142 IEEE ANTENNAS AND WIRELESS PROPAGATION LETTERS, VOL. 17, NO.
1, JANUARY 2018
An Integrated Dual MIMO Antenna System With
Dual-Function GND-Plane Frequency-Agile Antenna
Rifaqat Hussain, Member, IEEE, Muhammad Umar Khan, Member, IEEE,
and Mohammad S. Sharawi, Senior Member, IEEE
Abstract—In this letter, an integrated multiple-input–multiple-
output (MIMO) antenna system is presented. The proposed design
consists of a two-element printed inverted F-shape (IFA) MIMO
antenna integrated with a two-element frequency-agile annular
slot-based MIMO antenna system. The IFA operates at the WLAN
band, while the annular slots act as an isolation enhancement struc-
ture between the two IFA elements. Furthermore, the annular slots
are tuned over the bands from 1.73 to 2.28 GHz with a mini-
mum bandwidth of 60 MHz. The slots are made reconfigurable
using varactor diodes. The integrated MIMO antenna system is
designed on commercially available FR-4 substrate with dimen-
sions 50 × 110 × 1.56 mm3 . All the antenna elements are of small
size, low profile, and planar in structure and hence can easily be
accommodated in wireless devices for second-generation cognitive
radio applications.
Index Terms—Dual-function defected ground structure (DGS),
frequency reconfigurability, integrated antenna, multiple-input–
multiple-output (MIMO).
I. INTRODUCTION
REQUENCY-RECONFIGURABLE multiple-input–mul-
F tiple-output (MIMO) antenna systems have attracted re-
search interest due to the potential advantages that they of-
fer. They can cover several frequency bands, offer high system
throughput, and enhance the reliability of communications. Re-
configurable MIMO antennas can also be utilized in the front
ends of cognitive radio (CR) applications. CR technology was
proposed to overcome the spectrum congestion in wireless com-
munication [1].
Several MIMO reconfigurable antenna designs were re-
ported in the literature for CR applications. In [2], a two-
element multiband frequency-reconfigurable slot-based MIMO
antenna was presented. It covered 2.4–2.5, 4.9–5.725, and 4.9–
5.725 GHz bands with corresponding isolation values of 18,
18, and 14.5 dB, respectively. The single antenna size was
3 × 5 mm2 , while the total size of the MIMO antenna was
46 × 20 × 1.6 mm3 . In [3], a two-element planar inverted-F
Manuscript received November 15, 2017; revised November 24, 2017; ac-
cepted November 24, 2017. Date of publication November 28, 2017; date of cur-
rent version January 10, 2018. This work was supported in part by the Deanship
of Scientific Research at KFUPM under project KAUST002. (Corresponding
author: Rifaqat Hussain.)
R. Hussain and M. S. Sharawi are with the Electrical Engineering Department,
King Fahd University for Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia
(e-mail: rifaqat@kfupm.edu.sa; rifaqat@kfupm.edu.sa).
M. U. Khan is with the Research Institute for Microwave & Millimeter Wave
Studies, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad 44000,
Pakistan (e-mail: umar.khan@seecs.edu.pk).
