Antenna Designs for 5G/IoT and Space Applications

A special issue of Electronics (ISSN 2079-9292). This special issue belongs to the section "Microwave and Wireless Communications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2022) | Viewed by 66354

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Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
1. School of Electrical, Computer and Telecommunication Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
2. Technological Projects Department, The Libyan Center for Remote Sensing and Space Science, Tripoli, Libya
Interests: antenna designs; CubeSat communications; wearable antennas; antenna designs using metamaterials and metasurfaces; wireless communications
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Dipartimento di Elettronica e Telecomunicazioni, Politecnico di Torino, 10129 Torino, Italy
Interests: optimization techniques; numerical analysis; metamaterials; UWB antennas; reconfigurable antennas
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
School of Electrical Computer and Telecommunication Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
Interests: sensor networks; CubeSat; wireless communications; antenna design
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Antenna design has received renewed attention in the last few years. This is thanks to an explosion of interest in a range of applications, from Internet of Things, low frequency long-range applications to high-frequency mmWave 5G mobile technologies. There has also been renewed interest in wearable antennas that form body area networks. These include wearable garments as well as materials that directly attach themselves to skin, such as e-skin. In addition to this, a renewed interest in space and space exploration has renewed interest in satellite technologies and applications, such as CubeSats, intersatellite communications and deep space exploration. All these emerging applications bring a renewed interest in looking at special materials and new designs for antenna systems. This will bring new challenges in designing such antennas.

This Special Issue is intended to shed some light on recent advances in antenna design for these new emerging applications and identify further research areas in this exciting field of communications technologies. We invite researchers and practicing engineers to contribute original research articles that discuss issues related but not limited to: 

  • Antenna design for Internet of Things;
  • Beamforming and smart antennas for 5G;
  • Antenna design for wearable applications;
  • Antenna design for body area networks;
  • Antenna design for Chipless RFID;
  • Metamaterial-based antennas;
  • Smart antennas, beamforming and MIMO;
  • Aeronautical and space applications;
  • Antenna design for CubeSat;
  • Antenna design for deep space communication
  • Antenna design for biomedical systems and applications;
  • Implanted antennas;
  • UWB and multispectral technologies and systems;
  • MM-wave and THz antennas.

Dr. Faisel Tubbal
Prof. Dr. Ladislau Matekovits
Dr. Raad Raad
Guest Editors

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Published Papers (16 papers)

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Editorial

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4 pages, 182 KiB  
Editorial
Antenna Designs for 5G/IoT and Space Applications
by Faisel Tubbal, Ladislau Matekovits and Raad Raad
Electronics 2022, 11(16), 2484; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics11162484 - 10 Aug 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2287
Abstract
Antenna design has received renewed attention in the last few years [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Antenna Designs for 5G/IoT and Space Applications)

Research

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13 pages, 1961 KiB  
Article
A Compact mmWave MIMO Antenna for Future Wireless Networks
by Muhammad Imran Khan, Sarmadullah Khan, Saad Hassan Kiani, Naser Ojaroudi Parchin, Khalid Mahmood, Umair Rafique and Muhammad Mansoor Qadir
Electronics 2022, 11(15), 2450; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics11152450 - 06 Aug 2022
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2472
Abstract
This article presents a four-element multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna design for next-generation millimeter-wave (mmWave) communication systems. The single antenna element of the MIMO systems consists of a T-shaped and plow-shaped patch radiator designed on an ultra-thin Rogers RT/Duroid 5880 substrate. The dimensions of [...] Read more.
