| abstract |
A miniature patch antenna element useful for wireless applications such as portable radio devices, and methods for using and manufacturing the same. In one embodiment, a plurality of discrete ceramic elements creates a spatially loaded miniature patch antenna. Ceramic material is placed only at locations where it achieves the desired effect on reducing the physical length of a half-wave radiator. In one variant, these locations comprise the edges of the half-wave radiator (e.g., metallic plate). This configuration advantageously has lower weight, smaller size and reduced cost that result from using less ceramic material in the construction of the antenna. Moreover, RF performance of the antenna is improved as compared to a fully ceramic construction, as electric field losses in the spatially loaded antenna structure are reduced as well. |