MIMO Wireless Communication

Study of the Diversity Antenna Array for the MIMO
Wireless Communication Systems
by
Choo Chiap Chiau
A thesis submitted to the University of London in partial fulfilment of

the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
Department of Electronic Engineering

Queen Mary, University of London
United Kingdom
April 2006
To my family, girlfriend Ms Wendy Kang and
in memory of my brother Mr Yang Wee Chiau
Abstract
Recent developments in wireless communications have shown that by using

multiple antenna elements at both transmitter and the receiver, it is possible to
substantially increase the capacity in a wireless communication system without
increasing the transmission power and bandwidth. This system with multiple antenna
elements at both link-ends is termed the MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output)
system. Despite considerable research being done on MIMO systems, the design of
realistic diversity antennas on mobile terminals for MIMO systems remains a
challenging issue.
The main challenge in designing two or more antennas on a small mobile
terminal is to achieve a high isolation between the antennas. It is very difficult to
achieve a high isolation with the existing handset antennas, such as PIFA (Planar
Inverted-F Antenna), which induce substantial surface currents on the ground plane.
In this thesis, two approaches are proposed to address this challenge in antenna
design. Firstly, a compact self-balanced antenna which is a folded loop antenna with
a loaded dielectric slab is proposed. The second method is to employ
Electromagnetic Band-Gap (EBG) structures on the ground plane of the antennas to
suppress the surface currents at specific frequencies band (i.e. stopband region). A
new EBG structure with smaller dimensions and wider stopband is developed.
Based on the proposed compact self-balanced antenna, a four-element
diversity antenna array is designed and implemented on a PDA terminal. An
isolation of more than 20dB is achieved between each pair of antennas in the
measurement. This high isolation leads to a diversity gain of 14.22dB at 99%
reliability in an indoor environment. Furthermore, a ray tracing simulator (i.e.
Wireless InSite) is used to assess the spectral efficiency of a 4x4 MIMO system in an
indoor environment with the proposed diversity antenna array as the receivers. The
channel capacity achieved with the proposed diversity antenna array in the 4x4
MIMO system is more than twice the capacity achieved in a SISO system.
In conclusion, a novel solution for the design of multiple antennas on a small
terminal is presented in this thesis.
i
Acknowledgements
First of all I would like to express my deep and sincere gratitude to my

supervisor, Dr Xiaodong Chen, for his guidance, supervision and stimulating
discussions throughout my PhD study, as well as his constructive comments in the
writing up of this thesis. I would also like to express my warm and sincere thanks to
Professor Clive G. Parini for his valuable suggestions and encouragement during the
course of my PhD study.
My special thanks to Mr John Dupuy for his guidance and assistance during
my measurement works conducted in the Antenna Measurement Laboratory at
Queen Mary University of London.
I want to thank all my colleagues and friends for all their help, advice and
valuable contributions to this thesis. I am especially obliged to Dr Jianxin Zhang, Dr
Yasir Alfadhl, Mr Yue Gao, Miss Marianna Setta and Mr Sunil Sudhakaran.
I would like to give my special thanks to my parents, brothers, sister and Miss
Wendy Mingli Kang for their support, patience and love. Without their
encouragement, motivation and understanding it would have been impossible for me
to complete this work.
The financial support of the Department of Electronic Engineering, Queen
Mary University of London is thankfully acknowledged.
ii
Table of Contents
Abstract i
Acknowledgments ii
Table of Contents iii
List of Figures vii
List of Tables xvi
Abbreviations xvii
1 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................1
1.2 Review of the State-of-Art .............................................................................3
1.3 Motivation ......................................................................................................5
1.4 Organisation of the thesis...............................................................................7
References ............................................................................................................ 8
2 MIMO and Diversity ........................................................................................ 11

2.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................11
2.2 MIMO Systems ............................................................................................11
2.2.1 Channel Capacity ..............................................................................12
2.2.2 Spatial multiplexing ..........................................................................15
2.2.3 Space-time coding.............................................................................16
2.3 Antenna Diversity ........................................................................................17
2.3.1 Diversity Combining Techniques .....................................................19
2.3.1.1 Switched Combining.......................................................... 19
2.3.1.2 Selection Combining.......................................................... 20
2.3.1.3 Equal Gain Combining....................................................... 20
2.3.1.4 Maximum Ratio Combining .............................................. 21
2.3.2 Diversity Gain ...................................................................................21
2.3.3 Correlation ........................................................................................23
2.3.4 Branch Power Ratio and Mean Effective Gain .................................25
iii
2.3.5 Antenna Diversity Techniques..........................................................26
2.3.5.1 Spatial Diversity................................................................. 27
2.3.5.2 Pattern Diversity................................................................. 28
2.3.5.3 Polarisation Diversity......................................................... 29
2.4 Environmental factor....................................................................................29
2.4.1 Angular density functions in outdoor urban environments...............30
2.4.2 Angular density functions in indoor environments...........................31
2.4.3 Proposed statistical model.................................................................31
2.4.4 Cross Polarisation Power Ratio (XPR) .............................................32
2.4.5 Proposed propagation model.............................................................32
2.5 Summary ......................................................................................................33
References ......................................................................................................... 34
3 Small Antennas on Mobile Terminals ............................................................. 38

3.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................38
3.2 Small Antennas on Mobile Terminals..........................................................38
3.2.1 Design Parameters for Antennas on Small Mobile Terminals..........39
3.3 Review of Small Antennas on Mobile Terminals ........................................39
3.3.1 Monopole ..........................................................................................40
3.3.2 Normal Mode Helical Antenna (NMHA) .........................................41
3.3.3 Meander line antenna ........................................................................43
3.3.4 Inverted-L Antenna (ILA) and Inverted-F Antenna (IFA) ...............44
3.4 New Concept for Mobile Terminal Antenna Design ...................................47
3.5 Summary ......................................................................................................51
References .......................................................................................................... 51
4 Electromagnetic Bandgap (EBG) Structures ................................................. 54

4.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................54
4.2 EBG Background .........................................................................................54
4.2.1 Metallo-dielectric structures .............................................................56
4.2.2 Uniplanar Compact PBG (UC-PBG) Structure ................................57
4.2.3 Square lattice of circles etched on the ground plane.........................58
4.3 Multiperiod EBG structure on the ground plane..........................................60
4.3.1 1-D multi-period EBG structure........................................................61
4.3.2 2-D multi-period EBG Structure.......................................................65
4.3.3 Microstrip patch antenna on the multi-period EBG structure...........67
iv
4.4 Multi-period EBG structure in the substrate ................................................77
4.5 Summary ......................................................................................................80
References .......................................................................................................... 81
5 Diversity Antenna Array for MIMO Systems ................................................ 84

5.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................84
5.2 Single Folded Loop Antenna .......................................................................84
5.2.1 Single Folded Loop Antenna at 5.2GHz ...........................................84
5.2.2 Single Dielectric Loaded Folded Loop Antenna at 5.2GHz .............92
5.3 Four-Element Diversity Antenna Design.....................................................96
5.3.1 Return loss and isolation performances ............................................99
5.3.2 Radiation patterns ...........................................................................101
5.4 Diversity Performance of the Four-element Diversity Antenna Array......107
5.4.1 Correlation and MEG......................................................................107
5.4.2 Diversity Gain .................................................................................109
5.4.3 Effect of cross polar ratio (XPR) ....................................................110
5.5 Channel Capacity .......................................................................................112
5.6 Dielectric Loaded Folded Half-loop Antenna............................................115
5.6.1 Design Concept ...............................................................................115
5.6.2 Return loss performance .................................................................118
5.6.3 Radiation patterns and gain.............................................................118
5.6.4 Effect of the ground plane...............................................................120
5.6.4.1 Effect on the size of the ground plane............................. 120
5.6.4.2 Effect of the antenna’s location on the ground plane...... 122
5.6.5 Four elements of Dielectric Loaded Folded Half-loop Antennas
on a PDA .........................................................................................123
5.7 Summary ....................................................................................................126
References ........................................................................................................ 128
6 Conclusions and Future Work....................................................................... 129

6.1 Summary ....................................................................................................129
6.2 Key Contributions ......................................................................................131
6.2.1 Multiperiod EBG Structure .............................................................131
6.2.2 Four-element diversity antenna array on a PDA.............................131
6.2.3 Miniature Dielectric Loaded Folded Half-loop Antenna ................132
6.3 Future work ................................................................................................132
v
Publications............................................................................................................. 134
Appendix A ............................................................................................................. 139
Appendix B ............................................................................................................. 148
Appendix C ............................................................................................................. 149
vi
List of Figures
Figure 1-1: Experimental MIMO systems at 2.1GHz from Lucent Technologies, (a)
multi-antenna base station with four omnidirectional vertically polarised ¼
dipole antennas at 4λ apart along a line at a height of about 3m, (b) receiver
terminal antennas are bow-tie printed dipoles with alternating 45º polarisation
fitting on the back of a laptop.(Reproduced from [10]) ......................................... 4
Figure 1-2: MIMO wireless routers by (a) Netgear (Model: RangeMax 240) [16], (b)
Linksys (Model: Wireless-G with SRX 400) [17] and (c) Belkin (Model:
Wireless Pre-N Router) [18]. Three monopoles are used on each router and
these designs are not suitable for mobile terminals. .............................................. 5
Figure 2-1: A MIMO system created by two antenna arrays, comprising nT transmit
elements and nR receive elements. ...................................................................... 12
Figure 2-2: Comparison of channel capacity for SISO and MIMO systems, assuming
flat Rayleigh fading and zero correlation between all transmission coefficients
in the channel. (Plotted in MATLAB according to the model from I-METRA
[6])........................................................................................................................ 14
Figure 2-3: A 2x2 MIMO system with a spatial multiplexing scheme. The original
message is demultiplexed into two sub-streams (Red and Blue) and transmitted
simultaneously from each transmitting antennas. ................................................ 16
Figure 2-4: A 2x2 MIMO system with a space-time coding scheme. The original
message is transmitted simultaneously from all the antennas at the transmitter
without sub-streaming them................................................................................. 17
Figure 2-5: Diagram showing two versions (Signals 1 and2) of transmitted signals
available from two different channels in a multipath environment. Diversity
technique is used to combine both the different signals. The combined signal
always has the highest signal level compared to the individual signals. ............. 18
Figure 2-6: Diagram showing two signals are combined in a basic diversity receiver.18
Figure 2-7: Diagram showing four types of diversity combining techniques can be
employed at the receive diversity......................................................................... 19
vii
Figure 2-8: Block diagram of switched combining for N branches/antenna elements
with only one receiver.......................................................................................... 19
Figure 2-9: Block diagram of selection combining for N branches/antenna elements.20
Figure 2-10: Block diagram of equal gain combining for N branches/antenna

elements. .............................................................................................................. 20
Figure 2-11: Block diagram of maximum ratio combining for N branches/antenna

elements. .............................................................................................................. 21
Figure 2-12: Cumulative distribution function of Rayleigh fading signals for a

different number of diversity branches (Plot based on equation 2.6). ................. 22
Figure 2-13: Diagram showing the relation of angular coordinates to Cartesian

coordinates. .......................................................................................................... 24
Figure 2-14: Diagram showing the effect of antenna spacing to correlation

coefficient............................................................................................................. 28
Figure 3-1: Photograph of a handset’s diversity antenna used in Japan for the PDC
system. (Handset model: P501i by NTT DoCoMo) ............................................ 40
Figure 3-2: 1/4-wavelength monopole antenna: (a) practical structure, and (b)
antenna image and current distribution. ............................................................... 41
Figure 3-3: NMHA used in a GSM mobile handset. (Reproduced from [1]) .............. 42
Figure 3-4: Geometrical configuration of a helix. ....................................................... 42
Figure 3-5: Meander printer antenna on a core. (Reproduced from [1]) ..................... 43
Figure 3-6: Dual-band meander line antenna............................................................... 43
Figure 3-7: Inverted-L antenna (ILA). ......................................................................... 44
Figure 3-8: Wire inverted-F antenna (IFA).................................................................. 45
Figure 3-9: Planar inverted-F antenna (PIFA). ............................................................ 45
Figure 3-10: Top view of a dual-band PIFA with an L-shape slot on the planar
element. (Reproduced from [16])......................................................................... 46
Figure 3-11: Photograph of multi-band PIFA in a Sony Ericsson T68i handset.

(Reproduced from [19]) ....................................................................................... 46
viii
Figure 3-12: The folded dipole antenna. ...................................................................... 48
Figure 3-13: (a) A half-wavelength dipole with a coaxial feed line; (b) a half-
wavelength folded dipole with a coaxial feed line............................................... 49
Figure 3-14: Structure of a folded loop antenna constructed from a folded dipole
where L ≈ ½ λ..................................................................................................... 50
Figure 3-15: Folded loop antenna mounted on a ground plane. .................................. 50
Figure 3-16: Surface current distribution on the ground plane of (a) a folded loop
antenna and (b) PIFA at 1.8GHz.The simulated results are obtained from CST
Microwave Studio®.The ground plane sizes are 40mm x 100mm.(c) The
geometry of PIFA is shown for clarity................................................................. 50
Figure 4-1: For frequency in the stopband, the incident wave does not travel through
the media. ............................................................................................................. 55
Figure 4-2: (a) Cross section of a high impedance surface. (b) Top view of the high-
impedance surface, showing a triangular lattice of hexagonal metal plates. ....... 56
Figure 4-3: Capacitance and inductance in the high-impedance surface..................... 56
Figure 4-4: Effective circuit used to model the surface impedance............................. 57
Figure 4-5: Schematic of (a) UC-PBG structure etched on the ground plane of a
microstrip line, and (b) unit cell of UC-PBG structure........................................ 58
Figure 4-6: Schematic diagram of a microstrip on an EBG ground plane. The EBG
structure is a square lattice of etched circles........................................................ 59
Figure 4-7: Schematic representation of the proposed multiperiod EBG structure by

cascading two single period EBG structures........................................................ 60
Figure 4-8: Photographs of the ground plane of the EBG circuits with periods of
(a) a1 =7.5mm, structure’s dimensions = 104mm x 15mm and (b) a2 = 12mm,
structure’s dimensions = 62.5mm x 15mm. The radius of each lattice circle,
r=3mm.................................................................................................................. 61
Figure 4-9: Simulated and measured S21 parameters for EBG circuits with period of
(a) a1 =12mm, and (b) a2 = 7.5mm....................................................................... 62
ix
Figure 4-10: Schematic representation of 2 models of the 1-D multiperiod EBG
structure with 8 lattice cells. Unit lattice (circle) radius=3mm, a1=7.5mm,
a2=12mm. (a) Model A and (b) Model B. ........................................................... 63
Figure 4-11: Simulated S21 curves for (a) Model A and (b) Model B in Figure 4-10. 64
Figure 4-12: Photograph of the ground plane of the proposed 1-D multiperiod EBG
structure. The dimensions of this structure are 86mm x 15mm........................... 64
Figure 4-13: Simulated and measured S21 curves for the proposed 1-D multiperiod
EBG...................................................................................................................... 65
Figure 4-14: Schematic representation of the folded 1-D multiperiod EBG structure. 66
Figure 4-15: Photograph of the ground plane of the folded 1-D multiperiod EBG
structure measured. The dimensions of this structure are 86mm x 27mm. ......... 66
Figure 4-16: Simulated and measured S21 for the folded 1-D multiperiod EBG
structure................................................................................................................ 67
Figure 4-17: Schematic diagram of the microstrip patch antenna designed at a

resonant frequency of 7.4GHz. (L= 6mm, W= 8.3mm, Wo= 0.6mm, W1=
0.7mm, yo=2.517mm) .......................................................................................... 68
Figure 4-18: Cross section of the (a) conventional patch antenna, and (b) patch
antenna on the sandwiched EBG structure. ......................................................... 69
Figure 4-19: Schematics (top view) of the patch antenna on the sandwiched EBG
structure with (a) single period a = 12mm, and (b) multiperiod a1 = 7.5mm, a2 =
12mm. .................................................................................................................. 70
Figure 4-20: Photographs of the (a) single period EBG layer, and (b) multiperiod
EBG layer before it is sandwiched to the ground plane....................................... 70
Figure 4-21: Photograph of the antenna under test in the anechoic chamber. ............. 71
Figure 4-22: Simulated (Red) and measured (Blue) input return (S11) for (a)
conventional patch antenna, (b) patch antenna on a sandwiched single period
EBG ground plane, and (c) patch antenna on a sandwiched multiperiod EBG
ground plane......................................................................................................... 72
x
Figure 4-23: Simulated (+) and measured (─) radiation patterns of E-plane co-
polarisation for (a) conventional antenna ,(b) antenna on a sandwiched single
period EBG ground plane, and (c) antenna on a multiperiod EBG ground plane.74
Figure 4-24: Simulated (+) and measured (─) radiation patterns of H-plane co-
polarisation for the (a) conventional antenna ,(b) antenna on a sandwiched
single period EBG ground plane, and (c) antenna on a multiperiod EBG ground
plane. .................................................................................................................... 75
Figure 4-25: Simulated surface distribution of the electric field at 7.4GHz for the (a)
conventional antenna (b) sandwiched single period EBG antenna, and (c)
sandwiched multiperiod EBG antenna................................................................. 76
Figure 4-26: Simulated S21 parameter for the single period EBG substrate circuit of
period (a) a1 = 10mm, and (b) a2 = 7.5mm. The radius of the unit lattice circle,
r is 3mm. .............................................................................................................. 78
Figure 4-27: Fabrication process of the multiperiod EBG substrate structure............. 79
Figure 4-28: Photograph of the fabricated multiperiod EBG substrate fabricated. The
dimensions of this substrate are 101 x 15 mm. .................................................... 79
Figure 4-29: Simulated and measured S21 parameter for a multiperiod EBG substrate
circuit with periods, a1 = 7.5mm, a2 = 10mm. ..................................................... 80
Figure 5-1: The schematic diagram of the folded loop antenna with a 50Ω coaxial
feed line on a ground plane. ................................................................................. 85
Figure 5-2: Simulated return loss curves of the folded loop antenna operating at
5.2GHz with different w2 and constant w1=1mm. .............................................. 86
Figure 5-3: Photograph of the prototype folded loop antenna operating at 5.2GHz.... 87
Figure 5-4: Simulated and measured return loss curves. ............................................. 87
Figure 5-5: Simulated (+) and measured (–) radiation patterns on the X-Z plane for
(a) co-polar and (b) cross-polar............................................................................ 89
Figure 5-6: Simulated (+) and measured (–) radiation patterns on the Y-Z plane for
(a) co-polar and (b) cross-polar............................................................................ 90
Figure 5-7: Simulation model of the folded loop antenna for the (a) balanced feeding
technique and (b) unbalanced feeding technique. ................................................ 91
xi
Figure 5-8: Distribution of the surface currents on the ground plane for (a) balanced
feeding structure and (b) unbalanced feeding structure. ..................................... 91
Figure 5-9:Schematic diagram showing (a)the dielectric slab inserted into a folded
loop antenna and (b) the dielectric loaded folded loop antenna with unbalanced
feeding line on a ground plane. ............................................................................ 93
Figure 5-10: Relation between the resonant frequency and relative permittivity........ 93
Figure 5-11: Relation between the bandwidth and relative permittivity...................... 94
Figure 5-12: Simulated return loss curves for the folded loop antenna with and
without the dielectric slab of relative permittivity, εr=4. ..................................... 94
Figure 5-13: Simulated return loss curves for the folded loop antenna and the
proposed dielectric loaded folded loop antenna, both antennas operating at
5.2GHz. ................................................................................................................ 95
Figure 5-14: Schematic diagram of four-element diversity antenna array on a PDA in

(a) X-Z plane and (b) 3-D view. ......................................................................... 98
Figure 5-15: Photo of the prototype diversity antenna array on a PDA terminal.(a)
Front view of the PDA and (b) the feeding structures behind the PDA. ............. 98
Figure 5-16: Return loss curves from the (a) simulated and (b) measurement results.100
Figure 5-17: Isolation between each pair of antennas on the diversity antenna array
from the (a) simulated and (b) measured models............................................... 101
Figure 5-18: Simulated (+) and measured (─) E-plane co-polar radiation patterns of
each antenna with respect to their individual E-field polarisation plane. .......... 103
Figure 5-19: Simulated (+) and measured (─) E-plane cross-polar radiation patterns
of each antenna with respect to their individual E-field polarisation plane....... 104
Figure 5-20: Simulated (+) and measured (─) H-plane co-polar radiation patterns of
each antenna with respect to their individual H-field polarisation plane........... 105
Figure 5-21: Simulated (+) and measured (─) H-plane cross-polar radiation patterns
of each antenna with respect to their individual H-field polarisation plane. ..... 106
Figure 5-22: Variation of MEG with XPR in an outdoor environment evaluated

using the Gaussian statistical model. ................................................................. 110
xii
Figure 5-23: Variation of MEG with XPR in an indoor environment evaluated using
the Gaussian statistical model. ........................................................................... 111

using the Laplacian statistical model. ................................................................ 111
the Laplacian statistical model. .......................................................................... 111
Figure 5-26: Floor plan of the second floor of the Department of Electronic
Engineering at QMUL. The receivers are located randomly at 1000 positions in
Rooms A and B. ................................................................................................. 112
Figure 5-27: 3-D floor plan of the second floor of the Department of Electronic
Engineering at QMUL. The red dots show the random positioning of the
receivers. ............................................................................................................ 113
Figure 5-28: Full propagation paths shown in a 3-D floor plan of the Department of
Electronic Engineering at QMUL. ..................................................................... 113
Figure 5-29: Rays arriving at receivers in (a) Room A and (b) Room B are reflected
off and/or transmitted through obstacles............................................................ 114
Figure 5-30: Channel capacity performance of the proposed diversity antenna array
in Room A and Room B compared to 4 ideal dipoles in Room A and within a
SISO system. ...................................................................................................... 114
Figure 5-31: A dielectric loaded folded loop antenna is reduced in size to form a
dielectric loaded folded half-loop antenna......................................................... 116
Figure 5-32: Schematic diagram of a dielectric loaded folded half-loop antenna and
the antenna configuration on a ground plane with the feed location. ................ 117
Figure 5-33: Structure of a folded half-loop antenna constructed from a flat copper
plate. ................................................................................................................... 117
Figure 5-34: Photograph of the fabricated dielectric loaded folded half-loop antenna
with a ground plane size of 40mm x 100mm..................................................... 118
Figure 5-35: Measured and simulated return loss of the dielectric loaded folded half-
loop antenna. ...................................................................................................... 118
xiii
Figure 5-36: Simulated (+) and measured (-) co-polar radiation patterns at 5.2GHz
for (a) E-plane and (b) H-plane.......................................................................... 119
Figure 5-37: Simulated (+) and measured (-) cross-polar radiation patterns at 5.2GHz
for (a) E-plane and (b) H-plane.......................................................................... 120
Figure 5-38: Center frequency (▲) and the -10dB bandwidth for the different ground
plane lengths, GL. .............................................................................................. 121
Figure 5-39: Center frequency (▲) and the -10dB bandwidth for the different ground
plane widths, GW............................................................................................... 121
Figure 5-40: Location of the antenna on the ground plane in x-y direction. The
antenna’s feed location is at x=0 and y=20mm. ................................................ 122
Figure 5-41: Center frequency (■) and the -10dB bandwidth of the proposed antenna
at different locations in x-direction when y=0. At y=0, the antenna’s feed point
is placed 3.5mm away from the top edge of the ground plane. ......................... 123
at different locations in y-direction when x=20. At y=0, the antenna’s feed point
is placed 3.5mm away from the top edge of the ground plane. ......................... 123
Figure 5-43: Schematic diagram of four elements of the dielectric loaded folded half-
loop antennas on a PDA in (a) x-z plane and (b) 3D view. ............................... 124
Figure 5-44: Simulated return loss curves of each dielectric loaded folded half-loop
antenna on a PDA. ............................................................................................ 125
Figure 5-45: Computed surface currents on the ground plane of (a) dielectric loaded
folded loop antenna and (b) dielectric loaded folded half-loop antenna at
5.2GHz. .............................................................................................................. 126
Figure A-1: Illustration of the FIT discretization....................................................... 141
Figure A-2: A cell V of the grid G with the allocation of the electric grid voltage e on
the edges of An and the magnetic facet flux bn through this surface. ............... 142
Figure A-3: A cell V of the grid G with the allocation of the six magnetic facet
fluxes which have to be considered in the evaluation of the closed surface
integral for the non-existance of magnetic charges within the cell volume....... 143
xiv
Figure A-4: A cell Vi of the grid G
i with the allocation of the magnetic grid voltage
h on the edges of j
An and the electric facet flux dn through this surface............ 144
Figure A-5: Grid approximation of rounded boundaries: (a) standard (stair case), (b)
sub-gridding, (c) triangular and (d) Perfect Boundary Approximation (PBA).. 146
Figure A-6: TST technique. ....................................................................................... 147
Figure B-1: Computed 3D radiation patterns of the proposed four-element diversity

antenna array. ..................................................................................................... 148
Figure C-1: 3D schematic diagram of the indoor environment (i.e. second floor of
the Department of Electronic Engineering building at QMUL) modelled using
Wireless InSite as used in this thesis. The transmitter is placed at the corridor
and the receivers (RED dots) are scattered randomly in Rooms A and B. The
ceiling has been removed for visual purpose.. ................................................... 149
xv
List of Tables
Table 2-1: Propagation models used in this thesis [55]-[56]. mV and mH are the
mean elevation angles of vertical and horizontal polarised wave distribution
respectively, σV and σH are the standard deviations of the vertical and horizontal
polarised wave distribution respectively............................................................33
Table 5-1: The dimensions of the antenna and its ground plane................................85
Table 5-2: The optimised dimensions of the dielectric loaded folded loop antenna
and its ground plane at 5.2GHz. The dielectric slab has a relative permittivity of
4..........................................................................................................................95
Table 5-3: The E- plane of each antenna on the PDA in the Cartesian co-ordinate
system...............................................................................................................102
Table 5-4: The H- plane of each antenna on the PDA in the Cartesian co-ordinate
system...............................................................................................................102
Table 5-5: Summary of the envelope correlation from the diversity antenna array on
the PDA terminal. ρenm representing the envelope correlation between antennas
n and m.............................................................................................................108
Table 5-6: Summary of the MEG for each antenna from the diversity antenna array
on the PDA terminal. .......................................................................................108
Table 5-7: Comparison of selection combiner diversity gain performance at 99%

reliability in different environments and using different statistical models.....109
Table 5-8: The optimised dimensions of the dielectric loaded folded half-loop
antenna and its ground plane at 5.2GHz. The dielectric slab has a relative
permittivity of 4. ..............................................................................................117
Table C-1: Material parameters used in the model at 5.2GHz.................................150
xvi
Abbreviations
1-D One-dimensional
1G First Generation
2-D Two-dimensional
2G Second Generation
3-D Three-dimensional
3G Third Generation
4G Fourth Generation
3GPP 3rd Generation Partnership Project
AMPS Advanced Mobile Phone Service
AOA Angle Of Arrival
AWGN Additive White Gaussian Noise
BLAST Bell labs Layered Space –Time
BT British Telecom
cdf Cumulative distribution function
CST Computer Simulation Technology
DCS Digital Cellular System
DECT Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications
DF Degradation Factor
DRA Dielectric Resonator Antenna
EBG Electromagnetic Band Gap
EGC Equal Gain Combining
EM Electromagnetic
EGC Equal Gain Combining
EWC Enhanced Wireless Consortium
FDTD Finite Difference Time Domain
FE Finite Element
FIT Finite Integral Technique
IFA Inverted-F Antenna
GSM Global System for Mobile Communications
IFA Inverted-F Antenna
ILA Inverted-L Antenna
I-METRA Intelligent Multi-Element Transmit and Receive Antennas
i.i.d. independent and identical distributed
IS-136 Interim Standard - 136
LAN Local Area Network
MAN Metropolitan Area Networks
MEG Mean Effective Gain
MIMO Multi-Input Multi-Output
xvii
MoM Method of Moment
MRC Maximum Ratio Combining
NLOS Non-Line Of Sight
NMHA Normal Mode Helix Antenna
Ofcom Office of Communication
OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing
PBA® Perfect Boundary Approximation
PBG Photonic Band Gap
PCMIA Personal Computer Memory Card International Association
PCS Personal Communication Service
PDA Personal Digital Assistant
PDC Personal Digital Cellular
PIFA Planar Inverted-F Antenna
QMUL Queen Mary University of London
RT Ray Tracing
SAR Specific Absorption Rate
SISO Single-Input Single-Output
SIMO Single-Input Multiple-Output
SM Spatial Multiplexing
SNR Signal to Noise Ratio
SVD Singular Value Decomposition
TDMA Time Division Multiple Access
TST Thin Sheet TechniqueTM
UC-PBG Uniplanar Compact PBG
ULA Uniform Linear Array
WAN Wide Area Network
WiFi Wireless Fidelity
WiMAX Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access
WLAN Wireless Local Area Network
XPD Cross-Polar Discrimination
XPR Cross-polarisation Power Ratio
xviii
Chapter 1: Introduction 1
Chapter 1 Introduction
1.1 Introduction
Over the last two decades, the use of mobile communication technology has
experienced a significant growth from first-generation (1G) analogue voice-only
communication to second-generation (2G) digital voice communication. These 2G
technologies became popular worldwide including GSM (Global System for Mobile
Communications) in Europe, IS-136 (also known as US-TDMA and Digital AMPS) in
the U.S., and PDC (Personal Digital Communications) in Japan. Currently, the third
generation (3G) mobile communication technology not only provides digital voice
services, also provides video telephony, internet access and video/music download
services. Further, the forthcoming fourth-generation (4G) mobile telephone
technology aims to provide on-demand high quality video and audio services.
Apart from mobile communication technology, wireless local area network
(WLAN) technology has also made a giant stride by introducing WiFi (Wireless
Fidelity). WiFi is a set of product compatibility standards for WLAN technology
based on the IEEE 802.11 specifications. It enables a person with a wireless-enabled
computer, laptop or personal digital assistant (PDA) to connect to the internet within
proximity of an access point (Hot-Spot) at a maximum data rate of 54Mbps. Recently,
WiFi is no longer used solely for internet connectivity, it is further used to broadcast
quality multimedia content throughout the entire home. WiMAX (Worldwide
Interoperability for Microwave Access) is a forthcoming wireless technology that is
designed for Metropolitan Area Networks (MAN) based on the IEEE 802.16
specifications. It aims to provide high speed wireless internet connections over long
distances.
Both the forthcoming 4G and WiMAX technologies require high data rates and
longer range to provide quality services to end users. In order to achieve this, wireless
communication technology has to be pushed to the physical limits of the radio
channels. Traditional communication engineering states that the channel capacity or
data rate is limited by the bandwidth and transmission power. A well known upper
bound on the maximum achievable data rate for the ideal band-limited additive white
Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel is the Shannon-Nyquist criterion [1]-[2]. Having an
available channel bandwidth, W and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) over this bandwidth,
the maximum transmit data rate is:
C = W log 2 (1 + SNR) bits / s (1.1)
From equation (1.1) shown above, data rates can only be increased by increasing the
bandwidth occupation or transmission power. However, it is very expensive to
increase the spectrum usage. Also, the signal power can not be readily increased as the
communication system is interference limited.
Until a few years ago, these limits have been expanded by introducing the
spatial domain to mobile communication antennas. By introducing an array of antenna
elements at both receiver and transmitter, the channel capacity of that system can grow
linearly with the number of antennas under ideal conditions. This system with multiple
antennas at both link-ends is termed the MIMO (i.e. multiple-input multiple-output)
system. The capacity of multi-antenna fading channels applying antenna arrays at both
link-ends was first published by Winters in 1987 [3]. However, the potential of these
systems was appreciated more than ten years later when they were re-invented by
Foschini and Gans [4]-[5], and Telatar [6]. Since then, tremendous efforts have been
put into the research and development of MIMO systems.
1.2 Review of the State-of-Art
Research conducted on MIMO systems has advanced greatly, with Lucent

