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Research Article
Novel Wideband MIMO Antennas That Can Cover the Whole
LTE Spectrum in Handsets and Portable Computers
Mohamed Sanad1
and Noha Hassan2
1
Amant Antennas, Lot 13/C, Second Industrial Zone, 6 October City, Giza 12451, Egypt
2
Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt
Correspondence should be addressed to Mohamed Sanad; msanad@amantantennas.com
Received 25 August 2013; Accepted 24 October 2013; Published 16 January 2014
Academic Editors: Y. C. Chiang and J. Dauwels
Copyright © 2014 M. Sanad and N. Hassan. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution
License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly
cited.
A dual resonant antenna configuration is developed for multistandard multifunction mobile handsets and portable computers. Only
two wideband resonant antennas can cover most of the LTE spectrums in portable communication equipment. The bandwidth that
can be covered by each antenna exceeds 70% without using any matching or tuning circuits, with efficiencies that reach 80%. Thus,
a dual configuration of them is capable of covering up to 39 LTE (4G) bands besides the existing 2G and 3G bands. 2 × 2 MIMO
configurations have been also developed for the two wideband antennas with a maximum isolation and a minimum correlation
coefficient between the primary and the diversity antennas.
1. Introduction
Customers’ increasing expectations for speed, bandwidth,
and global access are driving the evolution of wireless broad-
band technology. Customers want more information such as
business, consumer applications, and entertainment available
through their mobile devices, but with greater speeds [1].
LTE represents the next big step towards the 4th generation
(4G) of radio technologies which is expected to increase the
capacity and the speed of mobile telephone networks. These
expectations put a significant burden on device performance.
The lack of spectrum harmonization represents a key chal-
lenge for the emerging LTE ecosystem, potentially preventing
vendors from delivering globally compatible LTE products
such as devices and chipsets [2]. Spectrum fragmentation
has the potential to hinder global LTE roaming if device
manufacturers are required to include support for many
disparate frequencies in their devices. Yet, in fragmented
regional markets such as Europe, LTE roaming is some way
off as operators will be providing LTE in different bands and
the devices will need to be able to seamlessly switch between
the frequency bands used for LTE in addition to the 2G and
3G networks [3].
1.1. Conventional Antenna Challenges in LTE. The antenna
is becoming an increasingly critical component for LTE
device vendors. It is possible that future terminal devices
will have more than 20 antennas to cover all the important
wireless applications [4]. In addition, the industry is painfully
aware of the issues that surround implementing LTE in small
mobile devices with already limited space and extremely
high performance expectations. Due to this trend, wideband
antenna coverage is a hot issue that has to be addressed [5].
Device makers are finding it difficult to decide which bands to
prioritize as chipsets and handsets are developed. The priority
would be for the 800 MHz band. Most of the investments
has been directed towards that band because it is the band
that two-thirds of current LTE users occupy, largely driven
by the U.S. network roll outs of Verizon Wireless and AT&T
[3]. This low frequency band means larger antennas in terms
of size, which is a challenging issue, keeping in mind the
limited size of LTE devices. The urgent demand for wideband
LTE coverage represents a serious challenge facing antenna
designers. Adapting the conventional antenna technology to
serve the wideband demand was not a much of a success,
leading to a definitive belief that passive antennas have
reached their limits [6]. Thus, the active tuneable antenna
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
e Scientific World Journal
Volume 2014,Article ID 694805, 9 pages
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/694805
2 The Scientific World Journal
Long arm
Shorting strip
Short arm
Slots
L1
D1 D2 D3 D4
D5 D6
D7 D8
L2
W1
W2
T
Figure 1: Geometry of the new wideband antenna.
approach has been adopted to fulfil the market need for
world LTE devices, trading the passive antenna simplicity
with active antenna complexity.
1.2. Disadvantages of Active Antennas and Extended Grounds
Planes. Passive antennas have various advantages over the
active tuneable antennas. First of all, the passive antenna does
not have to be supported with RF controlling circuit to do
the job as the active one, so it will save a large space required
inside the handset to fit both the antenna and the RF circuit.
This is not the only problem of the RF circuit, as additional
circuit components are connected to the antenna; it will suffer
from impedance mismatch. In this situation a severe decrease
in the efficiency of the antenna will lead to a lower speed
of data transfer and a higher number of dropped calls. Also,
the active antenna is power consuming, causing a significant
decrease in the battery lifetime. Thus, it will be a problem
for power hungry, smart handheld devices. Last but not least,
the active antenna seems to have band limitations too, as
the maximum number of bands that commercial LTE active
antennas can support is 13 bands only out of 39 potential
LTE bands [6]. On the other hand, current handset antenna
technologies are still tied with the extended ground plane’s
dilemma. As the antenna is not just the module that fits under
the speaker, however, it includes a large PCB ground plane.
A minimum limit size of the ground plane is required for
the antenna to have an acceptable performance. Thus, adding
an extravolume counted on the total size of the antenna. As
the ground plane is a part of the antenna structure, then, the
hand grip on the phone will cause detuning of the antenna
operating frequency causing a poor efficiency.
1.3. A Novel Resonant Wideband Passive Antenna. A novel
antenna technology has been developed to solve the problem
of the urgent need for universal LTE devices. The new
technology can cover all the possible LTE spectrum bands
using only two antennas with bandwidths of 73% and 85%,
respectively, without using any matching or tuning circuits.
