Reduction of mutual coupling and cross-polarization of a MIMO/diversity antenna using a string of H-shaped DGS

In this article, a simple string of H-shaped defected ground structure (DGS) is used to reduce the mutual coupling and cross-polarization of a MIMO antenna. A MIMO antenna has been designed using two identical square patches to operate at the frequency of 2.4 GHz. The proposed DGS decreases the direct coupling path among the closely spaced (edge to edge gap 0.038 lambda(0)) patches and thereby reduces the mutual coupling and cross-polarization by 46 dB and 11 dB respectively. To study the amount of mutual coupling is decoupled; a new term namely, coupling to decoupling ratio (CDR) has been defined. A mathematical model is developed using multiple polynomial regression analysis techniques to observe the dependency of CDR as a function of frequency and inter-element spacing. Also, an equivalent circuit of the DGS is constructed and validated. Diversity performance of this MIMO antenna is presented through Envelope Correlation Coefficient (ECC) and Mean Effective Gain (MEG) ratio and well acceptable values of 0.0002 and 0.03 dB are obtained respectively. A prototype is fabricated and measured. The experimental results show good agreement with that of the simulated results. Maximum peak gain of 2dBi and radiation efficiency of 74% also proves the practicality of this design. (C) 2018 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.