Compact Multifunctional Dipole Antenna Array for MIMO Systems

A Thesis
Submitted to the Faculty
of
Drexel University
by
Mikhail Aleksandrovich Chernyavskiy
in partial fulllment of the
requirements for the degree
of
Master of Science in Electrical Engineering / Telecommunications
June 2012
c Copyright 2012
Mikhail Aleksandrovich Chernyavskiy. All Rights Reserved.
ii
Dedications
To my father
and my grandmother,
for their love and support.
iii
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank my advisor, Dr. Kapil Dandekar for his guidance, advice, and
support these past three years. I am very grateful to Prathap for being a great mentor
to me throughout his time in the lab, to Guillermo and David for their help with my
measurements, to Magda and Kevin for never being too busy for me, and to John
for his excellent advice. A big thank you to all past and present members of DWSL.
It was truly a pleasure to work with each and every one of you. Last but not least,
thanks to all of my friends for everything.
iv
Table of Contents
List of Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi
List of Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Abstract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 Motivation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Related Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.3 Thesis Contribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.4 Thesis Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2. Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.1 MIMO Wireless Communications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.1.1 Channel Capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.1.2 Fading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.2 Antennas for MIMO Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.2.1 Diversity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.2.2 Diversity Combining Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.2.3 Recongurable & Multifunctional Antennas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3. Antenna Array Design and Simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3.1 Design Motivation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3.2 Antenna Array Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
v
3.3 Antenna Array Simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3.4 Antenna Array Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
4. Antenna Array Measurement Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
4.1 Measured Antenna Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
4.2 Channel Measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
4.2.1 Channel Measurement Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
5. Discussion and Future Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
5.1 Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
5.2 Future Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Appendix A: Table of Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Appendix B: Table of Acronyms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
vi
List of Tables
3.1 Antenna array structural parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
4.1 Area of the proposed antenna array and reference antenna array. . . . . . 35
4.2 Average measured percentage capacity improvement achievable with the
stacked antenna array at 2.484 GHz with respect to the and /2 sepa-
rations of the reference dipoles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
4.3 Average measured percentage capacity improvement achievable with the
stacked antenna array at 5.805 GHz with respect to the 2 and separa-
tions of the reference dipoles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
vii
List of Figures
2.1 Block diagrams of (a) SISO and (b) MIMO communication systems . . . 6
2.2 Three antenna diversity techniques: (a) spatial diversity, (b) pattern di-
versity, and (c) polarization diversity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.1 (a) Schematic and (b) prototype of the triband antenna from [32]. . . . 22
3.2 Schematics of the proposed antenna array design: (a) front view, (b) back
view, and (c) perspective view. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
3.3 Simulated return loss and isolation plots of the two antennas in the pro-
posed antenna array. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
3.4 Simulated radiation patterns in dBi of the two antennas in the proposed
antenna array at 2.484 GHz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
3.5 Simulated 3D radiation patterns of the two antennas in the proposed an-
tenna array at 2.484 GHz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
3.6 (a) Front and (b) back of the prototype of the proposed antenna array. . 29
4.1 Measured return loss and isolation plots of the two antennas in the pro-
posed antenna array. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
4.2 Measured radiation patterns in dBi of the two antennas in the proposed
antenna array at (a) 2.484 GHz, and at (b) 5.805 GHz. . . . . . . . . . 32
4.3 Floor plan of test environment. Test locations of TX and RX are indicated. 34
4.4 Comparison of the proposed antenna array (left) and the reference dipoles
(right). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
4.5 CDF of capacity of the stacked antenna array and the reference dipoles
assuming 10 dB SNR, measured at (a) 2.484 GHz, and at (b) 5.805 GHz. 38
4.6 CDF of capacity of the stacked antenna array as a function of SNR at
2.484 GHz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
viii
Abstract
Compact Multifunctional Dipole Antenna Array for MIMO Systems
Mikhail Aleksandrovich Chernyavskiy
Kapil R. Dandekar, Ph.D.
A compact, stacked, multi-frequency dipole antenna array is designed and presented
for use in Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) wireless communication systems.
The array consists of two dual band frame-printed dipoles occupying the same physical
space. Each antenna can operate in the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands for wireless local area
network (WLAN) applications. The array can be used in a 2 2 MIMO link at either
the transmitter (TX) or receiver (RX) or both.
The lack of spatial diversity that arises from having co-located antennas is coun-
terbalanced by the pattern diversity resulting from the mutual coupling between the
two antenna elements. This system takes advantage of the otherwise undesirable mu-
tual coupling within the antenna array elements by producing pattern diversity from
the shift in the radiation patterns.
The proposed antenna array was simulated and manufactured and its radiation
characteristics were tested. Channel measurements were also taken using the antenna
array and the WARP software dened radio platform. The proposed antenna array
has radiation characteristics and measured channel capacity comparable to that of
specialized antennas operating in each of the frequency bands, while providing the
added benet of size reduction.
1
Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 Motivation
Wireless communication has become an integral part of peoples daily lives and a
critical business tool. Wireless systems oer convenient and reliable connectivity
that allows for user mobility. In addition, wireless communication allows for net-
work access to be introduced to areas where it would be traditionally be dicult to
connect to a wired network, since wireless networks are easier to deploy. Because of
these attractive characteristics, wireless communication is currently at the forefront
of telecommunications research.
Modern communication systems require multiple antennas that support several
frequency bands in a compact space [1]. Multiple input multiple output (MIMO)
wireless communication [2] is a promising technology that plays an important role
in new and upcoming mobile communication systems. MIMO techniques combine
signals from multiple antennas to exploit the multipath in wireless channels and
enable higher capacity, better coverage, and increased reliability without using extra
spectrum and power resources [1]. The main advantage of MIMO systems is that
they provide the ability to form parallel orthogonal transmission channels, even in
rich scattering environments [3].
Many wireless communication standards require operation in multiple frequency
bands. For example, an IEEE 802.11n (WiFi) device requires at least two antennas
Chapter 1: Introduction 2
operating in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. At the same time, consumer devices
like laptops, tablets, and smartphones continue to get smaller and thinner, leaving
less and less room for antennas. These constraints provide a need for a low prole
antenna array that is compatible with MIMO systems and able to operate on multiple
frequencies [1].
This thesis oers one possible solution to this problem by presenting a compact
multifunctional antenna array for MIMO communication systems comprised of two
dual band frame-printed dipoles. The antenna array was designed, simulated, con-
structed, and tested.
1.2 Related Work
Current research in the area of antennas for MIMO systems has been focused on
electrically recongurable [413] and multimode antennas [1416]. These antennas
include spiral antennas [7, 15], dipole hybrids [46, 14, 15], patch antennas [8, 9, 15],
and pixel antennas [13] that can recongure their radiation patterns, polarizations,
and frequency operating bands.
Patch antennas are often used as recongurable antennas. A recongurable multi-
port circular patch antenna was designed such that it can excite dierent electromag-
netic modes by varying its radius with PIN diode switches [8]. Another circular patch
antenna array consisting of two stacked circular disks presented in [9] is capable of
changing the shape of its radiation pattern by selecting a pair of feed points con-
nected to the two antennas, which again excite dierent EM modes. The authors of
[10] demonstrate a compact pattern recongurable U-slot patch antenna.
Chapter 1: Introduction 3
Many somewhat more exotic antennas have also been investigated in the recong-
urable antenna literature. The authors of [7] propose a single arm Archimedean spiral
antenna whose arm length can be recongured in length using PIN diode switches,
exciting dierent radiation patterns in the process. A recongurable leaky wave an-
tenna was designed making possible dynamic changes to the array radiation pattern
[11]. A recongurable 2D fractal tree antenna is shown in [12]. A pixel antenna utiliz-
ing microelectromechanical switches (MEMS) capable of reconguring its radiation
modes and operating frequency has been designed for narrowband MIMO systems
[13]. Even a cubic antenna is investigated in [16].
Dipoles have been incorporated into many dierent recongurable antenna appli-
cations. A wideband recongurable MIMO antenna, a combination of a recongurable
balanced dipole and a two-port chassis antenna, has been demonstrated in [4]. The
authors of [5] present a compact recongurable antenna array consisting of two hybrid
monopole/dipole elements. Each element can operate in either monopole or dipole
mode. A circular polarization spiral-dipole antenna has been proposed in [15]. A
dipole antenna is loaded with spirals at both of its ends to generate omnidirectional
left-hand or right-hand circular polarization.
More traditional dipoles are presented in [6, 14]. A linear printed dipole array is
oriented in a fashion that introduces pattern diversity in [14]. An antenna array of
two printed dipoles, in which each of the dipoles can be recongured in length using
PIN diode switches can be seen in [6]. The switch conguration can be modied in
accordance to changes in the environment.
Chapter 1: Introduction 4
1.3 Thesis Contribution
This thesis contributes to the development of an optimal antenna system for MIMO
communications. The proposed antenna array is composed of two dipole antennas,
each operating in multiple frequency bands, creating frequency diversity. The array
is constructed in a way that introduces pattern diversity to the system. Most im-
portantly, while typical MIMO antennas are separated to achieve decorrelation, the
proposed array is compact for potential use in mobile devices.
1.4 Thesis Organization
Chapter 2 provides background information regarding topics such as MIMO wire-
less communications, channel capacity, diversity, and antennas for MIMO systems.
Chapter 3 presents the design of the proposed compact dipole antenna array and the
simulation results. Chapter 4 discusses the measurement results and evaluates the
antenna as part of a system. Chapter 5 concludes this thesis by providing a summary
of the work, a discussion of the research in context with existing designs, as well as
proposals for future work.
5
Chapter 2: Background
2.1 MIMO Wireless Communications
In a conventional radio communication system, one transmit (TX) and one receive
(RX) antenna are used to transmit information over a communication channel. This
is referred to as a single input single output (SISO) system. A block diagram of a
SISO system can be seen in Figure 2.1a. If a simplied channel is assumed to be
time and frequency invariant, the channel is denoted by a scalar h. The scalar signal
model is given as:
y = hx + n (2.1)
where y is the received signal, x is the transmitted signal, and n is complex additive
white Gaussian noise (AWGN) with zero mean.
In a noise-limited scenario, the spectral eciency of a channel is fundamentally
limited by the Shannon-Nyquist criterion [17], expressed as:
C = log
2
_
1 + SNR |h|
2
_
(2.2)
= log
2
_
1 +
P
t
|h|
2

