Phased two-element PIFA for adaptative pattern in UMTS handsets

In this paper, we demonstrate the possibility to strongly modify the radiated fields of a UMTS handset by using a phased two-element PIFA array. The structure is composed of a 100times40 mm
²
metallic ground plane acting as the printed circuit board (PCB) of the mobile phone. Two UMTS PIFAs are located at the top edge of this PCB. They are fed by a double quasi-lumped coupler able to provide a 360deg phase difference between its two outputs. By properly choosing the DC bias of the double quasi-lumped coupler, we can set a specific phase difference between the two PIFAs. In this way the two-element array is able to radiate different electromagnetic fields on purpose. Simulated and measured radiation patterns in the two main planes of the chassis are presented for different phase differences. It is especially revealed that the novel two-antenna structure is able to radiate vertically-polarized electric fields in the azimuthal plane of the phone and horizontally-polarized electric fields in the same plane when changing the phase shift between the antennas from 0deg to 180deg. A large panel of different patterns can also be obtained if the phase difference is chosen between these two values. Potential applications are polarization or pattern-diversity techniques and specific absorption rate reduction for handsets.