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/LAWP.2017.2778182
1536-1225 © 2017 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission.
See http://www.ieee.org/publications standards/publications/rights/index.html for more information.
Authorized licensed use limited to: Dawood College of Engineering & Technology. Downloaded on June 17,2021 at 06:56:40 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
antenna (PIFA) was presented that covered 2.3–2.4, 2.5–2.7,
and 3.4–3.6 GHz with corresponding minimum isolation val-
ues of 22, 24, and 30 dB, respectively. The size of a single
antenna element was 10 × 10 × 6.4 mm3 . In [4], a two-element
MIMO antenna was presented that covered the 1.71–1.88 and
2.5–2.7 GHz bands with a corresponding minimum isolation
of 9 and 10 dB, respectively. The antenna occupied a total
space of 150 × 150 mm2 . Similarly, a two-element PIFA-based
MIMO antenna was presented in [5]. The size of the indi-
vidual antenna element was 16 × 33 × 5 mm3 . The antenna
covered frequency bands from 2.1–2.9 GHz with minimum
isolation of 10 dB. In [6], a four-element slot-based MIMO
antenna system was presented with frequency band cover-
age from 3.1 to 12 GHz with minimum isolation of 22 dB.
The single element dimensions were 21 × 8 mm2 on a sub-
strate of dimensions 49 × 25 × 1.6 mm3 . In [7], a four-element
F-shaped slot-based MIMO antenna was presented covering
2.4, 3.5, 5.2, and 5.8 GHz with minimum isolation values of
13, 15, and 11 dB, respectively. The total size of the MIMO
antenna was 66 × 72 × 1.524 mm3 with a single element size
of 31 × 20.5 mm2 .
In this letter, a novel integrated MIMO antenna design is pre-
sented. The antenna consists of two-wideband printed inverted
F-shape (IFA) antennas integrated with two annular slot-based
frequency-agile antennas to form a dual two-element MIMO
antenna system. The isolation is improved between the IFA-
based MIMO antenna using annular slots that acted as a de-
fected ground structure (DGS). These same slots are utilized
as a frequency-reconfigurable MIMO antenna system as well.
This is the first dual-function frequency-reconfigurable MIMO
configuration. This concept of dual function can be utilized to
increase the system throughput by increasing the number of an-
tenna elements in wireless handheld devices by reusing DGS
structures as a separate set of antennas without changing the
board size. Moreover, the proposed antenna design is compact,
low-profile, and realized on a substrate area of 50 × 110 mm2 .
The proposed IFA-based MIMO is operating at 2.45 GHz, while
the two-element slot-based antenna covers the frequency bands
from 1.73 to 2.28 GHz with a minimum measured bandwidth of
60 MHz and supporting several well-known wireless standard
bands.
II. ANTENNA SYSTEM DESIGN
The geometry of the proposed integrated dual MIMO antenna
system is shown in Fig. 1. The antenna was designed on a com-
mercially available FR4 substrate with a relative permittivity
HUSSAIN et al.: INTEGRATED DUAL MIMO ANTENNA SYSTEM WITH DUAL-FUNCTION GND-PLANE FREQUENCY-AGILE ANTENNA 143