2
n
_
(2.3)
where h is the transfer function from the TX to the RX, SNR denotes the signal to
noise ratio at the RX, P
t
is the transmitted power, and
2
n
is the noise variance. The
channel capacity can increase logarithmically with an increase in transmit power.
Chapter 2: Background 6
(a)
(b)
Figure 2.1: Block diagrams of (a) SISO and (b) MIMO communication systems
If a link in a wireless communication system is equipped with multiple antenna
elements at both the transmitting and the receiving end, the system becomes a mul-
tiple input multiple output (MIMO) system. A block diagram of a MIMO system
can be seen in Figure 2.1b. The channel response for a narrowband non-frequency
selective MIMO system with N
r
receive antennas and N
t
transmit antennas is now
Chapter 2: Background 7
denoted by a channel matrix H C
NrNt
,
H =
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
h
11
h
12
h
1Nt
h
21
h
22
h
2Nt
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
h
Nr1
h
Nr2
h
NrNt
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
(2.4)
where h
ij
is the transfer function, or scalar SISO channel, between the i-th RX an-
tenna and the j-th TX antenna [17]. The vector signal model is given as:
y = Hx +n (2.5)
where y C
Nr1
is the received signal vector at the RX antennas, x C
Nt1
is the
transmitted signal vector for the TX antennas, and n C
Nr1
is the AWGN vector
at the RX antennas [6].
The channel matrix H is the mathematical representation of the transmission path
of the transmitted data, which includes the multipath channel characteristics of the
environment and the antenna congurations of the transmitting and receiving antenna
arrays. Both the multipath channel characteristics and the antenna congurations
play a large role in determining the performance of the MIMO system.
2.1.1 Channel Capacity
Assuming that the at fading channel is unknown at the transmitter and known at the
receiver, the signal vector at the transmitter is composed of N
t
independent signals
Chapter 2: Background 8
with equal power. In this case, the capacity is shown to be [18]:
C = log
2
_
det
_
I
Nr
+
SNR
N
t
HH