Technologies (Bell Labs Innovations) being the leading player. Lucent Technologies
has conducted measurements on 2x2, 4x4 and 16x16 MIMO systems in an urban
environment – Manhattan, New York [7]. In the measurement campaigns, vertically
and horizontally polarised slot antenna elements were used for both the transmitter and
receiver. At the receiver (a laptop was used as the receiver terminal), the antenna
elements were spaced half-wavelength apart from each other to achieve low
correlation and high capacity. System capacities of 5.5bps/Hz, 10bps/Hz and 35bps/Hz
were reported, respectively, in 2x2, 4x4 and 16x16 MIMO systems at the 10dB system
SNR. Measurement on MIMO channels in the rural environment has also been carried
out by Lucent Technologies [8]. It was reported that the capacity in a 8x10 MIMO
system was approximately eight times the corresponding capacity in a 1x1 SISO
(single-input single-output) system, and 3.2 times the corresponding capacity in a
1x10 SIMO (single-input multiple-output) system. The measurement also found that
using antenna arrays containing antennas of both horizontal and vertical polarisations
could increase the capacity by approximately fifty percent. Measurements on 4x4
MIMO systems over a 3G wireless network have also been conducted in an indoor
environment and it was reported the overall capacity of 7.75 bps/Hz was obtained [9].
The transmitters and the receivers are shown in Figure 1.1 [10]. Furthermore, Lucent
Technologies has designed two prototype chips for mobile devices that implement the
MIMO wireless network technology [11].
In the UK, Ofcom (Office of communication – the independent regulator and
competition authority for the UK communications industries) has supported and
funded a MIMO technology research project –‘Antenna Array Technology and MIMO
Systems’ [12]-[13] , which involved Queen Mary University of London (QMUL),
University of Bristol, University of York, BT Exact Technologies, Toshiba Research
Europe Limited and Antenova Ltd. The Ofcom project has shown that MIMO
systems can provide significant capacity gains compared to SISO systems, but the
channel capacity is strongly dependent on the environments as well as the antenna
configurations. In the project, QMUL and Antenova Ltd developed two different four-
element antenna arrays on PDAs; i.e. dielectric loaded folded loop antenna arrays (the
dielectric loaded folded loop antenna presenting in this thesis were employed) and
dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) arrays [13]. However, in both designs the antennas
were located on each corner of the PDA terminal which was impractical as some
antennas would be covered by the user’s hand for most of the time.
(a) (b)
Figure 1-1: Experimental MIMO systems at 2.1GHz from Lucent Technologies, (a)
multi-antenna base station with four omnidirectional vertically polarised ¼ dipole
antennas at 4λ apart along a line at a height of about 3m, (b) receiver terminal
antennas are bow-tie printed dipoles with alternating 45º polarisation fitting on the
back of a laptop.(Reproduced from [10])
The European Commission has supported the I-METRA (Intelligent Multi-

Element Transmit and Receive Antennas) project [14]. The I-METRA project
consortium comprised of Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya (Spain), Aalborg
Universtiy (Denmark), Nokia (Finland) and Vodafone Ltd. The I-METRA project has
demonstrated that, by doubling the number of antenna elements at the receiver from
two to four, the system’s capacity and coverage will be significantly improved.
Today, there are some MIMO products readily available in the market for
WLAN applications (IEEE 802.11a/b/g standards). With the introduction of MIMO
technology and the OFDM (orthogonal frequency division multiplexing) modulation
scheme, WLAN can fully take advantage of high speed broadband internet
connections, accommodate bandwidth intensive applications such as video streaming
and provide reliable coverage throughout a business or residence. The latest Airgo
MIMO chipsets [15] are used in wireless routers by Netgear (Model: RangeMax 240)
[16], Linksys (Model: Wireless-G with SRX 400) [17] and Belkin (Model: Wireless
Pre-N Router) [18] as shown in Figure 1-2. Also, Ruckus Wireless Inc. has developed
the first wireless multimedia home distribution system using MIMO technology [19].
Airgo has reported that MIMO systems can deliver a peak capacity of 108Mbps; this
is compared to a peak capacity of 54Mbps as delivered by SISO systems. However, to
date, MIMO technology is still not being implemented on small mobile terminals (e.g.
PDAs and handsets).
(a) (b) (c)

Figure 1-2: MIMO wireless routers by (a) Netgear (Model: RangeMax 240) [16], (b)
Linksys (Model: Wireless-G with SRX 400) [17] and (c) Belkin (Model: Wireless Pre-
N Router) [18]. Three monopoles are used on each router and these designs are not
suitable for mobile terminals.
The next generation WLAN will be extended from IEEE 802.11a/b/g standards
to the new IEEE 802.11n standard. In October 2005, twenty-seven WiFi industry
leaders have formed the Enhanced Wireless Consortium (EWC) to help accelerate the
IEEE 802.11n development process and promote a technology specification for
interoperability of next generation WLAN products [20] . This new standard is aimed
to deliver a peak capacity of 600Mbps using MIMO technology and including other
advanced technologies, e.g. beamforming.
1.3 Motivation
For a while, most of the studies on MIMO technology have focused on signal
processing algorithms and channel characteristics. Recently, the antenna’s effect on
MIMO system has been investigated by assuming the antennas are ideal half-
wavelength dipoles which radiate omnidirectionally in the azimuth plane [21]-[25].
However, when two or more dipoles/monopoles are placed closely to each other on a
mobile terminal, the radiation pattern of each dipole/monopole is no longer

omnidirectional due to the coupling between them. Further, it is very impractical and
unrealistic to implement a number of dipoles/monopoles on a small mobile terminal.
Therefore, in order to predict the true spectral efficiencies of MIMO systems in a real
environment whereby realistic mobile terminals are used, there is a need to design an
appropriate and realistic antenna array on mobile terminals for MIMO systems.
The diversity antenna has conventionally been implemented at the base station
for current mobile communications to mitigate the fading effects of a multipath
environment. It has also been implemented at handsets for the Personal Digital
Communications (PDC) network system in Japan [26]. Therefore, the design of
diversity antenna array at mobile terminals is carried out in this thesis to improve the
reliability and increase the capacity of MIMO systems. In order to achieve a good
diversity performance, the antennas have to meet two criteria, i.e. low correlation and
similar mean power levels between the antennas. It is a very challenging task to satisfy
both criterions given the small dimensions of mobile terminals. In this thesis, a
diversity antenna array consisting of four antenna elements on a PDA terminal having
low correlation and mean power levels between the antenna elements is proposed and
investigated.
For ideal diversity antenna array (i.e. zero correlation), the antenna elements
should have zero mutual coupling between them [27]. It has been shown that a
compact two feed ports diversity antenna can achieve a correlation of much less than
0.5 when the isolation between the antenna ports is more than 20dB [28]. The strong
surface current on the ground plane of the antennas has been one of the main reasons
for the high mutual coupling between the antennas and results in high correlation.
Conventionally, low correlation can be achieved at the base stations by spacing the
antennas an appropriate distance apart – spatial diversity. However, at mobile
terminals, the space is very limited when there are more than two antenna elements.
When the antennas are spaced closely, this will result in high correlation and no
diversity gain could be achieved. Therefore, there is a need to explore diversity
antenna arrays with different forms of diversities to achieve low correlation and
similar mean power levels between the antennas for MIMO terminals. As such, spatial,
polarisation and pattern diversities are considered in this thesis for the four-element
diversity antenna array design.
Electromagnetic band gap (EBG) structures have attracted a lot of attention

recently due to its ability to suppress the surface wave in a specified band of frequency
(this region of frequencies is called the ‘stopband’) [30]-[31]. EBG structure has the
potential to reduce the mutual coupling between the antennas. However, usually the
EBG structure is large in size and has a narrow stopband bandwidth. It is a very
challenging task to reduce the size of the EBG structure whilst increasing the stopband
bandwidth simultaneously. In this thesis, an easy method to reduce the size of the
EBG structures and increase the stopband bandwidth simultaneously is proposed.
1.4 Organisation of the thesis
The thesis is organised in six chapters as follows:
Chapter 2: This chapter covers the introduction to MIMO systems and diversity
techniques. Two different types of coding schemes that can be used to exploit the
MIMO channels are addressed. In order to evaluate the correlation, mean effective
gain (MEG) and diversity gain of the diversity antenna in different environments, two
different propagation models that are used in this thesis are discussed.
Chapter 3: A review on small antennas for mobile terminals is detailed in this chapter.
The problems of built-in antennas implemented on current mobile terminals are
addressed. Folded loop antenna with small current leakage to the ground plane is
briefly discussed and further addressed in Chapter 5.
Chapter 4: In this chapter, three different types of EBG structures are introduced.
Amongst the three types of EBG structures, the simple planar EBG structure
comprising of a square lattice of holes etched on the ground plane of a microstrip line
is further investigated. Following this, a new multiperiod EBG structure consisting of
two different periods of square lattice of holes etched on the ground plane is proposed.
The proposed multiperiod EBG structure is studied numerically and experimentally.
Further, the capability of the multiperiod EBG structure to suppress the surface wave
on the ground plane of a microstrip patch antenna is demonstrated.
Chapter 5: A dielectric loaded folded loop antenna is studied in this chapter. A four-
element diversity antenna array on a PDA terminal is developed based on the proposed
dielectric loaded folded loop antenna. The diversity performance of the four-element
diversity antenna array is evaluated for two different propagation models (i.e. outdoor
and indoor environments). The effects of XPR (cross-polarisation power ratio) towards
the MEG of the four-element diversity antenna array are demonstrated. Furthermore,
the spectral efficiency of a 4 x 4 MIMO system is investigated in the indoor
environment. The size reduction for the proposed dielectric loaded folded loop
antenna is further studied in this chapter.
Chapter 6: This chapter concludes the research that has been done in this thesis.
Suggestions for future work are also given in this chapter.
References:
[1] J.G. Proakis, Digital Communications, New York: McGraw-Hill, 1989.
[2] C.E. Shannon, “A Mathematical Theory of Communication,” Bell Syst. Tech.
J., Vol. 27, pp. 379-423, 623-656, July & Oct. 1948.
[3] J. Winters, “On the capacity of radio communication system with diversity in a
Rayleigh fading environment,” IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in
Communications, vol. 5, no. 5, pp. 871-878, June 1987.
[4] G.J. Foschini, “Layered space-time architecture for wireless communication in
a fading environment when using multi-element antennas,” Bell Labs Tech J.,
vol. 1, no. 2, 41-59, 1996.
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[6] I.E. Telatar, “Capacity of multi-antenna Gaussian channels,” European
Transaction on Telecommunications, vol. 10, no. 6, pp. 585-595, Nov/Dec
1999.
[7] D. Chizhik, J. Ling, P.W. Wolniansky, R.A. Valensuela, N. Costa and K.
Huber, “Multiple-input multiple-output measurements and modeling in
Manhattan,” IEEE Journal on Selected Areas on Communications, vol. 21, no.
3, pp. 321-331, April 2003.
[8] D. Chizhik, J. Ling, D. Samardzija and R.A. Valenzuela, “Spatial and
polarization characterization of MIMO channels in rural environment,” IEEE
61st Vehicular Technology Conference 2005, vol. 1, pp. 161-164, 2005.
[9] A. Adjoudani, E.C. Beck, A.P. Burg, G.m. Djuknic, T.G. Gvoth, D. Haessig, S.
Manji, M.A. Milbrodt, M. Rupp, D. Samardzija, A.B. Siegel, T. Sizer, C. Tran,
S. Walker, S.A. Wilkus and W. Wolniansky, “Prototype experience for MIMO

BLAST over third-generation wireless system,” IEEE Journal on Selected
Areas in Communications, vol. 21, no. 3, pp. 440-451, April 2003.
[10] D. Samardzija, A. Lozano and C. Papadias, “Experimental validation of MIMO
multiuser detection for UMTS high-speed downlink packet access,” IEEE
Global Telecommunications Conference, vol. 6, pp. 3840-3844, 2004.
[11] Lucent press release, URL: http://www.lucent.com/press/ 1002/021016.
bla.html.
[12] Ofcom research report, “Antenna arrays technology and MIMO systems”
contract number: AY4476B, 2004.
[13] Ofcom research report, “Antenna designs for MIMO systems,” Contract
number: AY4476A, 2004.
[14] IST-IMETRA, URL: http://www.ist-imetra.org/
[15] Airgo, URL: http://www.airgonetworks.com/
[16] Netgear, URL: http://www.netgear.com/
[17] Linksys, URL: http://www.linksys.com/
[18] Belkin, URL: http://www.belkin.com/
[19] Ruckus Wireless, URL: http://www.ruckuswireless.com/
[20] EWC URL: http://www.enhancedwirelessconsortium.org/
[21] J. P. Kermoal, L. Schumacher, F. Frederiksen, and P. E. Mogensen,
“Polarization diversity in MIMO radio channels: Experimental validation of a
stochastic model and performance assessment,” Vehicular Technology
Conference, 2001. VTC 2001 Fall, IEEE VTS 54th, vol. 1, pp. 22-26, 2001.
[22] V. Pohl, V. Jungnickel, T. Haustein, and C. von Helmolt, “Antenna spacing in
MIMO indoor channels,” in Proc. IEEE Vehicular Technology Conf.,
Birmingham, 2002. L. Dong, H. Ling, and R.W. Heath, “Multiple-input
multiple output wireless communication systems using antenna pattern
diversity,” Global Telecommunications Conference, 2002. GLOBECOM '02.
IEEE, vol. 1, pp. 997-1001, 17-21 Nov. 2002.
[23] V. Jungnukel, V. Pohl, and C. von Helmolt, “Capacity of MIMO Systems with
closely spaced antennas,” IEEE Communications Letters, vol. 7, no. 8, August
2003
[24] C. Waldschmidt, C. Kuhnert, S. schulteis, and W. Wiesbeck, “Compact
MIMO-arrays based on polarisation-diversity,” Antennas and Propagation
Society International Symposium, 2003. IEEE, vol. 2, pp. 499-502, June 22-27,
2003.
[25] M. J. Fakhereddin, K. R. Dandekar, “Combined effect of polarization diversity
and mutual coupling on MIMO capacity,” Antennas and Propagation Society
International Symposium, 2003. IEEE, vol. 2, pp. 495-498, June 22-27, 2003.
[26] K. Fujimoto and J.R. James, Mobile antenna systems handbook, 2nd edition,
Artech House Inc., 2001.
[27] R.G. Vaughan and J.B. Andersen, “Antenna diversity in mobile

communications,” IEEE Trans. Vehicular Technology, vol. 36, pp. 147-172,
Nov 1987.
[28] S.C.K. Ko and R.D. Murch, “Compact integrated diversity antenna for wireless
communications,” IEEE Trans. Antennas and Propagation, vol. 49, no. 6, pp.
954-960, June 2001.
[29] C.G. Buxton, W.L. Stutzman, R.R. Nealy and A.M. Orndorff, “The folded
dipole: A self-balancing antenna”, Microwave and optical technology letters,
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[30] J. Shumpert, T. Ellis, G. Rebeiz, and L. Katehi, “Microwave and millimeter-
wave propagation in photonic band-gap structure,” AP-S/URSI, pp. 678, 1997.
[31] Y. Qian, V. Radisic, and T. Itoh, “Simulation and experiment of photonic band-
gap structures for microstrip circuits,” Asia-Pacific Microwave Conf.
(APMC’97) Dig., pp 585-588, Hong Kong, 1997.
Chapter 2: MIMO and Diversity 11
Chapter 2 MIMO and Diversity
2.1 Introduction
In this chapter, the concept of the MIMO systems and its channel capacity are
introduced. Two popular signalling schemes which are used to exploit the MIMO
systems are described. The diversity theory and its technique are explained in detail
as it is the main study in this thesis. Besides the antenna’s characteristics, it is noted
that the propagation environment also plays an important role in diversity analysis.
Therefore, different propagation environments are described.
2.2 MIMO Systems

In a conventional mobile wireless communication system, there is only one
antenna at both transmitter and receiver. This system which is called the Single-Input
Single-Output (SISO) antenna system suffers a bottleneck in terms of capacity due to
the Shannon-Nyquist criterion [1]-[2]. As mentioned in Chapter 1, future wireless
mobile services demand much higher data bit-rate transmission. In order to increase
the capacity of the SISO systems to meet such demand, the bandwidth and
transmission power have to be increased significantly. Fortunately, recent
developments have shown that using MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output)
systems could increase the capacity in wireless communication substantially without
increasing the transmission power and bandwidth [3]-[4]. In the MIMO systems,
multiple antenna elements are required at both transmitter and receiver, as shown in
Figure 2-1. Usually the Rayleigh fading caused by the multipath signal propagation
is considered to be a severe problem in a wireless communication channel. However,
the MIMO system exploits the multipath signals to increase the system capacity.
Figure 2-1: A MIMO system created by two antenna arrays, comprising nT transmit
elements and nR receive elements.
2.2.1 Channel Capacity
Figure 2-1 shows a MIMO system with nT transmit elements and nR receive
elements. For a narrowband channel, the complex transmission coefficient between
element k ∈ [1,….., nT] at the transmitter and element j ∈ [1,….,nR] at the receiver
at time t is represented by hjk(t). A matrix containing all channel coefficients
(channel coefficient matrix, H(t)) can be shown as:
⎛ h11 (t ) h12 (t ) " h1nT (t ) ⎞

⎜ ⎟ (2.1)
h (t ) h22 (t ) " h2 nT (t ) ⎟
H (t ) = ⎜ 21
⎜ # # % # ⎟
⎜⎜ ⎟
⎝ hnR1 hnR 2 " hnRnT (t ) ⎟⎠
Hence, a system transmitting the signal vector x(t) = [x1(t), x2(t),….,xnT(t)]T, where
xk(t) is the signal transmitted from the kth element would result in the signal vector
y(t) = [y1(t), y2(t),…..,ynR(t)]T being received, where yj(t) is the signal received by the
jth element, and
y (t ) = H (t ) x(t ) + n(t ) (2.2)
where n(t) is the noise vector. In the rest of the thesis, the explicit time dependency (t)
of H(t) is dropped for simplicity.
The motivation for using MIMO systems is the possibility to achieve
orthogonal subchannels between the transmitters and receivers through a rich
scattering environment and consequently to increase the offered capacity.
Mathematically, the number of independent subchannels can be estimated by using
the singular value decomposition (SVD) of the channel coefficient matrix H as
H = U ΣV + (2.3)
where U is a unitary matrix of dimension nR x nR , V is a unitary matrix of dimension

nT x nT and Σ is a nR x nT diagonal matrices, and the superscript + denotes transpose
conjugate.
Conceptually, the MIMO system enables multiple data streams to be
transmitted simultaneously on the same frequency, hence increasing the bandwidth
efficiency by the number of data streams employed [4]. The capacity, C, for this
system is shown to be:
⎛ ⎛ ρ ⎞⎞
C = log 2 ⎜⎜ det ⎜ I + HH + ⎟ ⎟⎟
⎝ ⎝ nT ⎠⎠ (2.4)
where I is the identity matrix, ρ is signal to noise ratio, H is the channel coefficient
matrix, the superscript + denotes conjugate transpose, and det (.) is the determinant.
Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is a collaboration agreement
that brings together a number of telecommunications standard bodies to produce
globally applicable technical specifications and technical reports for a Third
Generation (3G) mobile system [5]. The 3GPP has shown that assuming flat
Rayleigh fading and zero correlation between all transmission coefficients in the
channel, the capacity of the MIMO systems is increased significantly as illustrated in
Figure 2-2.
80
SISO
70 2 by 2
4 by 4
60 8 by 8
Capacity, bits/s/Hz
50
40
30
20
10
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
SNR, dB
Figure 2-2: Comparison of channel capacity for SISO and MIMO systems, assuming
flat Rayleigh fading and zero correlation between all transmission coefficients in the
channel. (Plotted in MATLAB according to the model from I-METRA [6])
The channel matrix H in the MIMO systems capacity of equation (2.4) is the
mathematical representation of the physical transmission path, which includes not
only the multipath channel characteristics of the physical environment but also the
antenna configurations. Therefore the multipath channel characteristics as well as the
antenna configurations play a key role in determining the communication
performance in a MIMO system. The channel matrix H can be evaluated by
measurement or modelling on a propagation environment [7]. In this thesis, the H is
evaluated by modelling a propagation environment using a commercial software
package (Wireless Insite) [8], which is based on a ray tracing method to solve the
multipath channels in a physical environment. Ray tracing technique [9]-[11] has
emerged as the most popular technique for analysing the physical environment due
to its ability to analyse very large structures with reasonable computational resources.
In the modelling, the antenna configurations and the multipath physical environment
including the number of multipath channels, their distribution in power, angle of
departure/arrival and delay are taken into consideration.
2.2.2 Spatial multiplexing

Spatial multiplexing (SM) is a signalling scheme where independent data
streams are transmitted simultaneously in parallel channels from each element in an
array of antennas. The basic principle of SM is illustrated by examining a system
with two elements at the transmitter and two elements at the receiver below.
Firstly, the bit stream of data to be transmitted is demultiplexed into two sub-
streams, then modulated and transmitted simultaneously from each transmit antenna
as shown in Figure 2-3. If the propagation channels are uncorrelated, these signals
arrived at the receive antenna are well separated. Assuming that the receiver has
knowledge of the channel, it can differentiate between the co-channel signals and
extract both signals. After demodulating the received signals, the original sub-
streams can be combined to yield the original bit stream of data. Therefore, spatial
multiplexing increases the channel capacity with the number of transmit-receiver
antenna pairs [3]. This concept can be extended to more general MIMO channels.
If the number of elements at the transmitter, nT and the receiver nR are not
equal, the maximum parallel channels that can be achieved in an ideal MIMO system
is min (nT, nR). A spatial multiplexing scheme called Bell labs Layered Space –Time
(BLAST) proposed by Bells Labs was first widely publicised in 1996 [3]. It is well
known that Shannon’s classical capacity formula indicates that in the high SNR
regime, a 3dB increase in SNR will approximately increase capacity by 1 bit/s/Hz.
However, in the MIMO systems, the capacity in the high SNR regime will increase
by min(nT, nR) bits/s/Hz with every increment of 3dB in SNR.
Considerable research activities have been carried out to show that the spatial
multiplexing concept has the potential to significantly increase spectral efficiency
[12]-[13]. Further research has been carried out on creating and evaluating
enhancements to the spatial multiplexing concepts, such as combining with other
modulation schemes like OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing)
[14]-[15]. In general, this technique assumes channel knowledge at the receiver and
the performance can be further improved when the knowledge of the channel
response is available at the transmitter. However, SM does not work well in low
SNR environments as it is more difficult for the receiver to identify the uncorrelated
signal paths [16]-[17].
Figure 2-3: A 2x2 MIMO system with a spatial multiplexing scheme. The original
message is demultiplexed into two sub-streams (Red and Blue) and transmitted
simultaneously from each transmitting antennas.
2.2.3 Space-time coding

An alternative method of exploiting MIMO channels, known as space-time
coding, has also recently generated large amounts of research [18]-[19]. This method
aims to improve the system’s performance by exploiting the multiple element
antennas for diversity gain rather than for the spatial-multiplexing gain of parallel
data streams. It increases network throughput by selecting quality signal paths such
that higher data rates can be achieved and avoiding signal paths that are likely to
produce packet errors and retransmissions.
A space-time coded transmitter differs from that of a spatial multiplexing
system in that a single data stream is encoded across both time and space to produce
the symbol streams for each transmit element as shown in Figure 2-4. Appropriate
decoding at the receiver allows a diversity gain to be achieved. This method is
particularly attractive as it does not require channel knowledge in the transmitter.
The resulting diversity gain improves the reliability of fading wireless links and
hence improves the quality of the transmission.
It is noted that the space-time coding scheme does not increase the capacity
linearly with the number of transmit/receive elements used. However, it maximises
the wireless range and coverage by improving the quality of the transmission. In
order to improve both range and capacity, a MIMO implementation requires to
support both the SM and space-time coding schemes. Therefore, the combination of
SM and diversity/space-time coding has been studied recently [20]-[21].
Figure 2-4: A 2x2 MIMO system with a space-time coding scheme. The original
message is transmitted simultaneously from all the antennas at the transmitter
without sub-streaming them.
2.3 Antenna Diversity

