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Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters

Multiband Full Metal Rimmed Antenna Design

for Smartphones
Rao Shahid Aziz, Ashwini K. Arya, and Seong-Ook, Park, Senior member, IEEE

Abstract In this paper, a multiband full metal rimmed

antenna covering ten frequency bands for personal wireless
communication terminals is presented. The design antenna is
based on simple and effective techniques that are used for metal
rimmed smartphone applications. The proposed antenna with
full metal rim is designed on RO4350B substrate within the
volume of 130 x 70 x 5 mm3. We employed RO4350B substrate
with inserted vias as metal rim with height of 5 mm, which
surrounds inner circuit board. The circuit board substrate has a
ground plane, which is connected to the metal rim via extended
substrate patch. This connection divides the rim into two metal
rim strips. The combination of these two strips allow the design to
operate on ten bands. By performing perturbation on ground
plane further add more operating bands and make the design
excellent candidate for multiband operation. The designed
antenna can be used to serve on GSM850/900, GPS, DCS, PCS,
UMTS, WiBro at 2.35GHz, Bluetooth, ISM, SDM-B at 2.65GHz,
WiMAX at 3.5GHz, and C-band at 4GHz wireless communication
bands. A prototype antenna was fabricated and tested for input
reflection coefficient, radiation performances, antenna gain and
efficiency. The measured and simulated results have been
presented and discussed.
Index TermsFull metal rim, multiband antennas.

I. INTRODUCTION

ultiband antennas for the current personal wireless

communications that facilitate various global
communication standards and services becomes imperative.
The antennas for modern communication devices should be
capable of operating at maximum possible frequency bands to
serve multiple cellular and non-cellular communication
applications. Moreover, the antennas for portable handheld
wireless communication terminals should have compact,
low-profile, robust, light weight, easy to manufacture, and
flexible structures [1].
Besides these qualities, recent years mobile phone handsets
have entered into a rapid development as it becomes thinner
and smarter, especially smartphones. The other obvious
increasing demand that a smartphone has a metal ring. The
metal rim provides sufficient mechanical strength to extend the
Manuscript received July xx, 2015. This work was supported by the
National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea
government (MSIP) (No. NRF-2013R1A2A1A01014518).
The authors are with the Department of Electrical Engineering, Korea
Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 305-732,
Korea (e-mail: rshahid@kaist.ac.kr; akarya@kaist.ac.kr;
sopark@ee.kaist.ac.kr).

service life of the smartphone, also it increase the aesthetic

look. Several possible solutions for mobile handset antennas
integrated with metal components were recently reported
[2]-[10]. It has been observed that when a metal component
such as metal rim is placed close to the antenna periphery, some
undesired coupling effects can occur; which cause degradation
on the impedance matching and bandwidth of the antenna.
Recently, there are significant efforts going on and several
promising solutions have been reported [2]-[4], which can
resolve the effects of metal rim. For example in [2] authors
proposed a dual-loop antenna with unbroken copper metal rim.
This proposed dual-loop antenna is capable of covering seven
operating bands. It is a very simple and efficient design but the
unbroken metal rim is flexible. It is difficult to fix the metal rim
made up of copper around the system ground plane. In [3], it
has presented a slot antenna by adding several grounded
patches between the ground plane and unbroken metal rim. The
two slots are fed by the same feeding strip, which can cover five
WWAN bands. In [4], it has shown a method to reduce the
effects of the metal rim by inserting three gaps and two
grounded patches. This method can alleviate the effects of the
metal rim. Seen from the above discussion, both of them
occupy too much space of the PCB and the width of the narrow
edges of these two antennas is always more than 15 mm, which
are not suitable for narrow-frame antenna designs [5], [6].
Considering these problems we propose a multiband antenna
for todays mobile handsets that can serve more than ten
frequency bands. The proposed multiband antenna is
surrounded by a full metal rim made up of RO4350B substrate
with inter connecting vias. This substrate made metal rim fixed
and maintain a gap between circuit board. The metal rim is fed
by a 50 coaxial cable. The circuit board with ground plane has
an extended patch which connect it to the surrounded full metal
rim. This connection divides the rim into two metal rim strips.
The combination of these two metal rim strips allow the design
to operate on ten operating bands. Next, the perturbation was
performed in the main circuit board system ground plane. This
perturbation adds operating bands and make this design more
efficient to operate on other multiple operating frequencies.
Therefore, multiband performances have been achieved by
using a fixed metal rim and perturbed ground plane on the
circuit board. The proposed antenna has been designed within a
volume of 130 x 70 x 5 mm3 which is comparable to that of
unbroken metal rim antennas reported in the literature. A
prototype of the designed antennas was fabricated and
evaluated for the input reflection coefficient and radiation

