Comparative study on the diversity performance between different microstrip antenna arrays

Abstract

Institution of Engineering and Technology. All rights reserved. In this paper, a unique systematic comparative study between different microstrip antennas array types is presented. The study includes a comparison based on the mutual coupling (S 21 ) and the envelope correlation coefficient between four different antennas array types: (a) PIFA antenna, (b) patch antenna, (c) monopole antenna, (d) slot antenna. All these different microstrip antennas have been designed and printed on a thin 1.6 mm FR-4 substrate with dielectric constant (ѓ r = 4.4), suitable for wireless PCS applications (1.9 GHz). Numerical simulations are carried out using HFSS ver 17.0 software. The mutual coupling and envelope correlation coefficient between these different microstrip antennas are studied for various antenna separations. Also, another brief comparison is presented which based on the obtained results particularly in inputs return and radiation characteristics loss at fixed antenna separation, by determining the primarily associated parameters such as the bandwidth, gain, directivity, radiation efficiency. However; it is found that separation between multiple antenna elements is the most critical and crucial parameter affecting on the antenna diversity performance such as both the mutual coupling and the envelope correlation coefficient (primarily it will decrease linearly with the distance increment). This comparative study would be very helpful for RF design engineers to select suitable microstrip antenna type while designing antenna arrays at frequency 1.9 GHz for wireless PCS applications.