Hindawi Publishing Corporation

International Journal of Antennas and Propagation

Volume 2016, Article ID 3080563, 6 pages
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/3080563

Research Article
A Compact MIMO Antenna with Inverted C-Shaped Ground
Branches for Mobile Terminals

Zixian Yang, Hongchun Yang, and Haijuan Cui

School of Electronic Engineering, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, China

Correspondence should be addressed to Zixian Yang; [email protected]

Received 3 March 2016; Accepted 12 May 2016

Academic Editor: Miguel Ferrando Bataller

Copyright © 2016 Zixian Yang et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License,
which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

A compact printed MIMO antenna for mobile terminals is presented. With two planar antenna elements, the −6 dB impedance
bandwidth of 2.32 GHz (1.48–3.8 GHz) is obtained, which covers GSM 1800/1900, UMTS, WLAN, Wimax, S-band, and most of LTE
bands. Each antenna element with a small occupation of 15 × 20 mm2 consists of a driven strip and a shorted strip. Two inverted
C-shaped ground branches are introduced between two elements to improve the isolation. The simulated results are studied and the
measured results show that high isolation of more than 18 dB at the entire operating band is achieved. Meanwhile, the impedance
performance is also improved by adding the branches. Furthermore, the measured radiation performances and envelope correlation
coefficient also demonstrate that the proposed antenna could be a good candidate for mobile terminals.

1. Introduction the structure is complicated. The antennas in [3, 4] both have

the operating bandwidth covering GSM850/900/1800/1900,
In the last decade, the technologies of mobile wireless UMTS, and a few LTE bands. However, in [3], a simple
communication have been developing rapidly. From global protruded ground makes the coupling only less than −10 dB;
system for mobile communication (GSM), universal mobile in [4], the isolation is more than 12 dB with a T-shaped
telecommunication system (UMTS) to long-term evolution ground stub as decoupling structure but still needs to be
(LTE), and wireless local area networks (WLAN), the data improved. In [5, 6], the design of [5] using a decoupling
transfer rates reach a much higher level than ever before, so network of two sections of a transmission line between two
as the requirements of the mobile terminals. Multiple-input radiators has a very high isolation of 23 dB. But the antenna
multiple-output (MIMO) technology with multiple antennas can only work at LTE 13; the antenna in [6] operates in
is a very effective way to guarantee data rate and increase LTE 7 and 2.0–2.8 GHz, but the isolation is poor. For the
system capacity [1]. However, the demand for compact size antennas in [7–9], four-antenna MIMO system in [7] has
and numerous functions of mobile terminals brings great small size of radiator and good isolation but only works at
challenges of designing MIMO antenna with wide operating WLAN. Reference [8] also used a T-shaped ground stub to
band covering multiple bands and low mutual coupling in a increase isolation, but the mutual coupling still reaches −11 dB
limited volume and it is still an open issue. at the peak. In [9], a simple meandered monopole MIMO
Various printed MIMO antennas designed for mobile antenna is presented. With the dual decoupling structures
terminals have been reported in recent years [2–9]. In [2], the consisting of ground slots and inverted L ground branches,
proposed antenna resonates at multiple bands, which covers the isolation achieved is better than 15 dB. Nonetheless, the
most 2G and 3G cellular frequency bands, some 4G LTE two antenna elements with the ground branches are placed at
bands, WLAN, and Wimax bands. For two inverted L shaped the top and bottom edges of the substrate, respectively, which
ground branches and a rectangular slot with one circular end, occupy twice area as the antennas in other references. And
a good isolation of more than 15 dB is achieved. But the size the operating bandwidth is 1.7–2.9 GHz, which needs to be
of the antenna is not compact enough for a mobile phone and improved as well.
2 International Journal of Antennas and Propagation

Ant 1 Ant 2

L6 L8 W3
80 mm
L5
L4
W1
W4 L3
L7 L9
y
L1
x L2
Port 1 Port 2
W1
W1 Shorting pin
W2
(a) (b)

Figure 1: Geometry of the proposed antenna: (a) overall view and (b) detailed view.

