. Bending analysis is performed, which shows decent performance in terms of MIMO

diversity, transmission, and scattering parameters that guarantee the practical usage
of the antenna for slim and foldable smartphone devices.
5. The antenna has demonstrated high gain (>4 dBi), high inter-elemental isolation
(>17.5 dB), and reasonable efficiency (85%) with all the diversity parameters such as
ECC, DG, TARC, MEG, and channel capacity meeting the requirements of MIMO
antennas. Scattering, transmission, and MIMO parameters matched well under
normal as well as bending conditions.
This paper illustrates a planar four-port and four-element flexible MIMO antenna
resonating at WLAN and sub-6 GHz 5G bands. Having features such as flexibility, a
bi/omnidirectional radiation pattern, planar structure, wide bandwidth covering Sub-
6 GHz and WLAN bands, high inter-elemental isolation, and suitable MIMO diversity
parameters under normal and bending conditions makes the proposed antenna appropriate
for smartphone applications. Each radiator has a single feeding port connected to the
central common radiating plane. The antenna achieves the required isolation as the four
antenna elements are positioned at the diagonally opposite corners of the ground plane,
thus achieving the required spatial diversity. SAR analysis and the flexibility of the antenna
prove the practical usage of the antenna for slim and foldable smartphone devices.

3. Mobile Antenna Design and Geometry

Figure 1a shows the layered view of a flexible four-element MIMO antenna geometry
with the common conducting ground at the center. A flexible polyamide substrate (di-
electric constant of 3.5 and loss tangent of 0.0027) is used with diagonally placed antenna
elements at the corner of a common ground plane. Figure 1b shows the top view where it
is observed that the dimensions of the antenna are 145 × 70 × 0.2 mm3 . Four conductive
antenna elements (diagonally placed) with the common center-ground and fed using a
discrete port (A: feeding point and B: grounding point) are all printed on the top side of
the substrate.
The detailed view of the single element structure of the antenna is illustrated in
Figure 1c, which consists of four octagonal rings embedded between two opposite sides
of a T-shaped conductive layer surrounded by inverted angular edge cut L-shaped and
E-shaped structures. The inset view of the solid octagonal shape located on a T-shaped
branch and four hollow octagonal shapes on the right side of a T-shaped branch is shown.
The latter hollow octagonal shapes are connected with two rectangular stubs separated
by a distance of 0.8 mm to the vertical side edges. All the edges of the inverted L-shaped
strips and E-shaped strip are cut at an angle of 45◦ . The dimensions are indicated in the
figure itself, where the units are in terms of millimeters (mm).
While designing the proposed flexible single-element antenna, a few steps are followed
to reach the final design, as shown in Figure 2, and their corresponding reflection coefficient
results are shown in Figure 3. Initially, an inner E-shaped strip having angular cuts at the
edges (step 1) is adopted. The antenna in this case shows a single band performance at a
resonance of 3.8 GHz. In the second step, an additional angular edge cut inverted L-shaped
conductive strip along with a vertical strip embedded with a solid octagon is inserted for
enhancing the frequency response where dual-band performance is observed; however,
the lower band is not in the WLAN/5G regime. Thus, in the third step, a horizontal
line is incorporated above the E-shaped strip, which is interfaced with the top edge of
the E-shaped strip through three vertical conductive strips. The same leads to improved
frequency response; however, the wideband performance is still not achieved. So, in
the final stage, four octagonal rings are inserted for achieving bandwidth and reflection
coefficient performance to cover the essential WLAN/5G bands. Thus, the final step shows
the simulated −10 dB impedance bandwidth spanning from (84.67%) 2.37–5.85 GHz.

219
Electronics 2021, 10, 3031

(a)ȱ

(b)ȱ

ȱ
(c)ȱ

Figure 1. Four-element MIMO antenna geometry: (a) Layered view; (b) Top view; (c) Inset view of antenna element (all
dimensions in mm).

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Electronics 2021, 10, 3031

ȱ
Figure 2. Evolution steps of the proposed mobile MIMO antenna element.

ȱ
Figure 3. Reflection coefficient S11 (dB) of evolution steps of mobile MIMO antenna.

4. Results and Discussion

The proposed four-port flexible smartphone MIMO antenna is fabricated and mea-
sured. The fabricated antenna is demonstrated in Figure 4. Each element is given a separate
feed through Sub Miniature version A (SMA) to UFL connector concerning the common
ground. The S parameters and radiation patterns are measured using the Keysight vector
network analyzer and shielded anechoic chamber. While measuring the S-parameters,
when two antenna elements are considered as an active radiator, the other two antenna
elements are terminated with a load impedance of 50 Ω, as shown in Figure 4b. The inset
view is illustrated in Figure 4c in order to clearly showcase the fabricated antenna geometry.

221
Electronics 2021, 10, 3031

 
(a)ȱ (b)ȱ

ȱ
(c)ȱ

Figure 4. Fabricated antenna geometry of 4-element mobile MIMO antenna: (a) Top view; (b) Top
view with 50 Ω termination; (c) Inset view of antenna element.

4.1. Reflection Coefficient (dB)

The simulated reflection coefficient results as seen in Figure 5 depicts that all four
antenna elements radiate in the frequency band ranging from (84.67%) 2.37–5.85 GHz. The
measured reflection coefficient results illustrate that all four antenna elements radiate in
the frequency band ranging from (84.12%) 2.39–5.86 GHz. The measured S parameters
agree very well with the simulated ones. The slight disparity may be due to the tolerance
in size due to the fabrication process and losses across the UFL to SMA connector.

ȱ
Figure 5. Simulated and measured reflection coefficient of 4-element mobile MIMO antenna.

4.2. Transmission Coefficient (dB)

The simulated and measured transmission coefficient (Sij/Sji) results are illustrated in
Figure 6. It is easily seen that the mutual coupling between port 1 and port 3 (S13 ) exhibits
the worst-case mutual coupling of −17.5 dB as they are spaced only 48 mm apart. Further,
the antenna elements (port 1 and port 2 (S12 )) show the minimum coupling of −18 dB as
they are spaced at 145 mm apart. Moreover, all the antenna elements exhibit the worst-case
mutual coupling of −17.5 dB, which is acceptable for the independent operation of each
antenna element in the desired operating band of interest [12,25,26].

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Electronics 2021, 10, 3031



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4.3. Surface Current Disctribution (A/m)

To better understand the working mechanism of the proposed mobile MIMO antenna,
the surface current distribution at frequencies 3.5 GHz and 5.1 GHz is presented in Figure 7.
As observed from Figure 7a, the maximum current flows in the lower part of the radiator,
i.e., the E-shaped structure, which results in the generation of resonance at 3.5 GHz.
Similarly, from Figure 7b, it is visualized that the current flows through the octagonal ring
as well as from the inverted L-shaped strip, which helps in the generation of resonance at
5.1 GHz. So, these two modes are overlapped with the fundamental mode of 3.5 GHz lying
in the frequency range of 2.37–5.85 GHz band.


(a)ȱ

ȱ
(b)ȱ

Figure 7. Current distribution of 4-element mobile MIMO antenna at (a) 3.5 GHz and (b) 5.1 GHz.

