Electromagnetics

ISSN: (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/uemg20

Broadband circularly polarized compact MIMO

slot antenna based on strip and stubs for UWB
applications

Jaiverdhan, M. M. Sharma & R. P. Yadav

To cite this article: Jaiverdhan, M. M. Sharma & R. P. Yadav (2021) Broadband circularly
polarized compact MIMO slot antenna based on strip and stubs for UWB applications,
Electromagnetics, 41:3, 185-195, DOI: 10.1080/02726343.2021.1903205

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/02726343.2021.1903205

Published online: 30 Mar 2021.

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ELECTROMAGNETICS
2021, VOL. 41, NO. 3, 185–195
https://doi.org/10.1080/02726343.2021.1903205

Broadband circularly polarized compact MIMO slot antenna

based on strip and stubs for UWB applications
Jaiverdhan, M. M. Sharma, and R. P. Yadav
Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur,
India

ABSTRACT KEYWORDS
A small size broadband circularly polarized (CP) two-element multiple- Circular polarization;
input-multiple-output (MIMO) slot antenna with a very low envelope diversity performance; mimo
correlation coefficient (ECC) is proposed for ultra-wideband (UWB) antenna; slot antenna; ultra-
wideband antenna
applications. Broadband circular polarization is attained by embed­
ding the identical pair of spiral slots, rectangular slot and grounded-L
stub on the I-shaped slot antenna. Isolation is achieved through
embedding two different slots between mirrored CP square slot
antenna elements. The proposed MIMO antenna provides 58.82% (4.­
8–8.8 GHz) 3-dB axial ratio bandwidth (ARBW), 138.32% (3.17–­
17.39 GHz) impedance bandwidth (IBW), and more than 16 dB port
isolation over the operating band. The MIMO slot antenna size is
40 × 20 mm2 with a measured peak gain of about 4.41 dBi and
efficiency more than 70%. The diversity performance is computed
and presented in detail.

Introduction
In modern days, the fourth generation (4 G) and upcoming fifth-generation (5 G) technol­
ogies relies heavily on small size multiband or UWB MIMO antenna (Sharawi 2014) for
high-speed data communication. Recent research studies demonstrate that MIMO technol­
ogy has been revealed promising results by increasing the channel capacity while main­
taining the power levels and bandwidth (Sharawi 2013). The high data rate can be
accomplished by using many numbers of antennas at both the transmission and reception
ends but the size of the antenna is increased. Due to space limitations of wireless devices,
a single layer compact MIMO antenna is highly desirable to ensure maximum antenna
performance in terms of field correlation, effective gain, capacity loss, diversity gain, and
port coupling. The numerous MIMO antennas with various decoupling structures have
been investigated by the researchers (Kumar 2016; Lee et al. 2012; Liu, Cheung, and Yuk
2013; Malekpour and Honarvar 2016; Pandit, Mohan, and Ray 2018; Ren et al. 2014; Singh
and Tripathi 2019; Srivastava and Mohan 2015; Talha, Babu, and Aldhaheri 2016; Tiwari,
Singh, and Kanaujia 2019; Zhang et al. 2009) to avoid the port coupling between antenna
elements and improve diversity performance. However, the reported structures are quite
complex, bandwidth limited, linearly polarized and occupy a relatively large size which
limits their applications. Further, some MIMO antennas were reported with circular

CONTACT Jaiverdhan jaiverdhan@ieee.org Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Malaviya

National Institute of Technology, Jaipur 302017, India.
© 2021 Taylor & Francis
186 M. JAIVERDHAN ET AL.

polarization ability but these antennas have narrow IBW and ARBW (Malviya, Panigrahi,
and Kartikeyan 2016; Tran, Hussain, and Tu 2019). In addition, these antennas are having
a large size and complex structure due to feeding through co-axial cable. So, the design of
a small size MIMO slot antenna having adequate isolation and diversity performance and
also, the same structure radiating circular polarization, is a challenging task for researchers
and antenna designers.
In this work, a compact coplanar waveguide (CPW)-fed circularly polarized two-port
MIMO slot antenna with small inter-element coupling over UWB range is demonstrated.
By embedding two different slots in the middle of the mirrored square slot antenna, the
inter-element coupling (isolation) is improved and can be tuned by changing the width of
the slot. The main advantage of the proposed MIMO slot antenna is that it reveals UWB
response, broadband ARBW about 56%, >16 dB isolation and adequate diversity perfor­
mance without increasing size of the antenna. Section II defines the development and
analysis of a compact CP square slot antenna. Section III describes the design and investiga­
tion of compact CP MIMO slot antenna along with diversity performance. Finally, the
conclusion is presented in Section IV.