Fig. 1. Proposed MIMO antenna system. (a) Top layer. (b) GND plane.
(c) Fabricated antenna top layer. (d) Fabricated antenna GND plane—all
dimensions are in millimeters (mm).

(r ) of 4.4, loss tangent (δ) of 0.02, and thickness of 1.56 mm.
The total size of the antenna system was 50 × 110 × 1.56 mm3 .
The detailed top layer of the proposed antenna design is shown
in Fig. 1(a), while the bottom layer is shown in Fig. 1(b). The
top layer contained two IFA elements on the two edges, the
microstrip feedline for the annular slot-based antenna and
the biasing circuitry for the varactor diodes. Similarly, the bot-
tom layer contained the two-annular slot-based antennas that
were etched out on the ground (GND) plane and the SMA con-
nector to feed the IFA. Fig. 1(c) and (d) shows the fabricated
model top view and bottom view, respectively.
Initially, a single IFA antenna fed with 50 Ω SMA connec-
tor was designed on an FR4 substrate. The antenna dimensions
were optimized to operate at 2.45 GHz. After design finaliza-
tion, two such elements were replicated on the same substrate Fig. 2. (a) |S1 1 | and |S2 2 |—simulated and measured. (b) |S1 2 |—simulated
with a spacing of 85 mm to make a two-element MIMO an- and measured. (c) |S3 3 |—simulated. (d) |S3 3 |—measured. (e) |S3 4 |—simulated.
tenna. DGS slots were added to improve the isolation between (f) |S3 4 |—measured. (g) |S1 3 |—measured. (h) |S1 4 |—measured.
the antenna elements. For printed MIMO antennas, DGS is a
very common technique used for isolation enhancement. In the The varactor diodes used in the two antenna elements are
proposed design, the DGS consisted of two annular slots etched designated as D1 and D2 . The varactor diode biasing circuit
out from the GND plane. The dimensions and location of the consisted of a series combination of an RF choke of 1 μH (L1
slots were optimized to improve the isolation between antenna and L2 ) and 2.1 kΩ resistors (R1 and R2 ) connected to the two
elements based on current distribution analysis on the reference terminals of the varactor diode. SMV 1235 varactor diodes were
GND plane. used. The varactor diode package used was 0805 with standard
In the second step, the DGS slots were intelligently converted dimensions of 2.0 mm × 1.2 mm.
to another radiating structure (Ant-3 and Ant-4), but operating
at different frequency bands in order to minimize the coupling III. SIMULATION AND MEASUREMENT RESULTS
when operated simultaneously. The dimensions of the slot de- For the proposed antenna design, the tuning range of the
termine the resonance frequency of the antenna. In the proposed antenna was first analyzed by simulation as well as by measure-
antenna design, an electrical length of λ/2 corresponded to res- ments, the isolation was analyzed through current distribution,
onance at 3.1 GHz without reactively loading the antenna. while finally the gain and efficiencies were analyzed through
In the third step, slot antennas were made frequency- measurements.
reconfigurable by loading them with reactive elements. Para-
metric sweeps were performed to properly place the varactor
diode and effectively load the slot. The current positions of the A. MIMO Antenna Scattering Parameters
varactor diodes had maximal effect on the antenna resonance. For the two-element IFA-based MIMO (Ant-1 and Ant-2),
The varactor diode terminals were connected to a biasing circuit simulated and measured reflection coefficient curves are shown
using two shorting pins (sp)/vias as shown in Fig. 1, while the in Fig. 2(a). Both antenna elements were resonating at a center
varactor diode was mounted on the two edges of the slots and frequency of 2.45 GHz, and good resonance was achieved in
soldered across it. The width of the DGS ring used was 1 mm. the entire band. Simulated and measured −10 dB bandwidth of
Ring slots were used for a compact DGS confined toward the (operating from 2.295 to 2.68 GHz) 385 and 395 MHz were
device edges to maintain GND continuity and integrity. obtained, respectively.

Authorized licensed use limited to: Dawood College of Engineering & Technology. Downloaded on June 17,2021 at 06:56:40 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
 144 IEEE ANTENNAS AND WIRELESS PROPAGATION LETTERS, VOL. 17, NO. 1, JANUARY 2018