Multipath propagation caused by scattering had historically been regarded as
an impairment because it causes signal fading. In order to mitigate this problem,
diversity techniques were developed. The basic principle of diversity is that the
receiver should have more than one version of the transmitted signal available,
where each version is received through a different channel. Figure 2-5 illustrates the
two uncorrelated Rayleigh signals and the combined signal. If the two signals are
uncorrelated, it is rare that the two multipath fading signals will be in a deep null at
the same time. It shows that the combined signal creates a higher mean SNR at the
output compared to a single branch resulting in a diversity gain.
Apart from mitigating the signal fading problem, as previously mentioned,
diversity techniques are also used to exploit the MIMO channels using a space-time
coding signalling scheme.
There are five categories of diversities, i.e. frequency diversity, time diversity,
spatial diversity, pattern diversity and polarisation diversity. Amongst the five
diversities, only the spatial, pattern and polarisation diversity techniques are
categorised as antenna diversity and they are discussed further in detail in section
2.3.5.
Signal level, dB
Signal 1
Signal 2
Combined Signal
Time, s
Figure 2-5: Diagram showing two versions (Signals 1 and2) of transmitted signals
available from two different channels in a multipath environment. Diversity
technique is used to combine both the different signals. The combined signal always
has the highest signal level compared to the individual signals.
Antenna diversity techniques utilise more than one antenna to receive

different (or uncorrelated) multipath fading signals in a mobile communication
channel.
Figure 2-6 shows that a dual-element diversity antenna at a receiver can
receive two different versions of transmitted signals and combine them with a
combiner circuit. For antenna diversity techniques to be successful in a mobile
fading environment, the following criteria have to be met: low correlation between
the antennas and equal power at the antennas. This is because if the correlation is too
high, then deep fades will occur simultaneously at different antennas. Also, if the
antennas have low correlation but have very different mean powers, then the signal
in a weaker antenna may not be useful although it is less faded than the other
antennas.
Figure 2-6: Diagram showing two signals are combined in a basic diversity receiver.
2.3.1 Diversity Combining Techniques

Figure 2-7 illustrates four different types of diversity combining techniques
can be employed in the ‘combiner’ shown in Figure 2-6 [22].
Figure 2-7: Diagram showing four types of diversity combining techniques can be
employed at the receive diversity.
2.3.1.1 Switched Combining

The switched combining technique requires only one receiver radio between
the N branches as shown in Figure 2-8. The receiver is switched to other branches
only when the SNR on the current branch is lower than a predefined threshold.
Whereby, other combining techniques require N receivers to monitor the received
instantaneous signals level of every branch when there are N element antennas. Due
to size restrictions, battery life and complexity, the switched combining technique is
presently implemented in mobile terminals with diversity antennas [23]. The
optimum performance that a switched combiner can achieve is similar to that of a
selection combiner.
Figure 2-8: Block diagram of switched combining for N branches/antenna elements

with only one receiver.
2.3.1.2 Selection Combining

The selection combining technique is similar to the switched combining
technique except that N receivers are required to monitor instantaneous SNR at all
branches. The branch with the highest SNR is selected as the output signal.
Figure 2-9: Block diagram of selection combining for N branches/antenna elements.
2.3.1.3 Equal Gain Combining

Both switched and selection combining techniques only use the signal from
one of the branches as the output signal. In order to improve SNR at the output, the
signals from all branches are combined to form the output signal. However, the
signal from each branch is not in-phase. Therefore, each branch must be multiplied
by a complex phasor having a phase -θi, where θi is the phase of the channel
corresponding to branch i (i.e. co-phased) as shown in Figure 2-10. When this is
achieved, all signals will have zero phase and are combined coherently.
Figure 2-10: Block diagram of equal gain combining for N branches/antenna

elements.
2.3.1.4 Maximum Ratio Combining

In the equal gain combining technique, all the branches may not have a
similar SNR. Sometimes one of the branches has a much lower SNR than the other
branches and this will reduce the overall SNR to a lower value at the output. In order
to maximise the SNR at the output, each branch is applied with a weight, wi before
all the signals are combined coherently as shown in Figure 2-11. In order to
maximise the SNR at the output, a branch with a higher SNR will be given a higher
weighting.
Figure 2-11: Block diagram of maximum ratio combining for N branches/antenna

elements.
2.3.2 Diversity Gain

Diversity gain is defined as the improvement in the SNR of the combined
signals relative to the SNR from a single antenna element. In this thesis, the
Rayleigh channels are assumed in the multipath environment. The cumulative
distribution function (cdf) of a Rayleigh channel is given as [12], [22] :
γ
⎛ − s ⎞
P (γ < γ s ) = ⎜1 − e Γ ⎟ (2.5)
⎝ ⎠
where Γ is the mean SNR, γ is the instantaneous SNR, P(γ<γs) is the probability
that the SNR will fall below the given threshold, γs. For a selection combiner with N
independent branches, assuming that the N branches have independent signals and
equal mean SNRs, the probability of all branches having a SNR below γs is
equivalent to the probability for a single branch raised to the power N as:
γ N
⎛ − s ⎞
P (γ < γ s ) N = ⎜1 − e Γ ⎟ (2.6)
⎝ ⎠
where N is the number of antennas/branches.

Equations (2.5) and (2.6) are plotted in Figure 2-12 to show the reduction of
the probability of fading below a given threshold when increasing the number of
antenna, N. In this figure, diversity gain is also illustrated in terms of the increase in
SNR of a combined output compared to a single antenna. Here, the diversity gain is
marked off where P(γ<γs) of 1% (i.e. 99% reliability). The figure shows that there
is a 10dB and 13dB of diversity gain for the two branches and three branches
selection combiner respectively. For low instantaneous SNR i.e. γ <<Γ , equation
(2.6) can be approximated by [24]:
N
⎛γ ⎞ (2.7)
P (γ < γ s ) N = ⎜ s ⎟
⎝Γ⎠
Therefore, by re-arranging the equation (2.7) the diversity gain for a 100%
efficient two branches selection combiner is 10dB with P(γ<γs) at 1%. Mobile
terminals currently available in the Japan market use two antennas for diversity. A
diversity antenna array with four antennas has been developed in this thesis for the
MIMO systems.
0
10
1 Branch
2 Branches
Pr (Signal < abscissa)
-1 3 Branches
10
4 Branches
5 Branches
6 Branches
-2
10
Diversity
Gain
-3
10
-4
10
-40 -30 -20 -10 0 10
10 log(γ/Γ), dB
Figure 2-12: Cumulative distribution function of Rayleigh fading signals for a
different number of diversity branches (Plot based on equation 2.6).
2.3.3 Correlation
In order to obtain a good diversity gain, one of the conditions is low
correlation. The correlation can be described by two metrics: complex and envelope
correlations [25].
The complex correlation, ρ12, is described as “the complex correlation
between two signal envelopes” [26]. The magnitude and phase are used to calculate
correlation. In the time domain, the complex correlation is defined in closed form as
follows:
∫ (v (t ) − v )(v (t ) − v
1 1 2 2 )* dt
ρ12 = 0
(2.8)
T T
2 2
∫ v (t ) − v
0
1 1 dt ∫ v2 (t ) − v 2 dt
0
where t is the instantaneous time point and T is the time period over which the fading
signals correlate. The two fading signals v1(t) and v2(t) are voltage functions of time
and have mean values v1 and v 2 in volts, V.
However, in order to evaluate the correlation between two antennas in an
angular domain, the complex correlation is computed as follows [27]:
π 2π
∫ ∫ { XPR ⋅ E }
(θ , φ ) Eθ 2 (θ , φ ) Pθ (θ , φ ) + Eφ 1 (θ , φ ) Eφ 2 (θ , φ ) Pφ (θ , φ ) sin θ dφ dθ
* *
θ1
(2.9)
ρ12 = 0 0
σ1 σ 2
2 2
where the variance, σ n2 is the variance of branch n in V2:
π 2π
∫ ∫ { XPR ⋅ E }
(θ , φ ) Eθ*n (θ , φ ) Pθ (θ , φ ) + Eφ n (θ , φ ) Eφ*n (θ , φ ) Pφ (θ , φ ) sin θ dφ dθ (2.10)
2
σn = θn
0 0
where XPR is the ratio of time averaged vertical power to time average horizontal
power [28] in the fading environment in linear form:
PV
XPR = (2.11)
PH
where Pv is the average vertical power and PH is the average horizontal power.
XPR is also referred to as the cross-polarisation power ratio or cross-polar
discrimination (XPD). Both antennas in equation (2.9) have E-fields, Eθ n and Eφ n
[Vm-1]. Pθ (θ , φ ) and Pφ (θ , φ ) are the angular density function of the vertical and
horizontal plane respectively. For reference purposes, θ is the angle relative to the
vertical axis z and φ is the angle in the horizontal plane as shown in Figure 2-13.
Figure 2-13: Diagram showing the relation of angular coordinates to Cartesian

coordinates.
The second type of correlation metric is the envelope correlation, ρe which is

the correlation between two signal envelopes without considering the phase [26]:
T
⎛ R 2 t − R 2 ⎞ ⎛ R 2 t − R 2 ⎞ dt
∫ ⎜⎝ 1 ( ) 1 ⎟⎜ 2 ( ) 2 ⎟
⎠⎝ ⎠ (2.12)
ρe = 0
T 2 T 2
⎛ R 2 t − R 2 ⎞ dt ⎛ R 2 t − R 2 ⎞ dt
∫ ⎜⎝ 1 ( ) ⎜ 2( )
⎠ ∫0 ⎝
1 ⎟ 2 ⎟
0 ⎠
where R12 (t ) and R22 (t ) are the square envelope [V2] of v1 (t ) and v2 (t ) respectively
2 2
(i.e. v1 (t ) and v2 (t ) ). Envelope correlation ( ρe ) is always real as the phase is not
defined. It is assumed that with independent Gaussian sources the envelope

correlation is related to complex correlation in a Rayleigh fading environment as
follows [29]:
2
ρe ≈ ρ12 (2.13)
The previous discussion on diversity gain has assumed independent signals

received on the diversity branches, i.e. there is no correlation between the signals
received where ρe = 0 . However, it is clear that in the majority of cases this cannot
be achieved because of insufficient antenna spacing. If the correlation coefficient is

more than zero (i.e. ρ e > 0 ), then it will degrade the diversity gain discussed earlier.
Hence, the correlation coefficient must be kept low enough so that the diversity is
still effective. Saunders [22] has shown that ρ e needs to be less than 0.7 such that
there is not more than 3dB loss in diversity gain. The effects of envelope correlation
on diversity gain can be found in [24]. The analysis shows that where the correlation
is not too close to unity or ρe ≤ 0.7 , the degradation on the diversity gain due to the
envelope correlation is by the factor of the following equation:
Degradation factor, DF = 1 − ρe (2.14)
2.3.4 Branch Power Ratio and Mean Effective Gain

The other essential condition for good diversity is that the power levels of all
the antennas in the diversity system must not be too different. One way of illustrating
this is by using the ratio of two branch power levels, k, as follows in linear form:
Pmin
k= (2.15)
Pmax
where Pmin [W] is the power from the antenna with the lower power and Pmax [W] is
the power from the antenna with the higher power in each pair of antennas. The ratio
of the two antennas’ power levels, k, is multiplied by the diversity gain to obtain the
new diversity gain for a selection combiner [24]. Hence when N = 2, equation (2.7)
becomes:
2
1⎛γ ⎞
P (γ < γ s ) 2 ≈ ⎜ s ⎟ (2.16)
k⎝Γ⎠
Equation (2.7) is for the ideal case when k is equal to unity. An alternative
method to obtain the branch power ratio is derived from the mean effective gain
(MEG) of the antennas as follows (assuming only two branches):
⎛ MEG2 MEG1 ⎞ (2.17)

k = min ⎜ , ⎟
⎝ MEG1 MEG2 ⎠
The MEG is the average gain of an antenna in a mobile environment and is

defined in [30] as the ratio between the mean received power of the antenna ( Prec )
and the total mean incident power ( PV + PH ). The MEG is a figure of merit for the
average performance of an antenna on a mobile terminal taking into account the

incident radio waves in the multipath environment and the gain patterns of the
antenna. This parameter determines how effective the mobile terminal antenna will
be in a multipath environment. It is important to evaluate the MEG of the antennas to
determine their diversity performance. Taga has derived the following equation to
evaluate the MEG [30]:
π 2π
⎛ XPR 1 ⎞
MEG = ∫ ∫ ⎜ Gθ (θ , φ ) Pθ (θ , φ ) + Gφ (θ , φ ) Pφ (θ , φ ) ⎟ sin θ dφ dθ (2.18)
0 0 ⎝
1 + XPR 1 + XPR ⎠
where Gθ (θ , φ ) and Gφ (θ , φ ) are the θ and φ components of the antenna power
gain patterns respectively. Pθ (θ , φ ) and Pφ (θ , φ ) are the θ and φ components of the
angular density functions respectively as used in equation (2.9).

Assuming the correlation is low enough to obtain good diversity, k should be
greater than -3dB to avoid a significant loss in diversity gain. In order for diversity
gain to be achievable k should also be above -10dB, otherwise the diversity system is
not effective [31].
2.3.5 Antenna Diversity Techniques

As mentioned in section 2.3, there are only three types of diversity technique
which utilise multiple antennas to achieve diversity - spatial, pattern and polarisation
diversities. At the mobile terminal, a combination of these different types of antenna
diversity techniques is often used [31].
2.3.5.1 Spatial Diversity

Spatial diversity utilises more than one antenna which are sufficiently
separated from each other so that the relative phases of the multipath contributions
are significantly different at the two antennas. This is the most fundamental
technique to achieve diversity. The phase differences between the total signals
received at each of the antennas are proportional to the differences in the path
lengths from the scatterers to each antenna. When large phase differences are present,
they give rise to a low correlation between the signals at the antennas. Therefore it is
expected that the correlation decreases with an increase in the distance between the
scatterers or an increase in the distance between the antennas.
By assuming angular density function to be uniform in azimuth of the mobile
environment and no angular density function in elevation (i.e. Two-dimensional
scenario), the correlation coefficient for a distance separation d can be obtained from
the zero order Bessel function, J o ( x ) [22]:
ρ12 = J 0 ( β d ) (2.19)
where β is the phase constant.

The first null of J 0 ( β d ) is at d=0.4λ, as shown in Figure 2-14. As shown
graphically in Figure 2-14, the correlation coefficient starts to increase after d=0.4λ.
However, in suburban areas the measurements show that the first null appears at
about d=0.8λ [32]. This may be due to a lack of uniform angular distribution of wave
arrival. It shows that the angular distribution of wave arrival does affect the
correlation coefficient for a given spacing d, whereby if the angular density function
is restricted to a limited range then ρ12 will increase [22].
Generally, spacing, d of 0.5λ is practically used to obtain two uncorrelated

signals at mobile terminals.
Apart from the effect of the angular density functions Pθ (θ , φ ) and Pφ (θ , φ ) , it
should be noted that since the two antennas are horizontally spaced with d=0.5λ,
mutual coupling also affects the performance of diversity as well. However, equation
(2.19) does not consider the mutual coupling between the antennas. It has been
shown in theory and experimentally that mutual coupling reduces the correlation
coefficient [22]. Recently it has been reported that the MIMO capacity is still
relatively large when the four antennas are closely spaced down to d=0.2λ in the
indoor environment [33]. In the outdoor environment, the MIMO capacity for
antennas with spacing of d=0.2λ is even larger than when the antennas spacing is
d=2.5λ [34].
1.0
0.9
Correlation coefficient, ρ12

0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5
Antenna spacing, d (wavelength)
Figure 2-14: Diagram showing the effect of antenna spacing to correlation

coefficient.
2.3.5.2 Pattern Diversity

Pattern diversity occurs in many instances at the mobile terminals because
the antennas will pick up signals coming from different angles. Since the fading
signals coming from different directions are independent then pattern diversity can
be implemented. This has been considered at the base station in some cases and
compared with spatial diversity [35]-[36].
At the mobile terminal, two omni-directional antennas interacting with each
other whilst closely spaced can also obtain pattern diversity. Basically, the antennas
act as parasitic elements to each other and their patterns change to allow signals to be
picked up at different angles. Antennas with beam steering at the mobile terminals
(by changing the feed point impedance of parasitic elements) have been developed
[37]. Recent studies conducted on pattern diversity in the MIMO systems have
shown that with appropriate dissimilarity in the antenna pattern, the system can
achieve large channel capacity [38].
2.3.5.3 Polarisation Diversity

Polarisation diversity can be achieved when two or more differently polarised
antennas are used as the branches of a diversity receiver or transmitter. It has been
reported by Lee and Yeh that the horizontal and vertical polarization paths between a
mobile and a base station are uncorrelated [39]. Numerous studies on polarisation
diversity have been carried out at the base stations and have been widely applied in
practice to new base stations [40]-[42]. Previously, spatial diversity has been widely
used in base stations but the size of the antenna structures is too large. With the use
of polarisation diversity the size of the antenna structures can be reduced
significantly. Early theoretical analysis has been undertaken to show that at the base
station the largest diversity gain can be obtained when the two antennas are polarised
at ± 45° where the vertical is used as a single reference[43]-[44]. Further, it has also
been shown that polarisation diversity can be integrated with spatial diversity [45].
Polarisation diversity is an attractive option to apply at the mobile terminal
due to the reduced size of the antenna structures. Hence, recent studies on the MIMO
systems have sought to exploit the MIMO channels by using polarisation diversity
[46]-[48].
2.4 Environmental factor

In mobile wireless communication systems, most of the time the transmitted
signals are affected by buildings and other obstacles causing reflections, diffraction
and scattering. In the multipath environment, the incident radio waves arriving at the
mobile terminal antennas have various angles of arrival (AOA) and XPR. The AOA
distributions (also defined as angular density functions) at both θ and φ polarisations
and the XPR have an affect on the diversity performance of the antennas. As evident
by the correlation equation (2.8) mentioned previously, the correlation coefficient is
dependent on the multipath environment via the angular density functions
Pθ (θ , φ ) and Pφ (θ , φ ) . For simplicity, the angular density function are modelled in
elevation and azimuth separately and combined according to
Pθ (θ , φ ) = Pθ (θ ) Pθ (φ )
(2.20)
Pφ (θ , φ ) = Pφ (θ ) Pφ (φ )
where Pθ (φ ) , Pφ (φ ) are the angular density functions in azimuth and Pθ (θ ) , Pφ (θ )
are the angular density functions in elevation for the θ and φ polarisations
respectively.
In order to evaluate the correlation coefficient, it is necessary to apply a
suitable statistical model that is similar to the real environment. Limited
measurements have been carried out on angular density distribution at the mobile
terminal in urban environments [49]-[51] and it is only recently that indoor
environments have been considered [52].
2.4.1 Angular density functions in outdoor urban environments

A number of models have indicated that the angular density function is
uniform in azimuth where there is a non-line of sight (NLOS) case. This is because
the base station is invisible from the mobile terminals and there is an equal chance of
a local/nearby scattering object being at any angle around the mobile. However,
cases of non-uniformity have been reported in the angular density functions
measurement recently [49], especially from non-local scatterers [50] and it has been
suggested that standard urban models have a Laplacian azimuth distribution [51].
These results warrant further investigation into appropriate standard models that can
be used for well defined types of urban environments such as street canyons, open
squares and heavily cluttered areas. In this thesis, the angular density functions are
assumed to be uniform in azimuth.
The literature reviews indicate that for the elevation, it is more complicated
due to the varying height of scatterers and the base stations. Therefore this does not
generate consistent angular distribution density statistics. Further, the measurements
at different frequencies also affect angular density functions. Despite the
inconsistency, most of the literature reviews reported that the elevation angles were
spread over the angular range from 0º to 30º. However, elevation AOA of 22.5 and
67.5 are assumed in the MIMO models from the 3GPP [53]. The spread of the
elevation angles are due to the secondary wave sources, i.e. reflection points,
diffraction points and scattering points, distributed on obstacles whose height are
spread without general rule. When the antenna moves randomly in an environment,
numerous sources will be observed therefore it is reasonable to assume angular

density function to be a Gaussian distribution in elevation [30].
2.4.2 Angular density functions in indoor environments

As it is only recently that research has been carried out on propagation in
indoor environments, therefore limited results are available and the results do not
give a clear indication of the type of model which can be applied. Generally, these
appear to be a uniform azimuth distribution in most cases. It has been shown that a
Laplacian distribution gives a better fit than the Gaussian model in the indoor
environment [52].
2.4.3 Proposed statistical model

It is noted that different type of distribution models has been suggested by
different researchers. This is due to different locations and environments having been
studied. When a user of a mobile terminal moves along a random route, a uniform
distribution is a reasonable assumption for the angular density functions in azimuth
direction as was assumed in [30]. However, the angular density functions in the
elevation direction are not uniformly distributed and the two most common different
distributions i.e. Gaussian and Laplacian distributions are used in this thesis:
1. Gaussian distribution:
⎡ {θ − [ (π / 2) − m ]}2 ⎤
Pθ (θ ) = Aθ exp ⎢ − ⎥
V
0≤ θ ≤π
⎢ 2σ V2
⎥
⎣ ⎦
(2.21)
⎡ {θ − [ (π / 2) − m ]}2 ⎤
Pφ (θ ) = Aφ exp ⎢ − ⎥
H
0≤ θ ≤π
⎢ 2 σ 2
⎥
⎣ H
⎦
2. Laplacian distribution:
⎡ 2 θ − (π / 2 − mV ) ⎤
Pθ (θ ) = Aθ exp ⎢− ⎥ 0≤ θ ≤π
⎢⎣ σV ⎥⎦
(2.22)
⎡ 2 θ − (π / 2 − mH ) ⎤
Pφ (θ ) = Aφ exp ⎢− ⎥ 0≤ θ ≤π
⎢⎣ σH ⎥⎦
where mV and mH are the mean elevation angles of vertical and horizontal polarised
wave distribution respectively, σ V and σ H are the standard deviations of the vertical
and horizontal polarised wave distribution respectively. Aθ and Aφ are constants
determined by the following condition:
2π π 2π π
∫0 ∫ Pθ (θ ,φ ) sin θ d θ d φ =
0
∫0 ∫0 Pφ (θ ,φ ) sin θ d θ d φ = 1 (2.23)
2.4.4 Cross Polarisation Power Ratio (XPR)

The last parameter that has a significant effect on pattern and polarisation
diversity is the cross polar ratio of the fading environment, XPR. Generally, the value
of XPR is reported between 4dB and 9dB at frequencies around 900MHz in urban
macrocell environment [38], [43], [44] from the mobile terminals to the base stations.
A few different environments have been studied at 2.15GHz and the XPR varied
between 6.6 and 11.4 dB, being lowest for indoor environments and highest for
urban microcell environments [54]. All these reported results have shown that the
XPR is not constant due to varying frequencies and environments.
2.4.5 Proposed propagation model

In this thesis, both outdoor and indoor environments are used to evaluate the
diversity performance of the four-element diversity antenna array proposed in
Chapter 5. Uniform distribution is assumed in the azimuth direction whilst Gaussian
and Laplacian distributions are assumed in the elevation direction. The values of
AOA and XPR for each environment are applied on both Gaussian and Laplacian
statistical models as summarised in Table 2-1 [55]-[56].
Statistic model (Elevation/Azimuth)

Scenario
Gaussian/Uniform Laplacian/Uniform
mV = 10º mV = 10º
mH = 10º mH = 10º
Indoor σV = 15º σV = 15º
σH = 15º σH = 15º
XPR = 5dB XPR = 5dB
mV = 20º mV = 20º
mH = 20º mH = 20º
Outdoor σV = 30º σV = 30º
σH = 30º σH = 30º
XPR = 1dB XPR = 1dB
Table 2-1: Propagation models used in this thesis [55]-[56]. mV and mH are the
mean elevation angles of vertical and horizontal polarised wave distribution
respectively, σV and σH are the standard deviations of the vertical and horizontal
polarised wave distribution respectively
2.5 Summary
This chapter has shown that the MIMO system can increase the channel
capacity significantly without increasing the bandwidth and transmission power
when compared to the SISO system. The two methods of exploiting the MIMO
channels: spatial multiplexing and space-time coding have also been addressed. The
principle of correlation, diversity gain and diversity techniques have also been
discussed. Since this thesis focuses on the antenna design in mobile terminals (e.g.
laptop, PDA or handset) for the MIMO system, the space available for implementing
multiple antennas has become challenging. When the antennas are placed too close
to each other, the mutual coupling reduces the isolation between the antennas. This
leads to an increase in the correlation and reduction in diversity gain. Therefore, the
diversity antenna array on a small mobile terminal needs to have a combination of
space, polarisation and angular diversity.
Mobile terminals are used in different environment and are in motion most of
the time. Therefore, the propagation environment has to be considered when
evaluating diversity performance. Literature reviews have shown different incident

power distributions for different environments. Hence, both indoor and outdoor
environments with different values of mean angles and standard deviations of AOA
and XPR are used in Chapter 5 to evaluate the diversity performance.
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Chapter 3: Small Antennas on Mobile Terminals 38
Chapter 3 Small Antennas on Mobile

Terminals
3.1 Introduction
In Chapter 2, the MIMO system and different diversity techniques have been
introduced. It was noted that the mobile environment as well as the antenna’s
characteristics play a very important role in determining the effectiveness of the
diversity system. In this chapter, the design of antennas for small mobile terminals is
reviewed. Following the review, an advanced design of the antenna is selected for
study in MIMO systems.
3.2 Small Antennas on Mobile Terminals
Recently, the mobile terminal market has been growing rapidly globally. One
of the trends in mobile terminal technology in the past few years has been to
dramatically reduce the size and weight of the terminal. This remarkable reduction in
the terminal’s size has sparked a rapid evolution of the antennas used for mobile
terminals. Hence, the design of antennas for small mobile terminals is becoming
more challenging. The antennas are required to be small and yet their performances
have to be maintained. However, usually a degradation of the gain and bandwidth
are observed when the antenna’s size is reduced.
In MIMO systems, more than one antenna will be implemented in a mobile
terminal as mentioned earlier. As a result, the design of two or more antennas on a
small mobile terminal for the MIMO systems is more challenging compared to the
design of a single conventional antenna in the mobile terminal. Currently, diversity
antennas are already implemented in handsets used in Japan by utilising two
antennas on a receiver [1].
3.2.1 Design Parameters for Antennas on Small Mobile Terminals

In designing antennas for small mobile terminals, the following
characteristics are usually required to be taken into consideration: small size,
compact structure, light weight, low profile and robustness.
Generally, the antennas used for small mobile terminals are the monopole,
dipole, normal-mode helix (NMHA), planar inverted-F (PIFA), microstrip patch and
meander line antennas [1]-[5]. Most of the handsets in the PDC (Personal Digital
Cellular) system in Japan utilise a monopole as the main element, along with the
normal-mode helix and PIFA as shown in Figure 3-1. The PIFA is used as element
pairs with the monopole to form a diversity antenna. In the past few years, the GSM
(Global System for Mobile Communications) mobile terminals industry prefers to
use built-in (or internal) antennas, instead of using a monopole that sticks out.
Therefore, PIFA has been widely used as a built-in (internal) antenna. Recently, it
has been variously modified from the basic principle to obtain dual or triple
frequency bands and wider bandwidths [6]. The use of a chip antenna, which is a
very small, ceramic encapsulated antenna, has also recently become very popular
[7]-[8].
3.3 Review of Small Antennas on Mobile Terminals
In the past few years, several reviews of antennas for mobile terminals have
been released [3], [9]. The important issues that have arisen from these reviews are
summarised in this section.
In the earliest mobile communication systems (dating back to 1984), the
typical portable cellular phone was nearly 600cc in volume and approximately 850g
in weight. The antenna used for the first cellular phone terminal was a half-
wavelength monopole antenna. After many years of evolution, the volume for the
cellular handset had been reduced to less than 60cc and a weight of less than 60g by
1999. Therefore, built-in antennas are more preferable than the half-wavelength
monopole antenna.
Figure 3-1: Photograph of a handset’s diversity antenna used in Japan for the PDC
system. (Handset model: P501i by NTT DoCoMo)
3.3.1 Monopole
The quarter-wavelength monopole antenna is the fundamental mobile antenna
and has the simplest structure as shown in Figure 3-2. However, Fujimoto and
Hirasawa showed that a quarter-wavelength monopole antenna caused large leakage
currents to the terminal case compared to the half-wavelength monopole antenna [2].
For a half-wavelength monopole, the maximum current amplitude occurs around the
center of the monopole therefore current amplitude around the feed point (between
the monopole and the terminal case) is small. However, for a quarter-wavelength
monopole the maximum current amplitude occurs around the feed point and large
current flows into the terminal case. Due to the leakage currents, the length of the
terminal case significantly changes the radiation characteristics of an antenna. In
practice, the input impedance of the quarter-wavelength monopole becomes very
high and it becomes difficult to match the input impedance with that of a feeding
cable. Instead, the 3/8 or 5/8 wavelengths monopole antennas have been employed
for mobile terminals as they have the appropriate input impedance for matching to
the feeding line and yet the current flow on the terminal case is very small. This
antenna is also named as the “whip” antenna.
Figure 3-2: 1/4-wavelength monopole antenna: (a) practical structure, and (b)
antenna image and current distribution.
3.3.2 Normal Mode Helical Antenna (NMHA)

The monopole could be shortened by a distributed inductive loading which is
made of a spiral enclosed in plastic or rubber having a total length of 4% to 15% of a
wavelength. On communication radios, this antenna is known as a “rubber duck” [1]
but conventionally it is known as an NMHA. The commercial NMHA is shown in
Figure 3-3. Electrically this antenna is quarter-wavelength (λ/4) long, which is tuned
to shorter length by the distributed inductive loading (helically wound wire).
Usually an NMHA is connected to the center conductor of a coaxial cable at
the feed point with the outer conductor of the coaxial cable attached to the ground
plane (i.e. mobile terminal). Figure 3-4 shows the configuration of an NMHA
consists of N turns, diameter D and spacing S between each turn. The total length of
an NMHA is L = NS while the total length of the wire, Le is
Le = NLo = N S 2 + C 2 (3.1)
where Lo is the length of the wire between each turn and C = πD is the
circumference of the NMHA. The pitch angle, α (i.e. the angle formed by a line
tangent to the NMHA wired and a plane perpendicular to the NMHA axis) is defined
by [10]:
⎛ S ⎞ −1 ⎛ S ⎞
α = tan −1 ⎜ ⎟ = tan ⎜ ⎟ (3.2)
⎝πD ⎠ ⎝C⎠
Figure 3-3: NMHA used in a GSM mobile handset. (Reproduced from [1])
Figure 3-4: Geometrical configuration of a helix.

