High-Isolation Four-Port Wideband MIMO Antenna Array on Polycarbonate for Sub-6 GHz 5G Systems

This study proposes a high-isolation four-port wideband MIMO antenna array designed for sub-6 GHz 5G, IoT, and radar applications. The array is fabricated on a polycarbonate substrate with overall dimensions of 500 × 500 mm2 (εr = 2.8, h = 1 mm). Four orthogonally arranged modified circular patches with triangular ground planes and optimized inter-element spacing (D1 = 90 mm) are employed in the antenna’s design to achieve an impedance bandwidth of 0.7–7.0 GHz (Fractional Bandwidth (FBW) > 163.63%) with |Sii| < −10 dB across all ports. The measurement results indicate that the inter-port isolation is better than 15 dB (worst-case) across the 0.7–7 GHz band, exceeding 25 dB over 63.5% of the bandwidth (with a peak of approximately 50 dB); the envelope correlation coefficient (ECC) is ultra-low (<0.008); the total active reflection coefficient (TARC) is less than −10 dB for primary multi-port excitations; the mean effective gain (MEG) is balanced (≈−3 dB); and the group delay is consistent (~0.5 ns). With a maximum realized gain of 10 dBi, the antenna exhibits omnidirectional radiation patterns, showing a significant correlation between the simulation (CST Microwave Studio) and measurement results. The proposed antenna is particularly well-suited for use in high-throughput sub-6 GHz 5G base stations and wideband wireless systems, offering superior port isolation through multi-mode resonance without the need for metamaterials and outperforming existing four-port designs.