Antenna Assembly

An antenna assembly for disposition in a vehicle component having a housing made at least partially of non-metallic material and having at least one surface made of metallic material, said antenna assembly comprising:

• a high gain film-type antenna element having an input for receiving a wireless signal, an output, and a ground portion;
• a low noise amplifier (LNA);
• and
• a feeding structure having a coaxial cable, said coaxial cable establishing electrical communication between said output of the film-type antenna element and said LNA.

A method of coupling an antenna to a vehicle, comprising the steps of:

• preparing a vehicle component having a housing made of a non-metallic material and having a surface made of a metallic material;
• placing a high gain film-type antenna element having an input for receiving a wireless signal, an output and a ground portion on the non-metallic housing of the vehicle component;
• placing a low noise amplifier (LNA) in the vehicle component;
• coupling a coaxial cable to the output of the film-type antenna element and to the LNA to establish electrical communication between the film-type antenna element and the LNA;
• and
• coupling a ground wire to the ground portion of the film type antenna to the metallic surface of the vehicle to ground the film-type antenna element.