Development of a compact circularly polarized square slot antenna

Antenna design
Instead of directly designing the two-port CP MIMO antenna, first, a single-port CPW-fed
broadband CP square slot antenna has been designed (Figure 1). It is etched over 1.6 mm
thick FR-4 substrate of dimensions L × L (ɛr = 4.3, tanδ 0.025). The antenna consists of an
I-shaped radiator (formed by loading two symmetrical rectangular slots of dimension Lx×Ly

Figure 1. Design layout of CPW-fed broadband CP square slot antenna.

 ELECTROMAGNETICS 187

Table 1. Optimal design parameters of the proposed CPSSA.

Parameter L Lx Lf Wf Wp Ly g gp Sx
Value (mm) 20 1.1 3.8 3 5.4 2.2 0.3 1 7.3
Parameter Lp S M Ls a1 a2 a3 dx Sy
Value (mm) 6.2 4 3 14.4 2 2 1.5 5 2.3

in middle of vertical edges of rectangular patch Lp×Wp), one symmetrical grounded-L strip
whose arm length dx and width gp, two grounded symmetrical spiral slots and one
rectangular slot Sx×Sy. By embedding a pair of grounded spiral slots in opposite corners
of the CPW ground plane provides an additional current path for rotation. This spiral slot
shifts the 3-dB ARBW to the higher frequency and gives wide band 3-dB ARBW. It is
observed that spiral slots primarily affect the CP operation of antenna and very less effect on
IMBW (Chen and Yung 2009; Jaiverdhan, Sharma, and Yadav 2019). Further, a rectangular
slot is embedded in the lower-left corner of CPW ground plane. This grounded slot mainly
changes the rotation of current and gives wide 3-dB ARBW, which also improves the IBW
of the proposed antenna. Extensive simulation has been accomplished using CST MWS v.18
to analyze the antenna performance and optimized dimensions are summarized in Table 1.

Experimental results and discussion of CPW-fed broadband CP square slot antenna

To confirm the designed single-port antenna, the prototype is fabricated as depicted in
Figure 2a with optimized antenna parameters as stated in Table 1. The magnitude of
S-parameter is measured using calibrated R&S ZNB-40 vector network analyzer. From
Figure 2b, we perceive that the simulated and measured impedance bandwidth (IBW) of
single-port CPSSA is 133.33% (3.4–17.0 GHz) and 135% (3.4–17.54 GHz), respectively. The
axial ratio (AR) of the single-port CPSSA is investigated at θ = 0° and ϕ = 0° angles. From
Figure 3a, we perceive that the simulated and measured ARBW is 64.62% centered at
6.5 GHz (4.4–8.6 GHz) and 68.39% centered at 6.93 GHz (4.56–9.30 GHz), respectively.

Figure 2. (a) Fabricated prototype and (b) S11.

188 M. JAIVERDHAN ET AL.

Figure 3. Simulated and measured (a) AR and (b) Gain of the proposed CPSSA.

The simulated and measured peak gain is 4.85 dBi and 4.2 dBi, respectively, as observed in
Figure 3b. A dual-ridged Vivaldi horn antenna has been considered as a reference antenna
and fabricated prototype as an antenna under test (AUT) for the radiation pattern mea­
surement in an anechoic chamber.
The radiation (far-field) patterns of single-port CPSSA antenna in xz-plane (ϕ = 0°) and
yz-plane (ϕ = 90°) at 6 GHz and 8 GHz are illustrated in Figure 4a,b, respectively. Due to the
bidirectional characteristic of the designed CPSSA, it is perceived that the CPSSA radiates
LHCP wave in +z direction and right-hand CP (RHCP) wave in – z-direction in both
planes, shown in Figure 4. Also, the cross-polarization difference (XPD) is measured >15 dB
in boresight direction in both planes, exhibit good CP radiation. The far-field pattern at
8 GHz in both planes is marginally deviated from the main axis (at θ = 0°) due to the loading
of a rectangular slot in CPW ground of I-shaped CPSSA.

Design of compact two-element CP MIMO slot antenna

Two-Port MIMO Slot Antenna Design and Analysis
To meet the objective as defined in Section I, the broadband CPSSA has been prolonged to
two ports depicted in Figure 5. Initially, two symmetrical CPSSA are placed side by side and
the size of the two-element MIMO slot antenna becomes LM×WM mm2. This configuration
provides poor isolation between the adjacent antenna elements along with small IBW as
depicted in Figure 8. Further, to enhance the isolation and IBW, a mirror-image config­
uration of the one CPSSA is considered and subsequently two rectangular slots Q1× Gap
and Q2× Gap are embedded on common CPW ground plane as depicted in Figure 5. So, we
can say that a metal strip S× Gap called a decoupling element is placed among antenna
elements to enhance the isolation. This configuration is called a two-port MIMO slot
antenna. Dimensions of the two-element MIMO slot antenna shown in Figure 5 are: LM
= 20, WM = 40, Q1 = 6.17, Q2 = 11.03, Gap = 1 and S = 0.5 (all in mm).
The impact of the varying gap from 0 to 3 mm between antenna elements on
S-parameters is displayed in Figure 6. From the analysis, it can be perceived that when
both antenna elements are spaced (Gap = 1 mm) then it provides very good isolation
(>16 dB) and widest impedance bandwidth.
 ELECTROMAGNETICS 189

Figure 4. Radiation patterns of the proposed CPSSA at (a) 6 GHz and (b) 8 GHz.