The first antenna is covering the low band LTE spectrum
starting from 698 MHz up to 1.51 GHz which includes LTE
band numbers 5, 6, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 26,
27, 28, 29, and 44. The second one is covering the high
band portion of the LTE spectrum starting from 1.52 GHz
to 3.8 GHz corresponding to LTE band numbers 1, 2, 3, 4,
7, 9, 10, 22, 23, 24, 25, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42,
and 43. This means that a total number of 39 LTE bands
can be covered beside the 2G and 3G frequency bands. The
new antenna can be implemented in smart phone handsets,
tablets, laptops, and notebooks. It consists of two narrow
printed metallic arms connected together by a shorting
metallic strip. The two arms may be parallel to each other
or may have any angle between them. The two arms can be
shaped in different ways in order to optimize the antenna
performance. As shown in Figure 1, each arm has a set of slots
having different configurations. These slots can be circular,
rectangular, square, triangular, or other shapes. The arm
lengths of the new antenna, especially the length of the short
arm, are the main parameters that determine the operating
frequency of the antenna. The bandwidth, the peak gain, and
the efficiency of the antenna are mainly determined by the
widths of the two arms, the angle between them, the thickness
of the antenna, and the configurations of the slots, which
are all optimized together in order to enhance the antenna
performance, especially the bandwidth. This geometry can be
scaled and optimized for any application to successfully cover
any frequency band [7, 8].
2. Numerical and Experimental Results of
the New Antenna
Two versions of the new LTE antenna have been designed,
manufactured, and tested. Calculated and measured return
losses will be presented in addition to the calculated gain,
efficiency, and radiation patterns. The first antenna version
can cover a frequency band from 698 MHz up to 1.51 GHz and
it will be referred to as “the low band antenna.” To cover the
high band portion of the LTE spectrum, a second version of
the antenna has been designed and manufactured by scaling
and optimizing the geometry shown in Figure 1. The antenna
is operating all over the high frequency band 1.52–3.8 GHz
and it will be referred to as “the high band antenna.” A
reduced size version of these wideband antennas can be
developed and customized for smaller LTE devices. Together,
the two reduced size antennas are capable of covering 38 LTE
bands with slightly lower but still acceptable efficiencies. The
reduced size versions of the low band and high band antennas
will be also demonstrated.
2.1. The Low Band and High Band Antennas. The low band
antenna has a volume of 1.3×0.4×14.5 = 7.54 cm3
. It should
be noted that the proposed volume is the total volume of
the antenna because it does not require an additional ground
plane or matching circuits. The high band antenna has a
volume of 1.2 × 0.4 × 5.9 = 2.832 cm3
. Like the low band
antenna, the proposed volume of the high band antenna is
the total volume of the antenna. As Figure 2(a) shows, the
return loss of the low band antenna is lower than −8 dB over
most of the bands having a maximum value of −5.5 dB. For
The Scientific World Journal 3
0
0.70 0.90 1.10 1.31 1.51
Frequency (GHz)
Calculated
Measured
−2
−4
−6
−8
−10
−12
−14
−16
Returnloss(S11dB)
(a)
0
1.52 1.98 2.43 2.89 3.34 3.80
Frequency (GHz)
Returnloss(S11dB)
−5
−10
−15
−20
−25
Calculated
Measured
(b)
Figure 2: Return loss (S11) of (a) the low band antenna and (b) the high band antenna.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
0.70 0.90 1.10 1.31 1.51
Efficiency(%)
Frequency (GHz)
(a)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
1.52 1.98 2.43 2.89 3.34 3.80
Efficiency(%)
Frequency (GHz)
(b)
Figure 3: Efficiency of (a) the low band antenna and (b) the high band antenna.
the high band antenna, Figure 2(b) shows that the return
loss is also lower than −8 dB all over the band. The total
efficiency shown in Figures 3(a) and 3(b) demonstrates 80%
and 90% average efficiencies of the low band and high band
antennas, respectively. The gain of the low band antenna is
shown in Figure 4(a) as a function of the frequency, while
the high band antenna’s gain is shown in Figure 4(b). The
Radiation patterns of the low band and high band antennas
are demonstrated in Figure 5(a) at 900 MHz and Figure 5(b)
at 2.3 GHz, respectively, at phi = 0 and phi = 90.
2.2. Reduced Size Version of the Low Band and High Band
Antennas. The reduced size version of the low band antenna
has a total volume of 0.4 × 0.4 × 15.6 = 2.496 cm3
, while
that of the high band antenna has a total volume of 0.4 ×
0.4 × 5.9 = 0.944 cm3
. As Figure 6(a) shows, the return
loss of the low band antenna is lower than −5 dB almost all
over the frequency band from 698 MHz to 1.51 GHz which
is 73% bandwidth. For the reduced size version of the high
band antenna, Figure 6(b) shows that most of the calculated
and measured return losses is lower than −5 dB all over
the frequency band from 1.71 GHz to 3.8 GHz which is
75.8%. The total efficiencies shown in Figures 7(a) and
7(b) demonstrate almost 70% and 80% average efficiencies
of the reduced size versions of low band and high band
antennas, respectively. The gain of the reduced size version
of the low band antenna is higher than 1 dBi over most
of the bands as shown in Figure 8(a), while the high band
antenna’s gain is more than 2 dBi as shown in Figure 8(b). The
radiation patterns of the low band and high band antennas
are presented in Figure 9(a) at 750 MHz and Figure 9(b) at
2.7 GHz, respectively.
3. MIMO Diversity Configuration
Multiples of low band and high band antennas can be used for
LTE MIMO diversity coverage in laptops, tablets, and smart
phones. Each of these different situations has been studied
and will be presented.