__
(2.6)
where I
Nr
is an identity matrix of size N
r
N
r
, SNR is the mean signal to noise
ratio per receiver branch, det is the determinant, and the superscript denotes the
complex conjugate transpose.
The Kronecker model is used in this thesis to generate random channels and
thus show the potential of the proposed antenna array [6]. In a spatially correlated
Rayleigh-fading MIMO channel, the channel matrix H is dened by the Kronecker
model as [19]:
H = R
1/2
r
H
w
R
1/2
t
(2.7)
where R
r
is the receive spatial correlation matrix, R
t
is the transmit spatial correla-
tion matrix, and H
w
C
NrNt
is a matrix of complex Gaussian fading coecients.
In this thesis, a 2 2 MIMO system is used, i.e. N
r
= N
t
= 2.
2.1.2 Fading
The signal radiated from a transmitting antenna is reected, scattered, diracted,
and/or refracted by the various structures in its path. Mathematically, these factors
cause the signal to experience path loss, shadowing, and fading [17]. Path loss is the
reduction in eld strength when an electromagnetic wave propagates though space
Chapter 2: Background 9
and for free space is modeled as [20]:
L = 20 log
10
_
4d

_
(2.8)
where is the wavelength, d is the distance between the transmitter and the receiver,
and L is the path loss in decibels.
Shadowing is caused by large obstructions that obscure the main signal path
between the transmitter and the receiver. These obstacles will be dierent for every
path, causing variations with respect to the value given by the path loss model.
Fading refers to rapid uctuations in the signal and results from the interference
between multiple waves reaching the receiver from the transmitter [17].
Typically, the fading caused by multipath signal propagation is considered to be a
severe problem in wireless communication channels. However, MIMO systems exploit
the multipath signals in order to increase the system capacity without increasing the
system power or bandwidth [21]. The idea behind MIMO is that signals that travel
through complex multipath environments are combined in such a way that the quality
or data rate of communication for each MIMO user will be improved relative to the
SISO case. Since multiple data streams can be transmitted simultaneously on the
same frequency in MIMO systems, the bandwidth eciency and capacity can be
increased linearly by the number of data streams, i.e. antennas employed, with no
additional overhead [17].
Multipath fading arises from the presence of multiple transmission paths between
the transmitter and receiver [22]. When a signal leaves a transmitter, it can take
Chapter 2: Background 10
many dierent paths to the receiver, each with its own reections, diractions, etc.
There are two dierent methods to transmit data through the utilization of these
multiple streams.
Spatial Multiplexing
Spatial multiplexing [23] is a scheme where independent data streams are transmitted
simultaneously in parallel channels from each element in an array of antennas. If
N = min(N
t
, N
r
), the bit stream in question is demultiplexed into N sub-streams,
then modulated and transmitted from each antenna simultaneously. Assuming the
receiver has knowledge of the channel, it can extract the signals, demodulate them,
and then recombine them to yield the original bit stream [23]. This process increases
spectral eciency because the data stream can be transmitted N times as quickly as
a non-multiplexed data stream.
Space-Time Coding
Space-time coding [23] is an alternative scheme to spatial multiplexing. It uses the
multiple element antennas for diversity gain by encoding a single data stream across
both time and space. In other words, multiple redundant copies of a data stream are
transmitted on the N channels [23]. This process serves to increase link reliability.
Any errors in one of the transmission paths can be xed through a comparison with
the other paths, therefore space-time coding can be used to improve the quality of
the transmission.
Chapter 2: Background 11
2.2 Antennas for MIMO Systems
In order for a MIMO communication system to have good performance, the antennas
used in the system must be capable of providing a high degree of diversity [24]. It is
also benecial for the antenna array to have a compact design that is comparable in
size to a single antenna.
Traditionally the antennas in a MIMO system are spaced farther apart to achieve
higher spatial diversity [25]. However, this is not always possible in small mobile
applications. Thus it is often necessary to use antennas with dierent radiation
patterns or polarizations, or antennas operating at dierent frequencies in order to
achieve the required levels of diversity [2]. Section 2.2.1 expounds on the dierent
types of diversity and the benets of each one.
It is also possible to achieve an increased diversity level by intelligently selecting
or combining the antennas at the transmitter and receiver that provide the highest
levels of diversity at the two nodes. Switching circuitry can be used to select the
group of antennas that provide the optimal system diversity for a given channel [2].
Section 2.2.2 summarizes the various algorithms used for diversity combining and
selection.
2.2.1 Diversity
The principle of diversity is that the receiver should have more than one copy of the
transmitted signal available, with each copy being received through a statistically
independent channel. If the signals are uncorrelated, the fading dips in the signal
will have a small probability of occurring simultaneously and therefore the multiple
Chapter 2: Background 12
signals can be combined at the receiver to make a signal that has a higher mean SNR
than any single branch of the system has by itself. Five categories of diversity are
discussed in detail in the following sections.
Spatial Diversity
Spatial diversity occurs when multiple physically separated antennas are used in the
system. Spatial diversity takes advantage of the random nature of propagation. Many
independent paths exist at any location, so the signals are uncorrelated when the
locations are separated by a certain minimum distance, usually some multiple of
the wavelength [22]. The independence comes from dierent multipath components
having dierent amplitudes and phases when arriving at dierent points in space.
The further apart the antennas are placed, the greater the produced phase dierence,
and the smaller the correlation of the signals obtained at the antennas. Figure 2.2a
shows a diagram of two identical antennas with identical radiation patterns separated
in order to produce spatial diversity. Since the antennas must be separated, spatial
diversity is not a viable option for space constrained devices.
Frequency Diversity
Frequency diversity utilizes multiple frequency bands in the transmission of a signal.
The same signal could be transmitted on both frequencies or the information could
be split up between the frequencies. If the carrier frequencies are separated by more
than the coherence bandwidth [17] of the channel, then their fading can be considered
to be independent, and the probability that the signal simultaneously experiences a
fade at both frequencies is low [17]. If multiband antennas are used in the system, the
Chapter 2: Background 13
(a) (b) (c)
Figure 2.2: Three antenna diversity techniques: (a) spatial diversity, (b) pattern
diversity, and (c) polarization diversity.
same antenna can be used to transmit and/or receive at each frequency of interest.
Limitations of frequency diversity are the availability of bandwidth and that the
channel must be frequency-selective [22].
Pattern Diversity
Pattern diversity (or angle diversity) [17] makes use of antennas having dierent radi-
ation patterns. Each antenna picks up multipath components coming from dierent
angular directions. The amplitudes and phases of these multipath components will be
