Characteristics Mode Analysis Based Dual-Port
Sub-6 GHz Flexible Antenna for Surveillance
Applications
Deepthi Mariam John Tanweer Ali Shweta Vincent
Department of Electronics and Department of Electronics and Department of Mechatronics
Communication Engineering, Manipal Communication Engineering, Manipal Engineering, Manipal Institute of
2023 International Telecommunications Conference (ITC-Egypt) | 979-8-3503-2606-2/23/$31.00 ©2023 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/ITC-Egypt58155.2023.10206254
Institute of Technology, Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal Technology, Manipal Academy of
Academy of Higher Education, Academy of Higher Education, Higher Education, Manipal-576104
Manipal-576104 Manipal-576104
[email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Sameena Pathan Praveen Kumar Parveez Shariff B G
Department of Information and Department of Electronics and Department of Electronics and
Communication Engineering, Manipal Communication Engineering, Manipal Communication Engineering, Manipal
Institute of Technology, Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal
Academy of Higher Education, Academy of Higher Education, Academy of Higher Education,
Manipal-576104 Manipal-576104 Manipal-576104
[email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Abstract— The advent of fifth-generation technology has rectangular stub placed between T-shaped stubs is utilized in
facilitated high-speed communication with a higher data rate, [4] for low mutual coupling among elements. A tree-like
low latency, and reliable communication. Researchers are structure integrated with the ground plane is proposed in [5]
focusing on the Sub-6 GHz 5G band because of decreased for enhancing the isolation of a UWB antenna. A spiral stub
penetration losses and good SNR. In this article, a two-element integrated on a lower ground plane is proposed in [6] to
flexible Sub-6 GHz MIMO antenna is presented. A defective improve the isolation. A mesh-like decoupling structure with
ground plane consisting of a T-shaped stub and two symmetrical the radiator and a defective ground plane is employed for
I-shaped stubs provides isolation greater than 20 dB over the improving the isolation of a UWB antenna [7]. A dual band
entire bandwidth. Characteristic mode analysis is conducted to antenna with a DGS is proposed for Sub-6 GHz applications
evaluate the physical phenomena of the antenna. MIMO in [8] for reducing the coupling and improving the isolation.
diversity metrics reveal ECC < 0.005, DG ≈ 10, TARC < -10 dB,
MEG < -3 dB, and CCL < 0.25 bps/Hz, confirming the antenna's In this article, a compact two-element flexible MIMO
usefulness in real-time MIMO applications. Furthermore, SAR antenna is designed for Sub-6 GHz surveillance applications.
analysis is performed for the antenna with a three-layer tissue The projected design has an overall dimension of 30× 56 ×
model and is found to be 0.761 W/kg and 0.359 W/kg for 1g and 0.25 mm3 with a bandwidth of 3.3 to 4.4 GHz which covers
10 g of tissue respectively at 3.8 GHz. The antenna is integrated the n77 (3.3 - 4.2 GHz) and n78 (3.3 - 3.8 GHz) bands. A T-
into a metallic helmet to investigate the viability of the antenna shaped and two symmetrical I-shaped stubs connected to the
for surveillance applications and the antenna exhibited partial ground plane contribute more than 20 dB isolation over
satisfactory radiation characteristics. the band of operation. MIMO diversity parameters are also
investigated to analyse the performance of the system.
Keywords—Sub-6 GHz, Characteristic mode analysis (CMA), Characteristic mode analysis is performed to investigate the
multiple input multiple output (MIMO), Specific Absorption Rate
antenna’s physical phenomena. To determine the antenna's
(SAR)
suitability for wearable applications, a specific absorption rate
I. INTRODUCTION (SAR) study is done by placing the antenna over a three-layer
phantom model made up of several layers with variable
The latest advancement in fifth-generation technology material and dielectric characteristics. Finally, the antenna is
allows for high-speed communication with larger data rates, placed over a metallic helmet to study the projected antenna’s
lower latency, more bandwidth, and stable radiation patterns. viability for surveillance applications.
Sub-6 GHz 5G spectrum is a feasible band of deployment in
urban areas due to its wider coverage and low infiltration The following is the overall flow of the paper: The design
losses [1]. The urge toward a better channel capacity has made of the antenna and analysis are explained in Section II.
the researchers concentrate on MIMO antennas. Several Characteristic Mode Analysis of the antenna is presented in
antenna elements must be arranged close to each other to Section III. Sections IV and V elaborate the Results and
achieve the above-specified parameters. When the individual Discussion and Conclusion respectively.
elements are placed closer together, a severe mutual coupling
is introduced between the elements. However, enhancing the II. ANTENNA DESIGN
isolation with the close placement of individual elements is A Sub-6 GHz antenna designed on a flexible Polyethylene
quite challenging [2]. Terephthalate (PET) substrate having a modified circular
patch with symmetrical slits on the radiator along with a
There are many techniques seen in the literature for
defective ground is replicated to create a dual-port antenna.
improving isolation in MIMO antennas. A vertical slotted T-
Each element is separated by less than a quarter wavelength
shaped stub integrated with the ground is proposed in [3]. A
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( 𝜆) matching the resonance frequency (3.8 GHz). The
placement of the individual elements causes mutual coupling
among them.