3.1. MIMO Configurations for Smart Phones. The new wide-
band antenna can be customized for implementation in smart
4 The Scientific World Journal
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
0.70 0.90 1.10 1.31 1.51
Gain(dB)
Frequency (GHz)
(a)
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
5
1.52 1.98 2.43 2.89 3.34 3.80
Gain(dB)
Frequency (GHz)
(b)
Figure 4: Gain of (a) the low band antenna and (b) the high band antenna.
0∘
30∘
60∘
90∘
120∘
150∘
180∘
−150∘
−120∘
−90∘
−60∘
−30∘ 0
−10
−20
−30
−30
−20
−10
0
E total @ 𝜙 = 0
E total @ 𝜙 = 90
(a)
0∘
30∘
60∘
90∘
120∘
150∘
180∘
−150∘
−120∘
−90∘
−60∘
−30∘ 0
−10
−20
−30
−30
−20
−10
0
E total @ 𝜙 = 0
E total @ 𝜙 = 90
(b)
Figure 5: Radiation patterns of (a) the low band antenna at 900 MHz and (b) the high band antenna at 2.3 GHz.
0
0.70 0.80 0.90 1.00 1.10 1.21 1.31 1.41 1.51
Frequency (GHz)
Calculated
Measured
S11(dB)
−5
−10
−15
−20
(a)
0
1.71 2.13 2.55 2.96 3.38 3.80
Frequency (GHz)
S11(dB)
−5
−10
−15
−20
−25
−30
−35
−40
−45
Calculated
Measured
(b)
Figure 6: Return loss of (a) the reduced size version of the low band antenna and (b) the reduced size version of the high band antenna.
The Scientific World Journal 5
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
0.70 0.80 0.90 1.00 1.10 1.21 1.31 1.41 1.51
Efficiency(%)
Frequency (GHz)
(a)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
1.71 2.13 2.55 2.96 3.38 3.80
Efficiency(%)
Frequency (GHz)
(b)
Figure 7: Efficiency of (a) the reduced size version of the low band antenna and (b) the reduced size version of the high band antenna.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0.70 0.80 0.90 1.00 1.10 1.21 1.31 1.41 1.51
Gain(dB)
Frequency (GHz)
−1
−2
−3
(a)
1.71 2.13 2.55 2.96 3.38 3.80
Frequency (GHz)
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Gain(dB)
−1
−2
−3
(b)
Figure 8: Gain of (a) the reduced size version of the low band antenna and (b) the reduced size version of the high band antenna.
phones. It can be bent or wrapped as an “L” shape to fit in the
void around the chassis of the handset. This customization
has been studied numerically and experimentally for 2 ×
2 MIMO of the reduced size low band and high band
antennas. As shown in the schematic inFigure 10, the primary
reduced size low band antenna is marked as number “1”
and the diversity antenna is marked as number “2.” The
primary and diversity antennas are wrapped in “L-” shaped
configurations. A 2 × 2 MIMO configuration of the reduced
size high band antenna has been also tested numerically and
experimentally and their relative positions to each other have
been optimized for the implementation in smart phones. The
relative positions of the primary and diversity antennas are
shown in Figure 10. The primary reduced size high band
antenna is marked as number “3” and the diversity antenna
is marked as number “4.”
The measured isolation between the primary and diver-
sity low band antennas has been investigated. As shown in
Figure 11(a), acceptable isolation values, lower than −10 dB,
are obtained from isolation measurements (S21) in free space.
The measured isolation on the chassis of smart phone was
much better than the isolation in free space, as it has an
average of −15 dB over most of the bands. This is due to
the fact that the phone is acting as an isolating medium which
guarantees lower coupling between the primary and diversity
antennas. The correlation coefficient between primary and
diversity low band antennas was lower than 0.55 as shown
in Figure 11(b). On the other hand, the measured isolation
between the primary and diversity high band antennas was
lower than −30 dB as shown in Figure 12(a). This is an
expected isolation result due to the perpendicular position
of the primary antenna relative to the diversity antenna
which have been proved to be the best isolation technique
in such a small available space inside handsets [9]. The
perpendicular relative position also has a positive effect on
the correlation coefficient. As shown in Figure 12(b), the
maximum correlation value does not exceed 0.1 and most of
the values are lower than 0.01.
The urgent demand for universal LTE smart phones
requires an antenna solution that is able to cover most of the
LTE bands for global roaming. By combining the two new
wideband antennas together in one device, it will fulfill that
need as demonstrated in Figure 10. The high band antennas
marked as numbers 3 and 4 are located in a higher plane
above the low band antennas by 1 mm. The biggest concern
in this case is the isolation values between the low band and
6 The Scientific World Journal
0∘
30∘
60∘
90∘
120∘
150∘
180∘
−150∘
−120∘
−90∘
−60∘
−30∘ 0
−10
−20
−30
−30
−20
−10
0
E total @ 𝜙 = 0
E total @ 𝜙 = 90
(a)
0∘
30∘
60∘
90∘
120∘
150∘
180∘
−150∘
−120∘
−90∘
−60∘
−30∘ 0
−10
−20
−30
−30
−20
−10
0
E total @ 𝜙 = 0
E total @ 𝜙 = 90
(b)
Figure 9: Radiation patterns of (a) the reduced size version of the
low band antenna at 750 MHz and (b) the reduced size version of the
high band antenna at 2.7 MHz.
high band antennas. The isolation is calculated for this case
and the results are mostly lower than −20 dB for low band and
high band frequency spectrums as shown in Figures 13(a) and
13(b), respectively.
