Monopole and conformal PIFA for small cylindrical groundplane mounting

This paper characterizes antenna elements for mounting on a cylinder which is too small to be treated as a planar groundplane. A benchmark candidate is an outward-pointing quarter wavelength monopole, and we also present a lower-profile printed antenna. The best printed-type candidate is a new design - a wrapped PIFA. The bandwidths are surprisingly high: 12% for the monopole and 30% for the PIFA. These new designs are suitable for navigational and communications antennas on small frames such as found on unmanned aerial vehicles, drones, and bicycles.