The simulated isolation curve between Ant-1 and Ant-2 with-

out DGS is shown in Fig. 2(b). A minimum of 7 dB improve-
ment was observed in isolation after introducing the DGS slots.
A slight variation in S12 curves was observed for different ca-
pacitance values within the operating bandwidth of the IFA, and
hence it had insignificant effect on the isolation between Ant-1
and Ant-2.
The varactor diodes used with Ant-3 and Ant-4 were mod-
eled as variable capacitors with values ranging between 2.38 to
9.91 pF. In the simulations, the capacitance values used were
C1 = 2.38 pF, C2 = 12.61 pF, C3 = 4.11 pF, C4 = 7.36 pF,
and C5 = 9.918 pF. This resulted in the antennas tuning be- Fig. 3. Surface current distribution: (a) Ant-1 and Ant-2 without DGS slots
tween 1.76–2.3 GHz with a minimum −6 dB bandwidth of at 2.45 GHz, (b) Ant-1 and Ant-2 with DGS slots at 2.45 GHz, (c) Ant-1 was
active at 2.25 GHz, and (d) Ant-3 was active at 2.25 GHz.
64 MHz. The simulated reflection coefficient curves are shown
in Fig. 2(c). The resonance frequency bands were smoothly var-
ied over a wide range, as shown by the simulated reflection
coefficient curves.
The measured reflection coefficient curves for Ant-3 are given
in Fig. 2(d). The reverse bias voltage was applied across varactor
diode and the resonance curves were obtained by varying the
reverse bias voltages (0∼15 V). The measured frequency bands
obtained were from 1.73–2.28 GHz with −10 dB bandwidth of
41 MHz and minimum −6 dB bandwidth of 60 MHz. The sim-
ulated and measured Sii results are in good agreement. As both
antenna elements were identical and placed symmetrically on
the substrate, the same results were obtained from both ports. A
slight difference in the simulated and measured Sxx results were
mainly due to the difference in the substrate properties, connec-
tors were hand soldered, lack of flexibility of modeling varactor
diodes in the simulation software and fabrication tolerances.
The proposed slot antenna elements were analyzed for mutual
coupling between Ant-3 and Ant-4. The simulated and measured
isolation curves are shown in Fig. 2(e) and (f), respectively.
For such closely spaced antennas, Ant-3 and Ant-4, isolation
was better than 10 dB in the entire operating band (0.29 λg
spacing at 1.73 GHz). These values showed good isolation that
was sufficient for MIMO operation in wireless communication
devices. The measured S13 and S14 curves are shown in Fig. 2(g) Fig. 4. Measured normalized radiation patterns: (a) xz plane at 2.45 GHz.
(b) yz plane at 2.45 GHz. (c) xz plane at 2.0 GHz. (d) yz plane at 2.0 GHz.
and (h), respectively. The minimum measured isolation values
observed between (Ant-1 and Ant-3) and (Ant-1 and Ant-4)
were 14.98 and 14.91 dB, respectively. Since the two different distribution was mainly around the active antenna, and very
types of antennas were working at different bands, high isolation minimal coupling was observed with other elements, which
between them was obtained. Same results were obtained for S23 confirmed good isolation as observed in Fig. 2.
and S24 because of the antenna symmetry.
C. MIMO Antenna Gain Patterns
B. Current Distribution The radiation patterns for both types of antennas were ob-
tained by keeping one port active while others were termi-
For the given IFA-based MIMO antenna system, the surface nated with 50 Ω loads. The 2-D measured gain patterns for
current distribution was observed at 2.45 GHz. This analysis all the antenna elements are given in Fig. 4. It shows the nor-
helped in understanding the port coupling and determining malized measured gain patterns of the proposed MIMO IFA
DGS location. Fig. 3(a) and (b) shows the surface current and annular slot-based antenna systems at 2.45 and 2.0 GHz,
density obtained at 2.45 GHz without and with DGS structure, respectively. All co-pol and cross-pol patterns for Ant-1 and
respectively, for Ant-1 while the Ant-2 was terminated with Ant-2 at 2.45 GHz are shown in Fig. 4(a) and (b), while for
50 Ω. A considerable coupling between Ant-1 and Ant-2 was Ant-3 and Ant-4 at 2.0 GHz are shown in Fig. 4(c) and (d),
observed without the DGS structure. The proper placement of respectively.
DGS slots helped in reducing the mutual coupling significantly.
The current distribution was also observed for mutual coupling
between Ant-3 and Ant-4. In Fig. 3(c), Ant-1 was active and D. MIMO Antenna Characterization
operating at 2.25 GHz, while in Fig. 3(d), Ant-3 was active The envelope correlation coefficient (ECC) is an important
while the rest of the ports were terminated with 50 Ω. Current performance parameter for MIMO characterization. In most of

Authorized licensed use limited to: Dawood College of Engineering & Technology. Downloaded on June 17,2021 at 06:56:40 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
HUSSAIN et al.: INTEGRATED DUAL MIMO ANTENNA SYSTEM WITH DUAL-FUNCTION GND-PLANE FREQUENCY-AGILE ANTENNA 145