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Electronics 2021, 10, 3031

4.4. Radiation Pattern (2D)

To evaluate the radiating performance including far-field patterns of the proposed
wideband mobile terminal antenna, the simulated and measured radiation patterns in the
E-plane and H-plane at 3.5 GHz and 5.1 GHz are depicted in Figure 8. While measuring the
radiation patterns of one port, the other ports are terminated with 50 Ω load impedance.
From Figure 8a, it is easily observed that in the E-plane, Ant-1 and Ant-3 as well as Ant-2
and Ant-4 exhibit the same radiation patterns, while the radiation patterns of Ant-2 are
a mirror image of Ant-1 and radiation patterns of Ant-4 are a mirror image of Ant-3.
Likewise, from Figure 8b, it is noted that in the H-plane the radiation patterns of Ant-1 and
Ant-2 as well as Ant-3 and Ant-4 are the same, while the radiation patterns of Ant-4 are
a mirror image of Ant-1 and the radiation patterns of Ant-3 are a mirror image of Ant-2.
However, in both the E-plane and H-plane, all the antenna elements exhibit the radiation
patterns with minimum cross-polar magnitude of −15 dB.

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Figure 8. Simulated and measured Co/Cross pol plot of 4-element mobile MIMO antenna at (a)
3.5 GHz and (b) 5.1 GHz.

4.5. Radiation Pattern (3D)

The three-dimensional (3D) radiation plots for the total radiated power for all the
antenna elements at 3.5 GHz and 5.1 GHz are depicted in Figure 9. The 3D patterns are
drawn under the condition when one port is excited while the other ports are terminated
with 50 Ω load impedance. As seen from Figure 9 at 3.5 GHz, the maximum gain is
achieved for all the ports 1, 2, 3 and 4 with the value of 5.56 dBi, which are placed in the
vicinity of the cleared ground region at the corners of the back plane. Likewise, as seen
in Figure 9b at 5.1 GHz, the slightly lower gain values around 4.63 dBi are obtained since
the size of the antenna elements becomes relatively smaller as compared to the guided
wavelength λg.

ȱ ȱ

ȱ ȱ
(a)ȱ (b)ȱ

Figure 9. Simulated 3D radiation pattern at (a) 3.5 GHz (b) 5.1 GHz.

4.6. Gain and Efficiency

The simulated and measured values of the gain and efficiency of proposed antenna
elements are depicted in Figure 10. Due to the similar performances and deployment of
antenna elements in the layout of a smartphone antenna, the gain and efficiency of a single
antenna element are shown in Figure 10. A minimal difference between simulated and
measured values of gain and efficiency is observed, which may be due to the tolerance
of the coaxial cable with the SMA connector, 50 Ω load termination impedance, and the
impact of hand soldering. However, the simulated gain and measured gain vary from 4 dBi

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to 5 dBi in the desired frequency range. Likewise, the simulated and measured efficiency is
well above 85% throughout the desired operating band of interest.

 
 

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5. MIMO Diversity Analysis

This section investigates the MIMO performance including ECC, DG, TARC, MEG,
and MIMO channel capacity for analyzing the performance of the proposed wideband
flexible MIMO antenna for smartphone applications.

5.1. ECC and DG

The ECC is a very essential metric to analyze the performance of a smartphone in
the presence of a rich scattering environment as the performance of the smartphone is
significantly affected by different hand postures. The ECC values should be <0.5 in the
presence of a scattering environment to quantify the uncorrelated operation of each antenna
element in the multiple antenna system. The ECC is computed from either S-parameters
or from 3D far-field radiation patterns. By considering Equation (1), the ECC values are
calculated as [26]:  
  → →
Fi (θ, ϕ) ∗ Fj (θ, ϕ) dΩ2
ECC = (1)
  → 2   → 2
Fi (θ, ϕ) dΩ Fj (θ, ϕ) dΩ

→ →
where, in Equation (1), Fi (θ, ϕ) and Fj (θ, ϕ) are the 3D radiation patterns of the antenna
when port i is excited and port j is excited, respectively. Ω represents the solid angle, θ, ϕ
represents spherical angles (elevation, azimuth), and * denotes the Hermitian product.
The calculated ECC values for the proposed flexible MIMO antenna are well below
0.05, as depicted in Figure 11.
The diversity gain is calculated by using Equation (2) [26]:

DG = 10 1 − |ECC|2 (2)

Figure 11 depicts the value of DG obtained using Equation (2) from far-field radiation
patterns. It can be noted that the DG value is greater than 9.8 dB throughout the functioning
band. This confirms the good diversity performance of the proposed flexible MIMO
antenna.

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Electronics 2021, 10, 3031

 

 

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5.2. TARC
The TARC is a parameter used to validate the performance of an MIMO antenna in a
rich multipath fading environment where the phase angle of every path keeps on changing.
TARC can be calculated using Equation (3) [26]:
   
2 2
Sii + Sij e jθ + S ji + S jj e jθ
Γ= √ (3)
2

where θ is the input phase angle that is varied from 0◦ to 180◦ with an interval of 30◦ , Sii
and Sjj are the reflection coefficients of port one and port two, respectively, and Sij and Sji
are the port isolation (dB) between antenna elements.
Figure 12 illustrates the TARC values, which are almost stable throughout the operat-
ing bands, which ensures that the proposed four-element mobile MIMO antenna system
has achieved high port isolation as well as very stable performance under a multipath
fading scattering environment.






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Figure 12. TARC of 4-element mobile MIMO antenna.

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5.3. MEG
The MEG values are calculated referring to Equation (4) [26] by considering cross-
polarization ratio (XPR) = 0 dB for indoor applications and XPR = 5 dB for outdoor
applications under a fading environment.
 π  π
XPR 1
MEG = [ G (θ, φ) Pθ (θ, φ) + Gφ (θ, φ) Pφ (θ, φ) (4)
−π 0 XPR + 1 θ 1 + XPR

where, in Equation (4), Gθ , Gφ are power gain patterns of antenna elements, and Pθ , Pφ are
the available power in vertical and horizontal polarization, respectively. The XPR is the
cross-polarization ratio and is expressed as in Equation (5):

Pvpa
XPR = 10log10 ( ) (5)
Phpa

where Pvpa and Phpa represent the power received by a vertically polarized antenna and
horizontally polarized antenna, respectively. The calculation of MEG signifies the effect
of total efficiency, gain, and wireless medium to measure the antenna channel mismatch
across the desired operating band of interest. For good diversity performance and power
balance, the ratio of MEG of antenna i/MEG of antenna j should be below −3 dB. The
calculated MEG values are articulated in Table 1, where it is easily confirmed that all the
MEG values are well below −3 dB.

Table 1. MEG of the proposed antenna.

MEGAnt- MEG MEG MEG MEG MEG

Frequency
1/2 Ant-1/3 Ant-1/4 Ant-2/3 Ant-2/4 Ant-3/4
(GHz)
(dB) (dB) (dB) (dB) (dB) (dB)
3.5 −3.01 −3.01 −3.01 −3.01 −3.01 −3.01
5.1 −3.01 −3.01 −3.01 −3.01 −3.01 −3.01

5.4. Channel Capacity

The channel capacity is an essential metric to evaluate MIMO antenna performance in
a practical environment and is shown in Figure 13. The channel capacity for the proposed
four-port flexible MIMO antenna is calculated using Equation (6), as mentioned in [27,28].
From Figure 13, it is observed that the measured efficiency is around 21.50 bps/Hz under
the condition of averaging 10,000 Rayleigh fading with a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of
20 dB. It is also noted that the channel capacity of the proposed four-port MIMO antenna is
much closer to the ideal channel capacity and is almost 1.89 times larger than the maximum
limit for a 2 × 2 MIMO antenna.
 
SNR
C = k log2 det([ I ]+ η [ H ][ H ∗ ]) (6)
k

In Equation (6), I is the identity matrix, SNR denotes the mean SNR, k is the rank of
the matrix HH , H is the channel matrix, and HH is the Hermitian Transpose matrix.

