The effect of conformality on the electrical properties of small antennas

One of the most desired innovations in modern antenna technology should be the widespread use of conformal designs. Antennas of this kind are expected to be applied primarily in arrays. However, another prospective application for conformal antennas is in handsets or other miniature terminals of mobile and wireless communications systems. The form of the handset and the range of available functions are the prerequisites of the phone market success. Furthermore, the terminal form is strongly related to a possibly large color display, which is no longer a tiny part of the device. Modern multimedia handsets call for multiband antennas, which should feature optimized radiation properties and should possibly be scarce in demand for space. In consequence, it would be an attractive opportunity for designers if antennas could fit into any arbitrary space available in small terminals, specifically in their upper parts. What becomes quite important is that some transmission methods require at least two antennas which must be mounted in the terminal. For these reasons we turned our attention to conformally shaped antennas which can be integrated into handheld terminals in a more flexible way.