Antenna Diversity for a Mobile Terminal: Theory, Simulation and Measurement

In the new generation of mobile communication systems, high data transmission rate and low bit error rate has been common requirements. However the issue of signal fading in a multi-path environment still stands as a major problem. Using antenna diversity techniques can overcome the problem. In this paper, we thoroughly study the antenna diversity performance on a mobile terminal through theoretical analysis, computer simulations and practical prototype measurements. Specifically, a genetic methodology is developed to accurately evaluate the diversity gain achieved in the mobile terminal from both power level approach and correlation approach. We demonstrate that it is possible and beneficial to implement antenna diversity on terminal side, and high diversity gain can be achieved when the antennas are placed in the terminals properly. Moreover, improvement of the diversity gain can be obtained from the implementation of the matching networks.