A Compact Dual Element PIFA Array for Wireless MIMO Advanced TDD LTE Applications

MIMO systems have been developing in recent past as a solution to high speed and reliable data communication problems. Reducing the separation between antenna terminals while not compromising at the same time with the performance parameters of the system, is a key area of research in MIMO technology. In this paper, a compact dual-element PIFA array is presented for MIMO LTE applications. The MIMO system is designed to operate in advanced Time Division Duplexed (TDD) LTE bands LTE B 42 and LTE B 43. The design uses a dual layer substrate with the two rectangular radiating elements are present on the top substrate layer and are shorted to the ground plane by two shorting plates of 4.5mm width. The overall dimensions of the antenna are 45mm x 43mm x 7.9mm. Performance analysis of the designed MIMO system is done with respect to Return Loss, Isolation, TARC, ECC and Capacity Loss. The proposed system resonates at 3.6 GHz providing a 10 dB TARC bandwidth of 330 MHz ranging from 3.4 GHz to 3.73 GHz. An isolation of better than -11.5 dB is obtained in the frequency band of interest. The system offers good MIMO performance parameters with TARC better than -10 dB, ECC of almost zero and Channel Capacity Loss of less than 0.5 bps/Hz in the desired LTE bands. The size of the MIMO design and its performance indicators are compared with the existing designs covering TDD LTE bands. The proposed design provides a compact and efficient MIMO system that finds its applications in advanced TDD LTE bands for high data rate communication devices. Keywords—PIFA; Long Term Evolution; MIMO; Total Active Reflection Coefficient; Envelope Correlation Coefficient; Channel Capacity Loss