In this paper, a wideband printed MIMO antenna with Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD), and the results are
high isolation for mobile terminals is proposed. This antenna presented in Figure 2. As it is shown in Figure 2(a), without
has two radiating elements with a compact size of 15 × the ground branches, the values of 𝑆21 are greater than −15 dB
20 mm2 for each. Two inverted C-shaped ground branches from 1.3 to 2.0 GHz, especially around 1.5 GHz, and almost
as decoupling structure are located between the antenna reach −5 dB. However, the isolation is greatly enhanced by
elements to improve isolation. The antenna is simulated, introducing the inverted C-shaped ground branches between
fabricated, and measured. The measured −6 dB impedance the antenna elements. As a result, the values of 𝑆21 are less
bandwidth is 2.32 GHz from 1.48 to 3.8 GHz, which covers than −16 dB at all frequencies. Meanwhile, the impedance
GSM1800/1900, UMTS, most of LTE bands, WLAN, Wimax, performance is also improved by the branches from 2.5 to
and S-band satellite communication service. At the same 3.3 GHz, as it is shown in Figure 2(b). Figure 3 shows a further
time, high isolation of more than 18 dB at the entire band study on the surface current distribution with and without
is achieved. As compared to [9], the proposed antenna has the ground branches at 1.6 GHz when port 1 is excited. In
much wider bandwidths of impedance and better isolation Figure 3(a), without the ground branches, a large number
with less occupied area. of surface currents are coupled to port 2, leading to the
low isolation between antenna elements. Contrarily, with the
inverted C-shaped ground branches in Figure 3(b), most
2. Antenna Design
current flow from port 1 to port 2 is blocked and the mutual
Figure 1(a) shows the geometry of the proposed antenna. coupling between the antenna elements is obviously reduced.
The substrate is FR4, with a dielectric constant of 4.4, a loss The radiating mechanism of the proposed antenna is
tangent of 0.02, and a thickness of 0.8 mm. The overall size of also studied in Figure 4, which shows the surface current
the antenna is 100 × 65 mm2 . The two printed planar antenna distribution at different frequencies when port 1 is excited.
elements with size of 15 × 20 mm2 , fed by 50 Ω impedance In Figure 4(a), the antenna is radiating at 1.6 GHz from the
microstrip feedline, are placed symmetrically at the top layer. shorted strip and part of the driven strip. The total length of
Each antenna element has a driven strip with a dimension of the two parts is around 45.5 mm, which is about 0.5𝜆, where
𝑊1 , 𝑊2 , 𝐿 1 , 𝐿 2 , and 𝐿 3 and a shorted strip with a dimension of 𝜆 is the guided wavelength at 1.6 GHz and it can be calculated
𝑊1 , 𝐿 4 , 𝐿 5 , and 𝐿 6 . Two inverted C-shaped branches on the by
ground plane are located between the two elements, which 𝑐
have a dimension of 𝑊1 , 𝐿 7 , and 𝐿 8 and the gap of the two 𝜆= , (1)
𝑓𝑐 ⋅ √𝜀eff
branches is denoted by 𝑊3 . The detailed view of the antenna
element is shown in Figure 1(b). where 𝑐 is the speed of light, 𝑓𝑐 is the resonant frequency, and
To study the effects of the inverted C-shaped ground 𝜀eff is the effective permittivity of the substrate, which is 3.32
branches, simulations of 𝑆 parameters in different situations in this case. At 2.3 GHz, the resonance is manly generated by
are carried out using CST Microwave Studio, based on the driven strip and a few parts of shorted strip with the length
International Journal of Antennas and Propagation 3

0 0

−10
−6
−20
S21 (dB)

S11 (dB)
−30 −12

−40
−18
−50
1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0
Frequency (GHz) Frequency (GHz)
With branches With branches
Without branches Without branches
(a) (b)

Figure 2: Simulated results with/without ground branches: (a) 𝑆21 ; (b) 𝑆11 .