TABLE I antenna provides comparable or better isolation, efficiency, and

ECC, EFFICIENCY AND PEAK GAIN OF THE MIMO ANTENNAS
peak gain at 2.45 GHz with other antennas while utilizing the
DGS as a reconfigurable MIMO antenna.
Slot-MIMO Antenna

fs , fm (GHz) ECCs ECCm %η m Peak Gainm (dBi)

IV. CONCLUSION
1.805, 1.78 0.023 0.0344 51 −0.6 In this letter, a compact integrated antenna design is presented
1.872, 1.86 0.105 0.1535 62 0.8 consisting of a two-element IFA-based MIMO and two-element
1.98, 1.97 0.025 0.046 65 1.5 annular slot-based frequency-agile MIMO antenna system. The
2.101, 2.01 0.152 0.162 72 2.16
2.262, 2.24 0.0234 0.0415 75 2.33 proposed design is a low-profile planar one with board dimen-
IFA
sions of 50 × 110 × 1.56 mm3 . The IFA MIMO antenna is op-
erating at WLAN band centered at 2.45 GHz, while the annu-
2.45, 2.45 0.012 0.015 83 2.85
lar slot DGS structure used for isolation enhancement between
the IFAs is also utilized as a frequency-reconfigurable antenna.
TABLE II
COMPARISON BETWEEN VARIOUS MIMO ANTENNAS
The annular slots are tuned over wide frequencies from 1.73 to
2.28 GHz. The proposed design is covering several well-known
wireless standards, has dual function DGS slots, and can easily
Board size Freq. Band DGS Isola. (%η) Gain
(mm2 ) (GHz) Type (dB) (dBi) be integrated in wireless devices supporting second generation
CR applications.
[10] 50 × 100 0.813, spiral 9 (L), 41.6%, −4, 2.4
2.475 17 (H) 67.5%
REFERENCES
[11] 60 × 60 2.45 CSRR 22 84.6% 3.4
[12] 50 × 100 2.42 loop- 14 62.4%, 2.05 [1] J. Mitola, “Cognitive radio architecture evolution,” Proc. IEEE, vol. 97,
type 76% no. 4, pp. 626–641, Apr. 2009.
[2] S. Soltani, P. Lotfi, and R. D. Murch, “A port and frequency reconfig-
[13] 55 × 49 1.88−2.64 U-shape 20 - min urable MIMO slot antenna for WLAN applications,” IEEE Trans. Anten-
slot 1.63, nas Propag., vol. 64, no. 4, pp. 1209–1217, Apr. 2016.
max 1.98 [3] J.-H. Lim, Z.-J. Jin, C.-W. Song, and T.-Y. Yun, “Simultaneous frequency
[14] 20 × 40 2.4 rect. slot 30 65% 2 and isolation reconfigurable MIMO PIFA using pin diodes,” IEEE Trans.
[15] 40 × 40 2.4. 3.76. SRR 17 63.4%, min 2.5, Antennas Propag., vol. 60, no. 12, pp. 5939–5946, Dec. 2012.
6.1 90.4%, max 4.4 [4] A. N. Kulkarni and S. K. Sharma, “Frequency reconfigurable microstrip
92% loop antenna covering LTE bands with MIMO implementation and
wideband microstrip slot antenna all for portable wireless DTV media
50 × 110 2.45, annular 22, 10 83%, min
player,” IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., vol. 61, no. 2, pp. 964–968, Feb.
Prop. 1.73–2.28 slot 51%−75% −0.6,
2013.
max 2.33
[5] H. T. Chattha, M. Nasir, Q. H. Abbasi, Y. Huang, and S. S. Alja’afreh,
“Compact low-profile dual-port single wideband planar inverted-f MIMO
antenna,” IEEE Antennas Wireless Propag. Lett., vol. 12, pp. 1673–1675,
2013.
the literature, ECC along with port isolation are considered to be [6] G. Srivastava and A. Mohan, “Compact MIMO slot antenna for UWB
applications,” IEEE Antennas Wireless Propag. Lett., vol. 15, pp. 1057–
sufficient for MIMO antenna characterization. For good MIMO 1060, 2016.
performance, ECC value should be less than 0.5 [8]. For the [7] R. Karimian, H. Oraizi, S. Fakhte, and M. Farahani, “Novel F-shaped
