PIERS ONLINE, VOL. 7, NO.

7, 2011 605
A Compact Printed Multi-band Antenna for Laptop Applications
Cheng-Chi Yu
1
, Jiin-Hwa Yang
2
, Chang-Chih Chen
1
, and Wen-Chao Hsieh
1
1
Department of Communications Engineering, Feng-Chia University
No. 100, Wen-Hua Rd., Seatwen, Taichung 407, Taiwan, R.O.C.
2
Program in Electrical and Communications Engineering, Feng-Chia University
No. 100, Wen-Hua Rd., Seatwen, Taichung 407, Taiwan, R.O.C.
Abstract This study proposes a compact printed multi-band antenna, which has the advan-
tages of simple structure, small size, easy fabrication, and making integration within thin laptop.
The main operating frequencies of the proposed antenna are at GPS (1.575 GHz), WLAN (2.4,
5.8 GHz), Bluetooth (2.45 GHz) and WiMAX (2.5, 3.5, 5.5 GHz) bands. The main structure of
the antenna is composed of T-shaped monopole and grounded inverted L-shaped branch. The
T-shape monopole excites 2.4 GHz operating frequency band. And, the grounded inverted L-
shaped branch not only can excite 3.5 GHz operating band but also can be used for impedance
matching, which can tune the bandwidth of each operating band. A branch is added on the
left part of T-shaped monopole which can excite GPS band (1.575 GHz). Finally, the 5.5 GHz
operational frequency of WiMAX can be excited by adding a stub on the T-shaped monopole
branch. Therefore, a multi-band antenna for laptop applications is achieved.
The antenna occupies a small area of 9 47 mm
2
only. This antenna is fed on the T-shaped
monopole by a 50- coaxial cable. The measured result shows that the 10 dB return loss is
satised at each operating band, and has a good agreement with simulated result. Moreover,
the gain, radiation eciency and radiation pattern of each operating center frequency were also
simulated and measured. They demonstrate very good performances. The gain is about 1.25
6.38 dBi and radiation eciency ranges from 67% to 95% at each band. The measured radiation
pattern is similar to general monopole antenna. The characteristics of the antenna make it
attractive for practical application in laptops.
1. INTRODUCTION
In recent years, with the rapid progress in wireless communication, the demands for multi-band
antenna are increasing. In order to realize multi-band WLAN/WiMAX operations, several schemes
had been proposed, such as planar inverted F antenna, inverted L antenna and T-type monopole
antenna structure [1, 2]. These types of antenna have simple structure and small size and suit for
internal laptop planar antenna. There are many ways to design multi-band antenna such as adding
radiation branch, using coupling or open slot to achieve the design specications [3, 4].
In this paper, we propose a compact printed multi-band antenna for laptop applications. The
main operating frequencies of the proposed antenna are at GPS (1.575 GHz), WLAN (2.4, 5.8 GHz),
Bluetooth (2.45 GHz) and WiMAX (2.5, 3.5, 5.5 GHz) bands.
2. ANTENNA DESIGN
Figure 1(a) shows the geometry of the proposed multi-band antenna. The detailed dimension of
the antenna is shown in Fig. 1(b). In the gure, the point A denotes feeding point and the point B
denotes grounding point. The antenna is fabricated on a FR4 substrate with a thickness of 1.6 mm
and a relative permittivity of 4.4. This antenna is fed on the T-shape monopole by a 50- coaxial
cable.
The operating principle is analyzed as following. At rst, four types of antenna are dened that
are called antenna A, antenna B, antenna C and proposed antenna, as shown in Fig. 2(a). The
structure of antenna A can be seen as a T-shaped monopole which can excite 2.4 GHz resonant
mode, and the simulated result of return loss is shown in Fig. 2(b). The antenna A cant achieve
the desired results of proposed antenna. Hence, the grounded inverted L microstrip line was added
to adjust the impedance matching, and the new structure is called antenna B. The Fig. 2(b) shows
that the antenna B not only has a good impedance matching at the 2.4 GHz resonant mode and
also excites 3.5 GHz resonant mode. In order to design the GPS band (1.575 GHz), a branch was
added on the left part of T-shaped monopole (antenna C). Finally, to achieve a proposed multi-
band antenna, a stub was added on the right part of T-shaped monopole which can excite 5.5 GHz
PIERS ONLINE, VOL. 7, NO. 7, 2011 606
(a) (b)
Figure 1: (a) Geometry of the proposed multiband antenna, (b) detailed dimensions of the proposed antenna.
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Frequency [GHz]
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
R
e
t
u
r
n
L
o
s
s
[
d
B
]
Ante nna A
Ante nna B
Ante nna C
pr oposed Antenna
(a) (b)
Figure 2: Antenna design: (a) Four types of antenna, (b) simulated results of each type antenna.
