In recent years, the demand for compact handheld communication devices has grown significantly. Devices having internal antennas have appeared to fill this need. Antenna size is a major factor that limits device miniaturization. In the past few years, new designs based on the microstrip antennas (MSA) and planar inverted-F antennas have been used for handheld wireless devices because these antennas have low-profile geometry and can be embedded into the devices.

New wireless applications requiring operation in more than one frequency band are emerging. Dual-band and tri-band phones have gained popularity because of the multiple frequency bands used for wireless applications. One prominent application is to include bluetooth, operating band at 2.4 GHz, for short-range wireless use.

This thesis examines two antennas that are potential candidates for small and low-profile structures: microstrip antennas and planar inverted-F antennas. Two techniques for widening the antenna impedance bandwidth are examined by adding parasitic elements. Reducing antenna size generally degrades antenna performance. It is therefore important to also examine the fundamental limits and parameter tradeoffs involved in size reduction. In the handheld environment, antennas are mounted on a small ground plane. Ground plane size effects on antennas are investigated and the results from a thorough numerical study on the performance of a PIFA with various ground planes sizes and shapes is reported. Finally, a new wideband compact PIFA antenna (WC-PIFA) is proposed. Preliminary work is presented along with numerical and experimental results for various environments such as free space, plastic casing, and the proximity of a hand. This new antenna covers frequencies from 1700 MHz to 2500 MHz, which basically include the following operating bands: DCS-1800m PCS-1900, IMT-2000, ISM, and Bluetooth.