Metasurface Superstrate-based MIMO Patch Antennas with Reduced Mutual Coupling for 5G Communications

Authors

  • Sthembile P. Dubazane Discipline of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4041, South Africa
  • Pradeep Kumar Discipline of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4041, South Africa
  • Thomas J. O. Afullo Discipline of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4041, South Africa

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13052/2022.ACES.J.370406

Keywords:

Permeability, permittivity, metasurface, mutual coupling

Abstract

Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems have several advantages, such as providing high capacity, spatial diversity, etc. MIMO antennas suffer with high mutual coupling (m-coupling) between the ports. In this paper, the metasurface with negative permeability (MNG) is designed and utilized for m-coupling reduction of a two-port rectangular microstrip MIMO antenna (Antenna 1). Two metasurface superstrate-based MIMO antennas with reduced m-coupling for fifth generation (5G) are proposed. The first design (Antenna 2) is constructed using a single metasurface superstrate suspended above the two-port MIMO microstrip antenna. The second design (Antenna 3) is constructed using a double metasurface superstrate layers suspended above the two-port MIMO microstrip antenna. Both metasurface-based MIMO antennas achieve significant m-coupling reduction over the entire bandwidth. The edge-to-edge separation between the two patches is 0.29λ0. The proposed Antenna 3 obtains the reduced m-coupling of −44 dB along with the wide bandwidth of 5.92−6.2 GHz and a maximum gain of 6.79 dB. The proposed antennas are suitable for extended sub-6 GHz 5G applications with the operating frequency band of 5.9–6.1 GHz.

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Author Biographies

Sthembile P. Dubazane, Discipline of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4041, South Africa

Sthembile Promise Dubazane was born in South Africa, on 27 June 1995. She received the B.Sc. degree in electronic engineering from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, in 2017. She is currently working toward the M.Sc. degree in electronic engineering with the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

She has a great passion for learning and hopes to conduct her Ph.D. degree studies in near future. Her research areas include antennas, MIMO systems, etc.

Pradeep Kumar, Discipline of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4041, South Africa

Pradeep Kumar received the bachelor’s, M.Eng., and Ph.D. degrees in electronics and communication engineering in 2003, 2005, and 2009, respectively. He completed his postdoctoral studies from Autonoma University of Madrid, Spain.

He is currently working with the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. His current research areas include design and analysis of microstrip antennas, antenna arrays, wireless communications, etc.

Thomas J. O. Afullo, Discipline of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4041, South Africa

Thomas J. O. Afullo received the B.Sc. degree (Hons.) in electrical engineering from the University of Nairobi, Kenya, in 1979, the M.Sc. degree in electrical engineering from the University of West Virginia, USA, in 1983, and the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium, in 1989.

He is currently a Professor with the Discipline of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa, and a former Academic Leader. He was with Kenya Post and Telecommunication Corporation as a Senior Executive Engineer from 1985 to 1986. He was a Senior Lecturer and the Head of the Department of Electrical and Communication Engineering, Moi University, Kenya, from 1991 to 1994. He was a Lecturer with the University of Botswana from 1996 to 2002, an Associate Professor with UDW/UKZN from 2003 to 2010, and has been a Professor with UKZN since 2012. His research interests include radio wave propagation, antenna design, cognitive radio, and power linecommunication.

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Published

2022-04-01

How to Cite

[1]
S. P. . Dubazane, P. . Kumar, and T. J. O. . Afullo, “Metasurface Superstrate-based MIMO Patch Antennas with Reduced Mutual Coupling for 5G Communications”, ACES Journal, vol. 37, no. 04, pp. 408–419, Apr. 2022.