dierent with dierent antenna patterns. Therefore, their combination will be uncor-
related [22]. Various types of antennas with diering radiation patterns can be used
for the sake of pattern diversity, but it is also possible to produce dierent radiation
patterns with identical antennas by mounting them close to each other. This eect is
due to strong electromagnetic interactions between the antennas, otherwise known as
Chapter 2: Background 14
mutual coupling [26]. Each antennas pattern will be skewed due to the electromag-
netic interactions from the other antenna [17]. Figure 2.2b shows a diagram of two
co-located antennas producing two distinct radiation patterns at dierent angles.
Polarization Diversity
Because the reection and diraction processes depend on polarization, horizontally
and vertically polarized multipath components propagate dierently in a wireless
channel [17]. The propagation eects of the channel depolarize the propagating beam,
which leads to the fading of dierent polarizations being statistically independent [17].
Thus, the depolarized signal can be split into horizontal and vertical polarizations at
the receiver and processed separately to produce diversity. The only limitation of
polarization diversity is that, as opposed to the other diversity schemes, it is only
possible to generate two diversity branches horizontally and vertically polarized (or
any other two orthogonal polarizations) [22]. Figure 2.2c shows a diagram of two
co-located antennas with two orthogonal polarizations.
Time Diversity
Since the wireless propagation channel is time-variant, signals sent and received at
dierent times are uncorrelated [17]. If the same data stream is transmitted multiple
times at intervals that exceed the coherence time [22] of the channel, the streams are
subject to independent fading. An advantage of time diversity, or temporal diversity,
is that multiple antennas are not required in the system. However, this diversity
scheme is highly bandwidth-inecient and requires storage to save the received data
streams for processing [22].
Chapter 2: Background 15
2.2.2 Diversity Combining Techniques
It is necessary to somehow combine the signals arriving at the receiver due to the above
antenna diversity techniques such that the quality of the overall signal is improved.
Selection diversity selects the best signal while discarding all of the other copies of
the signal. Combining diversity, on the other hand, combines all available copies of
the signal using dierent algorithms. Generally, diversity combining leads to better
performance because all present information is utilized [17]. There are three main
algorithms that are implemented in diversity combining techniques.
Selection Combining
Selection combining [17] is mathematically the simplest diversity combining scheme.
Since the fades in the individual signals do not happen simultaneously, the instan-
taneous SNR is monitored in all branches and the branch with the highest SNR is
selected as the output signal [22]. This method is the easiest to implement but is
inecient because the useful signal power received on the non-selected branches is
discarded.
Maximal Ratio Combining
In order to improve the output SNR even further, the signals from all branches can
be combined to form the output signal. Maximal ratio combining takes all of the
individual signals and performs a linear combination on them, using appropriate
weighting [22]. In order to maximize the SNR at the output, a branch with higher
SNR will be given a higher weighting [23]. Since the signals are not in phase, they
have to rst be multiplied by a complex phasor in order to bring them to zero phase
Chapter 2: Background 16
so they can be combined coherently. The maximal ratio combiner provides the best
performance when compared to the other algorithms but at the cost of increased
complexity.
Equal Gain Combining
Equal gain combining is similar to maximal ratio combining in that all of the branches
are added together. The dierence is that all the branches are weighed equally. The
output SNR is better than the SNR of selection combining, but not as good as the
SNR produced by maximum ratio combining. However, it is easier to implement
than the maximum ratio combiner and as the number of antennas or channels in the
system increases, the dierence between equal gain combining and maximum ratio
combining decreases [22].
2.2.3 Recongurable & Multifunctional Antennas
Using several antennas in an array in combination with the above-mentioned diversity
combining algorithms can often provide the highest level of diversity. However, when
using these algorithms, not all antennas within the array are simultaneously utilized
at any given time. As a result, this becomes an impractical solution for portable
devices where space is a critical constraint.
Recongurable or multifunctional antennas provide the opportunity for a single
antenna that incorporates the diversity techniques outlined in Section 2.2.1 in its
design to replace several antennas in a system. These antennas are usually more
compact than the multiple antenna arrays they replace, making them much more
attractive for mobile applications, as well as other applications where space is a con-
Chapter 2: Background 17
straint. Recongurable antennas can adaptively tune their radiation characteristics,
polarization, or frequency of operation in response to the uctuations in the wireless
channel [2]. Various design techniques have been proposed for modifying antenna
attributes [413, 27].
The arrangement of currents on an antenna determines the antennas radiation
distribution [2]. RF switches, material changes, and structural changes can be em-
ployed to achieve changes in an antennas radiation pattern [2]. One very popular
approach is using PIN diode switches to recongure the antenna structure. The an-
tenna array in [5] consists of two elements, each of which has two possible modes
by controlling states of three PIN diodes. Similarly, each of the dipoles in the re-
congurable printed dipole array in [6] can change the length of its arms using PIN
diodes to produce dierent modes with dierent radiation patterns. The various an-
tennas in [710, 12] all use switches to change the physical shape of the antenna and
consequently the radiation pattern.
Beam-steering antennas are a type of pattern recongurable antenna that can
sweep their narrow main lobe across a wide range of angles. The recongurable leaky
wave antenna in [11] consists of ten unit cells loaded with varactor diodes and two
independent bias networks used to separately tune the varactors and steer the two
beams.
For polarization recongurability, the antenna structure, material properties, or
feed conguration have to change in ways that alter current ow on the antenna
[2]. There are dierent kinds of polarizations [28]: i) various linear polarizations,
ii) right-handed and left-handed circular polarizations, and iii) elliptical polarizations.
Chapter 2: Background 18
Polarization is usually modied using RF switches or material changes [29]. In [27],
an antenna consisting of a single octagonal microstrip patch has two ports located
on perpendicular sides of the patch that excite two orthogonal polarizations of the
radiated electric eld. The antenna uses MEMS switches to select between the two
polarization bases.
Frequency recongurable antennas [30] can switch their frequency of operation,
thus implementing frequency diversity without the need for multiple antennas. Multi-
band antennas can operate on multiple frequencies simultaneously, combining multi-
ple elements in order to create antennas that operate in several independent bands.
The recongurable dipole-chassis antennas presented in [4] are already multiband
by design, but they can also sweep their operating frequencies by several hundred
megahertz by varying the supplied voltage to four varactor diodes in the matching