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II. ANTENNA DESIGN METHODOLOGY

Fig. 1 depicts geometry of the proposed designed antenna.
As can be seen in Fig. 1(a), it consists of the following two
major parts: a circuit board with ground plane and a fixed full
metal rim surrounded by the circuit board. Side and back views
of the antenna with detailed physical dimensions are shown in
Fig. 1(b) and (c), respectively. The proposed antenna occupies
a volume of 130 x 70 x 5 mm3. As illustrated in Fig. 1(a), a
0.254-mm thick RO4350B substrate of relative permittivity
3.66 and loss tangent 0.0037 is used for the circuit board. The
circuit board of 130 x 70 mm2 is embraced by a full metal rim
whose height is of 5 mm. In order to maintain the physical
stability of the metal rim RO4350B substrate has been utilized
with thickness of 0.254 mm. Conducting vias have been
employed for interconnection of the top and bottom layers of
the metal rim. The distance between the circuit board and the
metal rim is 2 mm similar to [2], [3]. It can be seen that the
system circuit board has four more extensions of 2 mm from
each sides so as to tightly fix the circuit board inside the metal
rim. The 5 x 70 mm2 and 20 x 70 mm2 non-ground portion is set
at the bottom and top edges of the circuit board, respectively.
The antenna is excited by a 50 coaxial feed line. The distance
between the feeding point and the bottom edge of the circuit
board is 25 mm as depicted in Fig. 1(b). The system circuit
board with ground plane has an extended patch which helps to
connect it to the surrounded unbroken metal rim. The distance
between the grounded patch and the bottom edge of the circuit
board is 50 mm as depicted in Fig. 1(c) [2]. A copper sheet of
0.035 mm thickness is used in fabrication of the prototype
antenna. The ground plane size chosen for this antenna is
reasonable for modern multistandard mobile phones.
The full metal strip can be divided into two strip loops i.e.,
KPON and KLMN as shown in Fig. 2. The length of the strip
loop#1 (KPON) is about 260 mm and it generate a /2 at 0.67
GHz. Higher-order mode of strip loop#1 such as , 3/2, 2,
and 5/2 are also excited. The length of the strip loop#2
(KLMN) is about 156 mm (about /2 at 1.13 GHz) which can
provide two high-order resonant modes ( and 3/2 modes).
The two fundamental modes of strip loops generate a wide
bandwidth to cover GSM850/900 band. However, higher order
modes of these strip loops combination provide upper bands
(GPS, DCS, PCS, UMTS, WiBro at 2.35GHz, Bluetooth, ISM,
SDM-B at 2.65GHz, WiMAX at 3.5GHz, and C-band at
4GHz).
III. ANTENNA DESIGN OPTIMIZATION PROCESS
The height of metal rim and two non-ground portions, plays
vital role in the impedance matching of the antenna design. The
optimization of these parameters enhance the performance of
proposed design. The typical thickness of smartphones are in
the range of 6.2-10.7 mm [7]. In this design the height is 5 mm
which can suit smartphones. However, simulated results in Fig.
3(a) of the proposed antenna with different heights are shown.

Different effects on impedance matching and bandwidth can be

observed at the lower and upper bands when the height H is
varied from 5 to 9 mm. Therefore, H = 5mm is the suitable
height for the proposed antenna design.
Top no ground
portion
(70 x 20 mm2)

Extension to support the Metal Rim (1.254 x 2 mm2)

H = 5 mm

Circuit Board
behind the ground
plane with
RO4350B
substrate (r=3.66,
tan=0.00037,
0.254 mm
Thickness).

P
Wt = 20 mm

Gap = 2 mm
134 mm

Ground Patch

Y
RO4350B Substrate
Metal Rim with
Interconnecting Vias

4 mm

N
L1 = 50 mm

50 coaxial
feed line

RO4350B Substrate Metal

Rim with Interconnecting
Vias

K
L2 = 25 mm

Bottom no ground
portion
(70 x 5 mm2) Main system
ground plane
(70 x 115 mm2)

Wb = 5 mm

H = 5 mm

(a)
(b)
(c)
Fig. 1. Proposed antenna configurations (a) Perspective view, (b) back view, (c)
side view.
0

-5

S-Parameter (dB)

performances. The measurement and simulation results have

been presented and discussed in the paper.