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6. Bending Analysis
The performance of the proposed four-element flexible MIMO antenna is investigated
by varying the operative electrical length under bending conditions. Simulation is car-
ried out in Computer Simulation Technology (CST) Studio Suite® , where the antenna is
bent over a cylindrical structure of radius 50 cm, as shown in Figure 14. The antenna
validation for flexible applications is performed by plotting the scattering and transmission
characteristics as well as gain, efficiency, ECC, and DG [29].


(a)ȱ (b)ȱ

Figure 14. Geometry of bending the antenna along (a) X-axis, (b) Y-axis.

6.1. Reflection Coefficient

Figure 15a,b show the measured and simulated reflection coefficient when the antenna
is bent along the X and Y-axis, respectively. It can be easily visualized that an almost
identical impedance bandwidth is observed by bending the antenna along the X and Y-axis,
respectively, and it operates very well in the desired 5G and WLAN bands.

230
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Figure 15. Measured and simulated reflection coefficient of 4-element mobile MIMO antenna by
bending along (a) X-axis, (b) Y-axis.

6.2. Transmission Coefficient

Figure 16a,b show the measured and simulated transmission coefficient when the
antenna is bent along the X and Y-axis, respectively. Here, it can be observed that the
simulated and measured transmission coefficient is very well above 17.5 dB between all
the antenna elements.
 
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Figure 16. Measured and simulated transmission coefficient of 4-element mobile MIMO antenna by
bending along (a) X-axis, (b) Y-axis.

6.3. Gain and Efficiency

Figure 17 shows the gain and efficiency of the antenna when the antenna is bent along
both the X and Y-axis. It can be observed that there is negligible effect when the antenna
is bent along a radius of 50 cm in both the X and Y-axis, and both gain and efficiency are
above 4 dBi and 85%, respectively.

   
   
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Figure 17. Gain and efficiency of 4-element mobile MIMO antenna by bending along (a) X-axis,
(b) Y-axis.

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6.4. ECC and DG

The ECC and DG under bent conditions are shown in Figure 18. The ECC and DG are
almost the same as that in the case of unbent conditions. Here, it is observed that the ECC
value is less than 0.05, whereas DG is above 9.8 throughout the desired bands.

   

 

   

 
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Figure 18. ECC of 4-element mobile MIMO antenna by bending along (a) X-axis, (b) Y-axis.

7. Impact on User Due to Smartphone Antenna (SAR Analysis)

In this section, the proposed flexible smartphone MIMO antenna is analyzed by
interfacing it with the human tissue model. The study on human tissue is essential for
assessing its influence on the antenna performance, while it will be interesting to analyze
the effect of radiation on a part of the human body close to it.
Figure 19a illustrates the layered view of human tissue underneath the MIMO antenna.
The human tissue model simulated for testing with the antenna is shown in Figure 19b,
where bone forms the innermost layer covered by muscle, and lastly skin forms the
uppermost layer. The characteristics of various layers are depicted in Figure 19c.

7.1. Effect of SAR Analysis on Radiation Pattern (3D)

Figure 20 shows the 3D radiation pattern of the MIMO antenna in the close vicinity of
human tissue. As illustrated, good radiation patterns with adequate pattern coverage and
gain values are achieved for the MIMO antenna with the human tissue model. Clearly, the
human tissue model reduced the antenna characteristics. As seen, the antenna with human
tissue in its vicinity still achieves gain values more than 3 dB. The patterns are radiating
in different directions, and thus the antenna demonstrated decent spatial diversity at a
resonating frequency of 3.5 GHz and 5.1 GHz.

7.2. Effect of SAR on Human Tissue

SAR provides information about the EM absorption by a human body during the
transmission and reception of radio frequency signals, which is a grave issue for smart-
phone systems, and the value of this should be as low as possible. The simulated values of
SAR for the proposed MIMO smartphone design in the locality of human tissue model at
3.5 GHz and 5.1 GHz are investigated in Figure 21. The obtained SAR value is lower than
the SAR limit in the USA (1.6 W/kg).

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Electronics 2021, 10, 3031

ȱ
(a)ȱ

ȱ
(b)ȱ

ȱ ȱ ȱ
(c)ȱ

Figure 19. Antenna and human tissue model: (a) Layered view; (b) Layered view of human tissue;
(c) Properties of human tissue model.

ȱ ȱ

ȱ ȱ

ȱ ȱ
(a)ȱ (b)ȱ

Figure 20. SAR at (a) 3.5 GHz, (b) 5.1 GHz.

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ȱ ȱ

ȱ ȱ
(a)ȱ (b)ȱ

Figure 21. SAR investigation at (a) 3.5 GHz, (b) 5.1 GHz.

8. Performance Comparison of Proposed Antenna

The performance comparison of the proposed four-element mobile MIMO antenna
with other mobile MIMO antennas is presented in Table 2.
From the above table, it is observed that the proposed antenna outperforms the other
smartphone MIMO antennas in terms of the following criteria:
1. Four-port structure unlike other antennas [9–16] that have two-port configurations.
2. In comparison to four-port antennas [17–25], the proposed antenna covers the entire
sub-6 GHz 5G band along with the WLAN band (2.37–5.85 GHz) with SAR analysis
carried out at two resonant peaks (3.5 and 5.1 GHz).
3. The antennas in [18,20–23,25] also cover the sub-6 GHz band; however, in [18,22–25],
no SAR analysis is carried out. In [22] as well, the analysis of gain and SAR is missing.
4. The antenna in [21] has a lower bandwidth (3.4–3.6 GHz). Additionally, no bending
analysis is carried out for any of the antennas.
5. Flexible structure, high gain, high inter-elemental isolation, and reasonable efficiency
with all the diversity parameters such as ECC, DG, TARC, MEG, and channel capacity
meeting the requirements of the MIMO antenna make the proposed antenna a good
contender for future mobile devices. Scattering, transmission, and MIMO parameters
matched well under normal as well as bending conditions.

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Electronics 2021, 10, 3031

Table 2. Performance comparison of the proposed antenna.

Size No. of Frequency Band Gain Efficiency

Ref Year Flexible Isolation ECC
(mm3 ) Ports (GHz) (dBi) (%)
142 × 79 (698–960 MHz) and
[9] 2018 No 1 – 42 – –
× 7.5 (1.710–2.690 GHz)
60 × 100 1.870–2.530 GHz
[10] 2017 No 2 4, 8 75 14 ~0.18
× 0.965 28 GHz
110 × 45 698 –960 and
[11] 2012 No 2 0–5/2–7 20–70/40 10 ~0.4/0.03
×5 1.710–2.690 GHz
145 × 72 824–960 MHz, −0.32–1.4
[12] 2017 No 2 59–72 17 0.02/0.4
× 0.8 1.710–2.690 GHz i/1.6–4.8
3.5–3.9 GHz,
136 × 68 2.3–2.5 GHz,
[13] 2018 No 2 – 50 10 ~0.2
×6 3.3–3.5 GHz
and 4.25–4.45 GHz
60 × 100 −4.9–
[14] 2019 No 2 2.5–3.6 GHz – 10 0.16
×1 −1.9
65 × 130
[15] 2019 No 2 1710–2690 MHz – 60–80 19 <0.005
×1
110 × 120
[16] 2018 Semi 2 3 to 10 2.6 – 38 ~0.0002
× 0.508
100 × 60
[17] 2016 No 4 2017 and 2265 MHz 4.27 70 10 ~0.18
× 0.8
N77 (3.3–4.2 GHz),
120 × 65 n78 band (3.3–3.8
[18] 2020 No 4 2,4,4.71 – 18.8 <0.018
× 1.6 GHz) and n79 band
(4.4–5 GHz),
824–960 MHz/
160 × 85
[19] 2018 No 4 1710–2690 MHz) – 70 10 ~0.2
× 0.8
Reconfigurable
153 × 77
[20] 2018 No 4 3.3–3.6 GHz – 64.2 10 ~0.11
×1
150 × 73
[21] 2018 No 4 3.4–3.6 – 51–74 20 <0.06
× 0.8
140 × 70
[22] 2019 No 4 3400–3600 MHz – 51 11.6 –
× 0.8
50 × 100
[23] 2019 No 4 2.7–3.6 GHz 3 80–90 −25 dB –
× 4.5
39 × 30 ×
[24] 2020 No 4 5.15–5.85 GHz 2.8 >70 20 <0.02
1
38.3 ×
[25] 2019 No 4 3–13.2 GHz 0.5–6.3 72–97 17 0.02
38.3 × 0.8
70 × 145
Proposed Yes 4 2.37–5.85 GHz 4–5.5 85 17.5 <0.05
× 0.2