circuit.
The best recongurable antennas allow for simultaneous changes to multiple radi-
ation characteristics. These recongurations are often achieved through pixel-based
approaches such as the pixel antenna in [13]. However the use of a large number of
switches introduces high losses and decreases the radiation eciency of the antenna
[2].
The contribution of this thesis is a novel compact multifunctional dipole antenna
array for MIMO communication systems. The stacked antenna system consists of two
individual dual band frame-printed dipoles sharing the same physical space on the
board. The antenna array demonstrates both pattern and frequency diversity without
any losses from switches or switching networks. The frequency diversity comes from
Chapter 2: Background 19
both dipoles in the array being designed to resonate at multiple frequencies instead
of reconguring their frequency of operation with switches. The pattern diversity is
generated by the mutual coupling eects between the antenna array elements. The
pattern and frequency diversity replace the spatial diversity typically used in MIMO
systems.
20
Chapter 3: Antenna Array Design and Simulation
3.1 Design Motivation
Modern communication standards often necessitate the use of multiple antennas at
multiple frequencies. At the same time, modern consumers demand compact wireless
devices that require the antenna prole to be as small as possible. These require-
ments and constraints raise two challenges. First, the antennas need to be designed
extremely compactly with a low prole. Secondly, the interaction between the antenna
elements conventionally needs to be kept to a minimum to prevent a mutual coupling
eect between the antennas. This is generally done by separating the antennas by at
least a half-wavelength.
However, these two constraints are at odds with one another. If it is necessary to
minimize the prole of the antennas and design them to be as small and compact as
possible due to the imposed space constraint, it will not be feasible to place them far
apart. A possible solution to this problem would be eliminating the second constraint
of no mutual coupling.
Mutual coupling has been shown to be benecial in MIMO systems [26]. The
presence of other array elements in the near eld of each antenna array element will
distort the radiation pattern of each of the array elements in a unique fashion [26].
This distortion will produce pattern diversity in the system and improve the quality
of the communications link by increasing the channel capacity [31].
Chapter 3: Antenna Array Design and Simulation 21
Instead of viewing mutual coupling as a drawback, as is generally done in MIMO
communications, the design proposed in this thesis embraces the coupling between
the two driven antenna array elements. The mutual coupling results in changes in
the source currents on both of the elements, which results in a modication of the
impedance presented at the element terminals [28]. More importantly, it also modies
the radiation patterns of the antennas in the array due to interactions between each
of the antennas, thus providing pattern diversity to the system. The two dipoles
therefore have two dierent radiation patterns and can pick up multipath components
arriving from dierent directions [17].
3.2 Antenna Array Design
The design proposed in this thesis is based on the frame-printed dipole presented in
[32]. The authors of [32] designed a multiband antenna consisting of a set of printed
frame dipoles of dierent sizes, printed on a double-sided dielectric substrate. The
arms of the dipoles are printed on opposite sides of the substrate and the antennas
are fed from a 50 coaxial cable through a microstrip-to-twinline tapered transition.
The printed frame dipole is constructed by etching o a section of the arms of the
traditional strip dipole. Thus, the characteristics of the frame dipole are similar to
those of the strip dipole. The dipoles are nested within each other and are employed
as resonators to produce a multiband response. Each of the three dipoles operates
at a unique frequency band and the overall triband antenna operates at 1.8 GHz,
2.4 GHz, and 3.5 GHz. The nested dipoles can be considered parallel-connected, so
the o-resonant dipoles will have a higher shunt impedance and will not debase the
Chapter 3: Antenna Array Design and Simulation 22
performance of the active dipole [32]. A schematic of the antenna presented in [32],
as well as the milled prototype, can be seen in Figure 3.1. The antenna was not
evaluated in a system.
(a)
(b)
Figure 3.1: (a) Schematic and (b) prototype of the triband antenna from [32].
The design proposed in this thesis rst modies the antennas proposed in [32]
in order for the array to operate in the 2.4 GHz and the 5 GHz bands for WLAN
Chapter 3: Antenna Array Design and Simulation 23
(wireless local area network) applications. This modication is done by changing the
lengths of the dipole arms. Next, two of these antennas are incorporated in the space
that would typically be used by only a single antenna by mirroring the front and back
arms of the dipole and angling the microstrip feedlines in opposite directions in order
to create two separate ports. The width of each feedline is chosen to match each port
to 50 .
To avoid the crossing of the microstrip lines on the back of the proposed antenna
array, a middle board layer containing a segment of one of the microstrip lines is
added and used as a bridge. The microstrip line of one of the antennas begins on
the 3rd layer, is connected to the bridge on the 2nd layer, and is connected back to
the antenna feedline on the 3rd layer after passing over the microstrip line of the
other antenna. Adding the middle board layer produces a three layer board and
results in two virtually identical independent dual band frame dipoles that share
one physical space despite each dipole having its own input port. Schematics of the
proposed antenna can be seen in Figure 3.2. A summary of the main dimensions of
the proposed antenna array and the material properties of the substrate is presented
in Table 3.1.
3.3 Antenna Array Simulation
The antenna array was designed and simulated in HFSS [33], a nite element method
solver for electromagnetic structures. Figure 3.3 shows a plot of the simulated return
loss of the two antennas (S
11
and S
22
). As can be seen from the gure, the antennas
have similar but not identical return loss curves. However, they both radiate in the
Chapter 3: Antenna Array Design and Simulation 24
(a) (b)
(c)
Figure 3.2: Schematics of the proposed antenna array design: (a) front view,
(b) back view, and (c) perspective view.
Chapter 3: Antenna Array Design and Simulation 25
Table 3.1: Antenna array structural parameters.
Antenna
Outside dipole arm length 14.75 mm
Inside dipole arm length 9.416 mm
Outside dipole arm height 18 mm
Inside dipole arm height 6 mm
Dipole arm width 1.5 mm
Left antenna feedline thickness 3 mm
Right antenna feedline thickness 1.5 mm
Feedline length 48 mm
Board length 70 mm
Board width 75 mm
Board height 1.5748 mm
Substrate
Dielectric FR-4
Dielectric permittivity 4.4
Dielectric loss tangent 0.02
Dielectric thickness 0.7874 mm
2.4 GHz and the 5 GHz bands as desired. The two antennas have return loss values
of -10.6 and -12.6 dB at 2.484 GHz, respectively, and -14.8 and -12.8 dB at 5.32 GHz,
respectively. The return loss is below the target -10 dB in the bands of interest for
both ports. The isolation between the two antenna ports (S
21
) is also shown on
Figure 3.3. The isolation is -14.0 dB at 2.484 GHz and -8.0 dB at 5.32 dB, below the
target -10 dB in the 2.4 GHz band but slightly above at the higher frequency.
Figure 3.4 shows the simulated azimuthal radiation patterns of each of the dipoles
in dBi. The radiation patterns are similar but shifted by approximately 45