This article presents a four-element multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna design for next-generation millimeter-wave (mmWave) communication systems. The single antenna element of the MIMO systems consists of a T-shaped and plow-shaped patch radiator designed on an ultra-thin Rogers RT/Duroid 5880 substrate. The dimensions of the single antenna are 10 × 12 mm2. The MIMO system is designed by placing four elements in a polarization diversity configuration whose overall dimensions are 24 × 24 mm2. From the measured results, it is observed that the MIMO antenna provides 9.23 GHz impedance bandwidth ranging from 22.43 to 31.66 GHz. In addition, without the utilization of any decoupling network, a minimum isolation of 25 dB is achieved between adjacent MIMO elements. Furthermore, the proposed MIMO antenna system is fabricated, and it is noted that the simulated results are in good agreement with the measured results. Through the achieved results, it can be said that the proposed MIMO antenna system can be used in 5G mmWave radio frequency (RF) front-ends. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Antenna Designs for 5G/IoT and Space Applications)
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21 pages, 9743 KiB  
Article
MTM-Inspired Graphene-Based THz MIMO Antenna Configurations Using Characteristic Mode Analysis for 6G/IoT Applications
by Sherif A. Khaleel, Ehab K. I. Hamad, Naser Ojaroudi Parchin and Mohamed B. Saleh
Electronics 2022, 11(14), 2152; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics11142152 - 09 Jul 2022
Cited by 30 | Viewed by 2885
Abstract
6G wireless communications will be immersed in the future with different applications. It is expected to support all IoT services and satellite communications, and it is expected to support artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). The THz frequency band has a vital [...] Read more.
6G wireless communications will be immersed in the future with different applications. It is expected to support all IoT services and satellite communications, and it is expected to support artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). The THz frequency band has a vital role in 6G communication. In this study, a new graphene plasmonic two-port Terahertz (THz) MIMO antenna is analyzed by the characteristic mode theory (CMA), which gives a better insight into the physical behavior of the MIMO configurations. The proposed MIMO antenna is compact and designed on a Teflon substrate of 130 × 85 µm2. The antenna provides a wide impedance bandwidth of 0.6 THz (3.2–3.8 THz). The CMA is applied to clarify the position at which the mutual coupling gives a maximum concentrated current distribution. It is mainly used to reveal the preferable MIMO antenna configuration by the usage of the model significant and model current distribution property. To reduce the mutual coupling between the radiating elements, a complementary dumbbell-structure Metamaterial (MTM) unit cell is etched in the ground plane to block the coupling mode without any affection on the dominant mode. The preferred MIMO configuration gives high isolation of −55 dB between the radiating patches. The fundamental characteristics have been discussed in detail. The proposed MIMO design offers several attractive features such as large bandwidth of 0.6 THz, low envelope correlation coefficient (ECC) of 0.000168, compact size, stable radiation, high gain of 7.23 dB, and low channel capacity loss (CCL) of 0.006. The proposed MIMO design is suitable for different applications in the THz band according to the high-performance parameters such as biomedical applications, security scanning, sensing, IoT, and 6G high-speed wireless communication systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Antenna Designs for 5G/IoT and Space Applications)
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11 pages, 1677 KiB  
Article
Ultra-Wideband Pentagonal Fractal Antenna with Stable Radiation Characteristics for Microwave Imaging Applications
by Muhammad Abbas Khan, Umair Rafique, Hüseyin Şerif Savci, Anis Nurashikin Nordin, Saad Hassan Kiani and Syed Muzahir Abbas
Electronics 2022, 11(13), 2061; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics11132061 - 30 Jun 2022
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 1935
Abstract
For microwave imaging applications, a design for an ultra-wideband (UWB) fractal antenna is presented. The antenna design is composed of a pentagonal fractal patch radiator fed by a modified co-planar waveguide (CPW) ground plane. It is built on a low-loss Rogers RT/Duroid 5880 [...] Read more.
For microwave imaging applications, a design for an ultra-wideband (UWB) fractal antenna is presented. The antenna design is composed of a pentagonal fractal patch radiator fed by a modified co-planar waveguide (CPW) ground plane. It is built on a low-loss Rogers RT/Duroid 5880 dielectric substrate with a dimensions of 24 × 30 × 0.787 mm3. According to the measurements, the designed antenna offers a fractional bandwidth of 123.56% ranging from 3 GHz to 12.7 GHz. In addition, a maximum gain of 3.6 dBi is achieved at 8.5 GHz. From the results, it is also observed that the proposed antenna structure attains constant radiation characteristics in the operating bandwidth, which is useful for microwave imaging applications. The time domain analysis of the proposed design is also performed, and it is observed that the designed antenna offers a group delay of ≤1.5 ns, which ensures minimum pulse distortion. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Antenna Designs for 5G/IoT and Space Applications)
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13 pages, 10480 KiB  
Article
A Novel and Compact Slotted-Decahedral Antenna for 5G Devices
by Karen Nallely Olan Nuñez and Roberto S. Murphy Arteaga
Electronics 2022, 11(12), 1813; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics11121813 - 07 Jun 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1809
Abstract
In this paper, a compact SISO (Single-Input Single-Output) antenna with a novel slotted-decahedral geometry is presented. The design was performed using a full-wave simulator (FWS). A decahedral patch with an eight-pointed star-shaped slot and two rectangular grooves is the main characteristic of the [...] Read more.
