A Multi-band 5G Antenna for Smart Phones Operating at Sub-6 GHz Frequencies

The design of an 8 element 5G MIMO antenna operating at multi-band and multi-mode Sub-6 GHz frequencies LTE-42/43 and LTE-46 for smart phones is delineated in this article. In order to reserve ample space for the 2G/3G/4G antenna, the antenna elements are positioned alongside the longer edges of the smartphone. The sub-6 GHz antenna comprises of a T-shaped slot fed by a tuning stub and a microstrip feed line via coupling mechanism. A low loss substrate Taconic TLY is utilized in the design. The dimension of the substrate is 150 mm x 75 mm x 0.8 mm. The stacked 10 dB impedance bandwidths are 300 MHz and 800 MHz for low band and high band in Sub-6 GHz with centre frequencies at 3.6 GHz and 5.5 GHz respectively. A maximum gain of 10 dBi is attained in the sub-6 GHz antenna. The inter element isolation for the entire bands are better than 10 dB thus signifying lesser mutual coupling.