Compact 3x1 Elements Reconfigurable MIMO Antenna for Cognitive Radio Applications

This paper presents, compact multiband frequency reconfigurable 3x1 MIMO antenna for cognitive radio applications. The antenna comprises 3-elements reconfigurable MIMO antenna and single element UWB sensing antenna. The frequency reconfigurability range under (S11 ≤ -10 dB) from 7-14.8 GHz using single PIN diode, while the UWB frequency range from 2.597-23.08 GHz. The antenna is designed and optimized to cover such wireless applications such as WiMAX, international telecommunication union (ITU), satellite, and broadband applications. The antenna is optimized using a Genetic Algorithm to operate in the MIMO and cognitive radio systems. The antenna dimensions for 3-elements MIMO antenna are 55 x 65 x 1.6 mm³ printed on an FR-4 epoxy substrate with relative dielectric constant εr = 4.3, loss tangent tan (δ) = 0.002 and 50 Ω microstrip feed line. The obtained simulated gain is ranging from 2.8-8.25 dB and the maximum simulated gain is 8.25 dB at 8.5 GHz. The return loss, Envelope Correlation Coefficient ECC, and Isolation are obtained to be less than -25 dB, less than 0.018, and less than -17 dB respectively. Detailed simulation results are explored and studied in this research. The CST software is used to simulate and optimize the proposed antenna.