A novel EBG-based MIMO antenna with enhanced isolation for WLAN applications

A novel dual-band EBG-based Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna system with high isolation performance for wireless local area network (WLAN) applications is proposed. The MIMO antenna comprises of two broadband printed slot antennas fed by a coplanar waveguide (CPW) feed line. When the antennas are placed at closer spacing, mutual coupling comes into existence deteriorating the performance of the MIMO system. Electromagnetic bandgap structures (EBG) are introduced to reduce mutual coupling between the antennas integrated in a small area, by suppressing surface wave propagation. Scattering parameters are compared for the MIMO antenna with and without EBG structures. The proposed EBG-based MIMO antenna including two elements has a overall size of 60mm×30 mm, with a impedance bandwidth from 2.40 GHz to 3.00 GHz and 4.60 GHz to 5.53 GHz, which has the advantages of wide bandwidth, good isolation, and easy manufacture.