High-performance CDRA with surface-mounted horn at 5.8 GHz to enhance wireless communication system performance

Abstract

With the increasing demand for high-performance wireless communication systems, particularly in wireless local area network (WLAN) applications, there is a critical need for antennas that deliver high gain, excellent isolation, and robust diversity performance. This study introduces an improved multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) cylindrical dielectric resonator antenna (CDRA) integrated with a cylindrical horn antenna tailored for operation at 5.8 GHz. The design employs a single radiating element fed by two closely positioned coaxial cables to achieve high isolation between ports, whereas the cylindrical horn enhances the gain. The performance was evaluated and optimized using HFSS software, focusing on metrics such as the envelope correlation coefficient (ECC), channel capacity loss (CCL), mean effective gain (MEG), and diversity gain (DG) to ensure MIMO compatibility. The surface-mounted CDRA horn antenna achieved a very high of gain 15.6 dBi by flaring the circular aperture of the circular base of the antenna in canonical form at 5.8 GHz. The results reveal a significant gain increase to 15.6 dBi, improving signal strength and coverage, alongside isolation exceeding –20 dBi, which lowers ECC (<0.017), DG close to 10 dB, MEG <–3 dB, CCL<0.5 bits/(s⋅Hz) over the bandwidth 5.6 GHz to 5.9 GHz, radiation efficiency 90.1%, isolation <–20 dB, and boosts diversity performance. The experimental testing of the prototype aligns closely with the simulated outcomes, validating the effectiveness of the design.