3.2. MIMO Configurations on Laptops and Tablets. For 2 ×
2 MIMO diversity, a primary antenna and a diversity antenna
can be placed 10 cm apart and perpendicular to each other
inside laptops and tablets. Although primary and diversity
antennas are operating over the same frequency band at
1
2
3
4
Figure 10: The schematic diagram of MIMO wideband antenna
solution for LTE smart phones.
the same time, the coupling effect is significantly reduced
as a result of antennas perpendicular relative positions [9].
Thus, this position will have a positive effect on the calculated
correlation coefficient between the two of the reduced size
low band antennas, as shown in Figure 14(a). The maximum
correlation coefficient value is lower than 0.025. The isolation
between the primary and the diversity antennas has been
measured on a laptop and in free space keeping the same
relative positions and distance between them. The measured
isolation on the laptop gets improved over most of the bands
as demonstrated in Figure 14(b). The previous experiments
are repeated for 2 × 2 MIMO of the reduced size high band
antennas perpendicular to each other and 10 cm apart. In
terms of wavelength, the distance between the primary and
the diversity antennas is larger in the high frequency band
than in the low frequency band. This is reflected in a positive
way on the correlation coefficient values which are lower
than 0.001 as shown in Figure 15(a). Also a lower isolation
than −30 dB in free space and on the laptop is shown in
Figure 15(b).
4. Conclusion
A novel very wideband MIMO antenna solution was devel-
oped, capable of covering 39 LTE bands besides 2G and
3G. This provided device manufacturers with a new antenna
technology to fulfill the urgent need for universal LTE smart
phones, tablet computers, laptops, and notebooks.
Conflict of Interests
The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests
regarding the publication of this paper.
The Scientific World Journal 7
0
0.70 0.80 0.90 1.00 1.10 1.21 1.31 1.41 1.51
Frequency (GHz)
Free space
Smart phone
−5
−10
−15
−20
−25
−30
−35
−40
S21(dB)
(a)
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1.0
0.70 0.80 0.90 1.00 1.10 1.21 1.31 1.41 1.51
Correlationcoefficient
Frequency (GHz)
(b)
Figure 11: (a) Measured isolation (S21) and (b) correlation coefficient between primary and diversity MIMO low band antennas.
0
1.71 2.13 2.55 2.96 3.38 3.80
Frequency (GHz)
Free space
Smart phone
−10
−20
−30
−40
−50
−60
S21(dB)
(a)
0.00
0.01
0.02
0.03
0.04
0.05
0.06
0.07
0.08
0.09
0.10
1.71 2.13 2.55 2.96 3.38 3.80
Correlationcoefficient
Frequency (GHz)
(b)
Figure 12: (a) Measured isolation (S21) and (b) correlation coefficient between primary and diversity MIMO high band antennas.
0.70 0.80 0.90 1.00 1.10 1.21 1.31 1.41 1.51
Isolation(dB)
Frequency (GHz)
S13
S14
S23
S24
0
−5
−10
−15
−20
−25
−30
−35
−40
−45
(a)
0
−10
−20
−30
−40
−50
−60
Isolation(dB)
1.7 2.1 2.5 3.0 3.4 3.8
Frequency (GHz)
S13
S14
S23
S24
(b)
Figure 13: Isolation between each of low band and high band antennas in (a) the low frequency band and (b) the high frequency band on
smart phones.
8 The Scientific World Journal
0.000
0.005
0.010
0.015
0.020
0.025
0.70 0.80 0.90 1.00 1.10 1.21 1.31 1.41 1.51
Correlationcoefficient
Frequency (GHz)
(a)
0.70 0.80 0.90 1.00 1.10 1.21 1.31 1.41 1.51
Frequency (GHz)
Free space
Laptop
0
−5
−10
−15
−20
−25
−30
−35
−40
−45
S21(dB)
(b)
Figure 14: (a) Correlation coefficient and (b) measured isolation between primary and diversity MIMO low band antennas perpendicular to
each other and 10 cm apart.
0.0000
0.0005
0.0010
0.0015
0.0020
1.71 2.13 2.55 2.96 3.38 3.80
Correlationcoefficient
Frequency (GHz)
(a)
1.71 2.13 2.55 2.96 3.38 3.80
Frequency (GHz)
Free space
Laptop
0
−10
−20
−30
−40
−50
−60
S21(dB)
(b)
Figure 15: (a) Correlation coefficient and (b) measured isolation between primary and diversity MIMO high band antennas perpendicular
to each other and 10 cm apart.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Mahetab Salama and Lamiaa
Nail for their great effort in preparing this paper.
References
[1] “LTE: the future of mobile broadband technology,” Verizon
Wireless.
[2] “The wireless intelligence website,” 2012, http://www.wireless-
intelligence.com/analysis/2011/12/global-lte-network-forecasts
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[3] “The global telecommunications business website,” 2012, http://
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[4] P. Vainikainen, J. Holopainen, C. Icheln et al., “More than 20
antenna elements in future mobile phones, threat or oppor-
tunity?” in Proceedings of the 3rd European Conference on
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Germany, March 2009.
[5] B.-N. Kim, S.-O. Park, J.-K. Oh, and G.-Y. Koo, “Wideband
built-in antenna with new crossed C-shaped coupling feed for
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The Scientific World Journal 9
[7] M. Sanad and N. Hassan, “A 470 to 960 MHz resonant antenna:
covering uhf mobile TV and CDMA/GSM without tuning
circuits,” Microwave Journal, vol. 53, no. 11, pp. 56–73, 2010.
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[9] M. Sanad and N. Hassan, “Low-interference dual resonant
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and Propagation, vol. 2012, Article ID 407973, 8 pages, 2012.
