In this paper, a dual band balanced-antenna for mobile handset applications, covering the 2.4 GHz and the entire 5 GHz WLAN frequency bands, is investigated and discussed. The antenna is a thin-strip planar dipole with folded structure and a dual-arm on each monopole. The performance of the proposed antenna was analysed and optimised against the two targeted frequency bands. For validation, the antenna prototype was fabricated and tested. The performance of this balanced antenna was verified and characterised in terms of the antenna return loss, radiation pattern, power gain and surface current distribution of the proposed antenna. The predicted and measured results show fairly good agreement and the results also confirm good impedance bandwidth characteristics with excellent dual-band operation.
