A compact built-in handset antenna for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system at 2 GHz, comprising two elements array of newly proposed L-shaped folded monopole antenna (LFMA), is evaluated under the multipath radio wave propagation environments. By analyzing the fundamental characteristics, mean effective gain (MEG), correlation, and channel capacity, the significant enhancement in the capability, as a handset MIMO antenna under practical use conditions, was confirmed. The performances were also compared to those of an array antenna comprising two planar inversed-F antenna (PIFA) elements in order to verify the effectiveness of the proposed antenna. The results show that the equivalent or improved performances can be realized, by using the proposed LFMA array with a compact size, taking only the volume of 44% of a PIFA array. The LFMA array provides almost the same bandwidth and enhanced isolation compared with a PIFA array, and the sufficiently low correlation and acceptable effective gain are obtained under the multipath radio wave propagation environments. In addition, a greater channel capacity than a PIFA array is achieved especially when the proposed LFMA array is inclined for the display-viewing mode, and moreover, an almost doubled increase in the channel capacity is obtained by using MIMO transmission compared with single-input single-output (SISO). This study also show that the MEG has much effects on the channel capacity, rather than the correlations, for the proposed antenna.

This paper presents the detailed investigations on a simple multi-band method that allows inverted-F antennas (IFAs) to achieve good impedance matching in many different frequency bands. The impressive simplicity of the method arises from its sharing of a shorting strip among multiple branch elements to simultaneously generate independent resonant modes at arbitrary frequencies. Our simulation and measurement results clarify that, by adjusting the number of branch elements and their lengths, it is very easy to control both the total number of resonant modes and the position of each resonant frequency with impedance matching improved concurrently by adjusting properly the distance ds between the feeding and shorting points. The effectiveness of the multi-band method is verified in antenna miniaturization designs, not only in the case of handset antenna, but also in the design upon an infinite ground plane. Antenna performance and operation principles of proposed multi-band models in each case are analyzed and discussed in detail.

This paper presents a simple abdomen model of pregnant women and the evaluation of the specific absorption rate (SAR) inside the proposed model close to normal mode helical antennas (NHAs), which are replacing the portable radio terminals for business at 150 MHz. First, dielectric properties of amniotic fluid and those of fetus of rabbit, which have about the same electrical properties as human, are measured. As a result, the conductivity of amniotic fluid is 1.8 times and that of fetus is 1.3 times higher than that of adult muscle at 150 MHz. The result also suggests the modeling of pregnant women including the amniotic fluid and the fetus is necessary. Next, a simple abdomen model of pregnant women based on the measurements of magnetic resonance (MR) images of Japanese women in the late period of pregnancy is proposed. Finally, the SAR inside the proposed abdomen model close to 0.11λ and 0.18λ NHAs is calculated using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. As a result, we have confirmed that the 10-g average SAR in the fetus is sufficiently less than 2 W/kg, when the output power of NHAs is 5 W, which is the maximum power of portable radio terminals in Japan.

This paper addresses the variation of the attenuation characteristics of the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) in a lossy medium as a function of the distance between an antenna and the medium with different EM-source sizes. Analysis and measurements were performed using a dipole antenna at 900 MHz and a COST244 cubic phantom. From this, an empirical equation has been derived, representing the attenuation characteristics of the SAR. The equation takes into consideration an energy loss due to the spatial spread of electromagnetic waves. In the case where an antenna is placed more than λ/2π away from the medium, the attenuation characteristics of the SAR are those obtained from plane waves in the lossy medium. In the case where a half-wavelength dipole antenna is located close to the medium, at a distance of less than λ/2π, the attenuation characteristics of the SAR are calculated from an equation that includes a loss caused by the spread of energy as a cylindrical wave. Moreover, when the length of antenna is short, it is found that a spatial attenuation factor appropriate to a spherical wave should be taken into account.

Analysis of a novel folded loop antenna for handset is described along with the advanced design concept for handset antennas. The design concept shown in this paper meets the foremost requirement for handset antennas such as (1) small size and yet (2) has capability of mitigating degradation of antenna performance due to the body effect, and (3) of reducing SAR value in the human head at the handset talk position, in addition to the indispensable requirements for handset antennas such as (4) low profile, and (5) light weight. The technology applied is to make this antenna (a) an integrated structure, which is a typical application of the fundamental concept of making antennas small and (b) a balanced structure which has been proved to be very effective to satisfy the requirements (2) and (3). The antenna is essentially a two-wire transmission line, folded at about a quarter-wavelength to form a half-wave folded dipole, and yet appears to be a loop of one-wavelength. It does not have really a balanced structure, as is fed with an unbalanced line; however, the antenna structure itself can eliminate the unbalanced current flow on the feed line as in the balanced antenna system. Both theoretical and experimental analyses have been shown and the usefulness of the antenna is discussed. This paper may suggest the advanced technology and design concept that will be applied to the development of handset antennas toward the future.

