Absorption Loss Reduction in a Mobile Terminal With Switchable Monopole Antennas

A method for compensating part of the user effect on a mobile terminal antenna was experimentally evaluated. A dynamic selection between two separately located antennas was used to reduce absorption caused by the user´s index finger. The method was examined in the 900 MHz and 1900 MHz bands with dual-band monopole antennas. The performance of the method was evaluated in terms of antenna total efficiency, body loss, mismatch loss, and absorption loss. It was found that a 3.1 dB reduction in average body loss is achieved in the low band if feed is switched to the unloaded antenna instead of the loaded one. The corresponding reduction in the higher band is 1.0 dB.