In this paper, a compact 2-port MIMO antenna for New Radio (NR) FR-1 5G sub-6 GHz mid-band applications is proposed. This antenna contains a simple united circular patch and rectangular patch, feedline, and parasitic elements on top followed by a simple stepped T-shaped slot embedded in the ground at the bottom of the substrate flame retardant-4. The optimized dimensions of 0.7 \(\lambda _0\) \(\times\) 0.5 \(\lambda _0\) \(\times\) 0.0267 \(\lambda _0\) . A Defective Ground Structure is used to attain return loss at −10 dB with an impedance bandwidth of 80% radiating from 3 to 7 GHz. and two parasitic elements are placed between antenna elements to improve the isolation between port to port with a minimum value of \(< -\) 15 dB. The radiation characteristics of the antenna, stable patterns, acceptable cross-polarization, high gain, and higher efficiency are verified and better results are attained. The MIMO antenna diversity parameters are evaluated in terms of ECC (<0.025), CCL (<0.022 bps/Hz), TARC (<10 dB), and MEG ( \(<-\) 3 dB). The simulated and measured results are within the limits and achieve better performance. Hence, the proposed antenna design can be envisaged for NR 5G Sub-6 GHz FR-1 mid-band (5G NR bands: N77, n78, n79; Wi-Fi bands: Wi-Fi 5, Wi-Fi-6 and V2X/DSRC) wireless applications.
