Miniaturized Multi-band Millimeter-Wave Vivaldi Antenna with Performance Optimization at 28 GHz for 5G MIMO Applications

A novel design for Vivaldi antenna is introduced to operate in more than one frequency band in the millimeter-wave spectrum range with high gain. The proposed Vivaldi antenna is planar and printed on both sides of Rogers 3003C flexible substrate. A parasitic annular ring is added to each arm of the Vivaldi antenna to adjust the impedance matching and maximize the gain. The dimensions of the antenna are optimized using the CST microwave simulator to obtain the best impedance matching bandwidths and highest gain in a compact-size antenna. The 28-GHz band is then selected due to its importance to enhance the gain and improve the operating bandwidth for the 5G applications. A gain of 10 dBi and bandwidth of 6.1 GHz are obtained at 28 GHz. A multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna system is then designed for pattern diversity for the fifth-generation mobile applications. The performance of the MIMO system is evaluated regarding the envelope correlation coefficient and the diversity gain showing good results. The optimized antenna is fabricated and its return loss and radiation patterns are measured showing good consent between the simulations and the practical work. The MIMO antenna system is also fabricated, and its performance is measured regarding the reflection and coupling coefficients showing good agreement between the measurements and simulations.