A Compact Mu-Near-Zero Metamaterial Integrated Wideband High-Gain MIMO Antenna for 5G New Radio Applications

Md Mhedi Hasan; Mohammad Tariqul Islam; Sharul Kamal Abdul Rahim; Touhidul Alam; Hatem Rmili; Ahmed Alzamil; Md Shabiul Islam; Mohamed S Soliman

doi:10.3390/ma16041751

A Compact Mu-Near-Zero Metamaterial Integrated Wideband High-Gain MIMO Antenna for 5G New Radio Applications

Materials (Basel). 2023 Feb 20;16(4):1751. doi: 10.3390/ma16041751.

Authors

Md Mhedi Hasan^{1

2}, Mohammad Tariqul Islam¹, Sharul Kamal Abdul Rahim³, Touhidul Alam⁴, Hatem Rmili^{5

6}, Ahmed Alzamil⁷, Md Shabiul Islam⁸, Mohamed S Soliman^{9

10}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Electrical, Electronic and Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Bangi 43600, Selangor, Malaysia.
² Department of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Faculty of Engineering, Comilla University, Cumilla 3506, Bangladesh.
³ Wireless Communication Centre, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai 81310, Johor, Malaysia.
⁴ Pusat Sains Ankasa (ANGKASA), Institut Perubahan Iklim, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Bangi 43600, Selangor, Malaysia.
⁵ Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ K. A. CARE Energy Research and Innovation Center, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
⁷ Electrical Engineering Department, College of Engineering, University of Hail, Hail 81481, Saudi Arabia.
⁸ Faculty of Engineering, Multimedia University (MMU), Cyberjaya 63100, Selangor, Malaysia.
⁹ Department of Electrical Engineering, College of Engineering, Taif University, P.O. Box 11099, Taif 21944, Saudi Arabia.
¹⁰ Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Energy Engineering, Aswan University, Aswan 81528, Egypt.

Abstract

This article demonstrates a compact wideband four-port multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) antenna system integrated with a wideband metamaterial (MM) to reach high gain for sub-6 GHz new radio (NR) 5G communication. The four antennas of the proposed MIMO system are orthogonally positioned to the adjacent antennas with a short interelement edge-to-edge distance (0.19λ_min at 3.25 GHz), confirming compact size and wideband characteristics 55.2% (3.25-5.6 GHz). Each MIMO system component consists of a fractal slotted unique patch with a transmission feed line and a metal post-encased defected ground structure (DGS). The designed MIMO system is realized on a low-cost FR-4 printed material with a miniature size of 0.65λ_min × 0.65λ_min × 0.02λ_min. A 6 × 6 array of double U-shaped resonator-based unique mu-near-zero (MNZ) wideband metamaterial reflector (MMR) is employed below the MIMO antenna with a 0.14λ_min air gap, improving the gain by 2.8 dBi and manipulating the MIMO beam direction by 60°. The designed petite MIMO system with a MM reflector proposes a high peak gain of 7.1 dBi in comparison to recent relevant antennas with high isolation of 35 dB in the n77/n78/n79 bands. In addition, the proposed wideband MMR improves the MIMO diversity and radiation characteristics with an average total efficiency of 68% over the desired bands. The stated MIMO antenna system has an outstanding envelope correlation coefficient (ECC) of <0.045, a greater diversity gain (DG) of near 10 dB (>9.96 dB), a low channel capacity loss (CCL) of <0.35 b/s/Hz and excellent multiplexing efficiency (ME) of higher than -1.4 dB. The proposed MIMO concept is confirmed by fabricating and testing the developed MIMO structure. In contrast to the recent relevant works, the proposed antenna is compact in size, while maintaining high gain and wideband characteristics, with strong MIMO performance. Thus, the proposed concept could be a potential approach to the 5G MIMO antenna system.

Keywords: 5G NR bands; Mu-near-zero metamaterial; compact size; gain improvement; high gain; metamaterial MIMO antenna; wideband.

Grants and funding

DIP-2021-007/National University of Malaysia