In this paper, a compact SISO (Single-Input Single-Output) antenna with a novel slotted-decahedral geometry is presented. The design was performed using a full-wave simulator (FWS). A decahedral patch with an eight-pointed star-shaped slot and two rectangular grooves is the main characteristic of the proposed novel radiator. The decagon shape, eight-pointed star-shaped slot, rectangular grooves, and separate section give rise to radiation. The SISO antenna operates from 23.1 to 29.94 GHz covering the proposed frequency bands for 5G wireless communication systems. The radiation pattern stability, moderate to high gain values (6.5 dBi, average), good radiation efficiency (higher than 89.4%), wide impedance bandwidth (6.84 GHz), compactness (13 × 13 × 0.787 mm3) and ease of manufacture are the principles advantages of this novel geometry. The experimental validation of the SISO antenna was performed, and good agreement was obtained with simulation results, and an equivalent circuit model was proposed. The proposed SISO antenna can be easily integrated into wireless sensors, drones, backhaul, and 5G devices which support IoT, working in the n257, n258 and n261 frequency bands. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Antenna Designs for 5G/IoT and Space Applications)
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9 pages, 6117 KiB  
Article
A New mm-Wave Antenna Array with Wideband Characteristics for Next Generation Communication Systems
by Mehr E Munir, Abdullah G. Al Harbi, Saad Hassan Kiani, Mohamed Marey, Naser Ojaroudi Parchin, Jehanzeb Khan, Hala Mostafa, Javed Iqbal, Muhammad Abbas Khan, Chan Hwang See and Raed A. Abd-Alhameed
Electronics 2022, 11(10), 1560; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics11101560 - 13 May 2022
Cited by 32 | Viewed by 2205
Abstract
This paper presents a planar multi-circular loop antenna with a wide impedance bandwidth for next generation mm-wave systems. The proposed antenna comprises three circular rings with a partial ground plane with a square slot. The resonating structure is designed on a 0.254 mm [...] Read more.
This paper presents a planar multi-circular loop antenna with a wide impedance bandwidth for next generation mm-wave systems. The proposed antenna comprises three circular rings with a partial ground plane with a square slot. The resonating structure is designed on a 0.254 mm thin RO5880 substrate with a relative permittivity of 2.3. The single element of the proposed design showed a resonance response from 26.5 to 41 GHz, with a peak gain of 4 dBi and radiation efficiency of 96%. The proposed multicircular ring antenna element is transformed into a four-element array system. The array size is kept at 18.25 × 12.5 × 0.254 mm3 with a peak gain of 11 dBi. The antenna array is fabricated and measured using the in-house facility. The simulated and measured results are well agreed upon and are found to be suitable for mm-wave communication systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Antenna Designs for 5G/IoT and Space Applications)
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14 pages, 3240 KiB  
Article
A Compact Sub-GHz Wide Tunable Antenna Design for IoT Applications
by Rifaqat Hussain, Saad I. Alhuwaimel, Abdullah M. Algarni, Khaled Aljaloud and Niamat Hussain
Electronics 2022, 11(7), 1074; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics11071074 - 29 Mar 2022
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 3850
Abstract
This work presents a compact meandered loop slot-line 5G antenna for Internet of Things (IoT) applications. Recently, sub-gigahertz (sub-GHz) IoT technology is widely spreading. It enables long-range communications with low power consumption. The proposed antenna structure is optimized to operate at sub-GHz bands [...] Read more.