9. Conclusions
A four-port flexible smartphone antenna with a wideband regime is proposed for sub-
6 GHz 5G and WLAN communications. The planar antenna configuration includes four
conducting radiators connected to the common ground, which is printed on the flexible
substrate. The optimized antenna elements radiate in the range spanning from (84.64%)
2.37–5.85 GHz. The antenna achieves self-isolation greater than 17.5 dB, a decent gain of
above 4 dBi, an efficiency of 85%, and bi/omnidirectional radiation patterns with co-cross

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levels greater than 15 dB. The diversity parameters of MIMO are also analyzed in terms
of ECC, TARC, MEG, and channel capacity, where sufficient results meeting the desired
limits are achieved. In addition, SAR and bending analyses are also carried out, where safe
SAR values are achieved while scattering, transmission, and MIMO parameters match well
under normal and bending conditions. The obtained outcomes demonstrate the potential
of the proposed flexible MIMO antenna for use in future smart mobile handsets.

Author Contributions: Conceptualization, J.K. and C.-Y.-D.S.; methodology, A.D.; software, J.K.;
validation, J.K., C.-Y.-D.S. and A.P.; formal analysis, A.G.A. and A.D.; investigation, J.K. and A.P.;
writing—original draft preparation, J.K. and A.D.; writing—review and editing, J.K. and A.D.; visual-
ization, A.G.A.; supervision, C.-Y.-D.S. and A.P.; project administration, J.K.; funding acquisition,
A.G.A. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding: This research received no external funding.
Data Availability Statement: All data are included within the manuscript.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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2019, 67, 6353–6361. [CrossRef]
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237
 electronics
Article
Low-Cost, Low-Profile Wide-Band Radar Cross Section
Reduction Using Dual-Concentric Phase Gradient
Modulated Surface
Yousef Azizi 1,2 , Mohammad Soleimani 1 , Seyed Hasan Sedighy 3 and Ladislau Matekovits 2,4,5, *

1 Department of Electrical Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran 1684613114, Iran;
[email protected] (Y.A.); [email protected] (M.S.)
2 Department of Electronics and Telecommunications, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24,
10129 Turin, Italy
3 School of New Technologies, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran 1684613114, Iran;
[email protected]
4 Istituto di Elettronica e di Ingegneria dell’Informazione e delle Telecomunicazioni,
National Research Council of Italy, 10129 Turin, Italy
5 Department of Measurements and Optical Electronics, University Politehnica Timisoara,
300006 Timisoara, Romania
* Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +39-011-090-4119

Abstract: Design criteria of low-cost, dual-concentric metasurface possessing wideband phase

gradient (PG) are introduced. The radar cross-section reduction (RCSR) is explained by anomalous
reflection that characterizes the superficial planar. The geometry consists of two single band RCSR
modulated surfaces (MSs) that are triggered in each other. Each MS is built-up of square patch (SP)
unit cells configured as a modulation structure to realize PG that causes anomalous reflection and
Citation: Azizi, Y.; Soleimani, M.; monostatic RCSR behavior. Applying sinusoidal modulation to the sequence of the SP unit cells leads
Sedighy, S.H.; Matekovits, L. to the formation of PG along the surface and hence the intensity of the reflected wave is reduced for
Low-Cost, Low-Profile Wide-Band
the broadside direction (θr = 0◦ ). The proposed structure fabricated on a 0.8 mm thin FR-4 substrate
Radar Cross Section Reduction Using
extends over 249 × 249 mm2 . It achieves a wide RCSR bandwidth from 20.9 GHz to 45.7 GHz (i.e.,
Dual-Concentric Phase Gradient
relative bandwidth of 75%) as designed in Dassault Systèmes (CST) Microwave Studio as a full-wave
Modulated Surface. Electronics 2021,
simulator and confirmed by the measurement results.
10, 1552. https://doi.org/10.3390/
electronics10131552
Keywords: phase gradient; radar cross section reduction; square patch unit cell; modulated surface
Academic Editor: J.-C. Chiao

Received: 10 May 2021

Accepted: 25 June 2021 1. Introduction
Published: 26 June 2021 RCSR by phase gradient metasurface (PGM) has attracted considerable attention in
recent years. Unlike the phase cancellation method that uses two unit cells with phase
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral variation of ±37◦ around 180◦ [1–3], in the PGM design several unit cells with phase
with regard to jurisdictional claims in difference less than |180◦ ± 37◦ | between them are considered. The operational principal
published maps and institutional affil- of PGM is based on two different phenomena: (i) anomalous reflection and (ii) surface wave
iations.
conversion, achieving the ability to reduce the reflected power [4]. By using large number
of unit cells in the metasurface structure, phase differences between adjacent unit cells were
decreased and 74% RCSR bandwidth has been achieved by thick (2.5 mm) substrate [5].
By controlling the anomalous and diffuse reflection parameters in modified unit cells,
Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. the PGM metasurface can also be designed as an antenna superstrate [6]. Although the
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. RCSR bandwidth increased up to 82.4% without degradation of the antenna performance,
This article is an open access article the high thickness substrate (3 mm) limits its practical applications. By using hybrid
distributed under the terms and resonant structure, a dual band PGM with anomalous reflection mechanism presented
conditions of the Creative Commons
both theoretically and experimentally (with substrate thickness of 0.5 mm) is able to reduce
Attribution (CC BY) license (https://
the backscattering RCS of the surface for two frequencies, namely for 8.9 and 11.4 GHz [7].
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
Narrow bandwidth performance, i.e., lower than 2% at each band is considered as a
4.0/).