3.3.3 Meander line antenna

An alternative way of shortening a monopole is by using a printed meander
pattern instead of a helical wire in the NMHA. Meander line antenna is also a
physically small but electrically large antenna. For example, the meander pattern can
be printed on a small piece of flexible board which is rolled on a core like an NMHA
as shown in Figure 3-5. Recently, a planar and compact meander line antenna has
been reported [11]-[12]. Multi-band characteristics can be accomplished by
connecting two or more λ/4 meanders in parallel with each being tuned to its own
frequency as shown in Figure 3-6. Apart from the meander pattern, fractal patterns
can also achieve multi-band characteristics.
Figure 3-5: Meander printer antenna on a core. (Reproduced from [1])
Figure 3-6: Dual-band meander line antenna.

3.3.4 Inverted-L Antenna (ILA) and Inverted-F Antenna (IFA)

Most of the new mobile terminals (e.g. GSM phones) have built-in antennas
which are not extruded from the terminal’s exterior. Generally, the very top of the
phone is not the best position to place the antenna because the antenna element
should be kept away from the user to avoid unnecessary losses. Also, the antenna
should not be placed too low on the back of the phone either as such a position will
increase the antenna’s losses due to the users’ hand. Therefore, the surface on the
upper back of the phone is a preferable position to place the built-in antenna. The
well known built-in antennas i.e. Inverted F-antenna (IFA) and PIFA have been
widely used in most of current mobile terminals.
The IFA is originally transformed from an inverted-L antenna (ILA) which
consists of a short monopole as a vertical element and a wire horizontal element
attached at the end of the monopole as shown in Figure 3-7. The ILA is a low
profile antenna as the height of the vertical element is usually much less than a
wavelength. The horizontal element normally has a length of about a quarter
wavelengths.
The ILA has low input impedance as its input impedance is equal to that of
the short monopole plus the reactance of the horizontal element closely placed to the
ground plane. In order to increase the input impedance, another inverted-L shaped
element are attached at the end of the vertical element; therefore the ILA is modified
to the IFA as shown in Figure 3-8. Impedance matching of this antenna can be
obtained by allocating the position of the feeding point without any additional circuit
requirements.
Figure 3-7: Inverted-L antenna (ILA).

Figure 3-8: Wire inverted-F antenna (IFA).
However, one downside of an ILA or IFA consisting of thin wires is the

narrow impedance bandwidth. Therefore, by replacing the wire-type IFA with a
planar element will widen the bandwidth. This ILA with a planar element shown in
Figure 3-9 is termed the PIFA. The fundamental characteristics of the PIFA have
been analysed and published in [13]. The shorting pin is positioned at the corner of
the planar element to yield a maximum reduction in the antenna’s size. The narrower
the shorting plate width, W, the lower the resonant frequency of the PIFA. The
resonant frequency (f) of the PIFA can be determined from the equation below [13]:
f = c / 4( L1 + L2 ) (3.3)
where L1 is the width of PIFA, L2 is the length of PIFA and c is the speed of light in
free space.
Figure 3-9: Planar inverted-F antenna (PIFA).
Further research on the PIFA has been performed to determine if it achieves

wideband characteristics. In fact, an added element near to its feed point and a
parasitic element at the open end of the antenna element have been proposed [14].
Parasitic elements are widely applied in the design of antennas to obtain wideband
characteristics [15]. The PIFA has also been studied to operate at two or three
frequency bands for the GSM/DCS/DECT/PCS/WLAN systems [16]-[18]. Figure
3-10 shows that by cutting slot on the planar element of a PIFA, the antenna can
work as a multi-band PIFA. The basic principle is that the longer arm resonates at
low band whilst shorter arm resonates at high band. Multi-band PIFAs have been
widely used as built-in antennas by most of the mobile handset manufacturers. For
example, the popular handset Sony Ericsson T68i shown in Figure 3-11 has used a
multi-band PIFA to operate at GSM 900/1800/1900 [19]-[20].
Figure 3-10: Top view of a dual-band PIFA with an L-shape slot on the planar
element. (Reproduced from [16])
Figure 3-11: Photograph of multi-band PIFA in a Sony Ericsson T68i handset.

(Reproduced from [19])
When the mobile terminals become smaller, the size of the PIFA can be
reduced either by a capacitive loading [21] or by adding inductance (a meandered
pattern as mentioned earlier) [22]. An alternative way to reduce the size of the
antenna is to design the matching circuit to match the impedance of a small sized
antenna. However, the matching circuit is not an attractive method to reduce the
antenna size in a mobile terminal due to its complication.
The effect of the ground plane on the performance of the antennas has always
been an issue when designing a small antenna. A PIFA on a ground plane can
achieve bandwidth of up to 17% whereas a PIFA not on a ground plane (i.e. in free
space condition) can only achieve a bandwidth of between 1% to 2% [3]. Due to the
currents on the ground plane, multi-modes are introduced into an antenna system.
Hence, variation in the antenna’s performance (such as gain and bandwidth) can be
expected. However, the antenna’s performance will be degraded by the currents on
the ground plane due to the effect of adjacent materials. More than 6dB gain
degradation has been observed when the handset is in the talk position, mainly due to
the effect of the user’s hand and head (which absorb radiation power). By increasing
the current distribution on the ground plane inside the handsets, the radiation towards
the user’s head may increase hence it is possible to increase the SAR (Specific
Absorption Rate) values in the user’s head [23]-[24]. In summary, the major reason
for the degradation of the antenna’s performance in the talk position is the current
flowing on the ground plane which couples to the user’s hand and head.
3.4 New Concept for Mobile Terminal Antenna Design
So far, a few important mobile terminal antennas have been reviewed and it is
found that the built-in PIFA is the most popular at the present time. It is noted that
the current on the mobile terminal’s ground plane is produced by the excitation of
the built-in PIFA. This is because it is fed with unbalanced feed lines such as coaxial
transmission lines. Therefore, it is realised that the degradation of the antenna’s
performance due to the variation of the surface current coupled to the user can be
avoided by decreasing the current flow on the ground plane.
In the MIMO systems, two or more antennas are required to be implemented
on a mobile terminal. Due to the current on the ground plane, not only does the
variation of the surface currents coupled to the user degrade the antenna’s
performance, different antennas on the same ground plane may also degrade the
antenna’s performance when they are placed close to one another. Therefore, the
antenna suitable for MIMO systems needs to be an alternative type of antenna that
does not generate high current on the ground plane.
It has been reported in [25] that the half-wavelength folded dipole is a self-
balanced antenna. A folded dipole consists of two parallel dipoles connected at the
ends forming a loop as shown in Figure 3-12, with d being much shorter than L or
much shorter than a wavelength. When a half-wavelength dipole is fed with an
unbalanced feed line as shown in Figure 3-13(a), the currents on the arm connected
to the outer conductor are not equal to the currents on the arm connected to the inner
conductor. The unequal currents give rise to undesirable radiation from the feed lines
and distort the desired antenna pattern. However, for a half-wavelength folded dipole
with an unbalanced feed line as shown in Figure 3-13(b), the currents on the top wire
and the bottom wire are unbalanced but the sum of the currents on the arms is well
balanced [25]. Hence, no currents are introduced on the coaxial feed lines for a half-
wavelength folded dipole. Without the current leakage flowing on the coaxial cable,
there would be no surface current on the ground plane when the antenna is placed on
top of a ground plane. As a result, the half-wavelength folded dipole should be a
suitable antenna where there are multiple elements on a mobile terminal.
Figure 3-12: The folded dipole antenna.

Figure 3-13: (a) A half-wavelength dipole with a coaxial feed line; (b) a half-
wavelength folded dipole with a coaxial feed line.
However, a half-wavelength folded dipole is longer than a PIFA, which is

only about a quarter-wavelength long. Further, the size of the mobile terminals is
becoming smaller as technology advances, hence the half-wavelength folded dipole
will be too long for multiple antennas in a mobile terminal.
Recently, a one-wavelength folded loop antenna which is based on the
principle of the half-wavelength folded dipole has been proposed for handset
applications [26]. The antenna is constructed by folding the arms of the half-
wavelength folded dipole as shown in Figure 3-14. As the half-wavelength folded
dipole can be considered as a one-wavelength loop antenna, the antenna is referred to
as a folded loop. It has been shown in [27] that when a folded loop antenna with
unbalanced feed lines is mounted on a ground plane as shown in Figure 3-15, there is
no unbalanced current flow on the feed line or the ground plane which is similar to
that of the folded dipole. Figure 3-16 shows the comparison of the surface current
distribution on a ground plane for a folded loop antenna and a conventional PIFA
operating at 1.8GHz. It is shown that for the folded loop antenna case, the surface
current is localised underneath the antenna and it is not widely spread across the
ground plane like the PIFA. Therefore, the ground plane of the folded loop antenna
is acting as a reflector rather than a radiator.
It is clear that a folded loop antenna is shorter than a folded dipole which
makes it more practical to use in a small mobile terminal and it has also inherited the
self-balanced properties of the folded dipole. Therefore, the folded loop antenna is
studied in this thesis and is developed into a diversity antenna array for the MIMO
systems in Chapter 5.
Figure 3-14: Structure of a folded loop antenna constructed from a folded dipole
where L ≈ ½ λ.
Figure 3-15: Folded loop antenna mounted on a ground plane.
PIFA
Ground plane
(a) (b) (c)

Figure 3-16: Surface current distribution on the ground plane of (a) a folded loop
antenna and (b) PIFA at 1.8GHz. The simulated results are obtained from CST
Microwave Studio®. The ground plane sizes are 40mm x 100mm. (c) The geometry of
the PIFA is shown for clarity.
3.5 Summary
The design parameters for small antennas have been addressed in this chapter
including the typical antennas used in the mobile terminals since the emergence of
wireless mobile communications. These antennas include: monopole, dipole, normal
mode helix antenna (NMHA), printed meander antenna and planar inverted-F
antenna (PIFA). The built-in PIFA, being the most popular antenna is still currently
used in most handsets. Diversity antennas with two elements are already widely used
in the PDC system in Japan.
It is noted that the excitation on the PIFA has generated unbalanced current
flow on the feed line and the ground plane. Therefore, the effect of the ground plane
on the performance of the antennas has been considered. There are both advantages
and disadvantages in utilising the currents on the ground plane. An advantage in
utilising the currents on the ground plane is that the antenna’s performance is
enhanced. However, a disadvantage in utilising the currents on the ground plane is
the possible degradation of the antenna’s performance due to the effect of the human
body.
A new type of antenna (i.e. folded loop antenna) has been studied and
considered in this thesis. It has been reported that this antenna can eliminate the
unbalanced current flow on the feed line and ground plane with the conventional
coaxial cable feeding technique (unbalanced system). Due to this characteristic, the
folded loop antenna is very promising for use in designing multiple antennas on a
small mobile terminal as low correlation between the antennas could still be
achieved.
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Publ. No. 480), vol. 1, pp. 336-339, April 2001.
[16] Z.D. Liu, P.S. Hall, D. Wake, “Dual-frequency planar inverted-F antenna,”
IEEE Trans. On Antennas and Propagation, vol. 45, no. 10, pp. 1451-1458,
Oct 1997.
[17] P. Song, P. S. Hall, H. Ghafouri-Shiraz, and D. Wake, “Triple-band planar
inverted F antenna,” Antennas and Propagation Society, IEEE International
Symposium 1999 , vol. 2 , pp. 908-911, 1999.
[18] W. S. Chen, T. W. Chiou and K. L. Wong, “Compact PIFA for
GSM/DCS/PCS triple-band mobile phones,” Antennas and Propagation
Society, IEEE International Symposium, 2002. , vol. 4, pp. 528-531, June
2002.
[19] C.D. Nallo, A. Faraone, M. Maddaleno and T. Galia, “Principles and
applications of the folded inverted conformal antenna (FICA) technology,”
Converge 2005, Milan, Italy, Nov 2005.
[20] Z. Yong and J. Andersson, “Multi band, multi antenna system for modern
mobile terminal,” 6th International Symposium on Antennas, Propagation and
EM Theory Proceedings (ISAPE’03), pp. 287-290, Beijing, China, Nov 2003.
[21] P. Ciais, R. Staraj, G. Kossiavas and C. Luxey, “Compact internal multiband
antenna for mobile phone and WLAN standards,” Electronic Letters, vol. 40,
no. 15, pp. 920-921, July 2004.
[22] S. Shulteis, C. Waldschmidt, C. Kuhnert and W. Wiesbeck, “Design of a
miniaturized dual band planar inverted F antenna,” IEEE Antenna and
Propagation Society International Symposium 2004, vol. 3, pp. 3123-3126,
June 2004.
[23] J. Tofgard, S. N. Hornsleth and J. B. Andersen, “Effects on portable antenna
of the antenna of the presence of a person,” IEEE Trans. Antennas and
Propag., vol. 46, no. 6, pp. 739-746, 1993.
[24] M. A. Jensen and Y. Rahmat-Samii, “EM interaction of handset antennas and
a human in personal communications,” Proceedings of the IEEE, vol. 83, no.
1, pp. 7-17, 1995.
[25] C.G. Buxton, W.L. Stutzman, R.R. Nealy and A.M. Orndorff, “The folded
dipole: A self-balancing antenna”, Microwave and optical technology letters,
vol. 29, no. 3, pp. 155-160, 2001.
[26] H. Morishita, Y. Kim, Y. Koyanagi and K. Fujimoto, “A folded loop antenna
system for handsets,” IEEE AP-S Proc., vol. 3, pp. 440-443, Jul. 2001.
[27] Y. Kim, H. Morishita, Y. Koyanagi and K. Fujimoto, “A folded loop antenna
system for handset developed and based on the advanced design concept,”
IEICE Trans. Commun., vol. E84-B, no. 9, Sept. 2001.
Chapter 4: Electromagnetic Bandgap (EBG) Structures 54
Chapter 4 Electromagnetic Bandgap (EBG)

Structures
4.1 Introduction
At the commencement of this thesis, the application of EBG material to the

antenna’s design was considered. As previously mentioned in Chapter 2, the
antennas in a diversity system cannot be placed too closely to one another. This is to
avoid high correlation between the antennas so diversity gain can be achieved.
Hence, the design of diversity antenna arrays for the MIMO systems has become
more complicated when more than two antennas are to be implemented on a mobile
terminal. One of the main reasons that the closely spaced antennas are highly
correlated is due to the surface currents on the ground plane as the antennas are
sharing the same ground plane.
Upon review of initial literature studies, EBG structure was considered for this
thesis due to its ability to suppress the surface currents on the ground plane. A brief
outline of EBG is detailed below. Further, the EBG structure that has been developed
in this thesis is discussed in this chapter.
4.2 EBG Background
Electromagnetic band-gap (EBG) formerly known as Photonic Band-gap (PBG)

structures are artificially made structures with periodicity either in two or three
dimensions. Electromagnetic wave propagation in periodic media was first studied
by Lord Rayleigh in 1887 and has long been investigated by the microwave
community since then. Recently new concepts and ideas on PBG have been
developed in the optical regime [1], [2] whereby they show the ranges of frequencies
in which light cannot propagate through the structure. The frequency region where
the incident waves cannot propagate through the structure is termed the ‘band-gap’
or stopband. As shown in Figure 4-1 when the wavelength is in the stopband region,
there is no transmission through the material. However, if the wavelength is in the
passband (i.e. outside stopband) region, the energy will propagate through the
material.
Figure 4-1: For frequency in the stopband, the incident wave does not travel through
the media.
This idea has attracted microwave engineers to use it in microwave and

millimeter-wave regions to prevent the propagation of the electromagnetic waves in
a specified frequencies band. Extensive research has been conducted to translate and
apply these new concepts in the microwave and millimeter-wave regions [3], [4].
Hence, the formerly named PBG structure has been renamed as EBG within the
microwave engineering society. In this thesis, only the application of the EBG is be
considered and analysed. The term EBG is used for the remaining of this thesis
rather than PBG.
Manufacturing of EBG structures at microwave frequencies was initially
realised by scaling the structures used at optical frequencies. This implies
micromachining holes into a dielectric slab to create a two-dimensional and three-
dimensional periodic variation of the material refractive dielectric. Lately, some
popular EBG structure designs emerged which employ simpler and smaller
geometries.
4.2.1 Metallo-dielectric structures

The metallo-dielectric structure is considered as a new type of metallic
electromagnetic structure and is characterised by having a high surface impedance
[5]. As shown in Figure 4-2, the high-impedance surface consists of an array of
metal protrusions on a flat metal sheet. They are arranged in a two-dimensional
lattice and can be visualised as mushrooms or thumbtacks protruding from the
surface. The protrusions are formed as metal patches on the top surface of the board,
connected to the solid lower conducting surface by metal plated vias.
Figure 4-2: (a) Cross section of a high impedance surface. (b) Top view of the high-
impedance surface, showing a triangular lattice of hexagonal metal plates.
The electromagnetic properties of this structure can be described by using

lumped-circuit elements – capacitors, C, and inductors, L, when they are small
compared to the operating wavelength. They simply behave as a network of parallel
resonant LC circuits, which act as a two-dimensional electric filter to block the flow
of currents along the sheet. When the structure interacts with electromagnetic waves,
currents are induced in the top metal plates as shown in Figure 4-3 below. A voltage
applied parallel to the top surface causes charges to build up on the ends of the plates,
which can be described as a capacitance. As the charges slosh back and forth, they
flow around a long path through the vias and bottom plate. A magnetic field
associated with these currents results and hence can be described as an inductance.
Figure 4-3: Capacitance and inductance in the high-impedance surface.

Figure 4-4: Effective circuit used to model the surface impedance
The surface impedance is high close to the resonant frequency ωο which can
be determined from the L and C as follow [5]:
1 (4.1)
ωo =
LC
The sheet impedance equals to the impedance of a parallel circuit, consisting of

the sheet capacitance and the sheet inductance [5]:
jω L
Z= (4.2)
1 − ω 2 LC
Recently this high impedance surface has been used in designing antennas for
mobile terminals [6], [7]. However, this has not been of interest to the mobile phone
manufacturers because the structures are complicated and are too costly to produce.
Hence, other simpler methods is discussed in the following section 4.2.2.
4.2.2 Uniplanar Compact PBG (UC-PBG) Structure

The metallo-dielectric structure is very effective but requires a non-planar
fabrication process. Hence, research efforts have focused on the development of a
planar EBG structure that does not require metal vias. Also, planar structure can be
easily integrated in microwave and millimeter-wave circuits. One of the planar EBG
structures that has been studied is called the Uniplanar Compact PBG (UC-PBG) [8].
This structure comprises of a square lattice of square metallic pads, each one
connected to the four adjacent ones through a narrow strip to form a distributed LC
network. Figure 4-5 shows the EBG structure and its single unit cell.
The narrow strips at the connections from every single cell to its neighbour
introduce lumped inductive elements, while the gaps between neighbouring pads
introduce lumped capacitors. The effect of this two-dimensional periodic LC-
network is that of reducing the wavelength of an electromagnetic wave propagating

along the structure. The inductance and capacitance values can be calculated from
the known formulas for microstrip lines [9]. Compared to the previous structure (i.e.
metallo-dielectric structure) discussed in section 4.2.1, this structure does not require
metal vias or multilayer substrates. Given this advantage, extensive studies have
been conducted on the use of this structure in microwave circuits [8], [10], and in the
application of antennas [11]-[13].
(a)
(b)
Figure 4-5: Schematic of (a) UC-PBG structure etched on the ground plane of a
microstrip line, and (b) unit cell of UC-PBG structure.
4.2.3 Square lattice of circles etched on the ground plane

A simpler planar EBG structure comprising of a square lattice of holes etched
on the ground plane of a grounded dielectric slab has also been developed [14]. The
transmission characteristics of the structure is assessed by constructing a 50Ω
microstrip line with EBG structure being etched on the ground plane, as shown in
Figure 4-6.
Figure 4-6: Schematic diagram of a microstrip on an EBG ground plane. The EBG
structure is a square lattice of etched circles.
The function of the holes is to create a spatially periodic variation of the

effective dielectric constant of the line, which produces the desired stopband. The
central frequency of the stopband can be estimated by the period of the latttice, a
using the formula below [15]:
c 1
f = .
ε eff λg (4.3)
where c is the speed of light in free space, εeff is the effective permittivity and λg is
the guided wavelength in the substrate. In order to achieve a stopband, λg must
satisfy the Bragg condition where λg = 2a. The effective permittivity (εeff) can be
estimated as that of the microstrip line with an unperturbed ground plane [15]:
ε r + 1 ε r −1 1
ε eff = + ⋅ (4.4)
2 2 1 + 12h / W
where h and W are the thickness of the substrate and the width of the line
respectively and ε r is the relative permittivity of the dielectric substrate as shown in
Figure 4-6. Recently, considerable research effort has been conducted in the use of
this structure in the areas of filter [14]-[17] and antenna applications [18]-[21].
4.3 Multiperiod EBG structure on the ground plane
Of the three popular EBG structures discussed above, the structure of square
lattice of circles etched on the ground plane has been selected in this thesis for
further study given that it is the simplest and most effective way to etch the periodic
pattern on the ground plane of the microstrip line.
Most of the research on EBG structure with a square lattice of etched circles on
the ground plane has only a single period design [14]-[17]. Recently the study of
multiperiod EBG structures has been of interest [22]. In this thesis, a simple and
novel multiperiod EBG structure is proposed to achieve a wide stopband as well as a
reduction in the size of the structure. The proposed multiperiod EBG structure differs
from the multiperiod structures investigated by other researchers. In the proposed
multiperiod EBG structure, two different periods a1 and a2 are cascaded in series,
without changing the dimension of the unit lattice as shown in Figure 4-7.
Figure 4-7: Schematic representation of the proposed multiperiod EBG structure by

cascading two single period EBG structures.
Throughout this thesis, the EBG structures are modelled and simulated using
the CST Microwave Studio® package before they are machined in the laboratory. It
has been shown that the CST Microwave Studio® package can analyse the EBG
structure efficiently and accurately with excellent agreement to the data published in
[23], [24].
The substrate used in this study is RT/Duroid 6010 with relative permittivity of
10.2 and a thickness of 0.635mm (25 mils). The periodic pattern is etched on the
ground plane of the structure by using the LPK ProtoMat 91s numerical milling
machine whilst the S-parameters of the circuits are measured by using a HP 8720ES
network analyser in the Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) Antenna
Laboratory.
4.3.1 1-D multiperiod EBG structure