This work presents a compact meandered loop slot-line 5G antenna for Internet of Things (IoT) applications. Recently, sub-gigahertz (sub-GHz) IoT technology is widely spreading. It enables long-range communications with low power consumption. The proposed antenna structure is optimized to operate at sub-GHz bands without any additional complex biasing circuitry or antenna structure. A miniaturized design was achieved by a meandered structured loop slot-line that is loaded reactively with a varactor diode. Wideband frequency reconfigurability (FR) was achieved by the use of the varactor diode. The proposed antenna resonates over the frequency band of 758–1034 MHz with a minimum bandwidth of 17 MHz over the entire frequency band. The RO4350 substrate with dimensions of 0.18λg × 0.13λg mm2 is used to design the proposed antenna design. The efficiency and gain values varied from 54–67% and 0.86–1.8 dBi. Compact planar structure, narrow-band operation (suitable for NB-IoT) and simple biasing circuitry, which allows for sub-GHz operation, are unique and attractive features of the design. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Antenna Designs for 5G/IoT and Space Applications)
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19 pages, 8998 KiB  
Article
A Novel Meander Bowtie-Shaped Antenna with Multi-Resonant and Rejection Bands for Modern 5G Communications
by Yanal S. Faouri, Sarosh Ahmad, Naser Ojaroudi Parchin, Chan Hwang See and Raed Abd-Alhameed
Electronics 2022, 11(5), 821; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics11050821 - 06 Mar 2022
Cited by 32 | Viewed by 2703
Abstract
To support various fifth generation (5G) wireless applications, a small, printed bowtie-shaped microstrip antenna with meandered arms is reported in this article. Because it spans the broad legal range, the developed antenna can serve or reject a variety of applications such as wireless [...] Read more.
To support various fifth generation (5G) wireless applications, a small, printed bowtie-shaped microstrip antenna with meandered arms is reported in this article. Because it spans the broad legal range, the developed antenna can serve or reject a variety of applications such as wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi), sub-6 GHz, and ultra-wideband (UWB) 5G communications due to its multiband characterization and optimized rejection bands. The antenna is built on an FR-4 substrate and powered via a 50-Ω microstrip feed line linked to the right bowtie’s side. The bowtie’s left side is coupled via a shorting pin to a partial ground at the antenna’s back side. A gradually increasing meandering microstrip line is connected to both sides of the bowtie to enhance the rejection and operating bands. The designed antenna has seven operating frequency bands of (2.43–3.03) GHz, (3.71–4.23) GHz, (4.76–5.38) GHz, (5.83–6.54) GHz, (6.85–7.44) GHz, (7.56–8.01) GHz, and (9.27–13.88) GHz. The simulated scattering parameter S11 reveals six rejection bands with percentage bandwidths of 33.87%, 15.73%, 11.71, 7.63%, 6.99%, and 12.22%, respectively. The maximum gain of the proposed antenna is 4.46 dB. The suggested antenna has been built, and the simulation and measurement results are very similar. The reported antenna is expanded to a four-element design to investigate its MIMO characteristics. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Antenna Designs for 5G/IoT and Space Applications)
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8 pages, 2600 KiB  
Article
A Wide-Angle Pattern Diversity Antenna System for mmWave 5G Mobile Terminals
by Karthikeya Gulur Sadananda, Issa Elfergani, Chemseddine Zebiri, Jonathan Rodriguez, Shiban Kishen Koul and Raed A. Abd-Alhameed
Electronics 2022, 11(4), 571; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics11040571 - 14 Feb 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1537
Abstract
A shared ground shared radiator with wide angular coverage for mmWave 5G smartphones is proposed in this paper. A four-element corporate-fed array with conventional impedance matched power divider is designed. Stepped impedance transformers are integrated with the corner most elements to achieve pattern [...] Read more.
