Modern aircraft include a number of different communications systems. These systems may include, for example, public cabin Wi-Fi connectivity systems, crew information systems, wireless passenger service units, wireless passenger control units, wireless emergency lighting systems, commercial mobile radio services, and the like. Some wireless systems may operate using a single frequency. However, other wireless communication systems may operate over multiple frequencies. To support operations over multiple frequencies and perhaps also to support multiple different systems, aircraft and numerous other vehicles or devices with robust communication capabilities may employ a corresponding number of radios. As such, some of the above mentioned devices may essentially be multiradio platforms. To support the multiple radios, corresponding multiple antennas may be employed in some cases. In other cases, multiband or wideband antennas may be employed, while in still other cases, frequency reconfigurable antennas may be employed to support the above mentioned multiradio platforms.
Other multiradio platforms include smart phones, laptop computers, mobile Internet devices, and the like. Many of these smaller devices have limited space and parameters such as cost, space and weight considerations may be influential design factors. Even in larger scale devices such as aircraft, cost, weight and complexity savings may be appreciable on a single aircraft, and as aggregated over a fleet of aircraft. Therefore, it may be undesirable to employ a plurality of individual antennas, or bulky and complicated multiband or frequency reconfigurable antennas.
Accordingly, it may be desirable to provide an antenna that may overcome some of the disadvantages described above.