Electronics 2021, 10, 1552. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics10131552 239 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/electronics

Electronics 2021, 10, 1552

limitation on practical applications. In [8], the chessboard structure with 77% RCSR
bandwidth using holographic surface (HS) and MS redirector is introduced such that
each of the MS and HS reduce the RCS in a single band; by placing them in a chessboard
configuration, wideband RCSR is achieved. Although the structure is simple and low-
cost, its substrate thickness is still relatively high (1.6 mm). It is also possible to create
a PGM with coded PGM (CPGM). Using holographic surfaces to convert the impinging
wave into surface one, as well as anomalous or diffuse reflection of the incidence, RCSR
can be achieved as introduced, for example [9], that suffer from low bandwidth. In 2017
Zheng et al. introduced a concept of CPGM that it is more flexible to manipulate the
reflected wave by changes of the coded configuration [10]. Although wide angle RCSR
performance highlighted the use of this CPGM structure, RCSR bandwidth (lower than 64%)
and 3 mm substrate thickness are their issues. In another effort by applying the modulation
to the coding element and coding sequence simultaneously, two dimensional CPGM
has been developed that presents a more flexible pattern manipulation [11]. However,
the low bandwidth (46%) is a disadvantage of this structure. By using 4 bit optimized
coded metasurface, RCSR bandwidth improved up to 91% [12]. Even though the RCSR
bandwidth is enough for practical application, it uses a high cost substrate (F4B). In [13] by
using amplitude and phase gradient modulated surface (APGM), RCSR improvement was
achieved with 128% bandwidth. Using amplitude gradient as an auxiliary variable caused
the RCSR bandwidth improvement simultaneously with improvement of RCS depth. Even
though the structure has an ultra-wideband RCSR performance, their dual layer thick
substrate (3.2 mm) is considered as a disadvantage.
In this letter, a new dual concentric phase gradient modulated surface (PGMS) is
introduced for RCS reduction at wideband frequency range, 20.9–45.7 GHz (75%). In this
concentric surface, the anomalous reflection is employed as the main RCS reduction mecha-
nism. The introduced structure consists of two single band concentric modulated surfaces,
MS1 and MS2, which reduce RCS from 20.5–32 GHz (45%) for MS1 and 31.8–46.5 GHz
(40%) for MS2, consequently. In both MS1 and MS2, RCSR formation is based on gradual
phase difference between adjacent unit cells. The square patches (SPs) unit cell is used
with sinusoidal pattern for both MS1 and MS2 by changing cell gap size (contrarily to the
usual change in the patch size). By placing MS2 in the central part of MS1, a concentric
configuration is obtained that exhibits wideband 75% (20.9–45.7 GHz) RCSR performance.
The proposed surface has significant advantages with respect to the state of the art refer-
ences such as low-cost, very low profile (0.8 mm thin), simple manufacturing process (by
standard microstrip technology) and wideband monostatic RCSR performance.

2. PGM Design
Based on the generalized Snell’s law, the existence of PG along the x and/or y direc-
tions in a given coordinate system (see Figure 1) leads to the reflection of an incident wave
with incidence angle θi (with respect to the normal ẑ) in the direction θr (reflection angle of
the scattered wave), where the two angles are related by Equation (1) [14]:

1 dΨ x,y
sin(θr ) − sin(θi ) = (1)
k0 d x,y

dΨ x,y
where k0 is the free space wave number and d x,y defines the PG along the x,y coordinate.

240
Electronics 2021, 10, 1552

ȱ
Figure 1. (a) SP unit cell, (b) PG formation by sinusoidal modulation applied to the MS1 and (c) MS2,
(d) CAD model of the dual-concentric configuration.

According to Equation (1), considering a normally incident plane wave (θi = 0) that
illuminates the MS with PG characterized by a sinusoidal modulation leads to θr > 0◦ . In
the case of constant PG value, constant reflection phase (θr = const.) occurs which can
be useful in some practical applications. However, in the case of monostatic RCSR, not
only constant PG but variable PG along the x,y directions could make arbitrary reflections
that decrease the backscattering of the incident waves. In fact, by assuming θi = 0 and
dΨ x,y
d x,y = 0 according to Equation (1) the reflection angle can be expressed as:

1 dΨ x,y
θr = arcsin >0 (2)
k0 d x,y

Based on Relation 2, the design of the metasurface with wideband non-zero PG causes
the reflected signal being in opposite direction with the incident one and this is enough for
monostatic RCSR achievement. Therefore, sinusoidal modulation is applied into SP unit
cell to form a PG and reflection on arbitrary direction, consequently as depicted in Figure 1.
The introduced PGM consists of dual concentric MSs (MS1 and MS2) which is plotted in
Figure 1d. For the arrangement of the final structure (Figure 1d), Matlab and Dassault
Systèmes (CST) Microwave studio was used. By linking Microwave Studio with Matlab
the dual concentrate structure was built in the simulation environment and analyzed in

241
Electronics 2021, 10, 1552

full-wave structure that was discussed in [8–13]. Resizing the SP gaps in Figure 1 is based
on the formation of the appropriate PG and redirecting the input wave. In fact, the tradeoff
between maximum RCSR bandwidth, wave redirection and structure dimensions is done
by an optimization process. In each MSs, the sinusoidal modulation is applied to the SP
unit cell to reduce the RCS in a certain bandwidth, indicated by Δ f 1 and Δ f 2 , respectively.
SP unit cells are placed on the grounded FR-4 substrate with ε r = 4.4, tan δ = 0.025 and of
0.8 mm thickness. Due to the reduced thickness of the supporting dielectric and presence
of the ground plane, the unit cell reflects the total incident power. Therefore, the reflection
phase can be considered as the main degree of freedom in the unit cell design that gradually
changes with the gap size between patches. As depicted in Figure 1a, the following relation
g = ( P − d)/2 between cell parameters is considered, where d and g correspond to the
length of the patch and gap size, respectively. The period (P) of the unit cells in MS1, MS2
is 3.5 mm and 7.1 mm, respectively. Two MS1 and MS2 dimensions were extracted by
full-wave (CST Microwave Studio) simulations that lead to the gradual phase difference
between SP unit cells. Because of the SP symmetry with respect to x, y, and using sinusoidal
modulation, MS1 and MS2 PG values are the same. Reflection phase of the MS1 and MS2
are plotted in Figure 2, with the gaps size of 0.2, 0.5, 0.9, 1.4, 1.6 mm and 0.4, 0.8, 1.4, 2,
2.5 mm, respectively. It is observed that MS1 (solid lines) in the 20–33 GHz band has a
non-constant PG versus radial distance which can be helpful for monostatic RCSR. In a
similar manner, MS2 (dashed lines) exhibits similar behavior in 33–45 GHz band. Based
dΨ
on Equation (2), in case of non-constant PG ( dx,yx,y = 0/const.) along the x,y direction it is
expected that the reflected wave can be redirected in different directions with respect to
the incident one. While constant PG leads redirecting of the reflected wave into a specific
direction, the non-constant PG cause the redirection of the incidence wave in all directions
and of effective monostatic RCSR, consequently.

Figure 2. Reflection phase of MS1 (Solid Lines) and MS2 (dashed lines) versus gap variation of
the cells.

To prove the idea, two MS1 and MS2 RCS simulation results are plotted in Figure 3a
versus frequency: both MS1 and MS2 exhibit the expected behavior for PG with the
variation of unit cell gap size in the Δ f 1 = 31.8 − 46.5 GHz (40%) and Δ f 2 = 20.5 − 32 GHz
(45%) frequency bands, respectively. In both MS1 and MS2, there are certain numbers
of unit cells with constant gap size and reflection phase at each constant radius (with
respect to the center of the surface). By gradual change along the radius, the gap size of the
cells changes in a sinusoidal fashion which leads to the PG formation that increases the
monostatic RCSR by benefiting of an anomalous reflection mechanism that in turn leads to
wideband monostatic RCSR. The RCS patterns of MS1 and MS2 at 28 GHz and 35 GHz for a
normally incident plane wave are shown in Figure 3b,c, respectively. Based on Figure 3b,c
◦
it is observed that the maximum reflections happen in the ϕ = 45 plane for both MS1 and
MS2. It can be seen that both MS1 and MS2 redirect the incident plane wave to the angle of
30◦ and 16◦ (which was extracted from two-dimensional RCS simulation results of MS1
◦
and MS2 in ϕ = 45 plane), which proves the formation of anomalous reflection.

