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Procedia Engineering 00 (2011) 000000


Procedia Engineering 30 (2012) 978 982

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International conference on communication technology and system design-2011

A symmetric multi slot patch antenna with improved


bandwidth and isolation for wireless MIMO systems
K Jagadeesh Babua , K.Sri Ramakrishnab, L.Pratap Reddyc , a*
a
ECE, SACET, Chirala,AP, India.
ECE, VR Siddhartha college of engg.
c
ECE, JNTU college of Engg, Hyderabad.
b

Abstract
In this paper, a novel symmetric multi slot patch antenna is proposed with enhanced bandwidth and isolation, which
can be used for Multiple Input Multiple output (MIMO) systems. The developed two element MIMO system
resonates at the tri band of frequencies 3.8 GHz, 6.6 GHz and 7.6 GHz with an improved impedance bandwidth of
20% and an average isolation of 40 dB. The proposed antenna exhibits improved performance compared to the
present widely used E shaped patch antennas and is a good choice for MIMO systems operating for UWB
applications.

2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of ICCTSD 2011

Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.

Keywords: MIMO systems; symmetric multi slot antenna; impedance bandwidth; mutual coupling;

1. Introduction
MIMO technology is one of the leading technologies for attaining larger data rates in the present
advanced wireless communications, which employs multiple antennas at the transmitter and receiver side.
This technology demands for antennas with wide bandwidth and good isolation characteristics. There are
various techniques proposed for improving the bandwidth of microstrip antennas. In [1], authors achieved
considerable amount of bandwidth by employing slots and annular ring in the ground plane. The
improvement of bandwidth is shown in [2], by employing a pair of L shaped slots in the ground plane.
However, these techniques are involved in complexity of fabrication. Another important figure of merit,
considered for a MIMO system is mutual coupling or amount of isolation between the antennas. In the
current literature, various techniques are proposed for improving the isolation [3] [4]. In the present
letter, a simple square patch antenna with four slots is proposed for giving the improvement in both
* K Jagadeesh Babhu. Tel.: +91-9848992919.
E-mail address: jagan_ec@yahoo.com.

1877-7058 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.
doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2012.01.953

K Jagadeesh Babu et al. / Procedia Engineering 30 (2012) 978 982


K Jagadeesh Babu.,et al/ Procedia Engineering 00 (2011) 000000

andwidth and isolation. The obtained results are far better compared to an E shaped patch antenna,
developed on same material and with almost same dimensions.
2.Antenna Design:
In the present MIMO communications, the microstrip antennas are fabricated with different shapes like
E, H and V for attaining improved bandwidths [5] [7]. In all these antennas, the E shaped patch antenna
is proved to be the better one in terms of mutual coupling and impedance bandwidth, which is shown in
Fig.1. In the E shaped antenna, the current from the feed flows in two different paths generating two
resonant frequencies. These two resonant frequencies are coupled each other, thus resulting in improved
bandwidth, compared to a rectangular patch antenna.
In the present work, a new symmetric patch antenna is proposed by employing four slots at the four
sides of a square patch antenna as shown in Fig. 2. The dimensions of the antenna are taken as L=W=
22mm, LS = 2mm and Wt = 6mm.

Fig. 1 E shaped patch antenna

Fig. 2. Proposed symmetric multi slot antenna

In order to validate the performance of the proposed symmetric four slot antenna, first the E shaped patch
antenna, discussed in [8] is considered and a two element MIMO system is developed by using it, with a
separation of 10mm spacing between the two elements. The antenna array is formed on an RT Duroid
substrate with a thickness of 3.2mm and r = 2.2. The obtained S parameters of the E shaped antenna
array are shown in Fig. 3. The E antenna array resonates at 5.25 GHz and 5.9 GHz giving a bandwidth of
9.5%. The mutual couplings at the two resonant frequencies are found to be < -28dB.
Now, a two element MIMO array is formed with the proposed multi slot symmetric patch antenna,
where the two elements are separated with same 10mm spacing, as in the above case and developed on
same material with a substrate thickness of 3.2 mm and r = 2.2. The S parameters of the MIMO array,
developed with the symmetric multi slot antenna are shown in Fig. 4. The system resonates at tri band of
frequencies 3.8 GHz, 6.6 GHz and 7.6 GHz. The obtained impedance bandwidth is 20% between the two
resonant frequencies 6.6 GHz and 7.6 GHz at -10dB and the mutual coupling at these two resonant
frequencies are found to be -37 dB and -35dB respectively with an average mutual coupling of -40 dB