, demon-
strating the desired pattern diversity. The radiation patterns are likely not identical
because of the bridge used in the middle layer of the antenna, as it is the only
structural dierence between the two antennas. Simulated 3D radiation patterns are
Chapter 3: Antenna Array Design and Simulation 26
Figure 3.3: Simulated return loss and isolation plots of the two antennas in the
proposed antenna array.
displayed in Figure 3.5. The gain values in these plots are displayed in absolute units,
not dBi, in order to emphasize the dierences between the two radiation patterns.
One of the antennas has a slightly higher maximum gain value and the shifted ra-
diation patterns are even more pronounced in Figure 3.5. The simulated antenna
radiation eciency was found to be 0.435 at 2.484 GHz and 0.368 at 5.32 GHz. The
relatively low eciency is expected when using a low
r
material like FR-4. When
the dielectric permittivity value increases, the radiation eciency decreases [2].
Chapter 3: Antenna Array Design and Simulation 27
0
15
30
45
60
75
90
105
120
135
150
165
180
165
150
135
120
105
90
75
60
45
30
15
18
14
10
6
2
Figure 3.4: Simulated radiation patterns in dBi of the two antennas in the
proposed antenna array at 2.484 GHz.
3.4 Antenna Array Construction
The proposed antenna array allows for a low-cost manufacturing solution. The anten-
nas were milled using a T-Tech Quick Circuit 5000S-FA milling machine [34] on FR-4
dielectric substrate of 31 mil thickness. After milling, the three layers were connected
using copper interconnects, and the layers were adhered together using a LPKF Mul-
tiPress S multiboard press [35]. The nal prototype can be seen in Figure 3.6. The
bridge in the middle layer can be seen clearly through the back of the antenna array,
in Figure 3.6b.
Chapter 3: Antenna Array Design and Simulation 28
(a)
(b)
Figure 3.5: Simulated 3D radiation patterns of the two antennas in the proposed
antenna array at 2.484 GHz.
Chapter 3: Antenna Array Design and Simulation 29
(a) (b)
Figure 3.6: (a) Front and (b) back of the prototype of the proposed antenna
array.
30
Chapter 4: Antenna Array Measurement Results
4.1 Measured Antenna Parameters
The scattering parameters of the dipoles were measured using an Agilent N5230A
Vector Network Analyzer (VNA). The decision was made to perform 5 GHz measure-
ments at 5.805 GHz instead of 5.32 GHz because i) the S-parameters at 5.805 GHz on
the manufactured antenna appear superior to those at 5.32 GHz and ii) the 5.805 GHz
frequency, corresponding to Channel 161, is also free from outside interference. Since
radiation at either frequency is sucient for 5 GHz channel measurements, the an-
tenna did not have to be redesigned, but rather the target frequency in the 5 GHz
band could simply be changed since the intended design did not have a specic target
frequency in mind.
Figure 4.1 shows the measured return loss curves of the two antennas. The two
antennas have return loss values of -16.2 and -15.7 dB at 2.484 GHz, respectively,
and -16.9 and -17.3 dB at 5.805 GHz, respectively, both well below the target -10 dB
value. The return loss values are comparable to the results of the simulations. The
other peaks seen in Figure 4.1 are caused by coupling between the antennas. The
isolation between the two antennas is -12.8 dB at 2.484 GHz and -18.5 dB at 5.805 dB,
again both well below the target -10 dB and exceeding the simulated results.
Radiation patterns were measured in the Drexel anechoic chamber. Figure 4.2
shows the measured azimuthal radiation patterns in dBi taken at 2.484 and 5.805 GHz.
Chapter 4: Antenna Array Measurement Results 31
Figure 4.1: Measured return loss and isolation plots of the two antennas in the
proposed antenna array.
The measured radiation patterns are similar to the simulated ones at 2.484 GHz, with
a comparable shift between the two patterns approximately 45