Experimental results and discussion of two-port CP MIMO slot antenna

A prototype of the simulated two-port CP MIMO slot antenna was fabricated with
optimized dimensions as depicted in Figure 7a. Simulated and measured S-parameters of
the two-port MIMO slot antenna are illustrated in Figure 7b. From Figure 7b, we perceive
that the simulated and measured IBW of the two-port MIMO slot antenna is 135.6%
centered at 10.25 GHz (3.3–17.2 GHz) and 138.32% centered at 10.28 GHz (3.17–­
17.39 GHz), respectively. Over the whole operating band, the simulated and measured S21
/S12 is found to be less than −16 dB as depicted in Figure 9b. An anechoic chamber facility
has been utilized for the experimental measurement of radiation characteristics.
From Figure 8a, we perceive that the simulated and measured ARBW (at θ = 0° and
ϕ = 0°) is found to be 63.88% centered at 7.2 GHz (4.9–9.5 GHz) and 58.82% centered at
190 M. JAIVERDHAN ET AL.

Figure 5. Design layout of two-port CP MIMO slot antenna.

6.8 GHz (4.8–8.8 GHz), respectively. The simulated and measured peak gain of the
proposed two-port MIMO slot antenna is found to be 4.35 dBi and 4.416 dBi, respectively,
as depicted in Figure 8b.

Performance analysis of two-port CP MIMO antenna

To analyze the diversity of the proposed CP MIMO slot antenna, the various diversity
parameters such as ECC, diversity gain (DG), mean effective gain (MEG) and channel
capacity loss (CCL) has been evaluated.

Figure 6. S12/S21 for different values of ‘gap’.

 ELECTROMAGNETICS 191

Figure 7. (a) Fabricated prototype of two-port CP MIMO slot antenna (b) S-parameters.

Figure 8. Simulated and measured (a) AR and (b) Gain of the proposed MIMO slot antenna.

Envelope correlation coefficient

ECC is a prominent diversity parameter that indicates the mutual relationship among
radiating elements. For good MIMO performance, the value of ECC should be below
0.5. ECC (denoted byρij ) can be calculated through effective evaluation of the radiation
patterns or S-parameters between ith port and jth port for N elements of MIMO
antenna. Due to the lossy nature and wideband characteristics of the proposed CP
MIMO slot antenna, the S-parameters are not used for calculating ECC. So, radiation
patterns are used for the calculation of ECC through the generalized formula given
(Sharawi 2014). Developing this expression for N = 2 and using the radiation patterns,
the simulated and measured ECC between adjacent ports (i = 1 and j = 2) is achieved
below 0.005 over operating bandwidth as depicted in Figure 9, which ensures good
MIMO performance.

Diversity gain
Another performance metric that can be used for the evaluation of diversity performance is
diversity gain. For good MIMO performance, the DG value should be 10 dB. It can be
192 M. JAIVERDHAN ET AL.

Figure 9. Simulated and measured (a) ECC and (b) DG of the proposed CP MIMO slot antenna.

qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
calculated through the generalized formula by DG = 10 1 jρij j2 . From Figure 9, we
perceive that simulated and measured DG between adjacent ports (i = 1 and j = 2) is greater
than 9.98 dB, which confirms good MIMO performance.

Mean effective gain

MEG is the power-based performance metric of the MIMO antenna and defined as the ratio
of the mean power accepted by antenna to average power incident on it. MEG considers the
environmental effect while calculating the gain of antenna through the generalized formula
given in (Sharawi 2014). The value of MEG should be less than −3 dB between ith port and
jth port for N elements of MIMO antenna (Sharawi 2014). The corresponding variation in
MEG at XPR = 0 dB, 3 dB and 6 dB between adjacent ports (i = 1 and j = 2) is depicted in

Figure 10. Simulated MEG of the proposed CP MIMO slot antenna.

 ELECTROMAGNETICS 193

Figure 11. Simulated and measured CCL of the proposed CP MIMO slot antenna.

Figure 10, which observed below −3 dB over operating bandwidth, which confirms good
MIMO performance.

