Handheld antenna diversity evaluation in a DCS-1800 small cell

The diversity gain obtained by employing antenna diversity on handheld phones are investigated for the two branch case in the presence of the human head. The envelope correlation coefficient is calculated from measurements of angular distributions of multipath field and complex radiation patterns. The mean effective gain (MEG) and diversity gain is calculated for a 360° rotation of the phone in the environments. The calculated correlation, MEG and diversity gain are compared to measured values in the same environments. It is demonstrated that low correlation and nearly equal branch powers can be obtained on small handhelds even when operated near the human head, and it is concluded that a high return can be expected from antenna diversity on realistic handhelds. Furthermore good agreements is shown between both measured correlation and MEGs and calculated values based on measured angular power densities and complex antenna patterns