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Frequency [GHz]
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
R
e
t
u
r
n
L
o
s
s
[
d
B
]
si mulati on
measurment
(a) (b)
Figure 3: (a) Photo of the fabricated prototype of the proposed antenna, (b) simulated and measured return
loss of the proposed antenna.
operating frequency band of WiMAX. From the above design processes, a multi-band antenna for
laptop applications is achieved.
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The proposed antenna was fabricated and shown in Fig. 3(a). The measured and simulated return
loss of the proposed antenna is shown in Fig. 3(b). The measured result shows that the 10 dB
return loss is satised at each operating band, and has a good agreement with simulated result.
PIERS ONLINE, VOL. 7, NO. 7, 2011 607
From the results, four resonant modes at about 1.575, 2.4, 3.5 and 5.5 GHz are successfully excited.
The rst resonant mode at 1.575 GHz can be used for GPS operation. The second resonant mode
at about 2.4 GHz can cover the operations of 2.4GHz WLAN, Bluetooth (2.45 GHz) and 2.5 GHz
WiMAX. The third resonant mode can be applied to 3.5 GHz WiMAX operation, and the fourth
resonant mode satises 5.8 GHz WLAN and 5.5 GHz WiMAX operations.
For actual application, antenna must be integrated with a LCD screen of laptop. Fig. 4(a) is
the photo of the proposed antenna integrated with a LCD screen of notebook. Fig. 4(b) depicts
the measured return loss of the antenna with/without LCD screen.
Figures 5(a)(d) exhibit the measured far-eld radiation patterns on the x-z and x-y planes
for four frequencies at 1.575, 2.4, 3.5 and 5.5 GHz, respectively. On the horizontal plane (x-z
plane), nearly omnidirectional patterns in all frequencies are obtained. Fig. 6 shows the simulated
radiation eciency and peak gain of the proposed antenna for all bands. The peak gain is about
1.25 6.38 dBi and radiation eciency ranges from 67% to 95%.
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Frequency [GHz]
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
R
e
t
u
r
n
L
o
s
s
[
d
B
]
wi thout LCD screen
wi th LCD screen
(b) (a)
Figure 4: (a) Photo of the proposed antenna integrated with a LCD screen, (b) measured return loss of the
antenna with/without LCD screen.
0
90
180
270
0
0
-10
-10
-20
-20 -30
E
E
0
90
180
270
0
0
-10
-10
-20
-20
-30
-30 -40
x-z plane
x-y plane
1575 MHz
0
90
180
270
0
0
-10
-10
-20
-20 -30
E
E
0
90
180
270
0
0
-10
-10
-20
-20 -30
x-z plane x-y plane
2400 MHz
0
90
180
270
0
0
-10
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-20 -30
E
E
0
90
180
270
0
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-20 -30
x-z plane x-y plane
3500 MHz
0
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180
270
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-10
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-20 -30
E
E
0
90
180
270
0
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-10
-10
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-20 -30
x-z plane x-y plane
5500 MHz
(a) (b)
(c) (d)
Figure 5: Measured radiation patterns (a) 1.575 GHz, (b) 2.4 GHz, (c) 3.5 GHz, (d) 5.5 GHz.
PIERS ONLINE, VOL. 7, NO. 7, 2011 608
1.55 1.56 1.57 1.58 1.59 1.6 1.61
Frequenc y [GHz]
0
1
2
3
A
n
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R
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f
f
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i
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c
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[
%
]
5.3 5.35 5.4 5.45 5.5 5.55 5.6 5.65 5.7
Frequenc y [GHz]
1
2
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4
5
6
A
n
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[
%
]
3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 4
Frequency [GHz]
3
4
5
6
7
8
A
n
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a
G
a
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[
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f
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2.38 2.4 2.42 2.44 2.46 2.48 2.5
Frequency [GHz]
3
4
5
A
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[
%
]
Efficiency
Efficiency
Efficiency
Efficiency
Gain
Gain
Gain
Gain
Figure 6: Simulated radiation eciency and peak gain.
4. CONCLUSION
A compact printed multi-band antenna for laptop applications has been presented in this article.
This antenna has the advantages of simple structure, small size, easy fabrication, and making
integration within thin laptop. The measured results are satised at each operating band, and
demonstrate good agreements with simulated results.
REFERENCES
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for 2.4/5 GHz WLAN operation, Microwave and Optical Technology Letters, Vol. 41, 202203,
May 2004.
3. Lee, C. T. and K. L. Wong, Uniplanar printed coupled-fed PIFA with a band-notching slit
for WLAN/WiMAX operation in the laptop computer, IEEE Trans. Antenna & Propagation,
Vol. 57, No. 4, 12521258, Apr. 2009.
4. Hosoe, T. and K. Ito, Dual-band planar inverted F antenna for laptop computers, Proc.
2003 IEEE Antennas Propagation Society International Symposium, Vol. 3, 8790, Jun. 2003.