Rollable and/or foldable antenna systems and methods for use thereof

1. An antenna system comprising:

a ground plane;

a flexible substrate;

a first antenna element disposed upon the flexible substrate and proximal to the ground plane, the flexible substrate configured so as to be at least partially rolled; and

a Radio Frequency (RF) module in communication with the first antenna element and transmitting and receiving radio waves through the first antenna element;

wherein the first antenna element is arranged in a shape that minimizes overlap with itself when at least partially rolled, and wherein the first antenna element is configured to operate within a first frequency band when in an unrolled configuration and also configured to operate within the first frequency band when in a rolled configuration.

2. The antenna system of claim 1 further comprising:

a second antenna element in communication with the RF module, the RF module including circuitry that selects between the first and second antenna elements.

3. The antenna system of claim 1 further comprising means for rolling and unrolling the flexible substrate and the first antenna element, the rolling and unrolling means selected from the list consisting of:

a roller mechanism; and

a hinge.

4. The antenna system of claim 1 comprising:

a walkie talkie;

a rollable screen device;

a wrist phone; and

an RF Identification (RFID) tag.

5. The antenna system of claim 1 wherein the first antenna element comprises a monopole-type antenna element.

6. The antenna system of claim 1 wherein the flexible substrate is selected from the list consisting of:

flexible Printed Circuit Board (PCB); and

plastic.

7. A method for operating an antenna, the antenna including an antenna element disposed upon a flexible substrate and a ground plane proximate the antenna element, the method comprising:

transmitting and receiving radio signals in a communication band when the flexible substrate is at least partially rolled, the communication band corresponding to a resonant frequency band of the antenna element in an unrolled configuration; and

transmitting and receiving radio signals in the communication band when the flexible substrate is unrolled.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the communication band is selected from the list consisting of:

a Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) frequency band;

an IEEE 802.11 frequency band.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein the communication band is a discrete, single-use band.

10. The method of claim 7 wherein the antenna element is arranged in a path away from the ground plane at a portion proximal to a feed element and toward the ground plane at a portion distal to the feed element.

11. A method for operating an antenna, the antenna including a first antenna element and a second antenna element disposed upon a flexible substrate, the method comprising:

selecting the first antenna element based on an amount of rolling of the flexible substrate; and

transmitting and receiving radio signals using the selected first antenna element.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

adjusting the amount of rolling of the flexible substrate; and

selecting the second antenna element based on the adjusted amount of rolling of the flexible substrate.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein selecting the first antenna element comprises:

discerning the amount of rolling of the flexible substrate;

based upon the amount of rolling, activating a switch to communicatively couple the first antenna element to a port of a Radio Frequency (RF) device that facilitates the transmitting and receiving of the radio signals.