On-Board Printed Coupled-Fed Loop Antenna in Close Proximity to the Surrounding Ground Plane for Penta-Band WWAN Mobile Phone

A small-size coupled-fed loop antenna suitable to be printed on the system circuit board of the mobile phone for penta-band WWAN operation (824-960/1710-2170 MHz) is presented. The loop antenna requires only a small footprint of 15 x 25 mm² on the circuit board, and it can also be in close proximity to the surrounding ground plane printed on the circuit board. That is, very small or no isolation distance is required between the antenna´s radiating portion and the nearby ground plane. This can lead to compact integration of the internal on-board printed antenna on the circuit board of the mobile phone, especially the slim mobile phone. The loop antenna also shows a simple structure; it is formed by a loop strip of about 87 mm with its end terminal short-circuited to the ground plane and its front section capacitively coupled to a feeding strip which is also an efficient radiator to contribute a resonant mode for the antenna´s upper band to cover the GSM1800/1900/UMTS bands (1710-2170 MHz). Through the coupling excitation, the antenna can also generate a 0.25-wavelength loop resonant mode to form the antenna´s lower band to cover the GSM850/900 bands (824-960 MHz). Details of the proposed antenna are presented. The SAR results for the antenna with the presence of the head and hand phantoms are also studied.