Before commencing the design of the multiperiod EBG structure, two different
single period EBG structures with periods of a1=12mm and a2=7.5mm respectively
are studied. The unit lattice used in the EBG structure is a circle with a radius, r of
3mm as shown in Figure 4-8. The 50Ω conventional microstrip line on the EBG
structure consists of a printed conductor line with a width of 0.6 mm printed on the
RT/Duroid 6010 substrate.
(a)
(b)
Figure 4-8: Photographs of the ground plane of the EBG circuits with periods of
(a) a1 =7.5mm, structure’s dimensions = 104mm x 15mm and (b) a2 = 12mm,
structure’s dimensions = 62.5mm x 15mm. The radius of each lattice circle, r=3mm.
From equation (4.3), the predicted central frequencies of the first stopband are
5GHz and 8GHz for the EBG structures with periods of a1=12mm and a2=7.5mm
respectively. The EBG structures were also fabricated and measured. Figure 4-9
shows that there is good agreement between the simulated and measured S-
parameters.
For the EBG structure with the period a1=12mm and the radius of circle r
being 3mm, the filling factor (r/a1) is 0.25. Figure 4-9(a) shows that there are two
narrow stopbands with the central frequencies being approximately 5GHz and
10.5GHz, respectively. The central frequency of the first stopband agrees very well
with that obtained using the equation (4.3). It is noticed that there is a passband at
8GHz between the two narrow stopbands. The 10dB bandwidth of the first stopband
Δfa is about 2.8GHz for both the simulated and measured S21 curves, with a slight
shifting (less than 0.1GHz); the 10dB bandwidth of the second stopband Δfb is about
2.75GHz from the measurement, and 2.65GHz from the simulation with a more
pronounced shifting (around 0.2 GHz).
-10
-20
S21, dB
-30
-40
-50
-60 Simulation
Measurement
-70
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Frequency, GHz
(a)
-10
-20
S21, dB
-30
-40
-50
-60 Simulation
Measurement
-70
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Frequency, GHz
(b)
Figure 4-9: Simulated and measured S21 parameters for EBG circuits with period of
(a) a1 =12mm, and (b) a2 = 7.5mm.
In the second single period EBG structure, the period was reduced to
a2=7.5mm whilst maintaining the radius of the unit lattice circle (filling factor, r/a2
=0.4). The central frequency of the stopband for the second structure is found to be
around 8.5GHz with 10dB bandwidth being much wider, Δf =5.3GHz for both
measurement and simulation, as shown in Figure 4-9(b). The stopband bandwidth is
determined by the filling factor (r/a) given that the larger the filling factor (r/a), the
wider the bandwidth of the stopband can be achieved [14]. The slight shifting
between the simulated and measured S21 curves in Figure 4-9 is due to the
imperfection of the unit lattice in fabrication.
It is found that the stopband of the second EBG structure is just within the
passband region of the first EBG structure. Therefore, by cascading these two
periods in series one can actually combine the stopbands of both EBG structures to
achieve a wider stopband.
Figure 4-10: Schematic representation of 2 models of the 1-D multiperiod EBG

structure with 8 lattice cells. Unit lattice (circle) radius=3mm, a1=7.5mm,
a2=12mm. (a) Model A and (b) Model B.
Two different possible arrangements in a multiperiod EBG structure, as shown

in Figure 4-10, have been simulated. Figure 4-11 shows that the simulated S21 of the
two different arrangements and only Model B in Figure 4-10 can achieve a wide
stopband. It is noted that a wide stopband cannot be achieved in Model A as there
are only two consecutive circles for each period of a1 and a2. This demonstrates that
in a multiperiod EBG structure, the arrangement of the lattice circles is also a factor
in achieving a wide stopband. Therefore, the EBG structure of Model B was
fabricated (as shown in Figure 4-12) and measured in the QMUL Antenna
Laboratory.
-10
-20
S21, dB
-30
-40
-50
-60
Simulation
-70
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Frequency, GHz
(a)
-10
-20
S21, dB
-30
-40
-50
-60
Simulation
-70
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Frequency, GHz
(b)
Figure 4-11: Simulated S21 curves for (a) Model A and (b) Model B in Figure 4-10.
Figure 4-12: Photograph of the ground plane of the proposed 1-D multiperiod EBG
structure. The dimensions of this structure are 86mm x 15mm.
-10
-20
S21, dB
-30
-40
-50
-60 Simulation
Measurement
-70
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Frequency, GHz
Figure 4-13: Simulated and measured S21 curves for the proposed 1-D multiperiod
EBG.
Figure 4-13 shows that there is a good agreement between the simulated and
measured S21 results for the proposed 1-D multiperiod EBG structure. The S21 curves
in Figure 4-13 demonstrate that the proposed multiperiod EBG structure has
achieved a very wide stopband with a bandwidth of Δf = 8GHz for S21 ≤ -10dB and a
bandwidth of Δf = 6GHz (5.5GHz – 11.5GHz) for S21 ≤ -20dB. The stopband
bandwidth of the multiperiod EBG structure increased by approximately 34%
compared to the single period EBG structure with period a1 = 7.5mm, with both
structures having approximately the same central frequency of 8GHz. Such a wide
stopband was achieved due to the combination of the stopbands of the two single
period EBG structures in Figure 4-8.
However, it is noted that the stopband attenuation of the single period EBG
structures is less than -30dB in most of the stopband region as shown in Figure 4-9,
whilst the attenuation of the multiperiod EBG structure is shallower (~ -20dB) in
some parts of the stopband region. This is because only eight lattice circles were split
between two periods in the structure. The number of lattice circles for each period in
the multiperiod EBG structure is less than that required in a single period EBG
structure (eight circles) to generate a deep attenuation in the stopband.
4.3.2 Folded 1-D multiperiod EBG structure

The 1-D multiperiod EBG structure is further studied by increasing the number
of lattice circles to obtain a deeper attenuation in the stopband. However, if the
number of lattice circles is doubled in a 1-D direction, the size of the structure will
be doubled. Given that size is an important factor, this design type will not be very
attractive in any microwave application. Hence, two rows of multiperiod lattice
circles from Figure 4-10(b) are placed in parallel with a separation of a1, and the
transmission line is folded back on itself as shown in Figure 4-14. Folding the
microstrip line rather than keeping it straight permits the employment of a large
number of periods in a compact size. The high confinement of the fields around the
conductor strip in the microstrip line allows the folding of the microstrip without
causing relevant variation in the filter frequency response [24]. Also, it is shown in
[24] that there is no direct coupling between meandered strip lines.
a2 a1
a1
Figure 4-14: Schematic representation of the folded 1-D multiperiod EBG structure.
Figure 4-15: Photograph of the ground plane of the folded 1-D multiperiod EBG
structure measured. The dimensions of this structure are 86mm x 27mm.
The folded 1-D multiperiod EBG structure shown in Figure 4-15 was
fabricated and measured. The simulated and measured S21 results are shown in
Figure 4-16. When compared to the results in Figure 4-13, a deeper attenuation was
obtained from the folded 1-D multiperiod EBG structure shown in Figure 4-15
which has a larger number of lattice circles. The slight discrepancies between the
simulated and measured results are mostly due to the imperfection in the fabrication.
-10
-20
S21, dB
-30
-40
-50
-60 Simulation
Measurement
-70
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Frequency, GHz
Figure 4-16: Simulated and measured S21 for the folded 1-D multiperiod EBG
structure.
4.3.3 Microstrip patch antenna on the multiperiod EBG structure

In section 4.3.2, it was shown that the multiperiod EBG structure could easily
be extended to a folded 1-D structure by cascading the structure in parallel. This
work is further studied for antenna applications.
Microstrip patch antennas have been widely used in mobile and radio wireless
communications as they are low profile, conformal, low-cost and robust [25].
However, the antennas have a low efficiency, a narrow bandwidth and high surface
wave losses. Hence, the EBG structure has been used as the ground plane of the
microstrip patch antennas to improve their performance [18]-[21]. In this study, the
proposed multiperiod EBG structure is used as the ground plane of the microstrip
patch antennas to show its effect on the antennas.
The microstrip patch antenna has been designed based on the transmission line
model [25]. A microstrip patch antenna operating at around 7.4GHz is designed,
where the resonant frequency falls within the stopband of the multiperiod EBG
structure in the previous sections. The substrate is the same as that used for the
multiperiod EBG structure - RT/Duroid 6010. A 50-Ω microstrip line with a width of
0.6mm is used to feed the microstrip antenna up to the 50-Ω feed point as shown in
Figure 4-17.
Figure 4-17: Schematic diagram of the microstrip patch antenna designed at a

resonant frequency of 7.4GHz. (L= 6mm, W= 8.3mm, Wo= 0.6mm, W1= 0.7mm,
yo=2.517mm)
The simplest way of applying the EBG structure to antenna applications is to

substitute the conventional PEC ground plane with the EBG ground plane. It has
been shown that the periodic circles on the EBG ground plane will create some
current leakage resulting in the increase of the back lobe of the antenna’s radiation
pattern even though the EBG ground plane can suppress the surface wave on the
substrate [18], [19]. Hence, a new method to integrate the EBG ground plane with
the antenna is proposed in this study. In order to maintain the low back lobe of the
radiation pattern exhibited by a conventional patch antenna, the EBG structure is
sandwiched between the patch and the conventional ground plane, as illustrated in
Figure 4-18. With this new design, it is expected that the back lobe of the radiation
pattern will not increase, as reported in [18], [19].
For the purpose of comparison, 3 types of patch antennas were modelled and
measured: 1) conventional patch antenna, 2) patch antenna on a sandwiched single
period EBG ground plane, and 3) patch antenna on a sandwiched multiperiod EBG
ground plane.
Figure 4-18: Cross section of the (a) conventional patch antenna, and (b) patch
antenna on the sandwiched EBG structure.
The dimensions of the antenna are fixed at 8.3mm (W) x 6mm (L) for all the
cases. There are 8 x 6 circles with a radius of 3mm etched on the EBG ground plane.
The period of a = 12mm is used for the sandwiched single period EBG ground plane
model. For the sandwiched multiperiod EBG ground plane, the period around the
centre of the substrate remains constant at 12mm whilst the period around the edge
of the substrate is reduced to 7.5mm as shown in Figure 4-19. The antenna is placed
at the centre so that it does not overlap with any unit circle as the simulation results
show that the antenna’s performance will improve when place in this position. The
size of the ground plane for the conventional patch antenna model is kept at the same
size as the sandwiched multiperiod EBG ground plane. The input return loss (S11)
curves for these three models obtained from the simulations and measurements are
shown in Figure 4-22.
(a) Ground plane dimensions = 96mm x 72mm

(b) Ground plane dimensions = 78mm x 63mm
Figure 4-19: Schematics (top view) of the patch antenna on the sandwiched EBG
structure with (a) single period a = 12mm, and (b) multiperiod a1 = 7.5mm, a2 =
12mm.
(a)
(b)
Figure 4-20: Photographs of the (a) single period EBG layer, and (b) multiperiod
EBG layer before it is sandwiched to the ground plane.
Figure 4-21: Photograph of the antenna under test in the anechoic chamber.
-5
-10
S11, dB
-15
-20
Simulation
Measurement
-25
7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7
Frequency, GHz
(a)
-5
-10
S11, dB
-15
-20
Simulation
Measurement
-25
7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7
Frequency, GHz
(b)
-5
-10
S11, dB
-15
-20
Simulation
Measurement
-25
7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7
Frequency, GHz
(c)
Figure 4-22: Simulated (Red) and measured (Blue) input return (S11) for (a)
conventional patch antenna, (b) patch antenna on a sandwiched single period EBG
ground plane, and (c) patch antenna on a sandwiched multiperiod EBG ground
plane.
Figure 4-22 shows that for both the simulated and measured results, the
resonant frequency of the antenna is higher when the antenna is on the sandwiched
EBG ground plane compared to when it is on the conventional ground plane. This is
due to the effective permittivity of the substrate being changed when the sandwiched
EBG layer is added between the antenna and the ground plane. The measured results
of S11 outside the resonant frequency are as low as -5dB is due to the cable loss
during the measurements.
In Figure 4-22, the measured results show that the S11 < -10dB bandwidth is
wider for the antennas on a sandwiched EBG ground plane compared to the
conventional patch antenna. The S11 < -10dB bandwidth increased from 0.47% for a
single period EBG antenna to 0.93% for a multiperiod EBG antenna. The simulated
results show that the impedance bandwidth also increased from 0.635% for a single
period EBG antenna to 0.87% for a multiperiod EBG antenna. It is noted that the
bandwidth for the antennas are very small due to the high permittivity substrate
being used in this study. A wider bandwidth can be obtained by using a lower
permittivity substrate. However, the size of the ground plane will increase as a larger
period of the lattice in the EBG design is required when a low permittivity substrate
is used so as to suppress the surface waves at the same frequency region.
An advantage of a multiperiod EBG design is that a wider impedance
bandwidth is obtained. In addition, a ground plane having smaller dimensions is just
required for a multiperiod EBG design compared to a single period EBG design.
Hence a figure of merit, F for these antennas is proposed in this thesis as follows:
F = B/A MHz/mm2 (4.5)
where B is the impedance bandwidth and A is the area of the ground plane.
From the measurements, the figure of merit, F for the antenna on the
sandwiched single period EBG ground plane and multiperiod EBG ground plane is
5.06 and 14.25 respectively.
The radiation patterns of the antennas were measured in the anechoic chamber
in QMUL Laboratory. The simulated and measured results are in a good agreement,
as it can be seen from Figure 4-23 and Figure 4-24, respectively.
It is noted that due to the radiation from the microstrip feed line, the E-plane
for the antennas are asymmetrical and broader compared to the H-plane. For the
sandwiched multiperiod EBG antenna, the H-plane radiation pattern has a narrower
beam, which means it is more directional compared to the sandwiched single period
EBG antenna. The computed gain in the forward direction for the conventional
antenna, sandwiched single period EBG and multiperiod EBG antennas are 2.15dBi,
3.55dBi and 4.21dBi respectively. This shows that the multiperiod EBG antenna can
achieve a higher gain compared to the conventional and single period EBG antennas.
Due to the difficulty of measuring the surface waves in the lab, only the
simulated surface currents results generated from the CST Microwave Studio® is
shown in Figure 4-25. It can be clearly seen from Figure 4-25 that the electric field
in the conventional antenna is widely spread compared to the other two antennas
with sandwiched EBG structure. It is also shown that the multiperiod EBG structure
is more effective in suppressing the surface waves compared to the single period
EBG structure. The electric field is mostly concentrated close to the patch antenna
for the multiperiod EBG design. The effect of the surface wave suppression shown in
Figure 4-25 by utilising the 2-D multiperiod EBG structure appears to be a
promising method to suppress mutual coupling in the antenna array applications.
However, the size of the antenna with the EBG structure is not compact enough to
apply to mobile terminals.
0
330 30
300 60
270 90
-40 -30 -20 -10 0
240 120
210 150
180
(a)
0
330 30
300 60
270 90
-40 -30 -20 -10 0
240 120
210 150
180
(b)
0
330 30
300 60
270 90
-40 -30 -20 -10 0
240 120
210 150
180
(c)
Figure 4-23: Simulated (+) and measured (─) radiation patterns of E-plane co-
polarisation for (a) conventional antenna ,(b) antenna on a sandwiched single
period EBG ground plane, and (c) antenna on a multiperiod EBG ground plane.
0
330 30
300 60
270 90
-40 -30 -20 -10 0
240 120
210 150
180
(a)
0
330 30
300 60
270 90
-40 -30 -20 -10 0
240 120
210 150
180
(b)
0
330 30
300 60
270 90
-40 -30 -20 -10 0
240 120
210 150
180
(c)
Figure 4-24: Simulated (+) and measured (─) radiation patterns of H-plane co-
polarisation for the (a) conventional antenna ,(b) antenna on a sandwiched single
period EBG ground plane, and (c) antenna on a multiperiod EBG ground plane.
(a)
(b)
(c)
Figure 4-25: Simulated surface distribution of the electric field at 7.4GHz for the (a)
conventional antenna (b) sandwiched single period EBG antenna, and (c)
sandwiched multiperiod EBG antenna.
4.4 Multiperiod EBG structure in the substrate
In Section 4.3, the proposed multiperiod EBG structure was etched on the
ground plane. In this section, the multiperiod EBG design is studied by machining
the multiperiod pattern in the dielectric substrate rather than etching the periodic
structures on the ground plane of the microstrip circuit. Although the machining of
the EBG structure on the dielectric substrate has previously been studied [4], [26]-
[28], the investigation of utilising a multiperiod EBG structure on the dielectric
substrate is a new study.
The same principle in Section 4.3 has been applied in this case. Two different
periods, a1 and a2 which have different central frequencies respectively are cascaded
in series to form a 1-D multiperiod EBG structure. Firstly, periods of a1 = 12mm and
a2 = 7.5mm are considered. However, it is noted that the central frequencies of the
stopband of these two periods are dissimilar to that in the previous study conducted
in section 4.3. This is because the variation of the effective permittivity for the
microstrip when EBG structures are in the substrate is different to that when it is in
the ground plane. In order to obtain a wider stopband bandwidth, the stopband of
two different periods should have an overlapping region in the stopband. In this case,
periods of a1 = 10mm and a2 = 7.5mm are selected to form a 1-D multiperiod EBG
in the substrate. The lattice circles with a radius of 3mm are used. The simulated S21
curves are shown in Figure 4-25.
-10
-20
S21, dB
-30
-40
-50
-60
Simulation
-70
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Frequency, GHz
(a)
-10
-20
S21, dB
-30
-40
-50
-60
Simulation
-70
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Frequency, GHz
(b)
Figure 4-26: Simulated S21 parameter for the single period EBG substrate circuit of
period (a) a1 = 10mm, and (b) a2 = 7.5mm. The radius of the unit lattice circle, r is
3mm.
For the single period EBG substrate structure with period a1 = 10mm and
filling factor (r/a) is 0.3, the 10dB bandwidth of the first stopband Δfa is
approximately 4.89GHz having a central frequency of approximately 8.8GHz. As
shown in Figure 4-26(a), the second stopband has a frequency range starting from
15.5GHz and extending beyond 20GHz. In the other single period EBG substrate
structure with period a2 = 7.5mm (r/a2 = 0.3), the central frequency of the stopband
is found to be approximately 14.5GHz with the 10dB bandwidth being much wider
Δf = 8.6GHz. By cascading these two periods (i.e. a1 =7.5mm and a2 =10mm) into a
1-D multiperiod EBG structure, a much wider stopband bandwidth is expected. A 1-
D multiperiod EBG structure having these two periods was simulated and measured.
The fabrication process of creating a periodic pattern in a substrate is more
complicated than etching a periodic pattern on a ground plane. The process of
creating a periodic pattern on a substrate is shown in Figure 4-27. As the substrate
RT/Duroid 6010 was a dual sided copper laminate, a wet etching technique was first
applied to remove the copper on the substrate before creating the periodic circles.
The periodic circles were then created via machining the lattice circles through the
substrate by using a numerical milling machine. A copper plate with the dimensions
of the substrate was glued under the EBG substrate as the ground plane of the
structure. A strip line having a width of 0.6mm was cut from a 0.2mm thick copper
plate and was then glued on top of the multiperiod EBG substrate. With the presence
of the ground plane, the strip line corresponds to a 50Ω microstrip line. The
fabricated structure is shown in Figure 4-28 and its S21 was measured using a HP
8720ES network analyser.
Figure 4-27: Fabrication process of the multiperiod EBG substrate structure.
Figure 4-28: Photograph of the fabricated multiperiod EBG substrate fabricated.

The dimensions of this substrate are 101 x 15 mm.
Figure 4-29 shows that an ultra wide stopband has been achieved with this
proposed multiperiod EBG substrate structure. In the simulation, the 10dB
bandwidth has a frequency range starting from 7GHz and extending beyond 20GHz.
However, the measured 10dB bandwidth has a frequency range starting from
7.8GHz and extending beyond 20GHz. The slight discrepancies are mainly due to
imperfections during the fabrication process. Since the EBG structure is made by
three individual parts, the microstrip line on top of the EBG substrate may have been
misaligned from the centre of the periodic circles. Both simulations and
measurements have shown that there is at least an increase of 42% in the multiperiod
structure’s stopband bandwidth compared to the single period EBG structure with
period, a1 = 7.5mm. The number of cells has increased from 8 to 11 cells in the
multiperiod EBG structure in order to achieve deeper attenuation in the whole range
of the stopband.
-10
-20
S21, dB
-30
-40
-50
-60 Simulation
Measurement
-70
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Frequency, GHz
Figure 4-29: Simulated and measured S21 parameter for a multiperiod EBG
substrate circuit with periods, a1 = 7.5mm, a2 = 10mm.
4.5 Summary
The main reason for studying EBG structures in this thesis is their ability to
prevent the propagation of electromagnetic waves within a specified band of
frequencies. EBG structures can be used as a filter in a microstrip circuit whilst in
antenna applications it can suppress the surface waves on the ground plate.
The three main types of EBG structures: metallo-dielectric structure, uniplanar
compact PBG (UC-PBG) structure and square lattice of circles etched on the ground
plane are introduced in this chapter. The third type of EBG structure (i.e. square
lattice of circles etched in ground plane) has been selected for this study as it is the
simplest and most effective way.
A multiperiod EBG structure has been proposed for use in a 1-D, 2-D
microstrip circuit and antenna applications. This proposed structure shows that an
ultra wide stopband bandwidth can be achieved. A very good agreement between
simulated and measured results has been shown. The performance of a microstrip
patch antenna on a conventional ground plane, sandwiched single period EBG
ground plane and sandwiched multiperiod EBG ground plane have been studied. The
microstrip patch antenna on a sandwiched multiperiod EBG ground plane has
achieved the smallest amount of surface current spreading on the ground plane
compared to the to other two cases. A figure of merit, F=B/A is proposed in this
thesis to quantify the microstrip patch antenna’s performance in terms of bandwidth

and size.
The multiperiod pattern was drilled into the substrate instead of simply having
been etched on the ground plane. This method allows a wider stopband bandwidth to
be achieved compared to the first proposed design. However, the fabrication process
of machining periodic patterns in the substrate is complicated. This leads to a slight
increase in the discrepancies between the simulated and measured results.
It has been shown that the size of the proposed multiperiod EBG structures is
smaller than the conventional single period EBG structures. However, it is not
sufficiently compact to be used on a small mobile terminal. Hence, the proposed
multiperiod EBG structures are more suitable for use in base stations.
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[2] E. Yablonovitch, “Photonic Crystal: Semiconductor of light,” Scientific
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[3] J. Shumpert, T. Ellis, G. Rebeiz, and L. Katehi, “Microwave and millimeter-
wave propagation in photonic band-gap structure,” AP-S/URSI, pp. 678,
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[4] Y. Qian, V. Radisic, and T. Itoh, “Simulation and experiment of photonic
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(APMC’97) Dig., pp 585-588, Hong Kong, 1997.
[5] D. Sievenpiper, “High-Impedance electromagnetic surfaces,” Ph.D.
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[7] S. Rogers, J. Marsh, W. McKinzie, and J. Scott, “An AMC Based 802.11a/b
antenna for laptop computers,” Antennas and Propagation Society
International Symposium, 2003. IEEE, vol. 2, pp. 10-13, June 22-27, 2003.
[8] F. R. Yang, K. P. Ma, Y. Qian, and T. Itoh, “A uniplanar compact photonic-
bandgap (UC-PBG) structure and its applications for microwave circuits,”
IEEE Trans. On Microwave Theory and Techniques, vol. 47, no. 8, August
1999.
[9] I. J. Bahl, and P. Bhartia, Microwave Solid State Circuit Design, John Wiley,
New York, 1988.
[10] F. R. Yang, Y. Qian, T. Itoh, “A novel uniplanar compact PBG structure for
filter and mixer applications,” Microwave Symposium Digest, 1999 IEEE
MTT-S International , vol. 3, pp. 919- 922, 1999.
[11] R. Coccioli, F. R. Yang, K. P. Ma ,and T Itoh, “Aperture coupled patch
antenna on UC-PBG substrate,” IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory & Tech, vol.
47, no. 11, pp. 2123-2130, Nov. 1999.
[12] F. R. Yang, R. Coccioli, Y. Qian, and T. Itoh, “PBG assisted gain
enhancement of patch antennas on high-dielectric constant substrate,” IEEE
AP-S International Symp., pp. 1920-1923, June 1999.
[13] C. R. Simovski, and B. Sauviac, “Uniplanar PBG screens for forming antenna
patterns,” Electronic Letters, vol. 39, no. 9, pp. 707-708, May 2003.
[14] V. Radisic, Y. Qian, R. Coccioli, and T. Itoh, “Novel 2-D photonic band-gap
structure for microstrip lines,” IEEE Microwave guided Wave Lett., vol. 8,
no. 2, pp. 69-71, Feb 1998.
[15] F.R. Yang, Y. Qian, R. Coccioli, and T. Itoh, “Analysis and application of
photonic band-gap (PBG) structures for microwave circuits,”
Electromagnetics, vol. 19, pp. 241-254, 1999.
[16] T. Lopetegi, F. Falcone, B. Martinez, R. Gonzalo, and M. Sorolla, “Improved
2-D photonic bandgap structures in microstrip technology,” Microw. Opt.
Technol. Lett., vol. 22, pp. 207-211, 1999.
[17] T. Kim, and C. Seo, “A novel photonic bandgap structure for low-pass filter
of wider stopband,” IEEE Microw. Guid. Wave Lett., vol 10, no.1, pp. 13-15,
2000.
[18] Y. Horii, and M. Tsutsumi, “Suppression of the harmonic radiation from the
PBG microstrip antenna,” Microwave Conference, 1999 Asia Pacific, vol. 3,
pp. 724 – 727, 1999.
[19] Y. Horii, and M. Tsutsumi, “Harmonic control by photonic bandgap on
microstrip patch antenna,” IEEE Microw. Guid. Wave Lett., vol. 9, no. 1, pp
13-15, 1999.
[20] F. Zhu, S. He, Q. Lin, H. He, and Z. Ying, “Microstrip patch antenna with
PBG structure,” International Conference on Telecommunications, ICT 2002,
China, 2002.
[21] R. Coccioli, W. R. Deal, and T. Itoh, “Radiation characteristics of a patch
antenna on a thin PBG structure,” IEEE Antennas & Propag. International
Symposium, pp. 656-659, Atlanta, 1998.
[22] M. A. G. Laso, T. Lopetegi, M. J. Erro, D. Benito, M. J. Garde, and M.
Sorolla, “Novel wideband photonic bandgap microstrip structure,”
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components containing photonic bandgap structures using time domain fields
solvers,” Microwave Engineering, pp. 23-29, March 2002.
URL:www.mwee.com
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Photonic Bandgap Microstrip Structures,” Microwave and Optical Techn.
Letters, vol. 23, no. 4, pp. 233-236, Nov 1999.
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[26] I. Rumsey, M. Piket-May, and P. K. Kelly, “Photonic bandgap structures used
as filters in microstrip circuits,” IEEE Microw. Guid. Wave Lett., vol. 8, no.
10, pp. 336-338, 1998.
[27] H. D. Yang, N. G. Alexopoulos, E. Yablonovitch, “Photonic bang-gap
materials for high-gain printed circuit antennas,” IEEE Trans. Antennas
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[28] A. S. Andrenko, “Study and microwave applications of artificial periodic
substrate PBG planar circuits,” Mathematical Method in Electromagnetic
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Chapter 5: Diversity Antenna Array for MIMO Systems 84
Chapter 5 Diversity Antenna Array for

MIMO Systems
5.1 Introduction
In Chapter 3, the concept of designing small antennas on a mobile terminal

for MIMO systems has been addressed. It is noted that the folded loop antenna is a
self-balancing structure where no unbalanced current is introduced on the coaxial
feed lines. As such, this antenna is used to design the diversity antenna array for
MIMO systems in this thesis. The operating frequency selected for this project is
5.2GHz which corresponds to the IEEE802.11a WLAN (Wireless Local Area
Network) applications. In this chapter, the folded loop antennas is studied and
developed into dielectric loaded folded loop antennas. Later, a diversity antenna
array for Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) based on the dielectric loaded folded
loop antennas is studied numerically and experimentally.
5.2 Single Folded Loop Antenna
5.2.1 Single Folded Loop Antenna at 5.2GHz

Firstly, a folded loop antenna based on [1] is designed and optimised to
operate at 5.2GHz using the CST Microwave Studio® software package. The folded
loop antenna with a 50 Ω coaxial feed line on a ground plane is illustrated in Figure
5-1. The inner conductor of the coaxial feed line is connected to one of the folded
loop antenna’s arm whilst a shorting pin is connecting the other arm of the antenna
with the ground plane. The outer conductor of the coaxial feed line is attached to the
ground plane. The folded loop antenna is placed 1mm above the ground plane. The
dimensions of the folded loop antenna and the ground plane are detailed in Table 5-1.
The length of the antenna before both the arms are folded up is about half-
wavelength. When the arms are folded up (the antenna thereby becoming a folded
loop antenna), the length of the antenna is reduced to about a quarter-wavelength.
Figure 5-1: The schematic diagram of the folded loop antenna with a 50Ω coaxial
feed line on a ground plane.
Parameter Name Value(mm) Value (λ)

a 15.25 0.2643
d 0.50 0.0087
h 3.80 0.0659
s 3.50 0.0607
w1 1.00 0.0173
w2 4.00 0.0693
GL 60.00 1.0400
GW 15.25 0.2643
Table 5-1: The dimensions of the antenna and its ground plane.
It has been shown that when the width ratio w1:w2 of the element is varied,
the input impedance of a folded dipole changes [2]. This flexibility in controlling the
antenna input impedance is a very attractive feature of the folded loop antenna. This
means that the antenna can be matched with different feed lines by changing the
width ratio w1:w2. It is reported in [1] that the input impedance of the folded loop
antenna is in good match with the 50Ω coaxial feeding line when the width ratio
w1:w2 is 1:4, resulting in a maximum bandwidth.
Figure 5-2 shows the simulated return loss curves of the folded loop antenna
operating at 5.2GHz with different width ratios w1:w2 whilst w1 is kept constant at
1mm. The maximum bandwidth is achieved when the width ratio w1:w2 is 1:4.
Therefore, w2 = 4mm has been selected for this study.
0
w2=1
w2=2
-5 w2=3
w2=4
Return loss, dB
w2=5
w2=6
-10
w2=7
-15
-20
4.4 4.6 4.8 5.0 5.2 5.4 5.6 5.8 6.0
Frequency, GHz
Figure 5-2: Simulated return loss curves of the folded loop antenna operating at
5.2GHz with different w2 and constant w1=1mm.
A prototype of the simulated antenna model was fabricated as shown in

