The innovative radio wave solutions provider Antenova has just unveiled its Pentanova antenna for cellular handsets, smartphones and PDA applications. The Pentanova covers the GSM 850, GSM 900, DCS 1800, PCS 1900 and WCDMA 2100MHz bands and is suitable for global (CDMA/TDMA 800 and 1900MHz) handsets, smartphones and PDA applications. With a volume of about 4cm3, this antenna is the smallest internal five-band antenna in the world.

It offers over 50% average terminal radiation efficiency over all five bands and can be customised to suit individual customer requirements.

The Pentanova has superb detuning characteristics thanks to the properties of Antenova’s HDA high dielectric antenna technology, and because of this, components can be placed close to the antenna and will have less interference than conventional technology.

With the roll-out of 3G networks, handsets that can handle 2G, 2.5G and 3G integrated technology are in large demand.

Also, with handsets decreasing in size and the functionality increasing, there is real pressure on handset designers to fit more components into an ever reducing space.

The Pentanova can fit into all sizes of mobile phones, offering the ability to just use one component for all models (including dual-band, triband and quadband models), and thus saving costs on tooling and development.

‘The Pentanova is a world-class antenna which is already having an impact on the marketplace’.

‘We see an increasing demand for small, discrete internal antennas that can give high performance with worldwide coverage - the Pentanova does all of these things and more’, says Greg McCray, CEO of Antenova.

The ECM63T is a novel transponder coil for the North American automotive market for use in direct tyre pressure management system (TPMS) applications. In the wake of the Firestone Tyres/Ford Explorer incidents of 2000, the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) set a deadline now effectively requiring all lightweight cars and trucks to have a direct TPMS by 2008. The ECM63T is part of an extended range designed to work in conjunction with the new generation of RFID applications, and offers an ideal solution for automotive safety and security systems.

The revolutionary transponder coil has been specifically designed to perform in high shock and vibration environments, such as a vehicle’s tyre.

The antenna on the single axis ECM63T chip inductor is the smallest currently available.

Its length is cross-sectional and optimised to achieve maximum sensitivity for its minimal size of a mere 6.3 x 3.2mm.

Developed for low frequency 125kHz operations, the coil has values that range from 290uH to 2.89mH at a tight 2% tolerance to meet a variety of inductance requirements.

Each inductor contains a ferrite core and is encased within a rugged liquid crystal polymer resin body.

Additionally, it is able to serve as a very effective antenna that can be used in other automotive RFID applications such as keyfobs.

Product Manager Dan Weaver states: “The ECM63T antenna will provide a more accurate reading, thus ensuring the utmost in automotive safety for drivers and their passengers”.

Basingstoke-based Link Microtek, manufacturer and supplier of microwave and RF components, has moved its waveguide manufacturing facility to larger premises close to the company’s headquarters in Wade Road. The move has significantly expanded production capacity for Link’s comprehensive range of waveguide hardware and associated products, which include adapters, filters, calibration kits, couplers, terminations, horn antennas, rotary joints, swivel joints and TEM cells. Floor space has been doubled to 2000ft2, and this has facilitated the handling of the larger items among these specialist products.

The company has also invested in new equipment, including machinery for the manufacture of elements for high-power waveguide loads.

Commenting on the move, Link Microtek’s managing director, Steve Cranstone, said: ‘The larger production facility is additional to our 3500ft2 main office area and will be a great benefit as we continue to expand our waveguide manufacturing activities.

As well as enabling us to invest in new precision machinery and additional processes, the new premises will allow us to increase production throughput and to take on larger projects.’ Link’s waveguide products are available in rectangular or double-ridge waveguide in a variety of materials, including the brass-and-copper combination and aluminium for use where weight is a key consideration.

In addition to the range of standard products, Link also has the in-house engineering facilities needed to undertake custom designs.

All products are manufactured to the highest standards under the company’s BS EN ISO 9001:2000 quality management system, which ensures that customers enjoy consistent levels of quality and service.

The innovative radio wave solutions firm Antenova has signed a licensing deal with Galtronics, a global market leader in antenna design and manufacturing. Under the terms of this licensing deal, Galtronics will have the rights to use one of Antenova’s High Dielectric Antenna (HDA) designs exclusively for its customers in cellular handsets and cellular PC card devices. The deal reinforces Galtronics’ continuous commitment to supporting its customers with the latest technology and is expected to realise further gains to the company’s growing market share.

“We are extremely excited about this deal which will accelerate the market penetration of Antenova’s innovative technology”.

“The revenues generated from this deal will help speed up the development of our next generation technology, an integrated RF antenna module, which we expect to be a major player in the wireless market”, says Greg McCray, Antenova’s CEO.

“We are delighted to take this partnership to the next level with this licensing deal”.

“We have already seen this technology provide our customers with industry leading performance in multimode environments”.

“It is a valuable addition to our embedded product offering and a strong testimony to our commitment of bringing the best technologies to our market”, says Kenneth Crowell, President/CEO of Galtronics.

