Two element wide-band frequency reconfigurable MIMO antenna system for 4G applications

In this paper, a low-profile wideband, frequency reconfigurable multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) antenna system is presented with wide tunability range for cognitive radio (CR) applications. The two element antenna design is embedded with varactor diodes for variable capacitive loading to achieve frequency reconfigurability. A smooth variation in the resonating frequencies from 1610∼2710 MHz is achieved by varying the capacitive loading with minimum measured bandwidth of 470 MHz in each sub-band within the entire covered range. The proposed antenna design is compact with single element dimensions of 7.9×25.4 mm2 on a single board dimensions of 60×100×0.8 mm3. The proposed antenna design is suitable for wireless handheld devices and mobile terminals in 4G applications for CR platforms. The antenna system is also characterized for MIMO performance metrics.