Small embedded LTE/WWAN antenna integrated with keyboard ground plane in a laptop computer

Abstract

A novel small embedded long-term evolution/wireless wide area network (LTE/WWAN) antenna integrated with the keyboard ground plane in a laptop computer is presented. The antenna is installed on a notched region (40 × 8 mm2) of the keyboard ground plane at a distance of 10 mm from the laptop computer hinge. A coupled-fed loop antenna was used because of its suitability for integration with the ground plane and achieving wide operating bands. This antenna can not only be configured to have a compact configuration but also be designed to excite several resonant modes of the hinge slot between the display ground plane and the keyboard ground plane. The proposed antenna comprises a hook-shaped strip and a shorted strip, which together form a coupled-fed loop that not only has a compact size when printed on a 0.8-mm-thick FR4 substrate 40 × 8 mm2in size but also provides eight-band LTE/WWAN operation. The proposed antenna can cover LTE/WWAN operation in the 698–960 and 1710–2690 MHz bands. Details of the antenna structure are provided here. The proposed antenna was fabricated and tested, and measurement and simulation results are presented. The measured antenna efficiency was approximately 45–80% in the lower band and approximately 52–75% in the upper band.