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694805

  • 1. Research Article Novel Wideband MIMO Antennas That Can Cover the Whole LTE Spectrum in Handsets and Portable Computers Mohamed Sanad1 and Noha Hassan2 1 Amant Antennas, Lot 13/C, Second Industrial Zone, 6 October City, Giza 12451, Egypt 2 Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt Correspondence should be addressed to Mohamed Sanad; msanad@amantantennas.com Received 25 August 2013; Accepted 24 October 2013; Published 16 January 2014 Academic Editors: Y. C. Chiang and J. Dauwels Copyright © 2014 M. Sanad and N. Hassan. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. A dual resonant antenna configuration is developed for multistandard multifunction mobile handsets and portable computers. Only two wideband resonant antennas can cover most of the LTE spectrums in portable communication equipment. The bandwidth that can be covered by each antenna exceeds 70% without using any matching or tuning circuits, with efficiencies that reach 80%. Thus, a dual configuration of them is capable of covering up to 39 LTE (4G) bands besides the existing 2G and 3G bands. 2 × 2 MIMO configurations have been also developed for the two wideband antennas with a maximum isolation and a minimum correlation coefficient between the primary and the diversity antennas. 1. Introduction Customers’ increasing expectations for speed, bandwidth, and global access are driving the evolution of wireless broad- band technology. Customers want more information such as business, consumer applications, and entertainment available through their mobile devices, but with greater speeds [1]. LTE represents the next big step towards the 4th generation (4G) of radio technologies which is expected to increase the capacity and the speed of mobile telephone networks. These expectations put a significant burden on device performance. The lack of spectrum harmonization represents a key chal- lenge for the emerging LTE ecosystem, potentially preventing vendors from delivering globally compatible LTE products such as devices and chipsets [2]. Spectrum fragmentation has the potential to hinder global LTE roaming if device manufacturers are required to include support for many disparate frequencies in their devices. Yet, in fragmented regional markets such as Europe, LTE roaming is some way off as operators will be providing LTE in different bands and the devices will need to be able to seamlessly switch between the frequency bands used for LTE in addition to the 2G and 3G networks [3]. 1.1. Conventional Antenna Challenges in LTE. The antenna is becoming an increasingly critical component for LTE device vendors. It is possible that future terminal devices will have more than 20 antennas to cover all the important wireless applications [4]. In addition, the industry is painfully aware of the issues that surround implementing LTE in small mobile devices with already limited space and extremely high performance expectations. Due to this trend, wideband antenna coverage is a hot issue that has to be addressed [5]. Device makers are finding it difficult to decide which bands to prioritize as chipsets and handsets are developed. The priority would be for the 800 MHz band. Most of the investments has been directed towards that band because it is the band that two-thirds of current LTE users occupy, largely driven by the U.S. network roll outs of Verizon Wireless and AT&T [3]. This low frequency band means larger antennas in terms of size, which is a challenging issue, keeping in mind the limited size of LTE devices. The urgent demand for wideband LTE coverage represents a serious challenge facing antenna designers. Adapting the conventional antenna technology to serve the wideband demand was not a much of a success, leading to a definitive belief that passive antennas have reached their limits [6]. Thus, the active tuneable antenna Hindawi Publishing Corporation e Scientific World Journal Volume 2014,Article ID 694805, 9 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/694805
  • 2. 2 The Scientific World Journal Long arm Shorting strip Short arm Slots L1 D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 D6 D7 D8 L2 W1 W2 T Figure 1: Geometry of the new wideband antenna. approach has been adopted to fulfil the market need for world LTE devices, trading the passive antenna simplicity with active antenna complexity. 1.2. Disadvantages of Active Antennas and Extended Grounds Planes. Passive antennas have various advantages over the active tuneable antennas. First of all, the passive antenna does not have to be supported with RF controlling circuit to do the job as the active one, so it will save a large space required inside the handset to fit both the antenna and the RF circuit. This is not the only problem of the RF circuit, as additional circuit components are connected to the antenna; it will suffer from impedance mismatch. In this situation a severe decrease in the efficiency of the antenna will lead to a lower speed of data transfer and a higher number of dropped calls. Also, the active antenna is power consuming, causing a significant decrease in the battery lifetime. Thus, it will be a problem for power hungry, smart handheld devices. Last but not least, the active antenna seems to have band limitations too, as the maximum number of bands that commercial LTE active antennas can support is 13 bands only out of 39 potential LTE bands [6]. On the other hand, current handset antenna technologies are still tied with the extended ground plane’s dilemma. As the antenna is not just the module that fits under the speaker, however, it includes a large PCB ground plane. A minimum limit size of the ground plane is required for the antenna to have an acceptable performance. Thus, adding an extravolume counted on the total size of the antenna. As the ground plane is a part of the antenna structure, then, the hand grip on the phone will cause detuning of the antenna operating frequency causing a poor efficiency. 