53.4 53.4

17.5 17.5

12.3 12.3

8.42 8.42
(A/m)

(A/m)

5.55 5.55

3.42 3.42

1.84 1.84
y y
0.674 0.674

0 z x 0 z x
(a) (b)

Figure 3: Surface current distribution at 1.6 GHz: (a) without ground branches; (b) with ground branches.

of 0.5𝜆, as it is seen in Figure 4(b). Figure 4(c) shows that the Figure 6 shows the simulated versus measured results
part of the antenna that is radiating at 3.4 GHz is the shorted of 𝑆 parameters. As the two antenna elements are sym-
strip, which has the length of about 30 mm, nearly 0.5𝜆. It is metrical, only 𝑆11 /𝑆22 and 𝑆21 /𝑆12 are shown. The mea-
also shown that the inverted C-shaped ground branches affect sured bandwidth is 2.32 GHz from 1.48 to 3.8 GHz as a
the upper frequency band much less than the lower frequency return loss of 6 dB. So that the proposed antenna is capable
band. of covering GSM1800/1900 (1.71–1.99 GHz), UMTS (1.92–
2.17 GHz), WLAN (2.4–2.48 GHz), Wimax (3.4–3.6 GHz),
S-band (1.55–3.4 GHz), and LTE bands 1–4, 9-11, and 21–
3. Results and Discussion 40 [10]. Good agreement between simulated and measured
results is observed except a slight shift, probably caused by
Figure 5 shows the fabricated antenna and the final optimized manufacturing tolerance. The measured mutual coupling is
dimensions are as follows: 𝑊1 = 1 mm, 𝑊2 = 1.5 mm, 𝑊3 = less than −18 dB at the entire band. Compared to the reference
2 mm, 𝑊4 = 2.5 mm, 𝐿 1 = 7.5 mm, 𝐿 2 = 4.5 mm, 𝐿 3 = 18 mm, antenna [9], the bandwidth is nearly as twice and the isolation
𝐿 4 = 3.5 mm, 𝐿 5 = 14 mm, 𝐿 6 = 20 mm, 𝐿 7 = 13 mm, 𝐿 8 = is 3 dB more, with half occupation of the radiators and
11 mm, and 𝐿 9 = 15 mm. decoupling structures.
4 International Journal of Antennas and Propagation

(a) (b)

(c)
Figure 4: Surface current distribution of the proposed antenna at (a) 1.6 GHz; (b) 2.3 GHz; (c) 3.4 GHz.

(a) (b)
Figure 5: Photo of the fabricated antenna: (a) front view; (b) back view.
0 0

−10
−6
S-parameter (dB)

S-parameter (dB)

−20
−12
−30

−18
−40

−24 −50
1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0
Frequency (GHz) Frequency (GHz)

Simu. S11 Simu. S21

Meas. S11 Meas. S21
Meas. S22 Meas. S12
(a) (b)
Figure 6: Simulated and measured 𝑆 parameters of the proposed antenna: (a) 𝑆11 ; (b) 𝑆21 .
International Journal of Antennas and Propagation 5

0 0

0 0

−20 300 60 −20 300 60

−40 −40
(dB)

(dB)
−40 −40

−20 240 120 −20 240 120

0 0

180 180

Co-pol x-z Co-pol y-z Co-pol x-z Co-pol y-z

x-pol x-z x-pol y-z x-pol x-z x-pol y-z
(a) (b)
0

−20 300 60

−40
(dB)

−40

−20 240 120

180
Co-pol x-z Co-pol y-z
x-pol x-z x-pol y-z
(c)

Figure 7: Measured patterns of the proposed antenna at (a) 1.5 GHz; (b) 2.4 GHz; (c) 3.5 GHz.