Antenova’s High Dielectric Antenna (HDA) designs are a family of advanced internal antennas, providing the benefits of small size, good isolation, high efficiency, and a multiband platform approach.

In addition to these benefits, this technology has superior resistance to detuning, meaning that other components can be placed close to the antenna and will have minimal interference.

This is a huge advantage for the real-estate issues facing designers today, as devices get smaller and the requirement for extra components increases.

New from Pulse, the W1000-series of antennas is designed for use by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of wireless devices. The antennas are compatible with IEEE802.11a/b/g/n, Bluetooth and ZigBee applications, as well as devices that use industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) frequency bands. The antennas are omnidirectional, providing broad 360-degree coverage to improve point-to-multipoint transmission and reception between devices on wireless local area networks (WLANs).

This series contains six models characterised by their frequency and gain.

These antennas operate from 2.4 to 2.5GHz and 5.15 to 5.85GHz nominal frequency and have an impedance of 50ohm.

Four of the models offer decibel gain (dBi gain) at approximately 2.0dBi.

Two models provide a ‘high gain’ performance of over 3.0dBi.

All models are dipole with a fundamental resonance of a quarter wavelength and vertical polarisation.

Pulse antennas are RoHS (Restriction on Hazardous Substances) compliant.

The antennas come in a range of form factors, connectors and colour options so the configuration can be selected to match the device.

All models have articulated swivel-mounts with integrated subminiature version A (SMA) connectors.

The articulated swivel-mount allows the antenna to be easily adjusted and the range of motion is between right angle or vertical (90 to 180 degrees).

The industry standard SMA connector integrated into the swivel-mount is FCC Part 15 compliant.

‘Wireless networks often have physical barriers that inhibit communication between wireless devices’.

‘These barriers cause blind spots, intermittent signal quality, and interference’.

‘Selecting the correct external antenna can improve range and reliability of wireless networks’, said Elaine Baxter, European Marketing Manager for Pulse, Telecom Division.

‘Pulse’s new line of wireless antennas offers flexible and economical solutions for wireless devices, and broadens Pulse’s offering to OEMs in the rapidly growing wireless market’.

‘Because Pulse is a worldwide electronics leader, these antennas can be produced and delivered quickly to our customers’.

Lead-time is six to eight weeks.

Each antenna is bagged individually for volume shipping.

Fractus has launched an ultrawideband (UWB) antenna for the short-range wireless market. Measuring just 10 x 10 x 0.8mm, this small UWB antenna combines an omnidirectional radiation pattern and high efficiency level to deliver the largest bandwidth possible. The new Fractus UWB Media+ chip antenna meets the requirements of reference designers, OEMs and ODMs using the 3.1-5GHz spectrum as specified by the WiMedia Alliance, which includes members Intel, Texas Instruments, Microsoft, Philips Electronics, Nokia, Staccato Communications and others for UWB development.

Its miniature size provides flexibility to device designers and easily integrates into space-limited PCBs in digital cameras, home-cinema equipment, PC peripherals, PDAs, mobile phones and CompactFlash cards.

‘UWB and the extensive range of devices that are about to become wirelessly enabled represents a huge opportunity for device manufacturers’, said Tim Hillison, Fractus’ Short-Range Wireless Division Director.

‘Manufacturers who choose Fractus’ fractal technology gain a clear competitive advantage in terms of cost, performance and device size’.

The Fractus UWB Media+ chip antenna has been tested by fabless semiconductor company Staccato Communications as part of its Team Staccato Partner Programme.

The Fractus UWB Media+ chip antenna is as an option for Staccato customers using the company’s single chip all-CMOS UWB solutions.

‘Fractus has developed an innovative, low-cost and small-footprint ultrawideband antenna that will help ensure that total bill of material costs remain low to fuel mass market adoption of certified wireless USB products’, said Jarvis Tou, Vice President of Product Marketing for Staccato Communications.

‘We look forward to continuing working closely with Fractus as an active member of our Team Staccato Partner Programme’.

The Fractus UWB Media+ chip antenna is available in 73 countries through Richardson Electronics.

Alps Electric has developed the HMLSR Series of Liqualloy magnetic sheets for radio frequency identification (RFID) applications. The new magnetic sheets use Alps’ Liqualloy metallic glass powder to boost the sensitivity of RFID antennas. RFID has recently been gaining attention as a technology that stores data on a minute wireless tag to identify people or manage goods.

In the distribution industry, for example, use of RFID to identify and manage products has begun as a technology to replace bar codes, which currently remain the primary technology for product identification and management.

In recent years, noncontact power transmission technology has led to the appearance of wireless tags, which can be used semi-permanently without a battery, and with a variety of applications including prepaid cards.

RFID technology is drawing an increasing amount of attention as a leading force to drive the permeation of information technology throughout society.

Alps developed this product as one that enhances electromagnetic compatibility (EMC), eliminating the problem of interference with waves that should reach the wireless tag from radio or electromagnetic waves generated by nearby parts and devices.

