Wideband compact planar inverted-F antenna

An improved low profile antenna of the PIPAPIFA style is formed from a single piece of useful conductive material and includes a first plate spaced apart from an elongated ground plate. The first and ground plates are interconnected by a shorting plate having a width less than that of either the first or ground plate. A feed plate is interposed between the two plates and is either completely covered by the first plate or slightly exposed. Such antennas have extremely large bandwidth of up to about 50%.