Contribution of non-uniform EBG antenna arrays to the enhancement of MIMO channel capacity

The work proposes novel multiband and of low profile antenna arrays with hybrid type elements, for the realization of a MIMO (Multiple Input-Multiple Output) wireless communication system with great capacity. Each element is composed of a linear dipole integrated with a non-uniform Electromagnetic Band Gap (EBG) lattice. This EBG type, influences the system by two ways, the strong reduction of the Mutual Coupling (MC) among the closely positioned array's elements and the high radiation gain values of each element, inside wide space areas. Both of them make the antenna element capable of enhancing the MIMO channel capacity. It was ascertained by the results which were received taking into account globally, the MC and the radiation patterns of the antenna elements. The Spatial Channel Model (SCM) scenario for Urban Micro and Urban Macro environments was applied and the capacity calculation was made in one step which incorporates both the channel and the antenna characteristics. Results for the capacity at all three bands of operation are presented, for 10 dB SNR level, along with respective ones received from dipole arrays in front of Perfect Electric Conductor (PEC). The comparison shows clearly the superiority of the proposed hybrid type array and its robust performance in wireless propagation scenarios.