242
Electronics 2021, 10, 1552

ȱ
(a)ȱ

(b)ȱ (c)ȱ

Figure 3. RCS of MS1 and MS2: (a) Monostatic RCS of MS1 and MS2; (b) RCS pattern of MS1 at
28 GHz; (c) RCS pattern of MS2 at 35 GHz.

3. Measurement and Results

The final dimensions of MS1 and MS2 require some optimization due to their location
in the concentric composition and the total size of the structure (249 × 249 mm2 ). As a
result of the optimization aiming to obtain a better RCS bandwidth, the final MS1 and MS2
unit cells periods are changed to 3.8 and 7.5 mm, respectively. Additionally, the gap sizes
of the MS1 and MS2 are 0.2, 0.6, 1, 1.3, 1.6 and 0.4, 0.9, 1.5, 2.1, 2.6 mm, respectively. It is
noteworthy that the external dimension of MS1 and MS2 has been selected by a tradeoff
between their surface area and wideband RCSR performance to obtain the maximum RCSR
bandwidth. In Figure 4a–c the fabricated prototypes of MS1/MS2 and Tx/Rx antenna
for monostatic RCS measurements are shown, respectively. In fact, MS1 and MS2 were
fabricated together, and separated in a second moment by cutting the general structure, and
the monostatic RCSR of each metasurface has been measured separately. The measured
result in Figure 4d depicts good agreement with the simulation one. RCS measurements
have been carried out using N5227A PNA network analyzer as a transmitter and receiver
that cover frequency range of 10 MHz-67 GHz. The test frequency range is from 22 GHz to
42 GHz (20 GHz band). The limitation of the frequency range is due to the limitation of
instruments such as waveguide feeder, horn antenna and LNA. The 20 GHz test bandwidth
is divided into 1601 frequency points and the resolution bandwidth of the PNA chosen
as 100 Hz to obtain the proper results in a time gating process extraction. The anechoic
chamber supported the RCS measurement based on IEEE standard 1502TM and was
suitable for high frequency RCSR measurement [15]. Tx/Rx antenna and dual concentrate
MS have a 1.5 m height and the distance between them is about 2.5 m.

243
Electronics 2021, 10, 1552

ȱ
(a)ȱ (b)ȱ (c)ȱ

ȱ
(d)ȱ

Figure 4. MS1, MS2 and their monostatic performance (a), (b) Prototype of MS1 and MS2;
(c) wideband horn antenna as a Tx/Rx antenna; (d) RCS Simulation and measurement results of the
MS1 and MS2.

The RCS test method based on time gating has consisted of two steps: (i) measurement
of monostatic RCS of the MS1, MS2 and the dual-concentric MS structure, which is done
by using a Tx/Rx antenna simultaneously and using a directional coupler to separate the
forward/backward waves, and (ii) RCS pattern of the dual concentric MS is performed at
30 GHz by using Marconi set up (Figure 5a). In the Marconi test set-up, two antennas are
used: the Tx antenna is placed in front of the introduced MS and the Rx antenna, which is
located on the rotating and calibrated arm, and is moved manually to measure the RCS
at different angles. Figure 4b shows the simulation and measurement monostatic RCSR
results of MS1 and MS2.
It is noteworthy that there is some difference in the measurement results with respect
to the simulated one, especially at Δ f 1 frequency band, due to the existence of fabrication
and measurement errors, as well as extracting the results from the time gating method and
applying time filters is acceptable. Figure 5a depicts the photograph of the realized proto-
type that is mounted in anechoic chamber for monostatic RCS measurement. Combining
the two single-band RCSR surface (MS1 and MS2) in the form of a concentric MS effectively
increases the 10 dB RCS bandwidths to 20.9–45.7 GHz (75% fractional bandwidth) verified
by measurement as depicted in Figure 5b. The RCS measurement (bi-static at 30 GHz) and
simulation results of dual concentric MS sample shown in Figure 5c, which indicates the
good agreement between simulation and measurement results. The anomalous reflection
resulting from PG or gradual phase difference between the adjacent unit cells present in
the MS1 and MS2 reduces the RCS of the introduced dual concentrated MS. The bi-static
RCS results in the introduced structure and PEC with equal size with 1◦ angular step
was performed at 30 GHz and plotted in Figure 5c. It can be seen that at 30 GHz the
introduced dual-concentric MS achieves 23 dB RCSR compared with the PEC surface with
same dimensions. For a better presentation of the results allowing an easier comparison,

244
Electronics 2021, 10, 1552

the measurement and simulation results of Figure 5c are normalized with respect to 0 dB.
According to the results of Figure 5c, there is good agreement between measurement
and simulation for angles of 0◦ –15◦ . The measurement and simulation results have some
differences of few dB between the angles of 60◦ –90◦ ; however, these results are acceptable
due to the low amplitude of the reflection signal at these angles relative to the main lobe.

(a)ȱ




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(b)ȱ
0HDV3&% 6LP3&% 6LP*1' 0HDV*1'
 



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(c)ȱ

Figure 5. RCS results and test set-up: (a) fabricated dual concentric MS in anechoic chamber;
(b) measurement and simulation results of monostatic RCS; (c) RCS of the structure vs. similar PEC
surface that measured by Marconi set-up.

In order to express the features of the introduced structure, a comparison with avail-
able data from the literature is given in Table 1. Low-cost, ease of construction (thin
single-layer structure with 0.8 mm thickness and no need for lump elements) and wide-
band RCSR performance (75%) are the main advantages of the introduced structure. In
the references of Table 1 there is a thin substrate with 0.5 mm thickness. This structure
has a very narrowband RCSR performance (about 2% of fractional bandwidth). Therefore,
it concludes that there is a trade-off between substrate thickness and RCSR performance.
The design of the dual concentrated MS consisting of two MS1 and MS2 (MS1 with RCSR

245
Electronics 2021, 10, 1552

bandwidth of Δ f 1 and MS2 with the RCSR bandwidth of Δ f 2 ) using a gradual phase
difference between adjacent cells on a single-layer thin substrate (with 0.8 mm thickness)
is one of the main advantages of this structure compared to the state of the art. In simple
words, nonconstant PG performance with wideband monostatic RCSR is the main concept
of this introduced structure that is certified by measurement result.

Table 1. Comparison between this work and the state-of-the-art.

Thickness BW (%)/ No of
Structures Substrates
(mm) Freq. Rang (GHz) Layers
[1] 2.28 85/9.4–23.38 2 RO4003
[2] 5 109/6.4–21.7 3 F4B/Air/F4B
[3] 6.35 60/4.2–7.8 1 RT5880
[5] 2.5 74/7.8–17 1 FR4
[6] 3 82.4/7–16.8 1 RO5880
[7] 0.5 <2/8.9–11.4 1 RO4350
[10] 3 64/9.83–19.12 1 F4B
[11] 3 46/12.1–18.8 1 F4B
This work 0.8 75/20.9–45.7 1 FR4

4. Conclusions
In this paper a new, low-cost, commercially available, simple structure with one
layer substrate, thin and wideband dual concentrated MS RCS reducer is introduced. The
proposed structure consists of two single bands RCS MS1 and MS2 with RCSR fractional
bandwidth of 46% and 40%, respectively. Gradual phase difference between adjacent unit
cells on radially modulated surface structure is the main concept behind the MS1 and MS2
design that causes nonconstant PG along the surface that efficiently redirects the incident
wave. Placing two PG MS1 and MS2 in the concentrated configuration with one-layer thin
substrate (0.8 mm) increases the monostatic RCSR bandwidth up to 75% (20.9–45.7 GHz),
which is verified by measurement results.

