Small-size four-element antenna system for 2 x 2 LTE LB and 4 x 4 LTE M/HB MIMO operations in5Gmobile terminals

A small-size four-element antenna system for 2 x 2 LTE low band (LB, 698-960 MHz) and 4 x 4 LTE middle/high band (M/HB, 1710-2690 MHz) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) operations in 5G (fifth-generation) mobile terminals is presented. The proposed antenna system is formed by two identical tunable loop antennas and two identical coupled-fed IFA (Inverted-F Antenna) antennas. By loading a RF switch with four output states as tunable component, the proposed loop antenna can not only operate in the M/HB, but also achieve improved bandwidth coverage in the LB. Each coupled-fed IFA element operating in the M/HB with compact volume. The four antennas are placed on the both short side-edge of the mobile terminal with small ground clearance of 4.2 mm. The simulatedS-parameters show that the proposed MIMO system can cover 698 to 960 MHz and 1710 to 2690 MHz with reflection coefficients less than -6 dB and isolations are all more than 12 dB. Good MIMO performances such as radiation efficiencies, envelope correlation coefficient (less than 0.4 within the entire operation bands) and channel capacity are also obtained. The effects of user's hand(s) on performances for the proposed antenna system are also discussed. This four-element antenna system prototype is fabricated and measured.