Figure 5-3. Initially, a loop antenna was cut from a copper sheet with a thickness of
0.2mm using a numerical milling machine. Then both arms of the loop antenna were
folded up to become a folded loop antenna. In the prototype, the antenna was fed by
a 50Ω coaxial feed line. The inner pin of the coaxial feed line was connected to one
of the antenna’s arm whilst a shorting pin was connecting another arm with the
ground plane and the outer conductor of the coaxial feed line. The SMA connector
was attached to the other end of the coaxial feed line for measurement.
The return loss of the prototype antenna was measured using a HP 8720ES
network analyser. The measured results are compared with the simulated results as
shown in Figure 5-4. From the simulation results, it can be seen that the antenna can
achieve a bandwidth (S11 < 10dB) of about 420MHz (5.05-5.47 GHz). However, the
measured bandwidth is only 300MHz (5.08-5.38 GHz). This discrepancy is mainly

due to the imperfection of the fabrication process. There is also a possible mismatch
between the coaxial feed line and the antenna due to imperfections resulting from the
soldering process.
SMA connector
Ground plane
Coaxial feed line

Folded loop antenna
Figure 5-3: Photograph of the prototype folded loop antenna operating at 5.2GHz.
-5
Return loss, dB
-10
-15
Measurement
Simulation
-20
4.4 4.6 4.8 5.0 5.2 5.4 5.6 5.8 6.0
Frequency, GHz
Figure 5-4: Simulated and measured return loss curves.
The radiation patterns of the prototype antenna were measured inside an

anechoic chamber with the transmitting field provided by a quad ridge horn with
dual-polarisation capability. Figure 5-5 and Figure 5-6 show the simulated and
measured radiation patterns of the antenna. Generally speaking, the co-polar

measured radiation patterns are in good agreement with the simulated patterns.
The radiation patterns in Figure 5-5 is plotted along the XZ-plane which
corresponds to the E-plane of the antenna. The radiation patterns are asymmetrical in
the positive and negative X-directions which is due to the unbalanced feed line being
used. The measured co-polar radiation pattern has a null at about 130º which does
not appear in the simulation. This null is caused by the long and bended coaxial feed
line being used in the measurement as shown in Figure 5-3. It is noted that the
agreement between the simulated and measured results for the cross-polar radiation
pattern is not as good as that for the co-polar radiation pattern. As the signal level for
the cross-polar pattern is 10dB lower than that for the co-polar pattern, the ripples
shown in the measured cross-polar patterns (which has not been predicted from the
simulation) is due to the interference/noise in the anechoic chamber.
Figure 5-6 shows the radiation patterns in the YZ-plane which corresponds to
the H-plane of the antenna; and an omni-directional pattern is achieved in both
measurement and simulation. The discrepancies on the cross-polar patterns between
measurement and simulation are mainly due to the long and bended coaxial feed line
as mentioned earlier.
The surface currents on the ground plane of the folded loop antenna with
balanced and unbalanced feeding lines are accessed numerically and compared. For
the folded loop antenna with balanced feeding lines, the coaxial cable in the
unbalanced model as shown in Figure 5-1 was replaced with a voltage source in the
simulation as shown in Figure 5-7. The distribution of surface currents for both cases
with balanced and unbalanced feeding structures is shown in Figure 5-8. It is noted
that the surface currents on both cases are confined to the area underneath the folded
loop antenna; there is little current flow to the other area of the ground plane. This
has further shown that the surface current generated by a folded loop antenna with an
unbalanced feed is not widely spread on its ground plane.
0
z
330 30
x
300 60
270 90
-40 -30 -20 -10 0
240 120
210 150
180
(a)
0
z
330 30
x
300 60
270 90
-40 -30 -20 -10 0
240 120
210 150
180
(b)
Figure 5-5: Simulated (+) and measured (–) radiation patterns on the X-Z plane for
(a) co-polar and (b) cross-polar.
0
z
330 30
y
300 60
270 90
-40 -30 -20 -10 0
240 120
210 150
180
(a)
0
z
330 30
y
300 60
270 90
-40 -30 -20 -10 0
240 120
210 150
180
(b)
Figure 5-6: Simulated (+) and measured (–) radiation patterns on the Y-Z plane for
(a) co-polar and (b) cross-polar.
(a)
Coaxial feed Shorting pin

line
(b)
Figure 5-7: Simulation model of the folded loop antenna for the (a) balanced feeding
technique and (b) unbalanced feeding technique.
Figure 5-8: Distribution of the surface currents on the ground plane for (a) balanced
feeding structure and (b) unbalanced feeding structure.
5.2.2 Single Dielectric Loaded Folded Loop Antenna at 5.2GHz

Inside a dielectric, the effective wavelength of an electromagnetic wave is
shorter than that in free space. Therefore, the folded loop antenna can be made
smaller in size by loading a dielectric slab inside the antenna as shown in Figure 5-9.
It is found that the folded loop antenna is not a planar structure after folding and
some foam is required inside the antenna to act as a mechanical support. Hence, as
well as reducing the antenna’s size, the dielectric slab also functions as a mechanical
support to the antenna. When mass produced, this antenna could be simply mask
metallised on the dielectric slab rather than folding up the metal sheet as in the
prototype antenna. This proposed antenna is termed as a dielectric loaded folded
loop antenna throughout the thesis.
However, the dielectric material tends to reduce the bandwidth of the
antennas. Hence, the effects of the dielectric material on the performance of the
folded loop antenna are investigated.
A dielectric loaded folded loop antenna with an unbalanced feeding line on a
ground plane shown in Figure 5-9(b) has been modelled and simulated according to
the parameters in Table 5-1. The effects of a dielectric slab on the antenna with
different relative permittivity, εr of 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 are investigated. Figure 5-10
shows the effect of the dielectric slab on the resonant frequency of the antennas.
When the relative permittivity is equal to 1, this means that there is no loading of
dielectric. It is shown that the resonant frequency of the antenna is reduced with the
increase of the relative permittivity values. This is because the effective wavelength
of the electromagnetic waves decreases with increasing values of relative
permittivity. The effect on the bandwidth of the antenna is plotted in Figure 5-11.
The bandwidth is reduced more significantly compared to the resonant frequency of
the antenna. When the relative permittivity is equal to 6, the bandwidth has been
reduced by 60% compared to when no dielectric is loaded inside the antennas. In
order to have a wider bandwidth, a dielectric slab only with a relative permittivity of
4 is selected in this thesis.
The return loss performance of the folded loop antenna with a dielectric slab
is compared to one without a dielectric slab. The results are plotted in Figure 5-12.
The resonant frequency of the dielectric loaded folded loop antenna decreased from
5.24GHz to 4.29GHz when the antenna is not loaded. Further, the -10dB bandwidth
has reduced from 8% (5.05GHz -5.47GHz) to 5.7% (4.18GHz – 4.424GHz).
Figure 5-9:Schematic diagram showing (a)the dielectric slab inserted into a folded
loop antenna and (b) the dielectric loaded folded loop antenna with unbalanced
feeding line on a ground plane.
6.0
5.5 5.24
Resonant requency, GHz
5.0 4.88
4.5 4.29
4.0 3.85
3.52
3.5 3.25
3.0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Relative permittivity, εr
Figure 5-10: Relation between the resonant frequency and relative permittivity.
450
425
400
350 325
Bandwidth, MHz
300
245
250
200 170
150 115
100 70
50
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Relative permittivity, εr
Figure 5-11: Relation between the bandwidth and relative permittivity.
-5
Return Loss, dB
-10
-15
-20 Folded loop antenna

Folded loop antenna
with dielectric loaded, er=4
-25
2.8 3.2 3.6 4.0 4.4 4.8 5.2 5.6 6.0
Frequency, GHz
Figure 5-12: Simulated return loss curves for the folded loop antenna with and
without the dielectric slab of relative permittivity, εr=4.
As the resonant frequency of the proposed dielectric loaded folded loop

antenna decreased to 4.29GHz, the antenna was redesigned and optimised to operate
at 5.2GHz. The optimised dimensions of the proposed antenna are summarised in
Table 2. It is noted that the size of the ground plane used in Section 5.2.1 would be
too small compared to the typical size of a handset. Hence, the size of the ground
plane for the proposed antenna is 100mm x 40mm which is closer to the typical size
of a handset.

a 13.40 0.2323
d 0.50 0.0087
h 3.00 0.0520
s 2.90 0.0503
w1 1.00 0.0173
w2 4.00 0.0693
GL 100.00 1.7333
GW 40.00 0.6933
Table 5-2: The optimised dimensions of the dielectric loaded folded loop antenna
and its ground plane at 5.2GHz. The dielectric slab has a relative permittivity of 4.
-5
Return loss, dB
-10
-15
-20
Folded loop antenna
Dielectric loaded folded loop antenna
-25
4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8
Frequency, GHz
Figure 5-13: Simulated return loss curves for the folded loop antenna and the
proposed dielectric loaded folded loop antenna, both antennas operating at 5.2GHz.
Figure 5-13 shows the return loss curve of the optimised dielectric loaded
folded loop antenna operating at 5.2GHz. The return loss performance of the
proposed antenna is compared to the performance of the original folded loop antenna
(also operating at 5.2GHz) from Section 5.2.1. It is shown in Figure 5-13 that the
bandwidth of the proposed antenna has reduced to 190MHz due to the dielectric
loading and the reduction of the antenna’s size. Despite this, the bandwidth of
190MHz still meets the required bandwidth of 120MHz for WLAN applications. On
the other hand, the volume of the original folded loop antenna studied in Section
5.2.1 has decreased by 30% due to the effect of dielectric loading.
5.3 Four-Element Diversity Antenna Design
In this section, a four-element diversity antenna array on a PDA has been

designed using the proposed dielectric loaded folded loop antennas. For simplicity, a
metal box with dimensions of 110.0mm x 75.0mm x 13.4mm was used to represent a
PDA. These dimensions are similar to the typical size of a PDA and have also been
used in industry development, e.g. Antenova Ltd U.K [3].
The proposed design involves four elements of dielectric loaded folded loop
antennas being located in the upper part of the PDA to avoid the antennas being
covered by the user’s hand. The performance of the antennas could be degraded if
they are covered by the user’s hand.
By placing four antennas on a PDA terminal, especially when only the upper
position of the terminal is considered, the diversity antenna array has to be carefully
designed to achieve low correlation between the antennas. As the dielectric loaded
folded loop antenna is a linearly polarised antenna, mutual coupling between the
antennas can be reduced by arranging the antennas orthogonally to each other.
Simultaneously, polarisation diversity could also be achieved.
The optimised design of the diversity antenna array on a PDA is shown in
Figure 5-14. Antenna 1 is located on top of the PDA, antennas 2 and 3 are placed at
the side of the PDA and finally antenna 4 is placed on the back of the PDA.
The distance between antennas 2 and 3 is approximately 75mm which
corresponds to 1.3λ at 5.2GHz. The spacing of 1.3λ is sufficiently far apart to
achieve high isolation between antennas 2 and 3. Further, the boresight of the
antennas are opposing each other in the x-direction; hence they tend to pick up
signals received from different directions leading to strong pattern diversity.
Therefore, low correlation can be achieved between antennas 2 and 3 as they are
spatially apart and are positioned opposite from each other.
Antennas 1 and 4 are placed between antennas 2 and 3 as shown in Figure
5-14. Antennas 1 and 4 are arranged in a way that they are orthogonally polarised to
any other antenna resulting in polarisation diversity. The distance between antennas
1 and 4 in the z-direction is 26.75mm which corresponds to 0.46λ. As the distance
between antennas 1 and 4 is approximately half-wavelength and the antennas are
arranged orthogonally polarised to each other, low correlation between the antennas
is expected.
The prototype of the proposed diversity antenna array shown in Figure 5-15
was made in the QMUL Antenna Laboratory. The metal box was constructed from a
copper sheet with a thickness of 0.3mm. 50Ω semi-rigid coaxial cables are used to
feed the antennas. It is noted that it is relatively difficult to make the dielectric
loaded folded loop antenna in the QMUL laboratory. Hence, every antenna made is
not perfectly identical.
(a)
(b)
Figure 5-14: Schematic diagram of four-element diversity antenna array on a PDA
in (a) X-Z plane and (b) 3-D view.
z
75 mm
x
y
110 mm
(a) (b)
Figure 5-15: Photographs of the prototype diversity antenna array on a PDA

terminal. (a) Front view of the PDA and (b) the feeding structures behind the PDA.
5.3.1 Return loss and isolation performances

The simulated and measured return loss performances of each antenna (from
the proposed four-element diversity antenna array on a PDA) are compared as shown
in Figure 5-16.
It is noted that the return loss curves are slightly different for each antenna.
This is due to the different size of the ground plane as each antenna is located at
different locations on the PDA. The ground plane of antennas 2 and 3 is similar in
size hence they should have the same return loss performance as predicted from the
simulations. However, the measured results show that there are discrepancies
between antennas 2 and 3 due to the fabrication imperfection of the antennas.
The measurements show that antenna 1 (which is positioned on top of the
PDA) has a -10dB bandwidth of approximately 200MHz whilst the other antennas
have a bandwidth of approximately 300MHz. This is probably due to the width of
the ground plane for antenna 1 being equal to the length (i.e. parameter a) of the
antenna element as shown in Figure 5-14(b). Generally speaking, all the antennas
have achieved enough bandwidth to meet the 120MHz bandwidth requirement of the
IEEE 802.11a wireless applications.
-5
-10
Return loss, dB
-15
-20
S11
-25 S22
S33
S44
-30
4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8
Frequency, GHz
(a)
-5
-10
Return loss, dB
-15
-20
S11
-25 S22
S33
S44
-30
4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8
Frequency, GHz
(b)
Figure 5-16: Return loss curves from the (a) simulated and (b) measurement results.
Figure 5-17 shows the isolation between each pair of antennas obtained from
the simulations and measurements. Isolation of more than 20dB for each pair of
antennas has been achieved. In other words, mutual coupling is very low between the
antennas therefore the resonant frequencies of each antenna is not detuned
significantly as shown in Figure 5-16. Therefore, a low correlation between the
antennas could be realised and would lead to good diversity gain.
0
S12
-5 S13
-10 S14
S23
-15
S24
Isolation, dB
-20 S34
-25
-30
-35
-40
-45
-50
4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8
Frequency, GHz
(a)
0
S12
-5 S13
-10 S14
S23
-15
S24
Isolation, dB
-20 S34
-25
-30
-35
-40
-45
-50
4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8
Frequency, GHz
(b)
Figure 5-17: Isolation between each pair of antennas on the diversity antenna array
from the (a) simulated and (b) measured models.
5.3.2 Radiation patterns

The radiation patterns of the prototype diversity antenna array on a PDA were
measured in an anechoic chamber in QMUL Antenna Measurement Laboratory. The
simulated and measured results are compared and detailed in this section.
The E-plane of each antenna in the Cartesian co-ordinate system is
summarised in Table 5-3. In Figure 5-18 and Figure 5-19, the radiation patterns of
each antenna are plotted with respect to their own E-plane. There is a very good
agreement between the simulated and measured radiation patterns. It is noted in
Figure 5-18 that the back-lobe of the radiation patterns for each antenna is
approximately 10dB less than the peak in the front-lobe (i.e. radiation above the
ground plane of each antenna). This is due to the ground plane of each antenna
operating as a reflector thereby reducing the back-lobe radiation (i.e. radiation
behind the ground plane of each antenna). Figure 5-19 shows the E-plane cross-polar
radiation patterns of each antenna on the PDA. It is found that the cross polarisation
is less than -15dB in most angles.
The H-plane radiation patterns of the antennas on the PDA were also
measured and compared with the simulated results, as shown in Figure 5-20 and
Figure 5-21. The H-plane of each antenna on the PDA in the Cartesian co-ordinate
system is summarised in Table 5-4. Generally speaking, the simulated and measured
results agree very well to each other with respect to the H-plane radiation patterns. It
is noted that the cross-polar patterns are quite strong in the H-planes. However, the
peak in the front-lobe of the co-polar radiation patterns is still 10dB stronger than the
cross-polar patterns.
Antenna E-field plane

1 y-z plane
2 x-z plane
3 x-z plane
4 x-y plane
Table 5-3: The E- plane of each antenna on the PDA in the Cartesian co-ordinate
system.
Antenna H-field plane

1 x-z plane
2 x-y plane
3 x-y plane
4 y-z plane
Table 5-4: The H- plane of each antenna on the PDA in the Cartesian co-ordinate
system.
The radiation patterns are not symmetrical due to the imbalanced feeding
lines used in the design. It is noted that the radiation patterns of each antenna has its
boresight at different directions. Hence, the RF signals received at the PDA terminal
from different angles/directions after experiencing multipath propagation will be
received by a different antenna element. There is a very rare chance that all the
received signals will be in a deep null at the same time. As a result, the combined
signal would have a higher mean SNR at the output compared to a single antenna
receiver.
0 0
330 30 330 30
300 60 300 60
270 90 270 90
-40 -30 -20 -10 0 -40 -30 -20 -10 0
240 120 240 120
210 150 210 150

180 180
0 0
330 30 330 30
300 60 300 60
270 90 270 90
-40 -30 -20 -10 0 -40 -30 -20 -10 0
240 120 240 120
210 150 210 150

180 180
Figure 5-18: Simulated (+) and measured (─) E-plane co-polar radiation patterns of
each antenna with respect to their individual E-field polarisation plane.
z z
0 0
330 30 330 30
y x
300 60 300 60
270 90 270 90
-40 -30 -20 -10 0 -40 -30 -20 -10 0
240 120 240 120
210 150 210 150

180 180
Antenna 1 Antenna 2
1
2 4 3
z
x
y
z y
0 0
330 30 330 30
x x
300 60 300 60
270 90 270 90
-40 -30 -20 -10 0 -40 -30 -20 -10 0
240 120 240 120
210 150 210 150

180 180
Antenna 3 Antenna 4
Figure 5-19: Simulated (+) and measured (─) E-plane cross-polar radiation
patterns of each antenna with respect to their individual E-field polarisation plane.
z y
0 0
330 30 330 30
x x
300 60 300 60
270 90 270 90
-40 -30 -20 -10 0 -40 -30 -20 -10 0
240 120 240 120
210 150 210 150

180 180
Antenna 1 Antenna 2
1
2 4 3
z
x
y
y y
0 0
330 30 330 30
x z
300 60 300 60
270 90 270 90
-40 -30 -20 -10 0 -40 -30 -20 -10 0
240 120 240 120
210 150 210 150

180 180
Antenna 3 Antenna 4
Figure 5-20: Simulated (+) and measured (─) H-plane co-polar radiation patterns
of each antenna with respect to their individual H-field polarisation plane.
0 0
330 30 330 30
300 60 300 60
270 90 270 90
-40 -30 -20 -10 0 -40 -30 -20 -10 0
240 120 240 120
210 150 210 150

180 180
0 0
330 30 330 30
300 60 300 60
270 90 270 90
-40 -30 -20 -10 0 -40 -30 -20 -10 0
240 120 240 120
210 150 210 150

180 180
Figure 5-21: Simulated (+) and measured (─) H-plane cross-polar radiation
patterns of each antenna with respect to their individual H-field polarisation plane.
5.4 Diversity Performance of the Four-element Diversity

Antenna Array
The diversity performance of the proposed four-element diversity antenna

array on a PDA is studied in this section. The diversity performance has been
evaluated by calculating the correlation, mean effective gain (MEG) and diversity
gain of the antennas.
5.4.1 Correlation and MEG

3-D radiation patterns are required to evaluate the correlation using equation
(2.9). As there is a lack of facility to conduct the measurement of 3-D radiation
patterns at QMUL, only simulated results have been used. The results from the
simulations conducted so far have agreed very well with the measured results;
therefore it is reliable to use the simulated 3-D radiation patterns to evaluate the
diversity performance of the antennas. The simulated 3-D radiation patterns have
been obtained with 5º step elevation cuts while the PDA is positioned vertically in
free space.
The correlations for each pair of antennas on the PDA are evaluated using
equation (2.9) and the results are summarised in Table 5-5. The impact of the
outdoor and indoor environments on the envelope correlation has been evaluated
using two different statistical models as discussed in Chapter 2 (i.e. Gaussian and
Laplacian distribution). Table 5-5 shows that the envelope correlation of less than
0.1 (as evaluated by two different statistical models) has been achieved for each pair
of antennas, in both the outdoor and indoor environments. It is noted that there is not
much difference between the correlation values when evaluated by the two statistical
models. The results from Table 5-5 show that different values of correlation are
obtained in the different environments for the same pair of antennas.
The MEG of each antenna within the different environments is evaluated
from the 3-D gain patterns using equation (2.18) and the results are tabulated in
Table 5-6. For the same antenna in the same environment, the MEG value for the
Gaussian and Laplacian statistical models vary less than 0.1dB. However, the MEG
of each antenna within the different environments can vary up to 1.5dB. In the
outdoor environment, the MEG for different antennas can vary up to 2.5dB. On the
other hand, the MEG for different antennas has a difference of less than 1dB in the
indoor environment.
Propagation Envelope correlation, ρe

Model
ρe12 ρe13 ρe14 ρe23 ρe24 ρe34
Laplacian Gaussian
Outdoor 0.0444 0.0378 0.0092 0.0597 0.0015 0.0122
Indoor 0.0102 0.0063 0.0040 0.0021 0.0020 0.0077
Outdoor 0.0458 0.0400 0.0151 0.0800 0.0014 0.0128
Indoor 0.0163 0.0112 0.0006 0.0013 0.0046 0.0097

Table 5-5: Summary of the envelope correlation from the diversity antenna array on
the PDA terminal. ρenm representing the envelope correlation between antennas n
and m.
Propagation MEG/dB
Model Antenna 1 Antenna 2 Antenna 3 Antenna 4
Gaussian
Outdoor -2.1434 -3.1915 -3.1771 -4.7733
Indoor -2.7694 -3.1326 -3.1420 -3.1108

Laplacian
Outdoor -2.1056 -3.2365 -3.2197 -4.7178
Indoor -2.7527 -2.9759 -2.9817 -3.0172
Table 5-6: Summary of the MEG for each antenna from the diversity antenna array
on the PDA terminal.
Equation (2.14) shows that zero correlation will lead to a maximum diversity
gain. Therefore, minimum correlation is desired to achieve a maximum diversity
gain. In the proposed diversity array antenna, a very low correlation (i.e. less than
0.1) for each pair of antennas was obtained in both indoor and outdoor environments
using different statistical models. These low correlation values will result in high
diversity gains. The ratio of the MEG (i.e. branch power ratios) between each pair of
antennas also contributes to the diversity gain as shown in equations (2.16) and
(2.17). A maximum diversity gain will be achieved when the branch power ratios for
each pair of antennas is one. Table 5-6 shows that in the indoor environment, all the
antennas have very similar MEG values, which is ideal to achieve a high diversity
gain. Both the effects of correlation and MEG on diversity gain are elaborated in the
next section.
5.4.2 Diversity Gain

After assessing the correlation and MEG results, the diversity gain of the
proposed four-element diversity antenna array on the PDA can be evaluated. The
selection combiner diversity gain results are shown in Table 5-7. The diversity gain
results have included the degradation factor (DF) from equation (2.14) due to the
correlation and the branch power ratio (k) from equation (2.17).
In an ideal 4-branch selection combiner, the diversity gain at 99% reliability
is 15dB as shown in Figure 2-12. Table 5-7 shows that the diversity gains of the
proposed four-element diversity antenna array are less than 15dB. As the correlation
is less than 0.1 in all cases as shown in Table 5-5, the degradation in the diversity
gain is mainly due to unequal mean branch power. The branch power ratio (k) is
higher in an outdoor environment compared to an indoor environment as the XPR is
higher (i.e. XPR = 5dB for outdoors and XPR = 1dB for indoors). Therefore, the
lowest diversity gain obtained is around 5dB less than the maximum possible
diversity of 15dB. The best diversity gain performance is achieved in an indoor
environment with only around 0.8dB less than the maximum value.
Degradation
Propagation Model k/dB Diversity Gain/dB
Factor, DF/dB
Gaussian
Outdoor -0.20 -4.71 10.09
Indoor -0.04 -1.08 13.88

Laplacian
Outdoor -0.22 -4.86 9.92
Indoor -0.06 -0.72 14.22

Table 5-7: Comparison of selection combiner diversity gain performance at 99%
reliability in different environments and using different statistical models.
5.4.3 Effect of cross polar ratio (XPR)

In the above studies, XPR = 5dB and XPR = 1dB have been assumed for the
outdoor and indoor environments respectively. The XPR could vary from -10dB to
10dB in different fading environments [4]. Figure 5-22 to Figure 5-25 show a
comparison of MEG with varying XPR in different environments.
When the XPR is higher than 0dB, the average vertical power of the RF
signals is stronger than the average horizontal power and vice versa. The comparison
results show that Antennas 1-3 are dominant to vertical polarisation due to their
arrangement on the PDA terminal. Antennas 2 and 3 have the same performance as
they are arranged in a similar way but just facing away from each other on the PDA
terminal. Antenna 4 is arranged orthogonal to Antennas 2 and 3; therefore, the MEG
results show that antenna 4 is dominant to horizontal polarised signals as predicted.
All antennas have similar MEG values when the XPR is around 1dB especially
within an indoor environment. The further the XPR values are away from 1dB, the
larger the branch power ratio which will lead to a greater degradation in diversity
gain.
0
-1
-2
-3
MEG,dB
-4
-5
Antenna 1
-6
Antenna 2
-7 Antenna 3
Antenna 4
-8
-10 -9 -8 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
XPR,dB

using the Gaussian statistical model.
0
-1
-2
-3
MEG,dB
-4
-5
Antenna 1
-6
Antenna 2
-7 Antenna 3
Antenna 4
-8
-10 -9 -8 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
XPR,dB
the Gaussian statistical model.
0
-1
-2
-3
MEG,dB
-4
-5
Antenna 1
-6
Antenna 2
-7 Antenna 3
Antenna 4
-8
-10 -9 -8 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
XPR,dB
using the Laplacian statistical model.
0
-1
-2
-3
MEG,dB
-4
-5
Antenna 1
-6
Antenna 2
-7 Antenna 3
Antenna 4
-8
-10 -9 -8 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
XPR,dB
the Laplacian statistical model.
5.5 Channel Capacity
After evaluating the diversity performance, the channel capacity of a MIMO

system using the proposed diversity antenna array is also assessed. Wireless InSite
[5], a ray tracing (RT) simulation tool is used in this thesis to construct realistic
realisations of the channel matrix H in an indoor wireless environment. The indoor
wireless environment model used in this thesis is the second floor in the Department
of Electronic Engineering at QMUL as shown in Figure 5-26. The indoor
environment model consists of wooded doors, glass windows and concrete walls.
The base station (transmitter) consists of four ideal dipoles (with half-wavelength
spacing) placed on the ceiling of the corridor outside Room A as shown in Figure
5-26. The transmit power level from the transmitter is 20dBm and the bandwidth is
20MHz. The receivers are clustered randomly in 1000 positions near the desktop
height in Rooms A and B. This propagation model has been verified with the IEEE
802.11 MIMO model [6] using a uniform linear array (ULA) of four ideal dipoles at
both the transmitter and receiver for a 4 X 4 set up [7].
In this thesis, the receivers are the proposed four-element diversity antenna
array on the PDA terminal. The 3-D simulated radiation patterns of the antennas
obtained from the CST Microwave Studio® were used as the receivers in the indoor
propagation model in the Wireless InSite.
16 meters
Figure 5-26: Floor plan of the second floor of the Department of Electronic
Engineering at QMUL. The receivers are located randomly at 1000 positions in
Rooms A and B.
Figure 5-27: 3-D floor plan of the second floor of the Department of Electronic
Engineering at QMUL. The red dots show the random positioning of the receivers.
Figure 5-28 and Figure 5-29 show the simulated rays arriving at the receivers
in Rooms A and B. For clarity, only a few ray paths are drawn in Figure 5-29. It is
shown that the signals launched from the transmitter are reflected off and/or
transmitted through obstacles before reaching the receivers. The information of each
path i.e. the time delay, the length of the path and the received power at the receiver,
are obtained from the Wireless Insite simulation. The channel response is modelled
as the vector sum of all the rays arriving at the receivers which can be computed by
the following equation [8]:
M
hij = ∑ Pk ⋅ e ( ) k ⋅ e j 2π foτ k
j 2π / λ l
(5.1)
k =1
where M is the number of rays, fo is the carrier frequency, Pk is the received power, lk
is the length of the kth ray and τk is the time delay of the kth ray. The channel matrix H
is computed using equation (5.1) where Pk, lk, and τk are obtained from the Wireless
InSite simulation. After obtaining the channel matrix H of the indoor environment,
the eigenvalues from the channel matrix H is evaluated mathematically by the
singular value decomposition (SVD) method and the channel capacity is then
computed using equation (2.4).
Figure 5-28: Full propagation paths shown in a 3-D floor plan of the Department of
Electronic Engineering at QMUL.
(a)
(b)
Figure 5-29: Rays arriving at receivers in (a) Room A and (b) Room B are reflected
off and/or transmitted through obstacles.
35
4 ideal dipoles in Room A
30 Room A
Room B
SISO
25
Capacity, bits/s/Hz
20
15
10
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
SNR, dB
Figure 5-30: Channel capacity performance of the proposed diversity antenna array
in Room A and Room B compared to 4 ideal dipoles in Room A and within a SISO
system.
Figure 5-30 shows the MIMO channel capacity obtained from the realistic
propagation environments (i.e. Room A and Room B) with the proposed diversity
antenna array on the PDA as the receivers. The channel capacity results from Rooms
A and B are compared to that within the SISO system which consists of only a single
dipole at both the transmitter and receiver. When SNR = 20dB, the channel capacity
increased from 7bps/Hz in the SISO system to 18bps/Hz in the MIMO system in
both Room A and Room B using the proposed diversity antenna array, as shown in
Figure 5-30. It is also noted that the channel capacity performances at Rooms A and
B are similar despite the different sizes of the rooms. A 4 x 4 MIMO system with
ULA of ideal dipoles at the receiver is also compared in Figure 5-30. In the ULA
ideal dipoles model, the mutual coupling and PDA case effects had not been taken
into consideration. It is shown that the channel capacity is slightly smaller in the
proposed diversity antenna array when the mutual coupling and case effects are
taken into consideration. However, the difference is not significantly large.
5.6 Dielectric Loaded Folded Half-loop Antenna
In the Sections 5.3 to 5.5, the proposed dielectric loaded folded loop antenna
has been used to develop a four-element diversity antenna array on a PDA terminal
for MIMO systems. However, the dielectric loaded folded loop antenna may be too
large to be placed inside a mobile handset or Personal Computer Memory Card
International Association (PCMIA) card if four elements are needed. Therefore, the
dielectric loaded folded loop antenna is further studied in this section for the purpose
of size reduction.
5.6.1 Design Concept