A shared ground shared radiator with wide angular coverage for mmWave 5G smartphones is proposed in this paper. A four-element corporate-fed array with conventional impedance matched power divider is designed. Stepped impedance transformers are integrated with the corner most elements to achieve pattern diversity with wide angular coverage without significant compromise in gain. The proposed three-port shared radiator conformal commercial antenna could be easily integrated with commercial mmWave 5G smartphones. All the three ports’ excitations operate in the 28 GHz band. Radiation pattern bandwidth of the multi-port system is high. The gain variation is from 6 to 11 dBi amongst the ports and across the operating spectrum. The highest mutual coupling is 10 dB, in spite of the electrically connected structure. The proposed shared radiator element has a wide angular coverage of 100°, maintaining high front-to-back ratio when the respective port is excited. Simulation and measurement results for the proposed structure are illustrated in detail. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Antenna Designs for 5G/IoT and Space Applications)
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22 pages, 28062 KiB  
Article
A Multi-Slot Two-Antenna MIMO with High Isolation for Sub-6 GHz 5G/IEEE802.11ac/ax/C-Band/X-Band Wireless and Satellite Applications
by Abdullah G. Alharbi, Jayshri Kulkarni, Arpan Desai, Chow-Yen-Desmond Sim and Ajay Poddar
Electronics 2022, 11(3), 473; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics11030473 - 05 Feb 2022
Cited by 23 | Viewed by 2228
Abstract
A tapered symmetrical coplanar waveguide (S-CPW) fed monopole antenna is initially studied. To achieve multiband characteristics, the radiating element of this monopole antenna is loaded with multiple narrow slots and multiple slotted stubs (MSS). The designed slot-loading monopole is further transformed into a [...] Read more.
A tapered symmetrical coplanar waveguide (S-CPW) fed monopole antenna is initially studied. To achieve multiband characteristics, the radiating element of this monopole antenna is loaded with multiple narrow slots and multiple slotted stubs (MSS). The designed slot-loading monopole is further transformed into a two-antenna MIMO type with a gap distance of only 0.12λ (at 5 GHz), and thus it has a small overall size of 32 × 20 × 0.8 mm3. By deploying five concentric ring elements between the two adjacent antenna elements, the desirable isolation of better than 20 dB is yielded. As the low band and high band operation of the proposed two-antenna MIMO is 81.08% (3.3–7.8 GHz) and 40% (8.0–12.0 GHz), respectively, it can therefore satisfy the Sub-6 GHz 5G New Radio (NR) n77/78/79, IEEE 802.11ac/ax, X-band/C-band wireless and satellite applications. Furthermore, it has shown a desirable gain of above 3 dBi and a radiation efficiency greater than 69% throughout the two bands of interest. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Antenna Designs for 5G/IoT and Space Applications)
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15 pages, 5097 KiB  
Article
A Sub-6 GHz MIMO Antenna Array for 5G Wireless Terminals
by Jalal Khan, Sadiq Ullah, Farooq A. Tahir, Faisel Tubbal and Raad Raad
Electronics 2021, 10(24), 3062; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics10243062 - 09 Dec 2021
Cited by 27 | Viewed by 4240
Abstract
This paper presents a novel antenna with its array and MIMO configuration for the 5G sub-6 GHz applications. The proposed antenna element operates at the central frequency of 5.57 GHz dedicated for Sub-6 GHz 5G communication applications. The antenna element holds a circular-shaped [...] Read more.
This paper presents a novel antenna with its array and MIMO configuration for the 5G sub-6 GHz applications. The proposed antenna element operates at the central frequency of 5.57 GHz dedicated for Sub-6 GHz 5G communication applications. The antenna element holds a circular-shaped radiating portion with an inner-circular slot, plus a rectangular slot at its right edge to make the proposed design resonate at the desired frequency band. The RT5880 substrate is used with a thickness of 0.787 mm, and the low-loss tangent of 0.0009. To achieve a desired gain of 12 dB, a four-element array configuration is adopted, which improved a bore side gain to 12.4 dB from 6.66 dB. Then, the two-port configuration is adopted such that the isolation achieved between them is more than −30 dB. The total efficiency of the proposed antenna array is observed to be more than 80% within the operating bandwidth. Moreover, the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) analysis is also presented for the proposed MIMO configuration, obeying the standard value (i.e., <2 W/kg for any 10 g of tissue). The measured results are in good agreement with the simulated results. All the simulations of the proposed design are performed in the CST MWS software. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Antenna Designs for 5G/IoT and Space Applications)
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21 pages, 8990 KiB  
Article
Design and Analysis of Wideband Flexible Self-Isolating MIMO Antennas for Sub-6 GHz 5G and WLAN Smartphone Terminals
by Jayshri Kulkarni, Abdullah G. Alharbi, Arpan Desai, Chow-Yen-Desmond Sim and Ajay Poddar
Electronics 2021, 10(23), 3031; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics10233031 - 04 Dec 2021
Cited by 28 | Viewed by 2836
Abstract
A single radiator that is a part of four-port diversity Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) antenna design is composed of four octagonal rings embedded between the two opposite sides of a T-shaped conductive layer surrounded by inverted angular edge cut L-shaped and E-shaped structures. The [...] Read more.