. The 5.805 GHz

radiation patterns do not look as similar to simulated results, but still exhibit some
pattern diversity. Unfortunately, accurate gain values were not able to be measured
in the 5 GHz band due to limitations of the anechoic chamber. The chamber is not
able to be calibrated for the higher frequency band.
4.2 Channel Measurements
The antenna array was tested as part of a system by taking channel measurements in
an indoor environment using the Wireless Open-Access Research Platform (WARP),
Chapter 4: Antenna Array Measurement Results 32
0
15
30
45
60
75
90
105
120
135
150
165
180
165
150
135
120
105
90
75
60
45
30
15
16
12
8
4
0
(a)
0
15
30
45
60
75
90
105
120
135
150
165
180
165
150
135
120
105
90
75
60
45
30
15
20
10
0
(b)
Figure 4.2: Measured radiation patterns in dBi of the two antennas in the
proposed antenna array at (a) 2.484 GHz, and at (b) 5.805 GHz.
Chapter 4: Antenna Array Measurement Results 33
a software dened radio testbed developed by Rice University [36]. A 2 2 MIMO
orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) implementation of WARP was
used. Measurements were performed on channel 14 of the 802.11 band (centered
at 2.484 GHz) and at channel 161 (centered at 5.805 GHz), each with a 20 MHz
bandwidth. The measurements were taken in Drexels Wireless Systems Laboratory
on the 3rd oor of the Bossone Research building in Drexel University. A oor plan of
the environment, along with the locations of the TX and RX can be seen in Figure 4.3.
The receiver remained stationary while a TDK PP-02 eld probe positioner [37] was
used to sweep the transmitter along a 1.5 m 1.5 m grid in the horizontal and vertical
directions in 50 cm steps. The channel matrix was measured for each location of the
transmitter for both frequencies. Due to the vertical displacement of the transmitter,
the measurements consisted of a combination of both line-of-sight (LOS) and non-
line-of-sight (NLOS) links.
The printed dipoles described in [38] were used as reference antennas for com-
parison of the proposed design. Since the antennas in [38] are only designed for
2.484 GHz, the design was scaled and analogous dipoles were manufactured for the
5 GHz band. One of the 2.4 GHz dipoles and one of the 5 GHz dipoles joined by
a splitter were used at each port of the 2 2 MIMO system and the measurements
were repeated as described above for the proposed antenna array. Because of uniform
power allocation, each of the reference dipoles received half of the total input power
[39]. This was done because each of the two antennas in the proposed antenna array
would be replacing two of the reference dipoles in a communication system.
WARP was used to measure the channel matrix at each location of the transmitter
Chapter 4: Antenna Array Measurement Results 34
Figure 4.3: Floor plan of test environment. Test locations of TX and RX are
indicated.
for both frequencies and for dierent separation distances of the reference antennas.
The separation distances used were and /2 for the 2.4 GHz band and 2 and for
the 5 GHz band. The /2 separation was impossible to achieve with the shortened
wavelength corresponding to the 5 GHz band because of the way the antennas were
mounted.
Figure 4.4 shows the proposed antenna array next to the reference dipoles. Ta-
ble 4.1 displays the area of each antenna array. The area of the proposed system is
reduced by approximately 58% with respect to a reference system composed of two
2.4 GHz dipoles and two 5 GHz dipoles separated by /2 in order to generate spatial
diversity in the system.
Chapter 4: Antenna Array Measurement Results 35
Figure 4.4: Comparison of the proposed antenna array (left) and the reference
dipoles (right).
Table 4.1: Area of the proposed antenna array and reference antenna array.
Antenna Area (cm
2
)
Reference dipole array 124.3
Proposed antenna array 52.5
Channel capacity is selected as the performance metric because it allows the study
of the antenna array performance independently from the system modulation and the
adopted coding technique [2]. To determine the capacity of the MIMO OFDM link,
a Frobenius normalization of the channel matrix for each subcarrier was computed
in order to remove the dierences in path loss among the dierent channel matrices
while preserving the relative antenna gain eects [6]. The normalization factor is
Chapter 4: Antenna Array Measurement Results 36
dened as [6]:
N
F
=

H
ref

2
F
N
t
N
r
(4.1)
Since the channel was characterized over a broad frequency band, the capacity
of the wideband channel was dened as an average value of the capacities over all
the m subcarriers of the MIMO OFDM system [40]. The capacity was additionally
averaged over the k samples in order to minimize the impact arising from the minor
dierences in spatial orientation between the stacked dipole array and the reference
dipoles.
Therefore, an estimator of the Shannon capacity is the average of the capacities
over the m subcarriers and the k samples, and was determined using [10]:
C =
1
km
k

j
m

i
log
2
_
det
_
I
Nr
+
SNR
N
t
H
ij
H

ij
N
2
F
ij
__
(4.2)
where m is the total number of subcarriers, k is the total number of samples, and N
F
ij
is the Frobenius norm for each subcarrier and sample. In this experiment, m = 52
subcarriers and k = 3200 samples (200 samples at each of the 16 locations) were used.
There are 64 total subcarriers, but only 52 are used for data transmission. A separate
Frobenius norm was calculated for each frequency band. The optimal solution for the
recongurable antenna was the one that guaranteed the highest average capacity.
4.2.1 Channel Measurement Results
Figure 4.5 shows the CDF plots of the capacity of the stacked antenna array and the
reference dipoles in the indoor environment shown in Figure 4.3 for both measured
Chapter 4: Antenna Array Measurement Results 37
frequencies assuming an SNR of 10 dB. The proposed antenna array signicantly
increases MIMO link capacity with respect to a conventional dipole system. As can
be seen in Figure 4.5a, the proposed antenna array convincingly outperforms the
reference dipoles at both spacings in the 2.4 GHz band. It does not perform as well
in the 5 GHz band, but it is still comparable to the reference dipoles at the higher
frequency while providing a form factor improvement.
Table 4.2 shows the average percentage capacity improvement in the 2.4 GHz band
by using the stacked antenna array with respect to the reference dipoles for dierent
values of SNR in a MIMO OFDM system. Table 4.3 shows the same in the 5 GHz
band. At an SNR of 10 dB, the proposed antenna array outperforms the optimal
conguration of the reference dipoles by 22% in the 2.4 GHz band, and the capacity
improvement ranges from 33% at 5 dB SNR to 8% at 30 dB SNR. As can be seen, the
proposed antenna array performs better with respect to the reference antennas at low
SNR values. Figure 4.6 shows the capacity of the stacked antenna array measured at
2.484 GHz as a function of SNR.
The performance of the antenna in the 5 GHz band was roughly comparable to the
performance of the reference dipoles, at both separations and at all SNR values. The
median capacity improvement ranges from 3% at 5 dB SNR to -3% at 30 dB SNR.
The performance of the proposed antenna array is much worse in the 5 GHz frequency
band than in the 2.4 GHz band, but even at the higher frequency the performance
is still similar to the reference dipoles. Again, the proposed antenna array performs
better at low SNR values.
It is likely that the pattern diversity of the proposed antenna array was not as
Chapter 4: Antenna Array Measurement Results 38
1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6 6.5
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
Capacity (bps/Hz)
F
(
x
)


Stacked Antenna Array
Reference Array /2 Separation
Reference Array Separation
(a)
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
Capacity (bps/Hz)
F
(
x
)