In general, a quarter-wavelength monopole is about half the size of a half-
wavelength dipole. The size reduction of a monopole is due to the image effect from
the ground plane of the monopole as shown in Figure 3-2. In this section, the size of
the dielectric loaded folded loop antenna is further reduced using the same principle
as that used in a monopole. Figure 5-31 shows that the size of a dielectric loaded
folded loop antenna has been reduced by replacing one side of the antenna with a
copper plate. It is noted that the copper plate acts as an electric wall or image to
reduce the antenna size by half. Therefore, the new proposed antenna is termed the
‘dielectric loaded folded half-loop antenna’.
The copper plate on the dielectric loaded folded half-loop antenna has been
designed to have the same size as the dielectric slab’s side wall. Therefore, the width
and height of the antenna remain unchanged when the copper plate is introduced.
The antenna is placed 1mm above a ground plane with dimensions of GW = 40mm x
GL = 100mm. The antenna is fed by a 50Ω coaxial cable with the inner conductor of
the coaxial cable directly connected to the folded arm whereby the copper plate is
shorted to the ground plane through a shorting pin as shown in Figure 5-32. The
optimised dimensions of the antenna operating at 5.2GHz are detailed in Table 5-8.
The width ratio w1:w2 of the antenna is fixed at 1:4, similar to that of the dielectric
loaded folded loop antenna. It is noted that the length of the dielectric loaded folded
half-loop antenna, a is only 7.85mm (i.e. ≈ 1/8 of wavelength) compared to the
length of the dielectric loaded folded loop antenna which is about a quarter-
wavelength.
The experimental antenna was constructed from a copper sheet with a
thickness of 0.2mm using a numerical milling machine. The copper plate was folded
up to become a folded half-loop antenna as shown in Figure 5-33. A dielectric slab
with relative permittivity, εr of 4 is then inserted into the folded half-loop antenna to
form a dielectric loaded folded half-loop antenna. Figure 5-34 shows a prototype of
the proposed dielectric loaded folded half-loop antenna fabricated at QMUL.
Dielectric Slab
Copper Plate
1 1
4 8
Dielectric loaded folded Dielectric loaded folded
loop antenna half-loop antenna
(a) (b)
Figure 5-31: A dielectric loaded folded loop antenna is reduced in size to form a
dielectric loaded folded half-loop antenna.
Figure 5-32: Schematic diagram of a dielectric loaded folded half-loop antenna and
the antenna configuration on a ground plane with the feed location.

a 7.85 0.1361
d 0.50 0.0087
h 3.50 0.0607
s 2.00 0.0347
w1 1.00 0.0173
w2 4.00 0.0693
GL 100.00 1.7333
GW 40.00 0.6933
Table 5-8: The optimised dimensions of the dielectric loaded folded half-loop
antenna and its ground plane at 5.2GHz. The dielectric slab has a relative
permittivity of 4.
Figure 5-33: Structure of a folded half-loop antenna constructed from a flat copper
plate.
Figure 5-34: Photograph of the fabricated dielectric loaded folded half-loop

antenna with a ground plane size of 40mm x 100mm.
5.6.2 Return loss performance

The return loss of the proposed antenna was measured using a HP8720ES
network analyser at QMUL. The measured result is compared with the simulated
result as shown in Figure 5-35. The measured return loss shows that the proposed
antenna has a -10dB bandwidth of more than 200MHz with a center frequency of
around 5.2GHz to cover the IEEE802.11a band. However, the antenna element is
found to be very small in size, hence, imperfection during the fabrication process has
caused a slight shifting of the resonant frequency and a reduction in the bandwidth
compared to the simulated result as shown in Figure 5-35.
-5
Return loss, dB
-10
-15
Measurement
Simulation
-20
4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8
Frequency, GHz
Figure 5-35: Measured and simulated return loss of the dielectric loaded folded
half-loop antenna.
5.6.3 Radiation patterns and gain

The radiation patterns of the dielectric loaded folded half-loop antenna were
measured inside an anechoic chamber with the transmitting field provided by a quad
ridge horn with dual-polarisation capability. Figure 5-36 and Figure 5-37 show the
simulated and measured co-polar and cross-polar radiation patterns of the antenna.
Generally speaking, the measured radiation patterns are in good agreement with the
simulated results. The small discrepancy at the back lobe of the radiation patterns is
due to the presence of a long coaxial cable being used to feed the antenna from
behind the ground plane.
The radiation patterns are plotted along the XZ-plane and YZ-plane as shown
in Figure 5-36 and Figure 5-37. It is noted in Figure 5-36 that the co-polar radiation
patterns are not symmetrical as the antenna is not symmetrical from the feed point.
The front to back ratio of the radiation patterns is about 10dB in the co-polar patterns.
Further, the radiation patterns show that the proposed antenna has stronger radiation
intensity in the positive Z-direction. This indicates that the ground plane is behaving
like a reflector rather than a radiator.
Figure 5-37 shows the measured and simulated cross-polar patterns of the
antenna in both the XZ-plane and the YZ-plane. It is noted that the proposed antenna
can achieve cross-polar patterns of -10dB or lower in most directions, so the antenna
remains a linear polarisation structure.
The antenna gain of the antenna was measured inside the anechoic chamber.
The measured maximum gain of the antenna at 5.2GHz is 2dBi.
0 0
330 30 330 30
300 60 300 60
270 90 270 90
-40 -30 -20 -10 0 -40 -30 -20 -10 0
240 120 240 120
210 150 210 150

180 180
(a) (b)
Figure 5-36: Simulated (+) and measured (-) co-polar radiation patterns at 5.2GHz
for (a) E-plane and (b) H-plane.
0 0
330 30 330 30
300 60 300 60
270 90 270 90
-40 -30 -20 -10 0 -40 -30 -20 -10 0
240 120 240 120
210 150 210 150

180 180
(a) (b)
Figure 5-37: Simulated (+) and measured (-) cross-polar radiation patterns at
5.2GHz for (a) E-plane and (b) H-plane.
5.6.4 Effect of the ground plane

It is known that the characteristic of a conventional PIFA strongly depends on
the ground plane size as the ground plane is used as part of the radiator [9], [10].
Hence, usually the PIFA has to be redesigned when the size of the ground plane is
changed. It has been shown in Section 5.2 that the ground plane for the folded loop
antenna is behaving more like a reflector rather than a radiator. Therefore, the
surface current on the ground plane is mostly confined in the area underneath the
antenna. In this section, the study of ground plane effects on the proposed dielectric
loaded folded half-loop antenna is conducted.
5.6.4.1 Effect on the size of the ground plane

The proposed antenna is firstly fixed at the location as shown in Figure 5-32.
The ground plane width, GW is fixed at 40mm whilst the ground plane length, GL is
changed from 20 to 100mm with a 10mm interval. Figure 5-38 plots the changes of
the center frequency and the -10dB bandwidth with the changes of the GL. The
minimum and maximum of the vertical bars show the lower and upper frequencies of
the -10dB bandwidth respectively. The bandwidth is not greatly affected when the
ground plane length GL is changed. The center frequency of the proposed antenna is
also very stable from GL = 40mm to 100mm as shown in Figure 5-38. There is only
less than a 100MHz shift of center frequency and bandwidth when the GL is 20mm.
Figure 5-39 shows the changes of the centre frequency and bandwidth when
the ground plane width, GW is varied from 20mm to 40mm whilst the ground plane
length, GL is fixed at 100mm. It is noted that the ground plane width, GW can be
reduced from 40mm to 30mm without a significant shift in the center frequency and
reduction in the bandwidth performance. The bandwidth becomes about 100MHz
narrower and the center frequency shifts approximately 50MHz when GW is reduced
to 25mm. At GW = 20 mm, the bandwidth reduces significantly compared to GW =
40mm. However, practically the ground plane width (GW) of 40mm is sufficiently
small for a handset. A ground plane width that is smaller than 30mm will not be
practical for a current handset. This study has shown that the proposed antenna does
not require a new design when the size of the ground plane is changed.
5.40
5.35
5.30
Frequency, GHz
5.25
5.20
5.15
5.10
5.05
5.00
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Ground plane length (GL), mm
Figure 5-38: Center frequency (▲) and the -10dB bandwidth for the different
ground plane lengths, GL.
5.40
5.35
5.30
Frequency, GHz
5.25
5.20
5.15
5.10
5.05
5.00
15 20 25 30 35 40 45
Ground plane width (GW), mm
Figure 5-39: Center frequency (▲) and the -10dB bandwidth for the different
ground plane widths, GW.
5.6.4.2 Effect of the antenna’s location on the ground plane

After studying the effect of the ground plane size, the performance of the
antenna at different locations on the ground plane is studied in this section. The
ground plane size is fixed at GL = 100mm x GW = 40mm in this study. The location
of the antenna on the ground plane in x-y coordinate system is shown in Figure 5-42.
The origin of the coordinate system is 3.5mm away in y-direction from the top edge
of the ground plane as shown in Figure 5-42.
Figure 5-40: Location of the antenna on the ground plane in x-y direction. The
antenna’s feed location is at x=0 and y=20mm.
In the first study, the antenna is moved along the ground plane width in the x-
direction whilst keeping y = 0. Figure 5-41 shows that the center frequency does not
change much when the antenna is moved from x = 2mm to 30mm along the ground
plane width. However, the optimal bandwidth is achieved and stays almost constant
when the antenna is placed around the center of the ground plane width (e.g. from x
= 14mm to x = 20mm). The antenna’s -10dB bandwidth reduces to zero when it is
moved further away from the center of the ground plane, i.e. x ≤ 8mm.
Figure 5-42 demonstrates the performance of the antenna when the antenna’s
feed location is moved along the ground plane length in the y-direction from y = 0 to
80mm whilst x = 20mm. The center frequency is quite stable when the antenna is
moved along the ground plane length and the bandwidth does not change much as
well. It is noted that the antenna’s performance is affected more when it is moving
along the ground plane width as the antenna is polarised in the direction parallel to
ground plane width.
5.40
5.35
5.30
Frequency, GHz
5.25
5.20
5.15
5.10
5.05
5.00
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32
Location in x-direction, mm
at different locations in x-direction when y=0. At y=0, the antenna’s feed point is
placed 3.5mm away from the top edge of the ground plane.
5.40
5.35
5.30
Frequency, GHz
5.25
5.20
5.15
5.10
5.05
5.00
-10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Location in y-direction, mm
at different locations in y-direction when x=20. At y=0, the antenna’s feed point is
placed 3.5mm away from the top edge of the ground plane.
5.6.5 Four elements of Dielectric Loaded Folded Half-loop Antennas

on a PDA
Four elements of the dielectric loaded folded half-loop antennas on a PDA
terminal were modelled and simulated as shown in Figure 5-43. The dimensions of
the PDA terminal are 110.0mm x 75.0mm x 13.4mm, which have the same
dimensions as the PDA terminal used in Section 5.3. The antennas are also placed at
the same locations as the proposed four-element diversity antenna array in Section
5.3. All four elements of the dielectric loaded folded half-loop antennas have the
same dimensions as summarised in Table 5-8.
(a)
(b)
Figure 5-43: Schematic diagram of four elements of the dielectric loaded folded
half-loop antennas on a PDA in (a) x-z plane and (b) 3D view.
Figure 5-44 shows the simulated return loss results for each antenna on a
PDA. It is noted that Antenna 1 is detuned and no longer has a -10dB bandwidth.
The resonant frequency of Antennas 2 and 3 is detuned to approximately 5.1GHz
with a -10dB bandwidth of 130MHz. The exception is Antenna 4 which is still
performing well at a resonant frequency of 5.2GHz due to its large ground plane. In
Section 5.6.4, the resonant frequency and bandwidth of a dielectric loaded folded
half-loop antenna is shown to decrease when either the ground plane size is reduced
or the antenna is moved closer to the edge of the ground plane. Therefore, Antenna 1
(which has the narrowest ground plane width) has the worst performance amongst
the antennas on the PDA terminal.
Figure 5-45 shows that there are more surface currents on the ground plane of
the dielectric loaded folded half-loop antenna compared to the surface currents on
the ground plane of the dielectric loaded folded loop antenna as studied in Section
5.2.2 . This is because the dielectric loaded folded half-loop antenna is not a self-
balanced antenna, due to one of the dielectric loaded folded loop antenna’s arms
being replaced by a copper plate. When the size of a dielectric loaded folded half-
loop antenna’s ground plane is significantly reduced, the surface currents on the
ground plane are disturbed which will change the antenna’s resonant frequency.
Therefore, the dielectric loaded folded half-loop antenna does not perform well on
the edge of the PDA where the width of the ground plane is very narrow. Hence, the
dielectric loaded folded half-loop antennas are only suitable to be placed on the back
of a PDA terminal and not ideal to be used as MIMO array elements in the
configuration as shown in Figure 5-43.
0
-2
-4
-6
Return loss, dB
-8
-10
-12
-14
S11
-16 S22
-18 S33
S44
-20
4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8
Frequency, GHz
Figure 5-44: Simulated return loss curves of each dielectric loaded folded half-loop
antenna on a PDA.
Figure 5-45: Computed surface currents on the ground plane of (a) dielectric loaded
folded loop antenna and (b) dielectric loaded folded half-loop antenna at 5.2GHz.
5.7 Summary
A new type of antenna – dielectric loaded folded loop antenna has been
developed for the MIMO system. The carrier frequency chosen for this study is
5.2GHz as used by the IEEE802.11a WLAN system. It is found that the dielectric
loaded folded loop antenna is a self-balanced antenna which generates only small
amounts of surface currents on the ground plane.
Four dielectric loaded folded loop antennas arranged orthogonally to each
other have been used to design a diversity antenna array on a PDA terminal. With
such an arrangement, the isolations of more than 20dB for each pair of antennas have
been achieved from the measurements. Also, all the antennas have a bandwidth of
more than 120MHz to meet the requirement of the IEEE802.11a applications. The
radiation patterns of the antennas are different to each other and the boresight of
patterns are facing different directions. Therefore, each antenna could pick up RF
signals coming from different directions.
The diversity gain of the proposed four-element diversity antenna array has
been evaluated by assessing the correlation and MEG of the antennas in both outdoor
and indoor environments. Generally speaking, the envelope correlations of the four-
element diversity antenna array are less than 0.1. The MEG of the antennas has a
significant effect on the diversity gain for the proposed diversity antenna array as the
antennas are arranged orthogonally (i.e. in polarisation diversity). Hence, the
unequal branch power is large when the XPR is high. As a result, it has been shown
that the proposed four-element diversity antenna array performs best in an indoor
environment with a 14.22dB diversity gain achieved for 99% reliability. In the
outdoor environment, diversity gain of around 10dB is still achieved despite the
large unequal branch power.
The channel capacity of a 4 x 4 MIMO system is evaluated by modelling the
system in a realistic environment. The proposed four-element diversity antenna array
is used as the receiver whilst a ULA of four ideal dipoles is used as the transmitter in
the MIMO system. The study has shown that the channel capacity increased from
7bps/Hz in the SISO system (i.e. a single dipole at both the transmitter and receiver)
to 18bps/Hz in the 4 x 4 MIMO system with the proposed four-element diversity
antenna array as the receiver.
Further, the size of the dielectric loaded folded loop antenna is reduced to
approximately half its size and the new proposed antenna is termed as the ‘dielectric
loaded folded half-loop antenna’. The size reduction is achieved by replacing one of
the folded arms of the dielectric loaded folded loop antenna with a copper plate to
provide an image effect for the other folded arm. Whilst the antenna’s size is reduced,
the antenna still maintains a good performance at resonant frequency of 5.2GHz with
a -10dB bandwidth of 200MHz. It has also been shown that the dimensions of the
ground plane do not impact much on the performance of the dielectric loaded folded
half-load antenna until the ground plane’s width is narrower than 30mm. As such,
the performance of the dielectric loaded folded half-loop antenna deteriorates when
it is placed on the edge of a PDA terminal where the ground plane’s width is very
narrow. Hence, the proposed dielectric loaded folded half-loop antennas are not
suitable to be used as MIMO array elements with the configuration in Section 5.6.5.
References
[1] S. Hayashida, H. Morishita, Y. Koyanagi and K. Fujimoto, “Wideband folded
loop antenna for handsets”, IEEE AP-S Int. Symp. Proc., pp. 440-443, 2002.
[2] R.W. Lampe, “Design formulas for an asymmetric coplanar strip folded
dipole”, IEEE Transaction on Antennas and Propagation, vol. 33, no. 9, pp.
1028-1031, 1985.
[3] Ofcom research report, “Antenna designs for MIMO systems,” Contract
number: AY4476A, 2004.
[4] T. Taga, “Analysis of mean effective gain of mobile antennas in land mobile
radio environments”, IEEE Trans. On Vech. Techn., vol. 39, no.2, pp 117-
131, May 1990.
[5] Remcom, “Wireless InSite user manual version 1.5.1,” 2003.
[6] V. Erceg, Indoor MIMO WLAN Channel Models, IEEE 802.11-03/87r0,
November 2003.
[7] Y. Gao, X. Chen and C.G. Parini, “Experimental evaluation of indoor MIMO
channel capacity based on ray tracing”, London Communication Symposium,
University College London, pp. 189-192, Sept. 2004.
[8] C.N. Chuah, G.J. Foschini, R.A. Valenzuela, D. Chizhik, J. Ling and J.M.
Kahn, “Capacity growth of multi-element arrays in indoor and outdoor
wireless channels”, Wireless Communications and Networking Conference,
2000, WCNC 2000 IEEE, vol. 3, pp. 23-28, Sept 2000.
[9] M. Hunynh and W. Stutzman, “Ground plane effects on planar inverted-F
antenna (PIFA) performance,” IEE Proceedings Microwaves, Antennas &
Propagation, vol. 150, no. 4, pp. 209-213, Aug. 2003.
[10] M.F. Abedin and M. Ali, “Modifying the ground plane and its effect on
planar inverted-F antennas (PIFAs) for mobile handsets,” IEEE Antenna
Wireless Propagation Letters, vol. 2, pp. 226-229, 2003
Chapter 6: Conclusions and Future Work 129
Chapter 6 Conclusions and Future Work
6.1 Summary
The MIMO system has already been employed in WLAN and will be
implemented in future wireless mobile communications (e.g. WiMAX, 3G and 4G).
This is due to its ability to significantly increase capacity without increasing the
transmitter signal power and spectrum usage. The throughput and range of a MIMO
system can be improved by using spatial multiplexing (SM) and space-time coding,
respectively, to exploit the MIMO channels. Significant amounts of research have
been carried out on signal processing algorithms for MIMO systems but limited
research has been done on antenna designs for MIMO systems. Therefore, the
antenna designs for MIMO systems were carried out in this thesis.
The diversity technique (which utilises more than one antenna to receive or
transmit signals), being a well known method to solve the signal fading problem in a
multipath environment, is utilised in space-time coding to exploit the MIMO
channels. Therefore, the study of three diversity techniques: spatial, pattern and
polarisation diversity has been undertaken in this thesis. In respect of antenna
designs, the antennas have to be placed sufficiently far apart from one another or
arranged orthogonally to one another to achieve a low correlation. Apart from the
antenna’s parameters, environment is also another factor that affects the diversity
performance of diversity antennas on a mobile terminal. Information on the average
distribution of incident power at the mobile terminal in different propagation
environments is required in the evaluation of the diversity performance. Two
different environmental models (i.e. indoor and outdoor environments) were chosen
in this thesis to evaluate the diversity performance of the diversity antenna arrays on
a PDA terminal.
It is noted that the built-in PIFA used in most handsets nowadays generates
unbalanced current flow on the feed line and ground plane. Hence, the ground plane
is acting as a radiator rather than a reflector. A balanced folded loop antenna which
generates only a small amount of current on the ground plane was addressed in this
thesis. When two or more balanced folded loop antennas are placed on a ground
plane, a low correlation between the antennas could be achieved. Therefore, this
antenna was adopted in this thesis to reduce the coupling between the antennas
caused by the surface current on the ground plane.
EBG structure has also been considered in this thesis as an alternative method
to solve the mutual coupling problem when the diversity antenna arrays experience
severe correlation. A new multiperiod EBG structure which can achieve a wide
stopband bandwidth was proposed and studied in this thesis. However, it was found
that the size of the multiperiod EBG structure was not sufficiently compact for use
on a mobile terminal. Further, the increasing cost of manufacturing the mobile
terminals would be of a concern to the manufacturers. Therefore, it is noted that the
multiperiod EBG structure is more suitable for use in large terminals or base stations.
Further, the multiperiod EBG structure can be adopted for future UWB (Ultra-
Wideband) antenna arrays technology where the operating frequencies range from
3.1 – 10.6 GHz.
It was proposed that the size of the balanced folded loop antenna be further
reduced so that a four-element diversity antenna array can be placed on a PDA
terminal. This size reduction was achieved by loading a dielectric slab into the
antenna. The diversity performance was evaluated with selection combiner technique
and it was found that a diversity gain of 14.42dB at 99% reliability was achieved in
an indoor environment. A 4 x 4 MIMO system in a real indoor environment (the
realistic four-element diversity antenna array on a PDA terminal being the receiver)
has achieved twice the channel capacity obtained from a SISO system. The size of
the proposed dielectric loaded folded loop antenna was further reduced to
approximately half the original size by replacing one of the folded arms of the
antenna with a copper plate.
6.2 Key Contributions
The major contributions in the thesis are detailed in the three sections below:
Multiperiod EBG Structure

• A new multiperiod EBG structure with smaller dimensions and a wider stopband
bandwidth was proposed and presented. This multiperiod EBG structure is simple
in design and easy to manufacture.
• The proposed multiperiod EBG structure is capable of suppressing the surface

current on the ground plane more effectively than the conventional single period
EBG structure which has larger dimensions and a narrower stopband bandwidth.
• The microstrip patch antenna on a sandwiched multiperiod EBG ground plane has
a wider impedance bandwidth compared to a microstrip patch antenna on a
sandwiched single period EBG ground plane. Therefore, the ratio of impedance
bandwidth (B) over the dimensions area of the EBG ground plane (A), F = B/A, is
proposed in this thesis as a figure of merit to quantify the performance of the
antenna with different EBG ground planes.
Four-element diversity antenna array on a PDA

• A self-balanced type antenna (i.e. folded loop antenna) was realised. The size of
the folded loop antenna was reduced by loading a dielectric slab and this antenna
was termed the ‘Dielectric Loaded Folded Loop Antenna’. The ground plane of the
self-balanced antenna acts as a reflector rather than a radiator to the antenna.
• A four-element diversity antenna array (four elements of the dielectric folded loop
antennas were used) on a PDA terminal operating at 5.2GHz was proposed. The
antennas were arranged orthogonally polarised to one another and each antenna’s
boresight faced different directions. Therefore, an isolation of more than 20dB for
each pair of antennas was achieved.
• The diversity performance of the proposed diversity antenna array was evaluated in
both the outdoor and indoor environments. A maximum diversity gain of 14.22 dB
at 99% reliability was achieved in the indoor environment.
• A 4 x 4 MIMO system in an indoor environment (i.e. 2nd floor in Department of

Electronic Engineering at QMUL) was modelled with the proposed four-element
diversity antenna array on a PDA terminal as the receivers. The 4 x 4 MIMO
systems achieved twice the capacity of a SISO system.
Miniature Dielectric Loaded Folded Half-loop Antenna

• The size of the dielectric loaded folded loop antenna was further reduced to
approximately 50% by replacing one of the folded arms of the antenna with a
copper plate to provide an image effect for the other folded arm. Whilst the
antenna’s size is reduced, the antenna still maintains a good performance at a
resonant frequency of 5.2GHz with a -10dB bandwidth of 200MHz. However,
there are more surface currents on the ground plane of the dielectric loaded folded
half-loop antenna compared to the surface currents on the ground plane of the
dielectric loaded folded loop antenna. Therefore, the performance of this antenna
starts deteriorating when the width of its ground plane is narrower than 30mm.
6.3 Future work
Based on the conclusions drawn and the limitations of the work presented,
further work can be carried out in the following areas:
• The capability of the proposed multiperiod EBG structure to suppress the surface
current on a ground plane of a microstrip patch antenna has been demonstrated in
Chapter 3. Alternatively, two microstrip patch antennas on the same ground plane
could also be used to study the performance of the multiperiod EBG structure. The
isolation between the antennas should increase if the operating frequency is within
the stopband range of the multiperiod EBG structure.
• As the dimensions of the proposed multiperiod EBG structure are too large to be
used in a mobile terminal, it could be applicable for use on a base station given that
more space would be allowed on the base station for the EBG structure.
• In the future, more PDAs will integrate with mobile phone functions. Therefore,
the user’s effect on the diversity antenna’s performance should be studied.
Different situations have to be considered, e.g. talk position and where as a PDA is
only used for writing or reading. In the talk position, the SAR (Specific Absorption
Rate) value of the antenna arrays on the user should also be considered.
• The 4 x 4 MIMO channel capacity in an indoor environment presented in Chapter

