Isolation Enhancement in Closely Coupled Dual-Band MIMO Patch Antennas

This letter presents a closely coupled dual-band multiple-input–multiple-output (MIMO) patch antenna that resonates at 3.7 and 4.1 GHz. The MIMO antenna is composed of two mirror-symmetrical single-feed patch antennas that are closely placed with approximately 0.034 λ
₀
(where λ
₀
is the wavelength at 3.7 GHz). The decoupling structure consists of the modified array antenna decoupling surface (MADS) and H-shaped defect ground structures for the lower band and upper band, respectively. Through simulation and measurement, the isolation is determined to be greater than 30 dB in both frequency bands, showing a noticeable improvement compared to the original antenna array. Under the effect of the MADS, the measured gain increases by 2.2 and 0.8 dB at the resonance frequencies of 3.7 and 4.1 GHz, respectively. The measured results indicate that the proposed decoupling structure is quite suitable for closely spaced dual-band MIMO antennas.