A single radiator that is a part of four-port diversity Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) antenna design is composed of four octagonal rings embedded between the two opposite sides of a T-shaped conductive layer surrounded by inverted angular edge cut L-shaped and E-shaped structures. The radiators are placed at the four corners with common ground at the center of a smartphone to form a four-element mobile MIMO antenna. The printing of the antenna is carried out on the flexible polyamide substrate (dielectric constant = 3.5 and loss tangent = 0.0027) with dimensions of 70 × 145 × 0.2 mm3. A wide impedance bandwidth of (84.12%) 2.39 to 5.86 GHz is achieved for all four radiators. The compact size of the radiators along with their placement enables the proposed MIMO antenna to occupy much less area while preserving the space for 2G/3G/4G antennas. The placement of the antennas results in self-isolation between antenna elements by achieving isolation greater than 17.5 dB in the desired operating bands. Furthermore, besides showing a high efficiency of 85% and adequate gain above 4 dBi, good diversity performances such as Envelope Correlation Coefficient (ECC) of less than 0.05, Diversity Gain (DG) of above 9.8 dB, Mean Effective Gain (MEG) of −3.1 dB, Channel Capacity of 21.50 bps/Hz, and Total Active Reflection Coefficient (TARC) of below −10 dB are achieved by the flexible MIMO smartphone antenna. The effect of bending along the X and Y-axis on the performance of the proposed MIMO antenna is also analyzed where decent performance is observed. This makes the proposed flexible four-element MIMO antenna a potential candidate to be deployed in future smartphones. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Antenna Designs for 5G/IoT and Space Applications)
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9 pages, 1502 KiB  
Article
Low-Cost, Low-Profile Wide-Band Radar Cross Section Reduction Using Dual-Concentric Phase Gradient Modulated Surface
by Yousef Azizi, Mohammad Soleimani, Seyed Hasan Sedighy and Ladislau Matekovits
Electronics 2021, 10(13), 1552; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics10131552 - 26 Jun 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1544
Abstract
Design criteria of low-cost, dual-concentric metasurface possessing wideband phase gradient (PG) are introduced. The radar cross-section reduction (RCSR) is explained by anomalous reflection that characterizes the superficial planar. The geometry consists of two single band RCSR modulated surfaces (MSs) that are triggered in [...] Read more.
Design criteria of low-cost, dual-concentric metasurface possessing wideband phase gradient (PG) are introduced. The radar cross-section reduction (RCSR) is explained by anomalous reflection that characterizes the superficial planar. The geometry consists of two single band RCSR modulated surfaces (MSs) that are triggered in each other. Each MS is built-up of square patch (SP) unit cells configured as a modulation structure to realize PG that causes anomalous reflection and monostatic RCSR behavior. Applying sinusoidal modulation to the sequence of the SP unit cells leads to the formation of PG along the surface and hence the intensity of the reflected wave is reduced for the broadside direction (θr=0). The proposed structure fabricated on a 0.8 mm thin FR-4 substrate extends over 249 × 249 mm2. It achieves a wide RCSR bandwidth from 20.9 GHz to 45.7 GHz (i.e., relative bandwidth of 75%) as designed in Dassault Systèmes (CST) Microwave Studio as a full-wave simulator and confirmed by the measurement results. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Antenna Designs for 5G/IoT and Space Applications)
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9 pages, 3728 KiB  
Article
A Quad-Port Dual-Band MIMO Antenna Array for 5G Smartphone Applications
by Jianlin Huang, Guiting Dong, Jing Cai, Han Li and Gui Liu
Electronics 2021, 10(5), 542; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics10050542 - 25 Feb 2021
Cited by 59 | Viewed by 3786
Abstract
A quad-port antenna array operating in 3.5 GHz band (3.4–3.6 GHz) and 5 GHz band (4.8–5 GHz) for fifth-generation (5G) smartphone applications is presented in this paper. The single antenna element consists of an L-shaped strip, a parasitic rectangle strip, and a modified [...] Read more.
