MIMO antenna systems for next generation wireless communications

Abstract

Multiple Input Multiple Output wireless communications systems require as the name implies multiple antennas at the transmit and receive side of a link, as all multiple elements operationally occupy the same spectrum, the capacity of carrying information is increased with no increase in the transmission bandwidth or power. Antennas destined for MIMO systems need to address the issue of adequate isolation between elements and the issue of the diversity performance of the array, these issues become challenging for mobile terminals. In this thesis dual band arrays for the mobile and the access point are proposed along with dual band mutual coupling reduction and radiation pattern improvement methods. First a dual band two element printed inverted F stacked monopole array is proposed for the mobile terminal. The single elements in the array are easily tuneable and achieve impedance matching from an open stub. The configuration is compact, with radiators distanced at 0.13λ0. By use of a grid of parasitically coupled printed lines mutual coupling is reduced by 9dB, where at the lower band at 2.4GHz, S12 = −18dB. Then a dual band two element printed dipole array is proposed for a pico–micro cell access point. The dipoles are fed by a printed balun which provides wide impedance bandwidth at two bands. To improve the radiation pattern at both frequencies the array is positioned above a dual band frequency selective surface, acting as an artificial magnetic conductor, thus allowing the screen to be placed 0.03λ0 from the array while maintaining good radiation efficiency. Finally a brief discussion of dual band surface wave suppression for printed antennas is presented. Here it is suggested that the surface waves can be eliminated by a superstrate at one band and by an EBG lattice at the second band. Initial experiments with different size superstrates and three periods of mushroom type EBG, show that mutual coupling can be reduced and the radiation pattern can be modified.