In this dissertation, different from the conventional PIFA structure, the novel internal loop and slot antennas suitable for multiband mobile phone application are proposed. The loop antennas here use the technique of meandering the loop pattern to control the frequency ratio of the three resonant loop modes, and then the multiband operation can be obtained. For the slot antenna, different from the conventional slot antenna operating in a half-wavelength, the monopole slots antenna operating in it¡¦s quarter-wavelength mode are proposed. By properly adjusting the position of the monopole slot and the tuning stub of the microstrip feedline, the monopole slot antenna can achieve the multiband operation with a small occupied area in the mobile phone. In addition, the user¡¦s hand and head effects on the loop antenna are also studied. The obtained results indicate that, when the user¡¦s hand and head is close to or cover a certain portion of the antenna, large decrease in the antenna¡¦s radiation efficiency and great distortion in the antenna¡¦s radiation pattern will occur for all the three excited resonant modes of the loop antenna, no matter the unbalanced or balanced modes. Further, the efficiency drops caused by the user¡¦s hand and head over the GSM900 band are much larger than that over the GSM1800/1900 bands.

In this thesis, three small-size internal multiband antennas for laptop computer application for different wireless communication systems are proposed. In the first design, the coupling feed is incorporated to the planar inverted-F antenna to achieve a dual-resonance excitation in the lower band such that the obtained bandwidths can easily cover GSM850/900/DCS/PCS/UMTS operation. The effect of the user¡¦s hand on the antenna is also studied. In the second design, we introduce the T-shaped coupling feed used in the PIFA for successful excitation of two wide operating bands to cover WLAN operation in the 2.4 GHz band and 5.2/5.8 GHz band, and the size reduction is even larger than 50%. Finally, a multiband monopole antenna with a band-notching slit is proposed. By embedding the slit of length about a quarter-wavelength at about 4 GHz, a band-notching characteristic is obtained, which leads to an additional resonance at about 3.5 GHz. Hence, three wide operating bands for covering all the desired operating bands of WLAN/WiMAX systems are achieved for the proposed antenna.

Two novel internal WWAN antennas having multi-band operation capability and suitable to be embedded in the laptop computers are proposed. The first antenna is a penta-band printed monopole slot antenna, which can cover GSM850/900/1800/1900/UMTS operation. The second antenna is a penta-band printed dual-loop antenna. The antenna can cover GSM850/900/1800/1900/UMTS operation and occupies a small size. The effects of the environment and the user¡¦s hand on the internal laptop computer antenna are also studied. Take the first antenna as an example; the obtained results show that the effects of the internal environment of the laptop computer are mostly on the antenna¡¦s impedance matching, which however can be improved by adjusting the parameters of the antenna. On the other hand, since the user¡¦s hands are lossy materials, a decrease in the antenna¡¦s radiation efficiency is observed when the user¡¦s hand is in the vicinity of the internal antenna.

In this dissertation, a variety of multiband communication device antennas using the coupling-feed mechanism are presented. The coupling feed contributes additional capacitance to the antenna¡¦s input impedance which shows a high inductive component for the traditional case of using a direct feed. In the first and second antenna designs, with the coupling feed, the high input inductance of the antenna is effectively compensated. This behavior leads to a dual-resonance excitation for the lower band of the antenna. Two wide operating bands are achieved, allowing the antenna¡¦s lower and upper bands to easily cover GSM850/900 and GSM1800/1900/UMTS operation. For the last two antenna designs, owing to the coupling feed, the very large input impedance seen at antenna¡¦s lower band is greatly decreased and results in successful excitation of the one-eighth wavelength (£f/8) mode of the antenna. The specific absorption rate and hearing aid compatibility results for these mobile phone antennas are also analyzed. The effects of presence of the user¡¦s hand on the laptop computer antenna performance are also studied in this dissertation.

In this dissertation, many novel low-cost planar antenna designs are presented for on-vehicle applications. Promising planar antennas showing the desired broadside and omnidirectional radiation patterns and having low-profile configurations are demonstrated. Also, studies on controlling the radiation patterns are conducted. Details of the measured and simulated results of the studied antennas are presented and discussed.

