Design of multimode multiband antennas for MIMO terminals using characteristic mode analysis

Characteristic mode analysis provides unparalleled insights into designing high performance multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) terminal antennas at frequencies where the antenna elements are constrained to be electrically small. Conventionally, an electrically small single-antenna utilizes the fundamental characteristic mode of the terminal chassis to obtain sufficient bandwidth while maintaining high radiation efficiency. However, modern MIMO terminals require two or more antennas per frequency band, and they tend to excite the same fundamental chassis mode, resulting in severe coupling, correlation, and poor overall system performance. Recently, characteristic mode analysis of the chassis is proposed to design highly efficient multimode multiband MIMO antennas with significant bandwidth using electrically small feed elements. Two distinct and excitable characteristic modes were created at frequencies above and below 1 GHz, for a typical smartphone's form factor. This paper provides an overview of the method and highlights its versatility for practical implementation in standard plastic cased smartphones as well as in the popular metal-bezeled smartphones, with only minor modifications to the chassis.