1.3. A Novel Resonant Wideband Passive Antenna. A novel antenna technology has been developed to solve the problem of the urgent need for universal LTE devices. The new technology can cover all the possible LTE spectrum bands using only two antennas with bandwidths of 73% and 85%, respectively, without using any matching or tuning circuits. The first antenna is covering the low band LTE spectrum starting from 698 MHz up to 1.51 GHz which includes LTE band numbers 5, 6, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 26, 27, 28, 29, and 44. The second one is covering the high band portion of the LTE spectrum starting from 1.52 GHz to 3.8 GHz corresponding to LTE band numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 9, 10, 22, 23, 24, 25, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, and 43. This means that a total number of 39 LTE bands can be covered beside the 2G and 3G frequency bands. The new antenna can be implemented in smart phone handsets, tablets, laptops, and notebooks. It consists of two narrow printed metallic arms connected together by a shorting metallic strip. The two arms may be parallel to each other or may have any angle between them. The two arms can be shaped in different ways in order to optimize the antenna performance. As shown in Figure 1, each arm has a set of slots having different configurations. These slots can be circular, rectangular, square, triangular, or other shapes. The arm lengths of the new antenna, especially the length of the short arm, are the main parameters that determine the operating frequency of the antenna. The bandwidth, the peak gain, and the efficiency of the antenna are mainly determined by the widths of the two arms, the angle between them, the thickness of the antenna, and the configurations of the slots, which are all optimized together in order to enhance the antenna performance, especially the bandwidth. This geometry can be scaled and optimized for any application to successfully cover any frequency band [7, 8]. 2. Numerical and Experimental Results of the New Antenna Two versions of the new LTE antenna have been designed, manufactured, and tested. Calculated and measured return losses will be presented in addition to the calculated gain, efficiency, and radiation patterns. The first antenna version can cover a frequency band from 698 MHz up to 1.51 GHz and it will be referred to as “the low band antenna.” To cover the high band portion of the LTE spectrum, a second version of the antenna has been designed and manufactured by scaling and optimizing the geometry shown in Figure 1. The antenna is operating all over the high frequency band 1.52–3.8 GHz and it will be referred to as “the high band antenna.” A reduced size version of these wideband antennas can be developed and customized for smaller LTE devices. Together, the two reduced size antennas are capable of covering 38 LTE bands with slightly lower but still acceptable efficiencies. The reduced size versions of the low band and high band antennas will be also demonstrated. 2.1. The Low Band and High Band Antennas. The low band antenna has a volume of 1.3×0.4×14.5 = 7.54 cm3 . It should be noted that the proposed volume is the total volume of the antenna because it does not require an additional ground plane or matching circuits. The high band antenna has a volume of 1.2 × 0.4 × 5.9 = 2.832 cm3 . Like the low band antenna, the proposed volume of the high band antenna is the total volume of the antenna. As Figure 2(a) shows, the return loss of the low band antenna is lower than −8 dB over most of the bands having a maximum value of −5.5 dB. For
  • 3. The Scientific World Journal 3 0 0.70 0.90 1.10 1.31 1.51 Frequency (GHz) Calculated Measured −2 −4 −6 −8 −10 −12 −14 −16 Returnloss(S11dB) (a) 0 1.52 1.98 2.43 2.89 3.34 3.80 Frequency (GHz) Returnloss(S11dB) −5 −10 −15 −20 −25 Calculated Measured (b) Figure 2: Return loss (S11) of (a) the low band antenna and (b) the high band antenna. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 0.70 0.90 1.10 1.31 1.51 Efficiency(%) Frequency (GHz) (a) 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 1.52 1.98 2.43 2.89 3.34 3.80 Efficiency(%) Frequency (GHz) (b) Figure 3: Efficiency of (a) the low band antenna and (b) the high band antenna. the high band antenna, Figure 2(b) shows that the return loss is also lower than −8 dB all over the band. The total efficiency shown in Figures 3(a) and 3(b) demonstrates 80% and 90% average efficiencies of the low band and high band antennas, respectively. The gain of the low band antenna is shown in Figure 4(a) as a function of the frequency, while the high band antenna’s gain is shown in Figure 4(b). The Radiation patterns of the low band and high band antennas are demonstrated in Figure 5(a) at 900 MHz and Figure 5(b) at 2.3 GHz, respectively, at phi = 0 and phi = 90. 2.2. Reduced Size Version of the Low Band and High Band Antennas. The reduced size version of the low band antenna has a total volume of 0.4 × 0.4 × 15.6 = 2.496 cm3 , while that of the high band antenna has a total volume of 0.4 × 0.4 × 5.9 = 0.944 cm3 . As Figure 6(a) shows, the return loss of the low band antenna is lower than −5 dB almost all over the frequency band from 698 MHz to 1.51 GHz which is 73% bandwidth. For the reduced size version of the high band antenna, Figure 6(b) shows that most of the calculated and measured return losses is lower than −5 dB all over the frequency band from 1.71 GHz to 3.8 GHz which is 75.8%. The total efficiencies shown in Figures 7(a) and 7(b) demonstrate almost 70% and 80% average efficiencies of the reduced size versions of low band and high band antennas, respectively. The gain of the reduced size version of the low band antenna is higher than 1 dBi over most of the bands as shown in Figure 8(a), while the high band antenna’s gain is more than 2 dBi as shown in Figure 8(b). The radiation patterns of the low band and high band antennas are presented in Figure 9(a) at 750 MHz and Figure 9(b) at 2.7 GHz, respectively. 3. MIMO Diversity Configuration Multiples of low band and high band antennas can be used for LTE MIMO diversity coverage in laptops, tablets, and smart phones. Each of these different situations has been studied and will be presented. 3.1. MIMO Configurations for Smart Phones. The new wide- band antenna can be customized for implementation in smart
  • 4. 4 The Scientific World Journal 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 0.70 0.90 1.10 1.31 1.51 Gain(dB) Frequency (GHz) (a) 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 1.52 1.98 2.43 2.89 3.34 3.80 Gain(dB) Frequency (GHz) (b) Figure 4: Gain of (a) the low band antenna and (b) the high band antenna. 0∘ 30∘ 60∘ 90∘ 120∘ 150∘ 180∘ −150∘ −120∘ −90∘ −60∘ −30∘ 0 −10 −20 −30 −30 −20 −10 0 E total @ 𝜙 = 0 E total @ 𝜙 = 90 (a) 0∘ 30∘ 60∘ 90∘ 120∘ 150∘ 180∘ −150∘ −120∘ −90∘ −60∘ −30∘ 0 −10 −20 −30 −30 −20 −10 0 E total @ 𝜙 = 0 E total @ 𝜙 = 90 (b) Figure 5: Radiation patterns of (a) the low band antenna at 900 MHz and (b) the high band antenna at 2.3 GHz. 0 0.70 0.80 0.90 1.00 1.10 1.21 1.31 1.41 1.51 Frequency (GHz) Calculated Measured S11(dB) −5 −10 −15 −20 (a) 0 1.71 2.13 2.55 2.96 3.38 3.80 Frequency (GHz) S11(dB) −5 −10 −15 −20 −25 −30 −35 −40 −45 Calculated Measured (b) Figure 6: Return loss of (a) the reduced size version of the low band antenna and (b) the reduced size version of the high band antenna.
