In this work, the formulation and the implementation of innovative methodological paradigms for the design of unconventional array architectures for future generation communication systems has been addressed. By exploiting the potentialities of the codesign strategy for elementary radiators in an irregularly clustered array architectures and by introducing an innovative capacity-driven design paradigm, the proposed methodologies allow to effectively design unconventional array architectures with optimal trade-offs in terms of performance and complexity/costs. The codesign synthesis strategy is proposed to solve the arising massive multi-objective design problem aimed at fitting the multiple objectives and requirements on the "free-space" performance of the array architecture. Afterward, the capacity-driven design paradigm is formulated and implemented for the design of MIMO array architectures to maximize the quality of the communication system in first place instead of considering "free-space" figures-of-merit. A set of numerical results has been provided (i) to validate the proposed paradigms in real-application scenarios and (ii) to provide insights on the effectiveness, the limitations and the potentialities of proposed design methodologies.

Yes / To support various fifth generation (5G) wireless applications, a small, printed bowtie-shaped microstrip antenna with meandered arms is reported in this article. Because it spans the broad legal range, the developed antenna can serve or reject a variety of applications such as wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi), sub-6 GHz, and ultra-wideband (UWB) 5G communications due to its multiband characterization and optimized rejection bands. The antenna is built on an FR-4 substrate and powered via a 50-Ω microstrip feed line linked to the right bowtie’s side. The bowtie’s left side is coupled via a shorting pin to a partial ground at the antenna’s back side. A gradually increasing meandering microstrip line is connected to both sides of the bowtie to enhance the rejection and operating bands. The designed antenna has seven operating frequency bands of (2.43–3.03) GHz, (3.71–4.23) GHz, (4.76–5.38) GHz, (5.83–6.54) GHz, (6.85–7.44) GHz, (7.56–8.01) GHz, and (9.27–13.88) GHz. The simulated scattering parameter S11 reveals six rejection bands with percentage bandwidths of 33.87%, 15.73%, 11.71, 7.63%, 6.99%, and 12.22%, respectively. The maximum gain of the proposed antenna is 4.46 dB. The suggested antenna has been built, and the simulation and measurement results are very similar. The reported antenna is expanded to a four-element design to investigate its MIMO characteristics. / Partially funded by British Council “2019 UK-China-BRI Countries Partnership Initiative” program, with project titled “Adapting to Industry 4.0 oriented International Education and Research Collaboration.