MIMO channel capacity increase by hybrid non-uniform EBG antenna arrays

In this work a 2×2 multiband, non-uniform Electromagnetic Band Gap (EBG) antenna array is proposed for the realization of a MIMO (Multiple Input-Multiple Output) wireless communication system. It is proved that the strong reduction of mutual coupling among the array's elements, ensured by this EBG lattice type, is capable of enhancing the MIMO channel capacity. The channel impulse response was estimated taking into account the spatial correlation and the antenna characteristics both into one step capacity calculation. Results for the capacity at all three bands of operation (1.99GHz, 4GHz, 5.1GHz) are presented, for various SNR levels, along with respective ones received from antenna arrays with classic Uniform EBG (Mushroom type) and also Perfect Electric Conductor (PEC). The comparison shows clearly the superiority of the proposed hybrid antenna array.