  • 5. The Scientific World Journal 5 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 0.70 0.80 0.90 1.00 1.10 1.21 1.31 1.41 1.51 Efficiency(%) Frequency (GHz) (a) 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 1.71 2.13 2.55 2.96 3.38 3.80 Efficiency(%) Frequency (GHz) (b) Figure 7: Efficiency of (a) the reduced size version of the low band antenna and (b) the reduced size version of the high band antenna. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0.70 0.80 0.90 1.00 1.10 1.21 1.31 1.41 1.51 Gain(dB) Frequency (GHz) −1 −2 −3 (a) 1.71 2.13 2.55 2.96 3.38 3.80 Frequency (GHz) 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Gain(dB) −1 −2 −3 (b) Figure 8: Gain of (a) the reduced size version of the low band antenna and (b) the reduced size version of the high band antenna. phones. It can be bent or wrapped as an “L” shape to fit in the void around the chassis of the handset. This customization has been studied numerically and experimentally for 2 × 2 MIMO of the reduced size low band and high band antennas. As shown in the schematic inFigure 10, the primary reduced size low band antenna is marked as number “1” and the diversity antenna is marked as number “2.” The primary and diversity antennas are wrapped in “L-” shaped configurations. A 2 × 2 MIMO configuration of the reduced size high band antenna has been also tested numerically and experimentally and their relative positions to each other have been optimized for the implementation in smart phones. The relative positions of the primary and diversity antennas are shown in Figure 10. The primary reduced size high band antenna is marked as number “3” and the diversity antenna is marked as number “4.” The measured isolation between the primary and diver- sity low band antennas has been investigated. As shown in Figure 11(a), acceptable isolation values, lower than −10 dB, are obtained from isolation measurements (S21) in free space. The measured isolation on the chassis of smart phone was much better than the isolation in free space, as it has an average of −15 dB over most of the bands. This is due to the fact that the phone is acting as an isolating medium which guarantees lower coupling between the primary and diversity antennas. The correlation coefficient between primary and diversity low band antennas was lower than 0.55 as shown in Figure 11(b). On the other hand, the measured isolation between the primary and diversity high band antennas was lower than −30 dB as shown in Figure 12(a). This is an expected isolation result due to the perpendicular position of the primary antenna relative to the diversity antenna which have been proved to be the best isolation technique in such a small available space inside handsets [9]. The perpendicular relative position also has a positive effect on the correlation coefficient. As shown in Figure 12(b), the maximum correlation value does not exceed 0.1 and most of the values are lower than 0.01. The urgent demand for universal LTE smart phones requires an antenna solution that is able to cover most of the LTE bands for global roaming. By combining the two new wideband antennas together in one device, it will fulfill that need as demonstrated in Figure 10. The high band antennas marked as numbers 3 and 4 are located in a higher plane above the low band antennas by 1 mm. The biggest concern in this case is the isolation values between the low band and
  • 6. 6 The Scientific World Journal 0∘ 30∘ 60∘ 90∘ 120∘ 150∘ 180∘ −150∘ −120∘ −90∘ −60∘ −30∘ 0 −10 −20 −30 −30 −20 −10 0 E total @ 𝜙 = 0 E total @ 𝜙 = 90 (a) 0∘ 30∘ 60∘ 90∘ 120∘ 150∘ 180∘ −150∘ −120∘ −90∘ −60∘ −30∘ 0 −10 −20 −30 −30 −20 −10 0 E total @ 𝜙 = 0 E total @ 𝜙 = 90 (b) Figure 9: Radiation patterns of (a) the reduced size version of the low band antenna at 750 MHz and (b) the reduced size version of the high band antenna at 2.7 MHz. high band antennas. The isolation is calculated for this case and the results are mostly lower than −20 dB for low band and high band frequency spectrums as shown in Figures 13(a) and 13(b), respectively. 3.2. MIMO Configurations on Laptops and Tablets. For 2 × 2 MIMO diversity, a primary antenna and a diversity antenna can be placed 10 cm apart and perpendicular to each other inside laptops and tablets. Although primary and diversity antennas are operating over the same frequency band at 1 2 3 4 Figure 10: The schematic diagram of MIMO wideband antenna solution for LTE smart phones. the same time, the coupling effect is significantly reduced as a result of antennas perpendicular relative positions [9]. Thus, this position will have a positive effect on the calculated correlation coefficient between the two of the reduced size low band antennas, as shown in Figure 14(a). The maximum correlation coefficient value is lower than 0.025. The isolation between the primary and the diversity antennas has been measured on a laptop and in free space keeping the same relative positions and distance between them. The measured isolation on the laptop gets improved over most of the bands as demonstrated in Figure 14(b). The previous experiments are repeated for 2 × 2 MIMO of the reduced size high band antennas perpendicular to each other and 10 cm apart. In terms of wavelength, the distance between the primary and the diversity antennas is larger in the high frequency band than in the low frequency band. This is reflected in a positive way on the correlation coefficient values which are lower than 0.001 as shown in Figure 15(a). Also a lower isolation than −30 dB in free space and on the laptop is shown in Figure 15(b). 4. Conclusion A novel very wideband MIMO antenna solution was devel- oped, capable of covering 39 LTE bands besides 2G and 3G. This provided device manufacturers with a new antenna technology to fulfill the urgent need for universal LTE smart phones, tablet computers, laptops, and notebooks. Conflict of Interests The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper.