A quad-port antenna array operating in 3.5 GHz band (3.4–3.6 GHz) and 5 GHz band (4.8–5 GHz) for fifth-generation (5G) smartphone applications is presented in this paper. The single antenna element consists of an L-shaped strip, a parasitic rectangle strip, and a modified Z-shaped strip. To reserve space for 2G/3G/4G antennas, the quad-port antenna array is printed along the two long frames of the smartphone. The evolution design and the analysis of the optimal parameters of a single antenna element are derived to investigate the principle of the antenna. The prototype of the presented antenna is tested and the measured results agree well with the simulation. The measured total efficiency is better than 70% and the isolation is larger than 16.5 dB. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Antenna Designs for 5G/IoT and Space Applications)
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Review

Jump to: Editorial, Research

39 pages, 4790 KiB  
Review
A Survey on CubeSat Missions and Their Antenna Designs
by Sining Liu, Panagiotis Ioannis Theoharis, Raad Raad, Faisel Tubbal, Angelos Theoharis, Saeid Iranmanesh, Suhila Abulgasem, Muhammad Usman Ali Khan and Ladislau Matekovits
Electronics 2022, 11(13), 2021; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics11132021 - 27 Jun 2022
Cited by 24 | Viewed by 12703
Abstract
CubeSats are a class of miniaturized satellites that have become increasingly popular in academia and among hobbyists due to their short development time and low fabrication cost. Their compact size, lightweight characteristics, and ability to form a swarm enables them to communicate directly [...] Read more.
CubeSats are a class of miniaturized satellites that have become increasingly popular in academia and among hobbyists due to their short development time and low fabrication cost. Their compact size, lightweight characteristics, and ability to form a swarm enables them to communicate directly with one another to inspire new ideas on space exploration, space-based measurements, and implementation of the latest technology. CubeSat missions require specific antenna designs in order to achieve optimal performance and ensure mission success. Over the past two decades, a plethora of antenna designs have been proposed and implemented on CubeSat missions. Several challenges arise when designing CubeSat antennas such as gain, polarization, frequency selection, pointing accuracy, coverage, and deployment mechanisms. While these challenges are strongly related to the restrictions posed by the CubeSat standards, recently, researchers have turned their attention from the reliable and proven whip antenna to more sophisticated antenna designs such as antenna arrays to allow for higher gain and reconfigurable and steerable radiation patterns. This paper provides a comprehensive survey of the antennas used in 120 CubeSat missions from 2003 to 2022 as well as a collection of single-element antennas and antenna arrays that have been proposed in the literature. In addition, we propose a pictorial representation of how to select an antenna for different types of CubeSat missions. To this end, this paper aims is to serve both as an introductory guide on CubeSats antennas for CubeSat enthusiasts and a state of the art for CubeSat designers in this ever-growing field. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Antenna Designs for 5G/IoT and Space Applications)
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20 pages, 3754 KiB  
Review
A Review on 5G Sub-6 GHz Base Station Antenna Design Challenges
by Madiha Farasat, Dushmantha N. Thalakotuna, Zhonghao Hu and Yang Yang
Electronics 2021, 10(16), 2000; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics10162000 - 19 Aug 2021
Cited by 30 | Viewed by 12420
Abstract
Modern wireless networks such as 5G require multiband MIMO-supported Base Station Antennas. As a result, antennas have multiple ports to support a range of frequency bands leading to multiple arrays within one compact antenna enclosure. The close proximity of the arrays results in [...] Read more.
Modern wireless networks such as 5G require multiband MIMO-supported Base Station Antennas. As a result, antennas have multiple ports to support a range of frequency bands leading to multiple arrays within one compact antenna enclosure. The close proximity of the arrays results in significant scattering degrading pattern performance of each band while coupling between arrays leads to degradation in return loss and port-to-port isolations. Different design techniques are adopted in the literature to overcome such challenges. This paper provides a classification of challenges in BSA design and a cohesive list of design techniques adopted in the literature to overcome such challenges. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Antenna Designs for 5G/IoT and Space Applications)
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