A variety of internal mobile phone antennas with a coupling feed are proposed. The antennas are suitable to be embedded in the mobile communication devices. At first, the coupling feed is incorporated to the conventional dual-band PIFA (planar inverted-F antenna) to achieve a dual-resonance excitation at about 900 MHz such that the obtained bandwidths can easily cover GSM850, GSM900, DCS and PCS operations. Then, the coupling feed is further applied to the PIFA with a single resonant path close to about one-eighth wavelength at 900 MHz. In this design, the large input impedance at 900 and 1900 MHz can be greatly decreased to allow the PIFA to generate two operating bands at about 900 and 1900 MHz to cover GSM900, DCS, PCS and UMTS operations. Finally, a compact quad-band folder-type mobile phone antenna with a coupling feed is proposed. The one-eighth wavelength mode can be excited, and the obtained bandwidths cover GSM850, GSM900, DCS and PCS operations.

In this dissertation, a series of printed multiband antennas for slim mobile communication devices are presented. The study mainly focuses on how to effectively enhance the impedance bandwidth. With the equivalent LC matching circuit integrated in the antennas, wide impedance bandwidth can be obtained without increasing the size of the antennas. Note that the equivalent matching circuit can be formed by the coupling strip and the shorting strip to generate capacitance and inductance, respectively. In addition, the effects on the user's hand, head and whole body will be analyized. Also, the issue of the hearing aid compatibility will be discussed in this dissertation.

A tablet computer antenna array for WWAN/LTE and LTE MIMO operations is proposed. The antenna array comprises a main antenna and an auxiliary antenna. The main antenna is an eight-band coupled-fed antenna, which can cover the GSM850/900/1800/1900/UMTS and LTE700/2300/2700 operations. The auxiliary antenna is a three-band antenna, which can cover the LTE700/2300/2500 operation and occupies a small size. Acceptable isolation between the main and auxiliary antennas has also been obtained, which makes it promising for the main and auxiliary antennas to perform LTE MIMO operation in the LTE700/2300/2500 bands. Effects of the internal tablet computer antenna on the user¡¦s body are also studied. The obtained results show that the antenna can meet the 1-g body SAR specification of less than 1.6 W/kg by selecting a proper distance between the antenna and the flat phantom. Also, since the user¡¦s body is a lossy material, a decrease in the antenna¡¦s radiation efficiency is observed when the user¡¦s body is in the vicinity of the internal antenna.

In this dissertation, a series of multiband hybrid mobile phone antennas, incorporating the electric-current and equivalent magnetic-current excitation mechanisms are presented. The design concept of the hybrid antenna is that the multiband operation is achieved by incorporating the resonant modes generated by the two above-mentioned excitation mechanisms. In the first and the second antenna designs, they are obtained by stacking the antennas using the electric-current and equivalent magnetic-current excitations, and both can achieve multiband operations. For the last two antenna designs, the two different excitation mechanisms can be incorporated on a single metal plate or dielectric substrate. This kind of hybrid are promising for application in bar-type and folder-type mobile phones. Besides, in order to pass some required testing criterions and analyze the environmental effects, the hybrid penta-band mobile phone antenna applied in bar-type and folder-type mobile phones is analyzed. The main topics include the speaker¡¦s effects on the antenna¡¦s performances, the analysis of user¡¦s hand and head effects, and the analysis of the hearing aid compatibility.

For laptop computers, the conventional internal antennas are usually used to operate in the WLAN system only, which can not provide sufficient and seamless services for wireless users. In order to overcome this problem, we propose some internal antennas having dual-/multi-network operation capability in this dissertation. Firstly, we present a combo antenna, which combines two shorted monopole antennas for operating in the WWAN/WLAN dual-network system. Secondly, we introduce a shorted monopole antenna through adding a parasitic element to enhance the impedance bandwidth for operating in the WLAN/WiMAX dual-network system. Thirdly, for achieving the compact-size antenna, we present a composite antenna which is composed of a ceramic chip and a printed radiating portion. Fourthly, we introduce a wideband shorted monopole antenna which can provide a wide bandwidth to cover the WPAN, WLAN, and WiMAX operations, and apply it to the MIMO system. Finally, we propose a coupling-type monopole antenna having multi-network operation capability and a compact size, which is about the smallest antenna for wideband operation in the laptop computer so far.