5 was carried out by simulation only. Therefore, measurement campaigns on the
MIMO channel capacity with the proposed four-element diversity antenna array as
a receiver could be carried out in different environments.
• The future IEEE 802.11n standard is going to support the current WiFi frequency
bands at 2.4GHz and 5.2GHz. The proposed dielectric loaded folded loop antenna
could be further developed to operate at 2.4GHz band or to operate at both bands.
• Recently, the dual-antenna design has been considered for GSM networks with the
aim to reduce the impact of radio interference to bit rates. This effect would
increase average bit rates and extend radio coverage. Therefore, research on the
design of a two-element diversity antenna array on a handset at GSM bands could
be carried out.
Publications: 134
Publications
Journal Papers:
1. L. Guo, J. Liang, C.C. Chiau, X. Chen, C.G. Parini and J. Yu, “Performances of
UWB disc monopoles in time domain”, IEE Proceedings Microwaves, Antennas
& Propagation, 2005 (Submitted).
2. S. Yeap, X. Chen, J. Dupuy, C.C. Chiau and C.G. Parini, “Low profile diversity
antenna for MIMO applications”, IEE Electronic Letters, vol. 42, no. 2, pp. 69-
70, 2006
3. X. Chen, J. Liang, P. Li and C.C. Chiau, “UWB Electric and Magnetic

Monopole Antennas”, African Journal of Information & Communication
Technology, vol. 2, no. 1, 2006.
4. C.C. Chiau, X. Chen and C.G. Parini, “A Miniature Dielectric-Loaded Folded

Half-Loop Antenna and Ground Plane Effects”, IEEE Antennas and Wireless
Propagation Letters, vol. 4, pp. 459-462, 2005.
5. S. Yeap, X. Chen, C.C. Chiau, J. Dupuy and C.G. Parini, “Integrated Diversity
Antenna for Laptop and PDA terminals”, IEE Proceedings Microwaves,
Antennas & Propagation, vol. 152, no. 6, pp. 495-504, Dec 2005.
6. J. Liang, L. Guo, C.C. Chiau, X. Chen and C.G. Parini, “Study of CPW-Fed
circular disc monopole antenna”, IEE Proceedings Microwaves, Antennas &
Propagation, vol. 152, no. 6, pp. 520-526, Dec 2005.
7. J. Liang, C.C. Chiau, X. Chen and C.G. Parini, “Study of a Printed Circular Disc
Monopole Antenna for UWB Systems”, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and
Propagation, vol. 53, no. 11, pp. 3500-3504, Nov 2005.
8. C.C. Chiau, X. Chen and C.G. Parini, “A Sandwich Multi-period EBG Structure
for Microstrip Patch Antennas”, Microwave and Optical Technology Letter, vol.
46, no. 5, pp. 437-440, 5 Sept 2005.
9. Y. Gao, C.C. Chiau, X. Chen and C. G. Parini, “Modified PIFA and its Array
for MIMO Terminals”, IEE Proceedings Microwaves, Antennas & Propagation,
vol. 154, no. 4, pp. 255-259, Aug 2005.
Publications: 135
10. J. Liang, C.C. Chiau and X. Chen, “Printed circular ring monopole antennas”,
Microwave and Optical Technology Letters, vol. 45, no.5, pp. 372-375, 2005.
11. C.C. Chiau, X. Chen and C.G. Parini, “A compact four-element diversity
antenna array for PDA terminal in a MIMO system”, Microwave and Optical
Technology Letters, vol. 44, no.5, pp. 408-412, March 2005
12. J. Liang, C.C. Chiau, X. Chen and C.G. Parini, 'Printed circular disc monopole
antenna for ultra wideband applications', IEE Electronic Letters, vol. 40, no. 20,
pp.1246-1248, Sept 2004.
13. C.C. Chiau, X. Chen and C.G. Parini, “A Multi-period EBG Structure for Wide
Stopband Circuits”, IEE Proceedings on Microwaves, Antennas and Propagation,
vol.15, no.6, 2003 pp.489-492, Dec 2003.
Conference Papers:
1. C.C. Chiau, J. Dupuy, X Chen and C.G. Parini, “Design of UWB antenna for
Autonomous Interference Monitoring System (AIMS)”, IEEE AP-S International
Symposium on Antennas and Propagation, USA, 2006. (Accepted)
2. J. Liang, K. Wu, C.C. Chiau, X. Chen, C.G. Parini, “Printed UWB elliptical disc
monopole”, Loughborough Antennas and Propagation Conference 2006,
Loughborough, UK, 2006. (Accepted)
3. Z. Wang, C.C. Chiau, X. Chen, B.S. Collins, S.P. Kingsley and S.C. Puckey, “A
miniature broadband Dielectric Resonator Antenna (DRA) operating at 2.4GHz ”,
IEEE International Workshop on Antenna Technologies (iWAT 2006), New
York, USA, pp. 104-107, 2006.
4. X. Chen, J. Liang, P. Li, L. Guo, C.C. Chiau and C.G. Parini, “Planar UWB
monopole antennas”, Asia-Pacific Microwave Conference, SuZhou, China, 4-7
Dec 2005 (Invited paper).
5. Z. Wang, C.C. Chiau, X. Chen, B.S. Collins, S.P. Kingsley and S.C. Puckey,
“Broadband dielectric loaded trapezoidal planar antenna”, Asia-Pacific
Microwave Conference, SuZhou, China, 4-7 Dec 2005.
Publications: 136
6. J. Liang, C.C. Chiau and X. Chen, “Time domain characteristics of UWB disc
monopole antennas”, 35th European Microwave Conference, Paris, France,
October 4-6, 2005.
7. C.C. Chiau, X. Chen and C.G. Parini, “A Novel Dielectric Loaded Folded Half-
Loop Antenna for Mobile Terminals”, IEEE AP-S International Symposium on
Antennas and Propagation, Washington DC, USA, vol. 1A, pp. 499-502, 3-8 July,
2005.
8. Y. Gao, C. C. Chiau, X. Chen and C. G. Parini, “A Modified PIFA with a Small

Ground Plane”, IEEE AP-S International Symposium on Antennas and
Propagation, Washington DC, USA, vol. 2B, pp. 515-518, 3-8 July, 2005.
9. J. Liang, C.C. Chiau, X. Chen and C.G. Parini, “CPW-Fed Circular Ring
Monopole Antenna”, 2005 IEEE AP-S International Symposium on Antennas
and Propagation, Washington DC, USA, vol. 2A, pp. 500-503, 3-8 July, 2005.
10. Y. Gao, C. C. Chiau, X. Chen and C. G. Parini, “A Compact Dual-Element

PIFA Array for MIMO Terminals”, Loughborough Antennas & Propagation
Conference, U.K., 4-5 April 2005.
11. Z. Wang, C.C. Chiau, X. Chen, B.S. Collins, S. P. Kingsley, S. C. Puckey,

“Optimisation of A Broadband Dielectric Antenna”, Loughborough Antennas &
Propagation Conference, U.K., 4-5 April 2005.
12. J. Liang, C.C. Chiau and X. Chen, “Design analysis in a planar UWB circular
ring monopole”, Loughborough Antennas and Propagation Conference 2005,
Loughborough, UK, 4-5 April, 2005.
13. C.C. Chiau, Y. Gao, X. Chen and C.G. Parini, “Evaluation of Indoor MIMO
Channel Capacity with a realistic four-element diversity antenna array on a PDA
terminal”, IEEE International Workshop on Antenna Technologies (iWAT 2005),
Singapore, pp. 454- 457, 7-9 March 2005.
14. Z. Wang, C.C. Chiau, X. Chen, B. S. Collins, S. P. Kingsley, S. C. Puckey and J.

R. Thorpe, “Study and Optimisation of A Broadband Dielectric Antenna”, IEEE
International Workshop on Antenna Technologies (iWAT 2005), Singapore, pp.
125-128, 7-9 March 2005.
Publications: 137
15. J. Liang, L. Guo, C.C. Chiau and X. Chen, “CPW-Fed Circular Disc Monopole
Antenna for UWB Applications”, IEEE International Workshop on Antenna
Technologies (iWAT 2005), Singapore, pp. 505-508, 7-9 March 2005.
16. J. Liang, C.C. Chiau, X. Chen, J. Yu, “Effect of the ground plane on the
operation of a UWB monopole”, 2004 Progress in Electromagnetics
Research Symposium, Nanjing, China, 28-31 Aug 2004.
17. C.C. Chiau, S.B. Yeap, X. Chen, C. G. Parini, “A Four Element Diversity
Antenna Array for a MIMO PDA Terminal”, 2004 International Symposium on
Antennas And Propagation, Sendai, Japan, 17-21 Aug 2004.
18. J. Liang, C.C. Chiau, X. Chen, J. Yu, “Study of a circular disc monopole
antenna for ultra wideband applications”, 2004 International Symposium on
Antennas and Propagation, Sendai, Japan, 17-21 Aug 2004.
19. J. Liang, C.C. Chiau, X. Chen and C.G. Parini, “Analysis and Design of UWB
Disc Monopole Antennas”, IEE International Workshop on Ultra Wideband
Communication Technologies & System Design, London, UK, 8 July 2004.
20. X. Chen, Y. Alfadhl, C.C. Chiau, and Z. Wang, “Numerical Dosimetry on the
Scales of Biological Body, Tissue and Cell”, 2004 URSI International
Symposium on Electromagnetic Theory, Italy, May 2004. (Invited paper)
21. C.C. Chiau, X. Chen, C.G. Parini, “EBG Structure on Substrate and Ground
Plane for Ultra-Wide Stopband Circuits”, 27th ESA Antenna Technology
Workshop on Innovative Periodic Antennas: Electromagnetic Bandgap, Left-
handed Materials, Fractal and Frequency Selective Surfaces, Spain, 8-11 March
2004.
22. C.C. Chiau, X. Chen, C.G. Parini, ‘A Multi-period EBG Structure on Substrate
for Ultra-wide Stopband Circuits’, IEE Seminar on Metamaterials for Microwave
and (Sub) Millimetre Wave Applications: Photonic Bandgap and Double
Negative Designs, Components and Experiments, DTI, London, U.K, 24th Nov.
2003.
23. C.C. Chiau, X. Chen, C.G. Parini, ‘A Microstrip Patch Antenna on the
Embedded Multi-Period EBG Structure’, ISAPE’03, Beijing, China, pp. 96-99,
1-5 Nov, 2003.
Publications: 138
24. Y. Alfadhl, C.C. Chiau, Z. Wang, X. Chen, C. Gabriel and A. Peyman,

“Evaluation of electromagnetic fields interactions with animals as a function of
tissue dielectric properties”, BEMS’03, Hawaii, USA, 22-26 June, 2003.
25. C.C. Chiau, X. Chen and C.G. Parini, “A multi-period EBG structure for
Microstrip Antennas”, 12th International Conference on Antennas and
Propagation, Exeter, UK, 31 April - 3 May 2003.
26. Y. Alfadhl, C.C. Chiau, Z. Wang, X. Chen, C. Gabriel and A. Peyman,

“Numerical Dosimetry on 10, 30, and 70 days old rat models exposed to a range
of RF: influences of model size, tissue dielectric properties, and direction of
exposure”, IoP/IEE International Conference on RF Interaction with Humans:
Mechanism, Exposure and Medical Applications, London, UK, 27-28 February,
2003.
27. Y. Alfadhl, C.C. Chiau, Z. Wang, X. Chen, and C. Gabriel, “Assessment of

SAR Distribution inside 10 and 70 days Old Rats Exposed to 900 MHz RF”,
International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation –i02, Yokosuka
Research Park, Japan, 26-28 November 2002.
Appendix A 139
Appendix A
Electromagnetic (EM) Numerical Modelling
The technology of wireless communications is established on the principles

of electromagnetic (EM) fields and waves. It is facilitated by the underlying concept
of EM radiation, which is mediated by antennas and associated wave propagation.
The basis of EM theory is based on the relationship between the electric and
magnetic fields, charges and currents. In 1886, James C. Maxwell has assembled the
Faraday’s Law, Ampere’s Law, Gauss’ Law and magnetic field law into a set of
equations which form the basis of EM theory [1]-[3]. The Maxwell’s equations can
be written in the differential form:
∂B
∇× E = − (A.1)
∂t Faraday’s Law
∇⋅B = 0
Magnetic Field Law (A.2)
∂D
∇× H = J + (A.3)
∂t Ampere’s Law
∇⋅D = ρ
Gauss Law (A.4)
and the equivalent integral form are:

∂B
v∫ E ⋅ d s = − ∫ ∂t ⋅d A
Faraday’s Law
(A.5)
v∫ B ⋅ d A = 0 Magnetic Field Law (A.6)
⎛ ∂D ⎞
v∫ H ⋅ d s = ∫ ⎜⎝ J + ⎟⋅d A
∂t ⎠ Ampere’s Law (A.7)
v∫ D ⋅ d A = ∫ ρ dV Gauss Law (A.8)

Appendix A 140
In addition to the above four Maxwell’s equations, there are three material
equations
D =εE (A.9)
B = μH (A.10)
J =σ E (A.11)
where
E is the electric field intensity (v/m)
H is the magnetic field intensity (A/m)
D is the electric flux density
B is the magnetic flux density
J is the electric current density (A/m²)
σ is the electric conductivity (S/m)
ε = ε 0ε r Electrical permittivity (F/m)
μ = μ0μr Magnetic permeability (H/m)
Numerical techniques have been used to solve EM field problems especially

when the problems’ complexity increases. There are a number of numerical
techniques available to solve EM problems e.g. Finite Element method (FE) and
Method of Moments (MoM) solve the EM problems in frequency domain whilst
Finite-Difference Time-Domain method (FDTD) and Finite Integration Technique
(FIT) solve the EM problems in time domain instead. Each numerical technique is
well suited for the analysis of a particular type of problem. Different numerical
software packages have been compared and it has shown that FDTD/FIT is fast in
computation and the resolution is better than other available numerical software
packages [4]. Therefore, CST Microwave Studio® which is based on the FIT
numerical method is used in this thesis.
Finite Integral Technique (FIT)

The FIT was first proposed by T. Weiland in 1977 as a time-domain
numerical technique for solving Maxwell’s equations in their integral form [5]. FIT
Appendix A 141
is equivalent to the FDTD, however, it discretises the integral form rather than the
differential form of Maxwell’s equations.
The first step of the FIT discretisation is to define the computation domain
which contains the space region of interest. The computation domain is enclosed by
the restriction of the electromagnetic field problem, which normally represents an
open boundary problem to a bounded space region. The next step is the
decomposition of the computation domain into a finite number of the simplicial cell
complex G, which serve as a computational grid. The primary grid G can be
i is set up
visualised in the CST Microwave Studio®, whilst internally a dual grid G
i is defined
orthogonally to the primary grid. In the Cartesian system, the dual grid G
i as shown in
by taking the foci of the cells of G as grid points for the mesh cells of G
Figure A-1. The electric voltages e and magnetic fluxes b are allocated on the
primary grid G whilst the dielectric fluxes d and the magnetic voltages h are
i . A voltage is defined as the integral of a field strength
allocated on the dual grid G
value (electric or magnetic) along a (dual) mesh edge whilst a flux is defined as the
integral of a flux density value (electric or magnetic) across a (dual) mesh cell facette.
A cell Vi of
Dual Grid G i
A cell V of Grid G
Computation
Domain
Grid G
Figure A-1: Illustration of the FIT discretization.
Faraday’s Law
By considering a single cell V of the grid G as shown in Figure A-2, the
integration form of Faraday’s Law (A.5) can be rewritten for a facet An as a sum of
four grid voltages as shown in Figure A-2:
d
ei + e j − ek − el = − bn (A.12)
dt
Appendix A 142
where the scalar value e is the electric voltage along one edge of the surface An,
representing the exact value the integral over of the electric field along this edge.
The scalar bn represents the magnetic flux though the cell facet An.
ek
bn
ej
el
An ei
Figure A-2: A cell V of the grid G with the allocation of the electric grid voltage e on
the edges of An and the magnetic facet flux bn through this surface.
The differential approximation can be represented as a process of storing the

factors {-1,1}:
C = (1"1" − 1" − 1) (A.13)
Therefore, the discrete form of Faraday’s Law can be expressed in the general
form:
d
Ce = − b (A.14)
dt
where C is a matrix coefficient C ∈ {-1,0,1} which contains the incidence relation of

the cell edges within G and on their orientation.
The Magnetic Law

The second Maxwell’s equation to be considered is the magnetic law’s
equation (A.6). For a cell V as shown Figure A-3, the non-existance of magnetic
charges in the cell volume can be evaluated in the following:
−b1 + b2 − b3 + b4 − b5 + b6 = 0 (A.15)
Appendix A 143
Figure A-3: A cell V of the grid G with the allocation of the six magnetic facet fluxes
which have to be considered in the evaluation of the closed surface integral for the
non-existance of magnetic charges within the cell volume.
Again the relation in (A.15) can be expanded to all the available cells and
expressed in a general form as:
Sb = 0 (A.16)
where S is a matrix which contains the incident relation of the cell facet, representing
the discrete divergence-operator for grid G.
Ampere’s Law
The discretisation of the two remaining Maxwell’s equations (A.7)and (A.8)
i
using the FIT requires dual grid G which is dual to the primary cell complex G as
shown in Figure A-1.
On a facet i
A of a dual grid cell Vi , the summing of the magnetic grid voltages
to obtain the displacement current and the conductive current through the facet can
be rewritten as follows:
d
h1 + h2 − h3 − h4 = dn + j (A.17)
dt
Appendix A 144
h3
dn
h2
h4
h1
Figure A-4: A cell Vi of the grid Gi with the allocation of the magnetic grid voltage
h on the edges of j
An and the electric facet flux dn through this surface.
The discrete matrix equation for the relationship in (A.17) is:
i = d d+ j
Ch (A.18)
dt
i is a matrix which contains the incident relation of the cell edges within
where C
i and their orientation.
G
Gauss’s Law
The integral form of Gauss’s Law (A.8) can be discretised for the dual grid
cells and its discrete matrix form is:
Sid = q (A.19)
where Si is a matrix which contains the incident relation of the cell facet,
i.
representing the dual discrete divergence-operator for grid G
Maxwell’s Grid Equations (MGE’s)

It has been shown above that in the FIT discretisation, the integral form of
Maxwell’s equations (A.5) - (A.8) is transformed into a complete set of discrete
matrix equations (A.14), (A.16), (A.18) and (A.19), termed the Maxwell Grid
i ) and divergence (S, Si )
Equations (MGE’s). It can be shown that the curl (C, C
matrices from the MGE’s have the following properties:
Appendix A 145
SC = 0 (A.20)
ii = 0
SC (A.21)
iT
C =C (A.22)
The relations in equations (A.20) and (A.21) have ensured that there is no electric or
magnetic charges arise during the computation due to the numerical algorithm.
Finally, the material equations (A.9)-(A.11) are also expressed in terms of
material matrices Mε, Mμ and Mσ as shown below:
d = Mε e (A.23)
b = Mμh (A.24)
j = Mσ e (A.25)
Advanced techniques in CST Microwave Studio®

The most common disadvantage of the FIT in three dimensional is the usage
of Yee-type Cartesian grids [6]. The standard gridding scheme introduces errors to
the geometry representation of the curved structure surface due to the staircase
approximation as shown in Figure A-5(a). In order to reduce the errors, a fine mesh
is usually introduced around the curved surface. However, it leads to an overall fine
mesh in the whole structure. Therefore, sub-gridding technique has been introduced
where it is more efficient to refine the mesh density only within the desired area (e.g.
curve surface) instead of the whole structure as shown in Figure A-5(b). Figure
A-5(c) shows the triangular filling, which is another approach that has been
introduced to overcome the geometry approximation problem. However, most of
these techniques have stability problems or low efficiency.
A more accurate and efficient technique termed Perfect Boundary
Approximation (PBA®) as shown in Figure A-5(d) has been implemented in the
commercial EM modelling package, CST Microwave Studio® [7][7]. Using this
technique the computational grid does not have to conform to the curved
surface/boundaries. Instead, the sub-cellular information is taken into consideration
Appendix A 146
resulting in an algorithm with second order accuracy for arbitrary shaped boundaries.
Unlike other techniques, PBA only requires slightly higher numerical cost during the
iteration. The algorithm of PBA has never been published by CST due to
commercial reasons.
However, PBA can only define one field value within PEC partially filled
cells. There is still fine mesh to be defined in the thin PEC region of the structure. As
such, Thin Sheet TechnologyTM (TST) has been introduced in the CST Microwave
Studio® to solve the problem. It is possible for TST to handle two different field
values within one FDTD cell as shown in Figure A-6.
(a) (b)
Original Object inside

Cartesian grids
(c) (d)
Coventionally filled cells
PBA filled cells
Figure A-5: Grid approximation of rounded boundaries: (a) standard (stair case), (b)
sub-gridding, (c) triangular and (d) Perfect Boundary Approximation (PBA).
Appendix A 147
(a) PBA example: each cell consists of (b) TST example: each cell can
single non-PEC area consist of two non-PEC areas
PEC
Partially filled cells – Perfect Boundary Approximation (PBA)

Figure A-6: TST technique.
References:
[1] David K. Cheng, Field and Wave Electromagnetics, 2nd edition, Addison
Wesley.
[2] Matthew N.O. Sadiku, Numerical Techniques in Electromagnetics, 2nd
edition, CRC Press LLC.
[3] John D. Kraus and Daniel A. Fleisch, Electromagnetics with Applications, 5th
edition, McGraw-Hill.
[4] Z. Wang, Design of Low-SAR Antennas for Mobile Communications
Devices, PhD Thesis, 2001.
[5] M. Clements and T. Weiland, “Discrete electromagnetism with the Finite
Integration Technique”, Progress In Electromagnetics Research, pp. 65-87,
2001
[6] K.S. Yee, “Numerical solution of initial boundary value problems in isotropic
media”, IEEE Trans. On Antennas and Propagation, vol. 14, pp. 302-307,
1996.
[7] B. Krietenstein, R. Schuhmann, P. Thoma and T. Weiland, “The Perfect
Boundary Approximation technique facing the challenge of high precision
field computation”, Proceeding of the XIX International Linear Accelator
Conference (LINAC’98), pp. 860-862, Chicago, 1998.
Appendix B 148
Appendix B
3-D Radiation patterns of the proposed diversity antenna array
The computed 3D radiation patterns of the proposed four-element diversity

antenna array used in Chapter 5 is shown in Figure B-1.
3
2
4
Figure B-1: Computed 3D radiation patterns of the proposed four-element diversity

antenna array.
Appendix C 149
Appendix C
Material properties used in the indoor environment
In Chapter 5, the indoor environment (i.e. second floor of the Department of

Electronic Engineering at QMUL) was modelled using Wireless InSite. Three
different materials (i.e. concrete, wood and glass) have been used to model the
indoor environment and all materials are assumed to be homogenous. Concrete walls,
ceiling and floors were used in the model. Wooden doors and glass windows are
also modelled as shown in Figure C-1. The properties of the materials are
summarised in Table C-1[1].
Figure C-1: 3-D schematic diagram of the indoor environment (i.e. second floor of
the Department of Electronic Engineering building at QMUL) modelled using
Wireless InSite as used in this thesis. The transmitter is placed at the corridor and
the receivers (RED dots) are scattered randomly in Rooms A and B. The ceiling has
been removed for visual purpose.
Appendix C 150
Material Permittivity Conductivity

Walls, floor and ceiling
5.5 0.3
(Concrete)
Door (Wood) 2.5 0.03
Window (Glass) 6.0 0.04
Table C-1: Material parameters used in the model at 5.2GHz.
References:
[1] F. Layer, R. Kattenbach and H. Fruchting, “Modelling and anaylsis of

dominant propagation effects in real indoor environment at 5.2GHz,” The
ninth IEEE International Symposium on Personal, Indoor and Mobile Radio
Communications, vol. 2, pp. 630-634, Sept. 1998.

MIMO Wireless Communication

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MIMO Wireless Communication

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Study of the Diversity Antenna Array for the MIMO

Wireless Communication Systems

Choo Chiap Chiau

A thesis submitted to the University of London in partial fulfilment of

Department of Electronic Engineering

Recent developments in wireless communications have shown that by using

First of all I would like to express my deep and sincere gratitude to my

Table of Contents iii

List of Figures vii

List of Tables xvi

2 MIMO and Diversity ........................................................................................ 11

3 Small Antennas on Mobile Terminals ............................................................. 38

4 Electromagnetic Bandgap (EBG) Structures ................................................. 54

5 Diversity Antenna Array for MIMO Systems ................................................ 84

6 Conclusions and Future Work....................................................................... 129

elements and nR receive elements. ...................................................................... 12

Figure 2-9: Block diagram of selection combining for N branches/antenna elements.20

Figure 2-10: Block diagram of equal gain combining for N branches/antenna

Figure 2-11: Block diagram of maximum ratio combining for N branches/antenna

Figure 2-12: Cumulative distribution function of Rayleigh fading signals for a

Figure 2-13: Diagram showing the relation of angular coordinates to Cartesian

Figure 2-14: Diagram showing the effect of antenna spacing to correlation

Figure 3-4: Geometrical configuration of a helix. ....................................................... 42

Figure 3-6: Dual-band meander line antenna............................................................... 43

Figure 3-7: Inverted-L antenna (ILA). ......................................................................... 44

Figure 3-8: Wire inverted-F antenna (IFA).................................................................. 45

Figure 3-9: Planar inverted-F antenna (PIFA). ............................................................ 45

Figure 3-11: Photograph of multi-band PIFA in a Sony Ericsson T68i handset.

Figure 3-15: Folded loop antenna mounted on a ground plane. .................................. 50

Figure 4-3: Capacitance and inductance in the high-impedance surface..................... 56

Figure 4-4: Effective circuit used to model the surface impedance............................. 57

Figure 4-7: Schematic representation of the proposed multiperiod EBG structure by

Figure 4-17: Schematic diagram of the microstrip patch antenna designed at a

Figure 4-27: Fabrication process of the multiperiod EBG substrate structure............. 79

Figure 5-4: Simulated and measured return loss curves. ............................................. 87

Figure 5-11: Relation between the bandwidth and relative permittivity...................... 94

Figure 5-14: Schematic diagram of four-element diversity antenna array on a PDA in

Figure 5-22: Variation of MEG with XPR in an outdoor environment evaluated

Figure 5-24: Variation of MEG with XPR in an outdoor environment evaluated

Figure A-1: Illustration of the FIT discretization....................................................... 141

Figure A-6: TST technique. ....................................................................................... 147

Figure B-1: Computed 3D radiation patterns of the proposed four-element diversity

Table 5-7: Comparison of selection combiner diversity gain performance at 99%

Table C-1: Material parameters used in the model at 5.2GHz.................................150

C = W log 2 (1 + SNR) bits / s (1.1)

1.2 Review of the State-of-Art

Research conducted on MIMO systems has advanced greatly, with Lucent

The European Commission has supported the I-METRA (Intelligent Multi-

(a) (b) (c)

mobile terminal, the radiation pattern of each dipole/monopole is no longer

Electromagnetic band gap (EBG) structures have attracted a lot of attention

1.4 Organisation of the thesis

The thesis is organised in six chapters as follows:

S. Walker, S.A. Wilkus and W. Wolniansky, “Prototype experience for MIMO

[27] R.G. Vaughan and J.B. Andersen, “Antenna diversity in mobile

Chapter 2 MIMO and Diversity

2.2 MIMO Systems

2.2.1 Channel Capacity

⎛ h11 (t ) h12 (t ) " h1nT (t ) ⎞

y (t ) = H (t ) x(t ) + n(t ) (2.2)

where U is a unitary matrix of dimension nR x nR , V is a unitary matrix of dimension

2.2.2 Spatial multiplexing

2.2.3 Space-time coding