To reduce the mutual coupling and improve the isolation,
a T-shaped and two symmetrical I-shaped stubs are connected
to the partial ground of the MIMO antenna making it a
defective ground structure. The integration of stubs in the
ground plane creates a local path and neutralizes the coupling
current, which contributes to more than 20 dB isolation for the
entire bandwidth. Fig. 1 shows the configuration of the two-
port antenna, and the corresponding physical dimensions are
listed in Table 1.
(c)
Fig. 2. Evolution of the proposed antenna (a) Structure and (b) S11 (c) S12.
III. CHARACTERISTIC MODE ANALYSIS
Characteristic mode analysis is a technique for
determining the antenna's resonance in free space by
determining the surface current and the related fields
generated by the conducting structure. CMA assists in
calculating the sets of current modes associated with any
Fig. 1. The configuration of the dual-port antenna. antenna configuration without stimulating the ports. The
proposed antenna is studied by performing the CMA. Two
TABLE I. OPTIMAL VALUES OF THE ANTENNA (IN MM)
essential eigenvalue-based parameters to investigate CMA are
a b c d e f g h i j k l m modal significance (MS) and the characteristic angle (𝛼𝑛 ),
30 56 11 5.5 5.5 0.6 5 2.5 15 6 8 1 12.4 which are described in equations (1-2).
Fig. 2(a) depicts the evolution stages of the proposed 1
antenna. Ant 4 operates at 3.8 GHz as shown in Fig. 2(b). The 𝑀𝑆 = | | (1)
1 + 𝑗𝜆𝑛
S-parameters and the isolation plots of the evolution stages are
shown in Fig. 2(b) and 2(c). 𝛼𝑛 = 1800 − 𝑡𝑎𝑛−1 𝜆𝑛 (2)
MS helps in evaluating the radiation capabilities of the
individual modes and helps in determining whether the modes
are significant or not. ( 𝛼𝑛 ), on the other hand, helps in
determining the type of mode or the energy stored.
The mode significance and characteristic angle plots are
projected in Fig. 3(a-b). The current distribution of the first
five modes of the projected antenna at the resonant frequency
of 3.8 GHz is depicted in Fig. 3c. All the first five modes are
significant for the projected antenna. However, modes 4 and
5 show an influential concentration of surface currents on the
antenna.
(a)
(b) (a)
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24
A T-shaped and two symmetrical I-shaped stubs integrated
into the ground plane (DGS) alter the current path and
neutralize the current contributing to coupling and thus
helping in achieving a transmission coefficient smaller than -
20 dB throughout the bandwidth.
B. Current Distribution
Fig. 5 depicts the vector current distribution at the
antenna’s resonance frequency of 3.8 GHz. This is performed
by activating port 1 while terminating port 2. The maximum
current is concentrated near the feedline, I-shaped stubs, and
the ground. The defective ground plane with integrated stubs
ensures that the current does not reach the next element, giving
enhanced isolation.
(b)
Fig. 5. Current distribution of the antenna at 3.8 GHz.
C. Radiation Pattern
Fig. 6 shows the antenna’s two-dimensional radiation
(c) pattern at 3.8GHz. In the E-plane, the antenna has a
Fig. 3. CMA of the proposed antenna (a) characteristic angle (b) mode bidirectional radiation pattern, and a quasi-omnidirectional
significance (c) surface current distribution at 5 modes. radiation pattern in the H-plane.
IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The following section explains the simulated results and
analysis of the two-element antenna. S-parameters, gain,
radiation pattern, surface current distribution, MIMO diversity
parameters, SAR analysis, and application of the proposed
antenna are elaborated in the section.
A. Scattering Parameters
The projected antenna covers a bandwidth ranging from
3.3 – 4.4 GHz. The modified circular patch with slits on the
radiator and a defective ground contribute to the proposed
antenna's broader bandwidth. Fig. 4 depicts the scattering
characteristics of a two-element MIMO antenna.
Fig. 6. Radiation pattern of the proposed antenna at 3.8 GHz .
D. Gain
Fig. 7 depicts the proposed antenna's gain vs frequency
curve. The proposed antenna gain varies from a lower value
of 2.8 dBi to a maximum value of 4.25 dBi with a gain value
of 2.290 dBi at the resonant frequency of 3.8 GHz.
Fig. 4. Simulated S-parameters of the proposed antenna.
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25
(b)
Fig. 7. Gain over frequency of the proposed MIMO antenna.