The sheet employs Alps’ proprietary Liqualloy, a metallic glass powder consisting primarily of iron.

The amorphous structure of Liqualloy allows a high degree of freedom in the shaping process, and it displays soft magnetic properties that can be readily activated by exposure to magnetic fields.

In addition, its high permeability is 1.3 times greater than that of Fe-Al-Si alloys, the leading magnetic material, giving it superior capacity to absorb radio and electromagnetic waves.

The new sheets make full use of the freedom in shaping and the highly permeable characteristics of Liqualloy.

In RFID technology, it is not unusual to install parts and devices on the back of wireless tag antennas that send and receive data from the tag between devices.

Under some conditions, this causes interference with waves that should reach the antenna.

The new sheets effectively focus waves to the antenna, increasing RFID antenna sensitivity.

The new AS-SMA series of step attenuators from Link Microtek has been designed to provide exceptional performance at pricing to suit the budgets of the commercial wireless communications sector. Manufactured by Narda Microwave, the attenuators operate over the frequency range DC to 2.5GHz and are ideal for use in both infrastructure applications and test equipment. The AS-SMA series consists of four models, offering attenuation ranges of 0-1dB in 0.1dB steps, 0-10dB in 1dB steps, 0-50dB in 1dB steps and 0-70dB in 10dB steps.

Typical average power-handling capability is 1W, and the devices have VSWRs between 1.2:1 and 1.5:1, depending on frequency.

All models are equipped with stainless-steel SMA connectors, providing outstanding reliability and an expected life of over 1 million steps.

Available from stock with no minimum order quantities, these low-cost step attenuators measure 38.1mm in diameter (excluding connectors) and have overall lengths ranging from 69.9 to 136.5mm.

Waveguide manufacturer Link Microtek has expanded its range of rotary waveguide joints with the addition of a series of L-style models that are particularly suitable for outdoor applications such as satcom or military-radar systems. As well as offering IP65 environmental protection, the new AM-RJL series rotary joints feature a rugged, lightweight aluminium construction, finished in Alochrom satin black epoxy paint. Covering the frequency range 5.8 to 15.0GHz, the L-style joints are available in five different waveguide sizes from WR137 to WR62 and can be specified with or without mounting flanges.

The AM-RJL series is precision engineered for high performance, achieving a typical insertion loss of better than 0.2dB, a typical VSWR of 1.1:1 and an average power rating in excess of 200W.

These rotary joints incorporate quarter-wavelength non-contacting chokes, and hence the lifetime is solely governed by that of the bearings (typically in excess of 50 million revolutions) and is not dependent on any RF interfaces.

In addition to the standard range of L-style rotary joints, Link Microtek can also produce custom designs to meet specific requirements.

All waveguide products are manufactured to the highest standards under the company’s BS EN ISO9001:2000 quality management system.

Sarantel, manufacturer of revolutionary filtering antennas for mobile and wireless devices, has announced that Johnson Outdoors of Racine, Wisconsin, USA, has selected the GeoHelix-SMP GPS antenna for the newest addition to the Humminbird line of combination GPS ‘fish finders’. Humminbird, the leading brand in fish finders, depth sounders, marine radios, and GPS systems, will benefit from the GeoHelix antenna’s size and omni-directionality, offering exceptional performance to anglers. For over 30 years, Humminbird products have enhanced fishermen’s experience on the water, enabling them to find and remember favourite spots.

The newest addition to Humminbird 300 Series adds additional flexibility and improved performance, using a combination of SONAR and GPS to accurately map depth and bottom contours, then mark the position so the angler can return to productive locations.

‘We were looking for an antenna technology that would allow the user to randomly orient the fish finder on the boat without compromising the GPS signal reception’, said Dave Nelsen, Humminbird’s Director of Engineering.

‘Anglers don’t want to have to worry about whether the fish finder is pointing the right way to get good location information’.

‘They just want to know where the fishing spot is’.

‘The Sarantel antenna’s omni-directionality took care of that for us’.

‘The 300 Series can be rotated or tilted however the user wants and still give great performance’.

‘The antenna’s size also gave us more freedom in the design’.

The GeoHelix GPS antenna uses a quadrifilar helix structure, which gives it a very broad beamwidth.

This means that it is able to receive signals from GPS satellites that are very low on the horizon, or able to maintain signal integrity when the antenna is rotated from vertical.

This is very important for devices that don’t have a fixed orientation with respect to the ground - or water.

Furthermore, the GeoHelix GPS antenna is built on advanced microwave ceramic materials that shrink the antenna to about the size of a thimble, making it much easier to embed in a product.

‘This is another great use of GPS technology’, said David Wither, Sarantel’s CEO.

‘And we are delighted to have been selected by Humminbird’.

‘Humminbird’s decision to use our antenna in their fish finding device yet again demonstrates the wide range of commercial opportunities available to our unique antenna’.

‘We look forward to exploiting more of these market opportunities as we execute the long term strategy for the company’.