Elevation Plane Beam Scanning of a Novel Parasitic Array Radiator Antenna for 1900 MHz Mobile Handheld Terminals

A novel internal antenna system is introduced for the GSM 1900 MHz frequency band which utilizes the electrically steerable parasitic array radiator (ESPAR) concept to steer the elevation plane beam in specific angular directions. The proposed antenna consists of a planar inverted-F antenna (PIFA) as the driven element and two inverted L antennas (ILAs) as parasitic elements. The ILAs are terminated with capacitive impedances at their bases. Full-wave analysis shows that the radiation beam can be scanned in space when the antenna is in free space as well as next to human head and hand phantoms. Measured results using varactor diodes controlling the base reactances show good return loss bandwidth.