Channel capacity loss

CCL is another important parameter that can be used to analyze the diversity perfor­
mance of the MIMO antenna. For good MIMO performance, the minimum CCL value
should be 0.4 bits/sec/Hz. It can be calculated mathematically through the generalized
formula given in (Sharawi 2014). Developing this expression for N = 2, the simulated
and measured CCL between adjacent ports (i = 1 and j = 2) is achieved below 0.26
bits/sec/Hz over operating bandwidth as depicted in Figure 11, which confirms good
MIMO performance.
Table 2 shows the comparative analysis of the performance of the proposed circu­
larly polarized MIMO slot antenna with other reported MIMO antennas in the past. It
is observed from table that the work reported in (Kumar 2016; Lee et al. 2012; Liu,
Cheung, and Yuk 2013; Malekpour and Honarvar 2016; Pandit, Mohan, and Ray 2018;
Ren et al. 2014; Singh and Tripathi 2019; Srivastava and Mohan 2015; Talha, Babu,
and Aldhaheri 2016; Tiwari, Singh, and Kanaujia 2019; Zhang et al. 2009) were linearly
polarized UWB MIMO antennas with IBW and ECC value also smaller than the
proposed antenna. Similarly, antenna reported in (Malviya, Panigrahi, and
Kartikeyan 2016; Tran, Hussain, and Tu 2019) have circularly polarized in nature
but their 3-dB ARBW is narrow. From this comparison, it is concluded that the
proposed design has advantages of compact size, good isolation, large impedance
bandwidth of about 138%, widest 3-dB ARBW of 55.58%, and least ECC value 0.005
over the entire operating bandwidth.
194 M. JAIVERDHAN ET AL.

Table 2. Comparison of proposed CP MIMO slot antenna with reported antenna designs.
Min. Peak
Size Isolation Gain 3-dB ARBW
Ref. (L × W × h mm3) IBW (GHz, %) (dB) (dBi) ECC (GHz, %)
Liu, Cheung, and Yuk (2013) 26 × 40 × 0.8 3.1–10.6, 109.5 15 6.5 0.2 Linearly Polarized
Talha, Babu, and Aldhaheri 110 × 54 × 1.56 5–7.3, 37.39 16 – 0.05 Linearly Polarized
(2016)
Zhang et al. (2009) 35 × 40 × 0.8 3.1–10.6, 109.5 16 3.1 0.01 Linearly Polarized
Srivastava and Mohan 27 × 28 × 0.8 3–10.6, 109.5 16 3 0.02 Linearly Polarized
(2015)
Ren et al. (2014) 32 × 32 × 0.8 3.1–10.6, 109.5 15 4.2 0.02 Linearly Polarized
Kumar (2016) 31 × 20 × 1.6 3.8–7.8, 70 15 – – Linearly Polarized
Lee et al. (2012) 55 × 13.5 × 0.8 1.85–11.9, 146 17 4.96 0.18 Linearly Polarized
Pandit, Mohan, and Ray 26 × 26 × 0.8 5.6–5.8, 3.51 15.4 1.5 0.01 Linearly Polarized
(2018)
Tiwari, Singh, and Kanaujia 21 × 34 × 1.6 3.52–9.89, 95 22 5.12 0.005 Linearly Polarized
(2019)
Singh and Tripathi (2019) 25 × 25 × 1.6 2.97–13.8, 15 – 0.05 Linearly Polarized
Malekpour and Honarvar 26 × 31 × 0.7874 2.8–12, 25 5 0.001 Linearly Polarized
(2016)
Malviya, Panigrahi, and 97 × 27.96 × 1.524 5.49–6.02, 9.21 42 5.34 0.15 5.744–5.83, 1.48
Kartikeyan (2016)
Tran, Hussain, and Tu 56 × 32 × 3 5.08–6.12, 18.57 20 5.8 0.03 5.08–5.92, 15.3
(2019)
Our work 40 × 20 × 1.6 3.17–17.39, 138.3 16 4.416 0.005 4.8–8.8, 58.82

Conclusion
In this proposed work, a compact circularly polarized square slot antenna and two-
element CP MIMO slot antenna are designed and investigated through simulation and
experimentally characterized for UWB applications. A method of generating circular
polarization by using slots and strips is presented and realized 58.82% 3-dB ARBW
and 138.32% IBW. Further, by embedding two dissimilar rectangular slots on the
mirror-image configuration of CPSSA, good impedance matching, broadband CP
bandwidth and low mutual coupling about 16 dB without additional decoupling
structure is attained. The diversity performance over the entire operating bandwidth
is accomplished in terms of ECC, DG, MEG and CCL which ensures good MIMO
performance.

Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge and convey their sincere thanks to the Department of
Electronics and Communication Engineering, GWECA Ajmer, Rajasthan, India and Banasthali
Vidyapith, Niwai, Tonk, India for providing the necessary facilities of measurement to complete
this research work.

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