A COMPACT MONOPOLE MIMO ARRAY FOR THE 5–6-GHz BAND

In this article, a low-cost compact multiple-input multiple-output array composed of three coplanar waveguide-fed monopoles printed on flame retardant 4 substrate is presented. The particular feeding mechanism of each single element allows for a wideband behavior, and the specific delta (D) shape arrangement of the three radiators leads to a remarkably small footprint. The proposed design is capable of operating in the entire 5–6-GHz spectrum hence resulting particularly attractive for the IEEE 802.11n 5-GHz standard. A prototype was fabricated and connected to a Ralink 3 3 evaluation board to assess the throughput performance in a typical indoor scenario. The effectiveness of the proposed array is confirmed by experimental results