Stacked Antenna Array
Reference Array Separation
Reference Array 2 Separation
(b)
Figure 4.5: CDF of capacity of the stacked antenna array and the reference
dipoles assuming 10 dB SNR, measured at (a) 2.484 GHz, and at (b) 5.805 GHz.
Chapter 4: Antenna Array Measurement Results 39
signicant in the 5 GHz band, which contributed to the poor capacity measurement
results in that band. The radiation patterns in the 2.4 GHz band demonstrate pattern
diversity (Figure 4.2a) and therefore the system using the antenna array at that
frequency has good channel capacity results. However, since the radiation patterns
in the 5 GHz band are not as clean and the gain values are unknown (Figure 4.2b),
the channel capacity suered.
Table 4.2: Average measured percentage capacity improvement achievable with
the stacked antenna array at 2.484 GHz with respect to the and /2 separations
of the reference dipoles.
SNR (dB) 5 10 20 30
Capacity improvement w.r.t. /2 separation 33% 22% 13% 8%
Capacity improvement w.r.t. separation 39% 31% 19% 12%
Table 4.3: Average measured percentage capacity improvement achievable with
the stacked antenna array at 5.805 GHz with respect to the 2 and separations
of the reference dipoles.
SNR (dB) 5 10 20 30
Capacity improvement w.r.t. separation 3% -1% -2% -3%
Capacity improvement w.r.t. 2 separation 2% -2% -3% -3%
Chapter 4: Antenna Array Measurement Results 40
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
Capacity (bps/Hz)
F
(
x
)


30 dB SNR
20 dB SNR
10 dB SNR
5 dB SNR
Figure 4.6: CDF of capacity of the stacked antenna array as a function of SNR
at 2.484 GHz.
41
Chapter 5: Discussion and Future Research
5.1 Discussion
A compact stacked multiband dipole antenna array for MIMO communication systems
is proposed in this thesis. The two dipoles in the antenna array each demonstrate fre-
quency diversity individually while also demonstrating pattern diversity with respect
to one another. The antenna array is compact and eliminates the antenna spacing
typically required in MIMO antenna arrays for spatial diversity. The proposed an-
tenna array has been shown to provide an improvement in capacity when compared
against traditional dipoles. An additional benet of the proposed design is that by
combining two antenna elements in this fashion, manufacturing costs and valuable
space in mounting the antenna are saved.
All of the antennas described in Section 1.2 exhibit at least one form of diversity.
However, most of these antennas have some drawbacks as well. The antennas in [610,
15] all operate in a single frequency band, making them impractical for applications
such as WiFi that use both the 2.4 and the 5 GHz bands. The pixel antenna presented
in [13] can tune both its frequency and its radiation pattern by exciting dierent
modes of radiation. However, by utilizing hundreds of MEMS switches, the authors
introduce losses into the system. The losses are much smaller than if they had used
diodes, but they still contribute to decreases in the antennas radiation eciency.
Additionally, as the authors themselves state, MEMS are not currently reliable enough
Chapter 5: Discussion and Future Research 42
on PCB to introduce the antenna into industry [13].
The linear array of two printed dipoles fed through a microstrip balun in [14]
is the most similar to the antenna array proposed in this thesis. The dipoles are
already dual band, resonating at 2.3 and 5.2 GHz, and are oriented in a fashion that
introduces pattern diversity through mutual coupling. The authors orient one of the
dipoles upside down and alongside the other one. Due to this antenna positioning,
however, the antenna array becomes rather bulky.
On the other hand, the stacked dipole array proposed in this thesis eciently
utilizes its board space while exhibiting pattern and frequency diversity, making it
more suited for space constrained wireless devices.
5.2 Future Research
Future research will focus on the improvement of the 5 GHz band of the dipoles
in the proposed array. Currently, the measured radiation patterns in the 5 GHz
band do not match the simulated radiation patterns nearly as well as those in the
2.4 GHz band. As a result, measurements taken in the 5 GHz band have signicantly
lower capacities than those taken in the 2.4 GHz band. If the isolation, and thus
the eciency, of the antennas at higher frequencies is improved, perhaps with better
matching or a matching network, the capacity measurements should improve as well.
It is also worthwhile to consider taking measurements at a dierent frequency in the
5 GHz band to see if that can improve the capacity.
The eciency of the antenna array can also be improved by using a material with
a higher dielectric permittivity constant as the antenna substrate instead of FR-4,
Chapter 5: Discussion and Future Research 43
which has an
r
of 4.4. For example, Rogers RO3010 material has an
r
of 10.2
and would be a good initial candidate to replace FR-4. However, depending on the
material chosen, it is likely that it would no longer be possible to manufacture the
antenna array in-house as many of the higher
r
materials are too brittle to be milled.
The antenna structure is designed in such a way that it would also be very easy
to add more frequency bands by nesting extra printed dipoles inside the existing
ones. Therefore, in the future it would be possible to have the antennas in the array
resonate at additional frequencies if their application required them to do so.
44
Appendix A: Table of Symbols
Symbol Description
C
nm
operator to denote complex matrix with dimension n m
det() determinant operator
inner product operator
| | absolute value operator

F
Frobenius norm operator
()

complex conjugate transpose operator

C channel capacity
d separation of the TX and RX
H channel matrix
H
w
matrix of complex Gaussian coecients
h scalar channel
I
n
identity matrix with dimension n n
k total number of samples
L path loss
m total number of subcarriers
N minimum number of antenna elements between the TX and RX
N
F
Frobenius normalization factor
N
r
number of receive antenna elements
N
t
number of transmit antenna elements
n complex additive white Gaussian noise
n complex additive white Gaussian noise vector
P
t
transmitted power
R
r
receive spatial correlation matrix
R
t
transmit spatial correlation matrix
S
11
voltage reection coecient
S
21
voltage forward transmission coecient
SNR signal to noise ratio
x signal at the transmitter
x signal vector at the transmitter
y signal at the receiver
y signal vector at the receiver

r
dielectric permittivity
wavelength

2
n
variance of the additive white Gaussian noise
45
Appendix B: Table of Acronyms
Acronym Denition
AWGN Additive White Gaussian Noise
CDF Cumulative Distribution Function
EM Electromagnetic
HFSS High Frequency Structural Simulator
LOS Line-of-Sight
MEMS Microelectromechanical Systems
MIMO Multiple Input Multiple Output
NLOS Non-Line-of-Sight
OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing
PCB Printed Circuit Board
RF Radio Frequency
RX Receiver
SISO Single Input Single Output
SNR Signal to Noise Ratio
TX Transmitter
VNA Vector Network Analyzer
WARP Wireless Open-Access Research Platform
WLAN Wireless Local Area Network
46
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