given integrated MIMO antenna system, ECC was calculated quad-band printed slot antenna for WLAN and wimax MIMO systems,”
IEEE Antennas Wireless Propag. Lett., vol. 12, pp. 405–408, 2013.
for both IFA and annular slot antennas from their complex ra-
[8] M. S. Sharawi, Printed MIMO Antenna Engineering. Norwood, MA,
diation patterns. The earlier used method to find ECC using USA: Artech House, 2014.
S-parameters has been found to have very limited validity under [9] M. S. Sharawi, A. T. Hassan, and M. U. Khan, “Correlation co-
very limited conditions [9]. efficient calculations for MIMO antenna systems: A comparative
study,” Int. J. Microw. Wireless Technol., pp. 1–14, 2017, doi:
For the given IFA and the annular slot MIMO antenna sys- 10.1017/S1759078717000903.
tem, simulated and measured ECC values were computed as [10] M. S. Sharawi, A. B. Numan, M. U. Khan, and D. N. Aloi, “A dual-element
shown in Table I. The simulated and measured frequencies used dual-band MIMO antenna system with enhanced isolation for mobile
are designated as fs and fm , respectively. It is clear that the terminals,” IEEE Antennas Wireless Propag. Lett., vol. 11, pp. 1006–1009,
2012.
given MIMO antenna system has low ECC values, which satis- [11] A. Ramachandran, S. V. Pushpakaran, M. Pezholil, and V. Kesavath, “A
fies the requirement for good MIMO operation. The peak gain four-port MIMO antenna using concentric square-ring patches loaded with
values and radiation efficiencies (%η) were also measured for CSRR for high isolation,” IEEE Antennas Wireless Propag. Lett., vol. 15,
pp. 1196–1199, 2016.
the given MIMO antenna systems at the resonance frequencies [12] L. Qu, R. Zhang, and H. Kim, “Decoupling between ground radiation
fm and are given in Table I. The efficiency of the IFA MIMO antennas with ground-coupled loop-type isolator for WLAN applications,”
antenna was not significantly affected by the DGS. A 2% re- Microw., Antennas Propag., vol. 10, no. 5, pp. 546–552, 2016.
duction in simulated efficiency was observed when the DGS [13] Y. Cao, S. W. Cheung, and T. I. Yuk, “Frequency-reconfigurable multiple-
input–multiple-output monopole antenna with wide-continuous tuning
was added. The wideband IFA was also evaluated at 2.6 GHz, range,” Microw., Antennas Propag., vol. 10, no. 12, pp. 1322–1331, 2016.
and η was 82%. A comparison between the proposed design [14] A. C. Mak, C. R. Rowell, and R. D. Murch, “Isolation enhancement
with other works using DGS structures in terms of size, fre- between two closely packed antennas,” IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag.,
vol. 56, no. 11, pp. 3411–3419, Nov. 2008.
quency band, DGS type (SRR—split-ring resonator, CSRR—
[15] A. Ramachandran, S. Mathew, V. Rajan, and V. Kesavath, “A compact
complementary SRR), minimum isolation obtained and mini- triband quad-element MIMO antenna using SRR ring for high isolation,”
mum to maximum (%η) is provided in Table II. The proposed IEEE Antennas Wireless Propag. Lett., vol. 16, pp. 1409–1412, 2017.

Authorized licensed use limited to: Dawood College of Engineering & Technology. Downloaded on June 17,2021 at 06:56:40 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.