This study presents a proposal for space-saving design of built-in antennas for handset terminals based on the concept of requisite design antenna volume. By investigating the relation between antenna input characteristic and electric near-field around the antenna element and surrounding components inside the terminal, and then evaluating the requisite design antenna volume, we propose the most effective deployment for both the antenna and surrounding components. The results show that our simple proposal can help reduced, by about 17% and 31.75%, the space that the antenna element actually requires at least for stable operation inside the terminal, in the single-band designs for the cellular 2GHz band (1920-2170MHz) and 800MHz band (830-880MHz), respectively. In the dual-band design, we verify that it can reduce, the antenna space by about 35.18%, and completely cover the two above cellular bands with good antenna performance.

A folded loop antenna for handsets has already been introduced and shown as one of balance-fed antennas for handsets, which is very effective to mitigate the antenna performance degradation due to the body effect. In order to meet the requirements for the latest handsets such as low profile and small size, a folded loop antenna is modified. The antenna, which is possibly built in the handsets, is newly proposed. Low profile and small size is achieved by consisting of the half of low profile folded loop antenna, which has a structure folded loop elements sideways so that the antenna can be placed on the ground plane (GP). In the analysis, the electromagnetic simulator based on the FDTD (Finite Difference Time Domain) method is used and the design parameters useful in practical operation are found. The electromagnetic simulator based on the Method of Moment (MoM) is used to calculate the current distribution on the antenna element and the GP. An example of low profile and small size antenna which has wideband characteristics are designed based on these parameters, and the antenna characteristics such as VSWR, the current distributions and the radiation patterns are compared with Planar Inverted-F Antenna (PIFA), which is one of conventional built-in antennas for handset. As a result, it has been confirmed that the physical volume of the antenna, which has been introduced here, becomes smaller than that of PIFA. In addition, the radiation efficiency of these antennas is measured and the results are compared with each other.

This study proposed a novel decoupling method for four planar inverted-F antennas (PIFAs) operating at 2.0GHz (f0). The edge-to-edge and center-to-center spacings of the adjacent PIFAs are extremely small (0.05λ0 and 0.17λ0, respectively), resulting in strong mutual coupling among them. In our previous study, we proposed a structure consisting of parasitic elements (PEs) and a bridge line (BL) for the decoupling of two PIFAs. One attractive feature of the proposed method is that no adjustment of the original structure and size of the PIFAs is necessary. However, as the number of PIFAs increases to four, their decoupling becomes considerably more complicated, and impedance mismatch is also an issue to be considered. Therefore, in this study, PEs and BLs are functionally developed to simultaneously achieve low mutual coupling and improved impedance matching of the four PIFAs. The simulated results showed that loading the proposed PEs and BLs onto the four PIFAs could reduce as well as maintain all mutual coupling for less than -10dB, and simultaneously improve impedance matching. Therefore, the total antenna efficiency at 2.0GHz could be significantly improved from 64.2% to 84.8% for PIFA1 and PIFA4, and from 35.9% to 74.2% for PIFA2 and PIFA3. Four PIFAs with PEs and BLs were fabricated and measured to validate the simulation results.

In this study, a novel decoupling method using parasitic elements (PEs) connected by a bridge line (BL) for two planar inverted-F antennas (PIFAs) is proposed. The proposed method is developed from a well-known decoupling method that uses a BL to directly connect antenna elements. When antenna elements are connected directly by a BL, strong mutual coupling can be reduced, but the resonant frequency shifts to a different frequency. Hence, to shift the resonant frequency toward the desired frequency, the original size of the antenna elements must be adjusted. This is disadvantageous if the method is applied in cases where the design conditions render it difficult to connect the antennas directly or adjust the original antenna size. Therefore, to easily reduce mutual coupling in such a case, a decoupling method that does not require both connecting antennas directly and adjusting the original antenna size is necessitated. This study demonstrates that using PEs connected by a BL reduces the mutual coupling from -6.6 to -14.1dB, and that the resonant frequency is maintained at the desired frequency (2.0GHz) without having to adjust the original PIFAs size. In addition, impedance matching can be adjusted to the desired frequency, resulting in an improved total antenna efficiency from 77.4% to 94.6%. This method is expected to be a simple and effective approach for reducing the mutual coupling between larger numbers of PIFA elements in the future.

This paper presents the switched-beam slot antenna over the electromagnetic band-gap (EBG) reflector. This antenna is composed of two slot elements fed with a phase difference and the EBG reflector, which is used in order to realize a low profile structure. The radiation characteristics of this antenna are calculated using the FDTD method. Calculations show that the height of the antenna using the EBG reflector is 60 % lower than that of the antenna using a perfect electric conductor (PEC) reflector. The radiation characteristics at the center of the operating frequency band in the EBG reflector are equivalent to that in the PEC reflector. It is shown that the tilt angle of the main beam in the elevation plane varies with the operating frequency, and the variation in the case of the EBG reflector is caused by its frequency-dependent reflection phase. Moreover, the radiation pattern of the fabricated antenna is measured. The results demonstrate that the low profile design can be achieved by using the EBG reflector, and reveal the influence of the EBG reflector on the antenna efficiency.