-10

-15
Strip loop#1
Strip loop#2
Combination of
Strip loop#1 and
Strip loop#2

-20

-25

-30
0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

Frequency (GHz)

Fig. 2. Simulated S-Parameters of strip#1 (KPON), strip#2 (KLMN) and their

combinations (KLMNOP).

Fig. 3(b) shows the parametric study of top non-ground

portion of the circuit board. Varying the width Wt from 15 to 25
mm of the top no ground portion effects the impedance
matching and bandwidth over the lower band. It is noticed form
the simulated S-Parameter plot that at Wt = 20mm improved
impedance matching and bandwidth is obtained over the lower
band. Similarly, Fig. 3(c) shows the parametric study of bottom
no ground portion of the circuit board. The width W b is varied
from 0 to 10 mm of the bottom no ground portion. It affects the
impedance matching and bandwidth over the lower and upper
bands. It is observed that at Wb = 5mm enhance impedance
matching and desired resonance in lower and upper bands are
obtained.
To make the designed antenna desirable for other operating
bands perturbation on the ground plane has been performed.
Due to this perturbation the antenna with metal rim covers the
middle bands and adds more upper bands. The schematic of the
designed antenna with perturbation and its optimized
parametric study is reported in Fig. 4. It is evident from the
plots that when the ground plane parameter S and R are
optimized to 6mm and 43mm, respectively, the proposed
antenna design is seen to cover 3:1 VSWR in ten operating
bands from 0.75-4.33 GHz. However, nowadays, in practice it
is recommended that the clearance is as small as possible in
order to place a bigger screen. Therefore, to overcome this
problem in proposed design, a super-substrate with a copper
layer can be attached to accommodate a bigger touch screen.

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TABLE I
PERFORMANCE COMPARISON BETWEEN REPORTED DESIGN [2] AND PROPOSED DESIGN
Total
Dimension

Design

Substrate

RIM

(mm3)
Reference
[2]

130 x 70 x 5

FR4
r=4.4,
loss=0.024

Proposed

130 x 70 x 5

RO4350B
r=3.66,
loss=0.0037

Top
no-ground
portion
(mm2)

Top no
-ground side
portion
(mm2)

Bottom
no-ground
portion
(mm2)

Operating
Frequency
Range
(GHz)

Antenna
Gain
(dBi)

Total
Antenna
Efficiency
(%)

70 x 10

70 x 5

0.82-0.96
1.71-2.69

1.0-3.9

60-80

70 x 20

43 x 6

70 x 5

0.64-4.33
(covers
more bands)

0.9-4.9

65-91

Copper
(unstable,
flexible,
fragile)
RO4350B
(stable,
fixed)

0
0

-10

S-Parameter (dB)

S-Parameter (dB)

-5

-10

-15

-20

-30

-20
H = 5 mm (Proposed)
H = 7 mm
H = 9 mm

-25

R = 38 mm
R = 43 mm (Proposed)
R = 48 mm
-40
0.5

-30
0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

4.5

Frequency (GHz)

Frequency (GHz)

(b)
Fig. 4. (a) Schematic of the designed antenna with perturbed ground plane and
simulated S-Parameters for S (b) simulated S-Parameters for R (Other
dimensions are the same as given in Fig. 1).

(a)
0

S-Parameter (dB)

-5

IV. MEASUREMENT RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

-10

-15

-20

Wt = 15 mm
Wt = 20 mm (Proposed)
Wt = 25 mm

-25
0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

Frequency (GHz)

(b)
0

S-Parameter (dB)

-5

-10

-15

Wb = 0 mm
Wb = 5 mm (Proposed)
Wb = 10 mm

-20

-25
0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

Frequency (GHz)

(c)
Fig. 3. Simulated S-Parameters for (a) height, H of the metal rim, (b) top no
ground portion width Wt, (c) bottom no ground portion width Wb.
0

-5

S-Parameters (dB)

-10

-15
Perturbation
in ground
plane

-20

-25

R = 43
mm

S = 6 mm

S = 2 mm
S = 4 mm
S = 6 mm (Proposed)

-30

-35
0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

Frequency (GHz)

(a)