E. MIMO diversity parameters
Several MIMO diversity characteristics including
envelope correlation coefficient (ECC), mean effective gain
(MEG), diversity gain (DG), channel capacity loss (CCL), and
total active reflection coefficient (TARC) are performed to
assure the efficacy of the proposed antenna. These are
determined using the mathematical computations given in [2].
ECC is a significant performance matrix for measuring the
correlation between MIMO systems. For real-time
applications, the ECC value should be smaller than 0.5.
Diversity gain depicts the loss in the transmission power
of the MIMO system. MEG denotes the antenna's ability to
receive electromagnetic radiation. TARC defines the ratio of
the incident to radiated power of the multiple-element
(c)
antenna. The desirable value of MEG and DG is less than - Fig. 8. MIMO parameters (a) ECC and DG (b) MEG and TARC (c) CCL
3dB and -10 dB respectively. CCL on the other hand exhibits
the associated channel capacity loss of the proposed antenna. F. SAR analysis
Fig. 8 gives the plots of the MIMO diversity parameters of the SAR is the maximum quantity of radiation that the human
projected antenna. As seen in the graph the value of ECC is < body can absorb. For wearable applications, the antenna’s
0.005, MEG < -3 dB, DG ≈ 10, TARC < -10 dB, and CCL < performance, and its effects of EM radiation on the human
0.25bps/Hz which proves the proposed antenna is appropriate body must be investigated. As a result, a three-layer phantom
for real-time applications. model of skin, fat, and muscle with thicknesses of 2mm, 5mm,
and 20mm is created in CST Suite 2021. The exhibited
geometry has a dimension of 100 × 100 × 27 mm3 . The
antenna is positioned at a certain distance from the model as
shown in Fig. 9 [9][10][11].
(a)
Fig. 9. Three-layer tissue model used for simulation.
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26
SAR is calculated with the tissue model using equation 3. The material properties and dielectric properties of
𝜎|𝐸|2
different tissues at 3.8 GHz are taken as given in Table V.
𝑆𝐴𝑅 = () TABLE III. DIELECTRIC CHARACTERISTICS OF HUMAN
𝜌
TISSUES AT 3.8 GHZ [10], [12]
where 𝜎 is the human tissue conductivity, 𝐸 represents the
Human tissue at Dry Skin Fat Muscle
electric field and 𝜌 is the mass density of the human tissue. 3.8 GHz
SAR is analyzed for the frequency of 3.8 GHz for 1g and Relative 36.80 5.14 51.1
Permittivity
10g of tissue and it is observed that it is within the permissible
Conductivity 2.21 0.172 2.83
limit of 1.6 W/kg and 2W/kg according to international (S/m)
standards. At 3.8 GHz, the SAR is 0.761 and 0.359 W/kg for Mass Density 1001 900 1006
1g and 10 g of tissue, respectively. Fig. 10 depicts the (Kg/𝑚3 )
simulated SAR results with the three-layered tissue model and
the values are tabulated in Table II. The material and dielectric
properties of different tissues at 3.8 GHz are taken as given in G. Application of the proposed flexible antenna
Table III.
In recent times, the flexible antenna has been widely used
for many wearable applications. The proposed antenna is kept
on a metallic helmet which acts as a perfect electric conductor,
to check its efficacy and be used for surveillance applications
which include tracking, detection, military, prevention of
disasters during rescue operations, the safety of people during
construction activities, and so on. The antenna's radiation
characteristics are studied, as shown in Fig. 11. (a). A
maximum gain of 5.4 dBi as shown in Fig. 11(b) is realized
for the proposed antenna while placed over the helmet which
acts as a reflector and the antenna shows satisfactory radiation
characteristics that is suitable for the abovesaid application.
(a)
(a)
(b)
Fig. 10. SAR values at 3.8 GHz for (a) 10g of tissue (b) 1g of tissue .
TABLE II. SIMULATED SAR OF THE ANTENNA AT 3.8 GHZ
Frequency SAR (W/kg) - 10 g SAR (W/kg) – 1g
(GHz) tissue tissue (b)
3.8 0.359 0.761 Fig. 11. Proposed antenna on a metallic helmet (a) perspective view (b) gain
plot when placing antenna over a helmet.
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V. CONCLUSION
In this paper, a two-element Sub-6 GHz flexible antenna
operating in the Sub-6 GHz band is proposed for surveillance
applications. SAR analysis is performed using a three-layered
tissue model with skin , fat and muscle layers with different
dielectric properties and thicknesses. SAR values (in W/kg) of
0.359 for 10g and 0.761 for 1g of tissue at 3.8 GHz is obtained,
which is below the specified international standards. To
understand the phenomena of the antenna, the characteristic
mode analysis is done. Diversity parameters including ECC,
MEG, TARC, DG, and CCL are evaluated for the dual-port
antenna and it gives favourable values for each, which
indicates the antenna will prove efficient for real-time
environments. The antenna integrated over a metallic helmet
shows satisfactory radiation characteristics suitable for
tracking, movement, and detection applications.
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