Author Contributions: Conceptualization, Y.A. and S.H.S.; methodology, Y.A. and L.M.; software,
Y.A.; validation, Y.A., S.H.S. and L.M.; formal analysis, Y.A.; investigation, Y.A.; resources, Y.A., L.M.;
data curation, M.S., S.H.S., L.M.; writing—original draft preparation, Y.A.; writing—review and
editing, Y.A., S.H.S., L.M.; visualization, M.S.; supervision, S.H.S., L.M., M.S.; project administration,
M.S., L.M.; funding acquisition. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of
the manuscript.
Funding: This research received no external funding.
Acknowledgments: The authors are willing to express their gratitude to Gianluca Dassano and
Gianfranco Albis for their cooperation and assistance in mounting RCS measurement test set up and
extraction of results with time gating method.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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 electronics
Article
A Quad-Port Dual-Band MIMO Antenna Array for 5G
Smartphone Applications
Jianlin Huang, Guiting Dong, Jing Cai, Han Li and Gui Liu *

College of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou 325035, China;
[email protected] (J.H.); [email protected] (G.D.); [email protected] (J.C.); [email protected] (H.L.)
* Correspondence: [email protected]

Abstract: A quad-port antenna array operating in 3.5 GHz band (3.4–3.6 GHz) and 5 GHz band
(4.8–5 GHz) for fifth-generation (5G) smartphone applications is presented in this paper. The single
antenna element consists of an L-shaped strip, a parasitic rectangle strip, and a modified Z-shaped
strip. To reserve space for 2G/3G/4G antennas, the quad-port antenna array is printed along the two
long frames of the smartphone. The evolution design and the analysis of the optimal parameters of a
single antenna element are derived to investigate the principle of the antenna. The prototype of the
presented antenna is tested and the measured results agree well with the simulation. The measured
total efficiency is better than 70% and the isolation is larger than 16.5 dB.

Keywords: 5G; sub-6 GHz; MIMO; dual-band antenna; smartphone

1. Introduction
With the increasing demand for the quality of wireless communication, the fifth-
Citation: Huang, J.; Dong, G.; Cai, J.; generation (5G) mobile communication technology provides a promising solution to higher
Li, H.; Liu, G. A Quad-Port transmission rates, shorter latency, more connection density, and larger communication
Dual-Band MIMO Antenna Array for capacity. Recently, many 5G sub-6 GHz Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) antennas
5G Smartphone Applications.
have been developed for mobile terminals and base stations [1–5]. However, with the
Electronics 2021, 10, 542. https://
limited internal space of mobile phones, it is a challenging task to integrate many antennas
doi.org/10.3390/electronics10050542
with high isolation and low envelope correlation coefficient. Dual-band four-port MIMO
antenna can expand system capacity and realize multi-mode communication. To minimize
Academic Editor: Faisel Tubbal
the unwanted mutual coupling, various isolation techniques have been reported in recent
years [3–14]. The rectangle slots of the defected ground plane and two rectangular mi-
Received: 7 February 2021
Accepted: 23 February 2021
crostrip lines are employed to decrease the mutual coupling in [3]. In [4], the vertical patch
Published: 25 February 2021
is used to offset the coupling between the antenna and nearby components. A ground-
connected T-shaped decoupling stub and an additional modified T-shaped decoupling
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral
stub is inserted between the two mirrored dual-antenna arrays to reduce the coupling
with regard to jurisdictional claims in
in [5]. By introducing two short T-shaped strips and a π-shaped strip, the isolation be-
published maps and institutional affil- tween two antenna elements is enhanced [6]. An inverted-F antenna is used to reduce the
iations. mutual coupling of antenna elements [7]. Other decoupling techniques have also been
presented, such as using a short neutral line [8,9], high-pass filter [10], pattern diversity [11],
self-decoupling [12], defected ground structure [13], and metamaterial structure [14].
In the World Radiocommunication Conference 2015, the 3.5 GHz (3.4–3.6 GHz) fre-
Copyright: © 2021 by the authors.
quency band became one of the 5G mobile phone spectrums. The Ministry of Industry and
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Information Technology of China approved 3.3–3.6 GHz and 4.8–5 GHz as the sub-6 GHz
This article is an open access article
5G frequency bands. Moreover, except for the sub-6-GHz spectrum, 5G smartphones are
distributed under the terms and also expected to be phased array millimeter-wave antenna at 28 GHz frequency band [15].
conditions of the Creative Commons In this paper, a novel dual-band antenna operating at 3.5 GHz band (3.4–3.6 GHz)
Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// and 5 GHz band (4.8–5 GHz) is proposed for the applications of a 5G MIMO antenna in
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ smartphones. The proposed antenna shows high isolation, high gain and low ECC, which
4.0/). can be used to achieve high transmission rates and large channel capacity. The proposed

Electronics 2021, 10, 542. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics10050542 249 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/electronics

Electronics 2021, 10, 542

antenna array consists of an L-shaped feeding strip, a parasitic rectangle strip, and a
modified Z-shaped radiating strip. Different evaluative structures and optimal parameter
analysis are carried out for the proposed compact quad-port dual-band MIMO antenna.

2. Antenna Geometry
The geometry of the proposed quad-port dual-band MIMO antenna array is shown
in Figure 1. There are two types of printed circuit boards (PCBs) including a main
board and two side boards, as depicted in Figure 1a. The size of the main board is
150 mm × 75 mm × 0.8 mm, and the size of the side board is 150 mm × 6.2 mm × 0.8 mm.
Four antenna elements are printed on two side boards which are positioned vertically
to the main board. Both the side boards and the main board are printed on an FR4 sub-
strate with εr = 4.4 and tan δ = 0.02. The side boards are bonded with the main boards
by metal adhesive. Other spaces of both frames (side boards) are reserved for 2G/3G/4G
or other wireless communication antennas in the mobile handsets. Figure 1b shows the
detailed dimensions of single antenna element. The single antenna element includes a
L-shaped feed strip, a parasitic rectangular strip and a modified Z-shaped radiation strip
which is connected to the ground plane. The total size of a single antenna element is
14.9 mm × 7 mm × 0.8 mm.

(a)

(b)
Figure 1. Geometry of the proposed quad-port MIMO antenna (in millimeters). (a) Prospective view;
(b) Single antenna element.

3. Antenna Analysis
In order to understand the mechanism of the proposed MIMO antenna, the design
evolution of the antenna element and the optimal parameter analysis are both carried out.
Since the structure of the four antenna elements is identical, the parameters of a single
element are used for analysis. The 3D full-wave electromagnetic simulator HFSS is used
for design and optimization.

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3.1. Analysis of the Design Evolution of the Proposed Antenna Element

The proposed antenna is generated by the evolution demonstrated in Figure 2. Ant.
1 is a structure composed of an L-shaped feeding strip and a Z-shaped radiation strip.
By adding a parasitic rectangle strip to Ant. 1, Ant. 2 is obtained. Compared with Ant. 2,
Ant. 3 has an additional L-shaped strip. The gaps between the L-shaped and Z-shaped
strip are 0.5 mm and 0.2 mm, respectively. Compared with Ant. 3, Ant. 4 cuts a rectangular
slit on the additional L-shape strip.

Ant. 1 Ant. 2

Ant. 3 Ant. 4 (proposed)

Figure 2. Design evolution of a single MIMO antenna element.

