Compact radio frequency (rf) communication modules with endfire and broadside antennas

A method of fabricating an RF communication module, comprising:

• disposing a first plurality of antennas on a first side of a circuit board;
• disposing a second plurality of antennas on a second side of the circuit board;
• disposing antenna control circuitry in the first side of the circuit board;
• and
• disposing an Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) shield over the antenna control circuitry;
• wherein the first plurality of antennas and the second plurality of antennas have a bandwidth of approximately 40 percent and comprise broadside and end-fire antennas.

A hand-held mobile electronic device, comprising:

• a main circuit board comprising a main controller of the hand-held mobile electronic device;
• and
• an RF communication module comprising:
• a module circuit board;
• a plurality of antennas disposed on a top side and bottom side of the module circuit board, wherein the plurality of antennas comprise a first subset of antennas comprising end-fire antennas and a second subset of antennas comprising broadside antennas;
• antenna control circuitry coupled to the module circuit board;
• an epoxy overmold covering the antenna control circuitry;
• a conformal shield sprayed or sputtered over a surface of the epoxy overmold to provide an Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) shield over the antenna control circuitry;
• and
• one or more connectors coupled to the top side or bottom side of the module circuit board and configured to communicatively couple the antenna control circuitry to the main controller.