Simple small‐size coupled‐fed uniplanar PIFA for multiband clamshell mobile phone application

In this study, a simple uniplanar printed PIFA occupying a small area of 10 × 40 mm2 for achieving multiband operation in the clamshell mobile phone is presented. The proposed PIFA is formed by a simple shorted radiating strip coupled-fed by a simple feeding strip and is mounted at the hinge of the clamshell mobile phone; further, the upper ground plane is connected to the main ground plane using an extended connecting strip. With the coupling feed and the connection arrangement between the main and upper ground planes, the proposed PIFA itself is not only an efficient radiator, it can also excite the two ground planes of the clamshell mobile phone as an efficient radiator (dipole-like resonant modes are excited). Thus, with a small occupying area and a simple structure for the proposed PIFA, two wide operating bands at lower and higher frequencies can be provided to cover GSM850/900/1800/1900/UMTS bands for WWAN operation. The antenna also meets the 1-g SAR specification of 1.6 W/kg required for practical applications. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 51: 2805–2810, 2009; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.24756