3.5

4.0

4.5

A prototype antenna was fabricated to verify the simulation

results. The prototype has been characterized by measuring
input reflection coefficient and the radiation patterns. The
comparison of the measured and simulated reflection
coefficients for the optimized designed antenna is shown in Fig.
5 along with the prototype of the proposed antenna. Both the
simulated and measured reflection coefficients are in good
agreement. It can be seen from the measured result that the
designed antennas covers 3:1 VSWR bands from 0.64-4.33
GHz. Therefore, the designed multiband antenna operates on
ten standard operating frequencies.
The radiation characteristics of the proposed antenna are also
measured and studied. Fig. 6 plots the simulated and measured
radiation patterns at 0.9 GHz, 2.1 GHz and 3.5 GHz,
respectively. At 0.9 GHz in xy-plane dipole like radiation
patterns is observed, which can provide good coverage for
GSM850/900 operating bands. The other resonant frequencies
at 2.1 and 3.5 GHz are also plotted in Fig. 6. The simulated and
measured antenna gain and radiation efficiencies are shown in
Fig. 7, respectively. The gains are about 0.9-4.9 dBi in the
operating bands. At lower band the gain range varies from 0.9
to 1.5 dBi, and the radiation efficiency is about 65%-91%
which are acceptable for the GSM900 practical applications.
For other bands GPS /DCS /PCS /UMTS /WiBro /Bluethooth
/ISM /S-DMB /C-band the obtained gain is 1.9-4.9 dBi, and the
corresponding radiation efficiency is larger than 65%.
Therefore, the measured radiation characteristics of the
designed multiband antenna within the operating band are
suitable for meeting the requirement for smartphone systems.
Table I shows the performance comparison to the recent
reported work [2]. The proposed antenna covers more operating
bands and has more stable and fixed metal rim, better gain and
efficiency compare to the reported study.

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multiband antenna has been successfully designed, fabricated,

and measured. It has a simple planar structure with a metal rim
of height 5 mm. This design provides a solution for unbroken
metal rim smartphones. The obtained measured results
including S-parameters, radiation patterns, antenna gain and
radiation efficiency are presented, which can meet the
requirements for mobile systems.

3:1 VSWR
-10

S-Parameter (dB)

4.33 GHz
0.64
GHz

-20

-30

1.0

Measured
Simulated

14

-50
0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

Antenna Efficiency (x 100) %

0.8

4.5

Frequency (GHz)

Fig. 5. Measured and simulated S-Parameters for the proposed designed

antenna.
90
10
0
-10
-20
-30
-40

135
180

90

45
135

180

315

225

90

10
0
-10
-20
-30
-40

45

180

315

225

270

10
0
-10
-20
-30
-40

135

45

270

10

0.6

Efficiency
8
Simulated Antenna Efficiency

0.4

Measured Antenna Efficiency

Simulated Antenna Gain

Measured Antenna Gain

Gain

0.2

4
2

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

4.5

Frequency (GHz)

315

225

12

Antenna Gain (dBi)

-40

Fig. 7. Measured and simulated antenna gain and radiation efficiency across the
operating bands for the proposed antenna.

270

XY-plane
90

90
135
180

10
0
-10
-20
-30
-40

180

0
315

225

10
0
-10
-20
-30
-40

135

45

10
0
-10
-20
-30
-40

135

180

315

225

45

270

XZ-plane
90
135
180

10
0
-10
-20
-30
-40

90

90

45

10
0
-10
-20
-30
-40

135

180

315

225

315

225

270

(a)

135

45

270

YZ-plane
(b)

Simulated E
Simulated E

180

10
0
-10
-20
-30
-40

45

0
315

225

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[1]

0
315

225

270

270

REFERENCES

90

45

270

(c)

Measured E
Measured E

Fig. 6. Radiation patterns (co-polar (E) and cross-polar (E)) of the proposed
antenna at different frequencies (a) 0.9 GHz, (b) 2.1 GHz, (c) 3.5 GHz.

V. CONCLUSION
A simple multiband full metal rimmed antenna covering
more than ten wireless communication bands (GSM850/900,
GPS, DCS, PCS, UMTS, WiBro, ISM, Bluetooth, S-DMB,
WiMax, and C-Band) for smartphone applications has been
discussed in this paper. The multiband antenna is based on a
circuit board with perturbed ground plane and a fixed full metal
rim surrounded by the circuit board which gives wide operating
bands of 0.64-4.33 GHz. A prototype of the proposed

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