Dual-Band MIMO Antenna with Enhanced Isolation for 5G NR Application

Abstract

A two-port multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) antenna with dual-band characteristics operating at the fifth-generation (5G) new radio (NR) sub-6 GHz n7/n38/n41/n79 bands is proposed. The proposed MIMO antenna is composed of two symmetric antenna elements and a defected ground plane. The antenna element consists of an incomplete circular patch with two L-shaped branches. By applying the defected ground structure and the slotted stub, the current distribution on the ground plane is changed to reduce the mutual coupling between the antenna elements. The measured −10 dB reflection coefficients cover 2.34–2.71 GHz and 3.72–5.10 GHz, while the measured isolation is larger than 20 dB at the whole operating frequency band. The paper has investigated different performance parameters in terms of the envelope correction coefficient (ECC), diversity gain (DG), radiation patterns, antenna gain, and efficiency. The proposed MIMO antenna is suitable for 5G applications.