Design of a multimode MIMO antenna using characteristic modes

In this communication, the design procedure of a multimode multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna is presented. The antenna consists of a metallic ring antenna operating with different orthogonal modes, whose performance in a MIMO system is similar to traditional antenna arrays. Thus, a compact MIMO antenna is obtained, which is very suitable for mobile terminals. A modal analysis of the antenna is carried out first by means of the theory of characteristic modes, in order to identify the different radiating modes of the antenna. Then a set of feeding configurations is proposed so as to excite these modes. As the modes must operate in the same frequency band, a loading technique is used in the antenna in order to shift the resonance frequency of the modes to the proper band.