Eight-Port Tapered-Edged Antenna Array With Symmetrical Slots and Reduced Mutual-Coupling for Next-Generation Wireless and Internet of Things (IoT) Applications

Abstract

A compact and low-cost eight-port (2x4 configuration) tapered-edged antenna array (TEAA) with symmetrical slots and reduced mutual-coupling is presented in this paper using the inset-feed technique. The 8-port TEAA is designed and simulated using CST microwave studio, fabricated using the flame-resistant (FR4) substrate having a dielectric constant (εr) = 4.3 and thickness (h) = 1.66mm and characterized using Keysight technologies vector network analyzer (VNA). The designed 8-port TEAA operates at the 5.05-5.2GHz frequency band. Various performance design parameters, like return-loss, bandwidth, gain, 2D/3D radiation patterns, surface current distributions, and isolation-loss, are briefly studied, and the results are summarized. The eight-port TEAA has featured the bandwidth/ gain characteristic of 195MHz/10.25dB, 3dB beam-width of 52.8o, and excellent mutual-coupling (high isolation-loss) of less than -20dB, respectively. The 8-port TEAA is proposed and characterized to work for next-generation high-throughput WLANs like IEEE 802.11ax (WiFi-6E), Internet-of-Things (IoT), and the upcoming 5G wireless communication systems.