Figure 7 shows the measured patterns of the proposed To further describe the diversity performance of the pro-
antenna when port 1 is excited and port 2 is terminated with posed antenna, the ECCs (envelope correlation coefficient)
a 50 Ω load. The patterns on the 𝑥-𝑧 (𝐻) plane and 𝑦-𝑧 are calculated by [11]
(𝐸) plane at 1.5 GHz, 2.4 GHz, and 3.5 GHz are presented in
󵄨󵄨 ∗ 󵄨2
Figures 7(a), 7(b), and 7(c), respectively. Good performance 󵄨󵄨𝑆11 𝑆12 + 𝑆21 ∗
𝑆22 󵄨󵄨󵄨
and quasi omnidirection in 𝐻 plane are obtained. 𝜌𝑒 = 󵄨 󵄨2 󵄨 󵄨2 󵄨 󵄨2 󵄨 󵄨2 . (2)
Figure 8 shows the measured peak gains and radiation (1 − 󵄨󵄨󵄨𝑆11 󵄨󵄨󵄨 − 󵄨󵄨󵄨𝑆21 󵄨󵄨󵄨 ) (1 − 󵄨󵄨󵄨𝑆22 󵄨󵄨󵄨 − 󵄨󵄨󵄨𝑆12 󵄨󵄨󵄨 )
efficiency of the antenna. The peak gains are from 1.5 to 3.4 dB
and the radiation efficiency is above 60% at the operating Figure 9 shows the simulated and measured ECCs. As it
bands. It also can be seen that, compared to the frequencies is seen, the simulated ECCs are below 0.012 over the whole
with lower return loss value, the gains and efficiency are more band, while the measured results are below 0.01. It is promised
at the frequencies where the impedance of the antenna is that the proposed antenna can be a good candidate for mobile
better. terminals.
6 International Journal of Antennas and Propagation

4 1.0 Competing Interests

2 0.8 The authors declare that there are no competing interests
regarding the publication of this paper.
0 0.6
Gain (dB)

Efficiency
References
−2 0.4
[1] X. M. Ling and R. L. Li, “A novel dual-band MIMO antenna
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1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 “Design and performance study of a dual-element multiband
Frequency (GHz) printed monopole antenna array for MIMO terminals,” IEEE
Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters, vol. 13, pp. 329–332,
Gain
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Efficiency
[3] Y. Wang, J. Yang, S. Hao, and X. Zhang, “Wideband dual-
element antenna array for mimo mobile phone applications,”
Figure 8: Measured gain and efficiency of the proposed antenna.
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[4] Y.-L. Ban, S. Yang, Z. Chen, K. Kang, and J. L.-W. Li, “Decoupled
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0.08 [5] J. Baek and J. Choi, “The design of a LTE/MIMO antenna with
high isolation using a decoupling network,” Microwave and
Optical Technology Letters, vol. 56, no. 9, pp. 2187–2191, 2014.
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[6] X. Zhao and J. Choi, “Wideband loop antenna using distributed
ECC

elements for 4G MIMO mobile application,” Microwave and

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[8] C. Yang, Y. Yao, J. Yu, and X. Chen, “Novel compact multiband
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Figure 9: Simulated and measured ECCs of the proposed antenna.
Engineers, “LTE frequency bands and spectrum allocations,”
http://www.radio-electronics.com/info/cellulartelecomms/lte-
long-term-evolution/lte-frequency-spectrum.php.
[11] S. Blanch, J. Romeu, and I. Corbella, “Exact representation of
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4. Conclusion description,” Electronics Letters, vol. 39, no. 9, pp. 705–707, 2003.
This paper describes a wideband compact MIMO antenna
with high isolation for mobile terminal applications. Each of
the two antenna elements is composed of a driven strip and
a shorted strip to obtain the operating bandwidth from 1.48
to 3.8 GHz, which covers GSM1800/1900, UMTS, WLAN,
Wimax, S-band, and most of LTE bands. Two inverted C-
shaped ground branches are introduced to decrease the
mutual coupling and high isolation of more than 18 dB across
the whole band is achieved. The structure of the proposed
antenna is simple and easy to optimize. Good radiation
performances are also obtained and the envelope correlation
coefficient is less than 0.01, making it would be suitable for
the MIMO system of mobile terminals.
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