Figure 3 depicts the simulated S11 parameters of the evolution antennas. It can be seen
that parasitic rectangular strip can increase the bandwidth, and L-shaped strip can create a
3.4 GHz resonant point. Furthermore, the modified Z-shaped strip can shift the frequency
band to the higher frequencies which can cover 4.9 GHz (4.8–5 GHz) frequency band.

Figure 3. Simulated S11 of various antennas.

3.2. Analysis of the Variables of the Proposed Antenna Element

Figures 4 and 5 show simulated S11 of a single antenna element as a function of L and
H, respectively. The value of L can be effectively used to change the resonant frequency
of the lower frequency band. The higher resonance of a single element can be optimized

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by tuning the value of H. Eventually, the antenna can operate at frequencies ranging from
3.4 GHz to 3.6 GHz and 4.8 GHz to 5 GHz.

Figure 4. Simulated S11 of the proposed antenna with different values of L.

Figure 5. Simulated S11 of the proposed antenna with different values of H.

4. Experimental Results and Discussion

To verify the proposed design, an antenna prototype was fabricated using the opti-
mized dimensions listed in Figure 1. Figure 6 is the photograph of the prototype antenna.

Figure 6. Photograph of the fabricated antenna prototype.

Figure 7 shows the S-parameters which are measured by Keysight Vector Network An-
alyzer N5224A. It can be seen that the measured S11 can cover both 3.5 GHz (3.4–3.6 GHz)
and 4.9 GHz (4.8–5 GHz) frequency bands, and the isolation is higher than 16.5 dB. The mea-
sured isolation between various ports agrees well with the simulated results. The slight
frequency offset is mainly due to SMA connective errors.

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Electronics 2021, 10, 542

Figure 7. Simulated and measured S-parameters of the proposed antenna.

In Figure 8, the simulated surface current at 3.5 GHz is mainly distributed at the
gap between the rectangular strip and the Z-shaped strip. At 4.9 GHz, strong current
intensity is observed at the gap between the L-shaped strip and the modified Z-shaped strip.
The distribution of the electric field is mostly the same as the distribution of electric current.

120
J-surf (A/m)

70

10
(a)
E-Field (V/cm)

200

100

30
E
Figure 8. The surface current and electric field distributions of the proposed antenna element at
(a) 3.5 GHz. (b) 4.9 GHz.

The radiation patterns of the proposed antenna element at 3.5 GHz and 4.9 GHz are
shown in Figure 9, respectively. The measured co-pol and cross-pol are represented by
different symbol lines. E-plane represents the direction in which the feed current flows,
and H-plane is perpendicular to that direction. As shown in the E-plane radiation patterns
of Figure 9b, the radiation between the feeding strip and the ground is taken into account,
resulting in a similar gain between the co-pol and cross-pol.

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Electronics 2021, 10, 542

E-plane H-plane

D

E-plane H-plane

E
Figure 9. Radiation patterns of the proposed antenna. (a) 3.5 GHz. (b) 4.9 GHz.

In Figure 10, the 3D radiation patterns of a single antenna element as seen from the
front side and back side of the substrate are presented, respectively. The maximum gain at
3.5 GHz and 4.9 GHz are 4.9 dBi and 5.1 dBi, respectively. The gains are high enough to
meet the requirements of most mobile phone antennas.

4.9
GainTotal (dBi)

ƺ2.5

ƺ8.4 Front Back

(a)
GainTotal (dBi)

5.1

2.2

ƺ1.2 Front Back

(b)

Figure 10. 3D radiation patterns of a single element. (a) 3.5 GHz (b) 4.9 GHz.

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Electronics 2021, 10, 542

The measured total efficiency and peak gain, as shown in Figure 11, are better than 70%
and 4 dBi, respectively. The 3.5 GHz and 4.9 GHz frequency points obtain the maximum
total efficiency about 85% and 82%, respectively, while the 3.6 GHz and 5 GHz frequency
points have the maximum peak gain about 4.7 dBi and 5 dBi, respectively. The measured
efficiency is generally lower than that of simulation, which is mainly due to the current skin
effect caused by excess solder and the loss of the chamber. The measured total efficiency
and peak gain are in good agreement with the simulation results.

Figure 11. Simulated and measured peak gain and total efficiencies of the proposed antenna.

The envelope correlation coefficient (ECC) between radiating elements is a critical

parameter of the MIMO antenna. The ECC can be calculated by the measured S-parameters
according to the below equation.

|S∗ mm Smn + S∗ mm Smn |2

ECC =    (1)
1−|Smm |2 −|Snm |2 1−|Snn |2 −|Smn |2

The calculated ECC of the proposed MIMO antenna is shown in Figure 12. The values
of ECC in the working frequency bands are all smaller than 0.01, which means that the
proposed quad-port MIMO antenna achieves good MIMO diversity performance.

Figure 12. Calculated ECC of the proposed antenna.

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Electronics 2021, 10, 542

Table 1 shows the performance comparison between the proposed antenna and the
previously reported smartphone MIMO antennas. It could be concluded from Table 1 that
the proposed MIMO antenna had high isolation, high efficiency and low ECC performance.

Table 1. Performance comparison with smartphone MIMO antennas.

Bandwidth Isolation Efficiency Size

Reference ECC
(GHz) (dB) (%) (mm3 )
[1] 3.3–3.6 (−6 dB) 20 33–47 0.4 150 × 75 × 5.3
[2] 3.4–3.6 (−6 dB) 13 50–60 0.15 136 × 68 × 1
3.3–4.2 (−6 dB) 11.5 53.8–76.5 0.1
[5] 150 × 75 × 5.5
4.8–5.0 (−6 dB) 15 62.6–79.1 0.12
3.1–3.85 (−10 dB) 17 65–75 0.06
[8] 150 × 70 × 6
4.8–6 (−10 dB) 18 60–71 0.06
3.4–3.6 (−6 dB) 41–72 0.08
[9] 11.5 150 × 75 × 7
4.8–5.1 (−6 dB) 40–85 0.05
[12] 3.3–4.2 (−6 dB) 11.5 63.1–85.1 0.2 150 × 75 × 7.5
2.45–2.65 (−10 dB) 40–65
[15] 3.4–3.75 (−10 dB) 11 50–70 0.01 150 × 75 × 1.6
5.6–6.0 (−10 dB) 60–80
3.4–3.6 (−10 dB) 85
This work 16.5 0.01 150 × 75 × 6.2
4.8–5.0 (−10 dB) 82

5. Conclusions
In this paper, a quad-port MIMO antenna covering 3.5 GHz (3.4–3.6 GHz) and 4.9 GHz
(4.8–5 GHz) frequency bands is proposed. The proposed antenna is printed on two long
frames of the smartphone, which reserves some space for other wireless communication
antennas. The antenna is verified by both simulation and measurement. The size of a single
antenna element is only 14.9 mm × 7 mm × 0.8 mm. The measured maximum peak gain
at 3.6 GHz and 5 GHz are 4.7 dBi and 5 dBi, respectively. The measured total efficiency is
greater than 70% and the isolation is better than 16.5 dB. The proposed MIMO antenna is a
good candidate for 5G mobile handsets.

Author Contributions: Conceptualization, J.H.; methodology, G.L.; investigation, G.D., J.C.; writing—
original draft preparation, J.H.; writing—review and editing, H.L., G.L.; supervision and funding
acquisition, G.L. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding: This work was supported in part by National Natural Science Foundation of China under
Grant No. 61671330and No. 61340049, the Science and Technology Department of Zhejiang Province
under Grant No. LGG19F010009, and Wenzhou Municipal Science and Technology Program under
Grant No. C20170005 and No.2018ZG019.
Data Availability Statement: The data presented in this study are available on request from the
corresponding author.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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