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over the operating frequency range 6.5 GHz to 8 GHz. The obtained results are far better compared to the
above mentioned E shaped patch array and also the two element MIMO array developed in [9].
The main reason for the improvement of bandwidth is due to the flow of currents in three different
paths of the proposed antenna as shown in Fig. 5. As the current flows in three paths, three resonant
frequencies are generated and these three frequencies are coupled each other, increasing the bandwidth of
the antenna. To improve the isolation in the array, the feed points of two antennas are arranged diagonally, i.e.,
for the first antenna in the array, the feed is connected at the left bottom side and for the second antenna
the feed is arranged at the top right side as shown in Fig. 5. The unique symmetric structure of the
proposed antenna does not affect the current paths with change in feed positions. As the feeds are
arranged diagonally, the distance between them increases, which leads to the reduction of mutual
coupling. These improvements in the bandwidth and isolation are achieved without any additional
decoupling elements. The symmetric structure and the dimensions of the slots are responsible for the
improved performance. The dimensions (L, W, WS and LS) of the antenna can be varied for getting the
desired resonant frequencies. The radiation patterns of the developed MIMO system are shown in Fig. 6.

S Parameters. dB

-10

S21
S11

-20
-30
-40
-50
-60
4

4.5

5.5

6.5
frequency, GHz

7.5

Fig. 3 S parameters of the E shaped antenna MIMO array

8.5

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S21
S11

S Parameters, dB

-10
-20
-30
-40
-50
-60
-70
-80
3

frequency, GHz

Fig. 4 S parameters of the proposed multi slot antenna MIMO array

Fig. 5. Two element MIMO array of the proposed antenna

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(b)
Fig. 6 Radiation patterns of the proposed array at (a) 6.6 GHz (b) 7.6 GHz
Conclusion:
In this paper, a symmetric four slot patch antenna is proposed and a two element MIMO array is developed by using it. The developed
antenna array resonates at the tri band of frequencies 3.8GHz, 6.6 GHz and 7.6 GHz with an improved impedance bandwidth of
20% and an average reduced mutual coupling of -40 dB. As the proposed antenna exhibits excellent return loss and isolation
characteristics compared to the present widely used E shaped patch antennas, it has a large scope of usage in many wireless MIMO
applications, requiring higher bandwidths and isolations.

References
[1] X.L. Bao and M.J. Ammann X.L. Bao and M.J. Ammann, Small patch slot antenna with 53% input impedance
bandwidth ELECTRONICS LETTERS 1st February 2007 Vol. 43 No. 3
[2] Reza Zaker, Changiz Ghobadi, and Javad Nourinia Bandwidth Enhancement of Novel Compact Single and Dual BandNotched Printed Monopole Antenna With a Pair of L-Shaped Slots, IEEE Transactions on antennas and propagation,
VOL. 57,NO. 12,DECEMBER 2009 , p 3978-3983.
[3] F. Caminita, S. Costanzo, G. DiMassa, G. Guarnieri, S. Maci, ,G Mauriello, and I. Venneri, , Reduction of Patch Antenna
Coupling by Using a Compact EBG Formed by Shorted Strips with Interlocked Branch-Stubs, IEEE Antennas and wireless
propagation letters,VOL. 8, 2009, p 811-814.
[4] Fangfang Fan, Zehong yan , Compact band pass filter with spurious pass band suppression using defected ground
structure , Microwave optical tech. letters, Volume 52 issue 1, Jan2010, pages 17-20.
[5] Yang,F.,Zhang,X.,Ye,X.,and Rahmat-Samii,Y, wide-band E-shaped patch antennas for wireless communications, IEEE
Trans. AntennasPropag., 2001,49, p. 10941100.
[6] Ra, Gh., and Shafai, L Broadband microstrip patch antenna with V-slot, IEE Proc., Microw. Antennas Propag., 2004,
151, (5), p 435-440.
[7] A. A. Deshmukh and G. Kumar, Compact broadband E- shaped microstrip antenna Electron. Lett., vol. 41, no. 18,
Sep.2005, p. 989990.
[8] B.-K. Ang and B.-K. Chung, A wideband E shaped microstrip patch antenna for 56GHZ wireless communications
Progress In Electromagnetics Research, PIER 123-129 2007.

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