  • 7. The Scientific World Journal 7 0 0.70 0.80 0.90 1.00 1.10 1.21 1.31 1.41 1.51 Frequency (GHz) Free space Smart phone −5 −10 −15 −20 −25 −30 −35 −40 S21(dB) (a) 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 0.70 0.80 0.90 1.00 1.10 1.21 1.31 1.41 1.51 Correlationcoefficient Frequency (GHz) (b) Figure 11: (a) Measured isolation (S21) and (b) correlation coefficient between primary and diversity MIMO low band antennas. 0 1.71 2.13 2.55 2.96 3.38 3.80 Frequency (GHz) Free space Smart phone −10 −20 −30 −40 −50 −60 S21(dB) (a) 0.00 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.07 0.08 0.09 0.10 1.71 2.13 2.55 2.96 3.38 3.80 Correlationcoefficient Frequency (GHz) (b) Figure 12: (a) Measured isolation (S21) and (b) correlation coefficient between primary and diversity MIMO high band antennas. 0.70 0.80 0.90 1.00 1.10 1.21 1.31 1.41 1.51 Isolation(dB) Frequency (GHz) S13 S14 S23 S24 0 −5 −10 −15 −20 −25 −30 −35 −40 −45 (a) 0 −10 −20 −30 −40 −50 −60 Isolation(dB) 1.7 2.1 2.5 3.0 3.4 3.8 Frequency (GHz) S13 S14 S23 S24 (b) Figure 13: Isolation between each of low band and high band antennas in (a) the low frequency band and (b) the high frequency band on smart phones.
  • 8. 8 The Scientific World Journal 0.000 0.005 0.010 0.015 0.020 0.025 0.70 0.80 0.90 1.00 1.10 1.21 1.31 1.41 1.51 Correlationcoefficient Frequency (GHz) (a) 0.70 0.80 0.90 1.00 1.10 1.21 1.31 1.41 1.51 Frequency (GHz) Free space Laptop 0 −5 −10 −15 −20 −25 −30 −35 −40 −45 S21(dB) (b) Figure 14: (a) Correlation coefficient and (b) measured isolation between primary and diversity MIMO low band antennas perpendicular to each other and 10 cm apart. 0.0000 0.0005 0.0010 0.0015 0.0020 1.71 2.13 2.55 2.96 3.38 3.80 Correlationcoefficient Frequency (GHz) (a) 1.71 2.13 2.55 2.96 3.38 3.80 Frequency (GHz) Free space Laptop 0 −10 −20 −30 −40 −50 −60 S21(dB) (b) Figure 15: (a) Correlation coefficient and (b) measured isolation between primary and diversity MIMO high band antennas perpendicular to each other and 10 cm apart. Acknowledgments The authors would like to thank Mahetab Salama and Lamiaa Nail for their great effort in preparing this paper. References [1] “LTE: the future of mobile broadband technology,” Verizon Wireless. [2] “The wireless intelligence website,” 2012, http://www.wireless- intelligence.com/analysis/2011/12/global-lte-network-forecasts -and-assumptions-one-year-on/. [3] “The global telecommunications business website,” 2012, http:// www.globaltelecomsbusiness.com/Article/2948514/Sectors/25- 196/38-fragmented-frequencies-confuse-scale-benefits-of-LTE -terminals.html. [4] P. Vainikainen, J. Holopainen, C. Icheln et al., “More than 20 antenna elements in future mobile phones, threat or oppor- tunity?” in Proceedings of the 3rd European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EuCAP ’09), pp. 2940–2943, Berlin, Germany, March 2009. [5] B.-N. Kim, S.-O. Park, J.-K. Oh, and G.-Y. Koo, “Wideband built-in antenna with new crossed C-shaped coupling feed for future mobile phone application,” IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters, vol. 9, pp. 572–575, 2010. [6] “Mobile development & design website,” 2012, http://mobile- devdesign.com/tutorials/4g-devices-demand-active-antenna- solutions-0216/?cid=ed.
  • 9. The Scientific World Journal 9 [7] M. Sanad and N. Hassan, “A 470 to 960 MHz resonant antenna: covering uhf mobile TV and CDMA/GSM without tuning circuits,” Microwave Journal, vol. 53, no. 11, pp. 56–73, 2010. [8] M. Sanad and N. Hassan, “Dual antenna configuration for multi-standard multifunction handsets and portable comput- ers,” in Proceedings of the 3rd European Wireless Technology Conference (EuWiT ’10), pp. 173–176, September 2010. [9] M. Sanad and N. Hassan, “Low-interference dual resonant antenna configurations for multistandard multifunction hand- sets and portable computers,” International Journal of Antennas and Propagation, vol. 2012, Article ID 407973, 8 pages, 2012.
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