Abstract: A user terminal comprising: i) a housing; ii) a main radio frequency (RF) antenna disposed within an interior of the housing; and iii) a boost antenna mounted on an exterior of the housing and in close proximity to the main RF antenna. The first antenna segment of the boost antenna is configured to be magnetically coupled to the main RF antenna and a second antenna segment of the boost antenna is configured to be magnetically coupled to an antenna of a wireless device disposed close to the housing. The first antenna segment magnetically couples to RF signals transmitted to and received from the main RF antenna in a first direction. The second antenna segment magnetically couples to RF signals transmitted to and received from the RF antenna of the wireless device in a second direction. The first direction and the second direction are substantially orthogonal to each other.

Abstract: One embodiment of the invention includes an antenna structure for a passive radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag. The antenna structure comprises a first planar antenna element and a second planar antenna element that is coplanar with the first planar antenna element. The first and second planar antenna elements can be configured to receive circularly-polarized RF interrogation signals and to generate circularly-polarized RF signals having an axial ratio (AR) of less than 5 dB for transmission.