Antenova Launches New Antenna Design

Antenova has revealed an innovative new type of antenna. The new technology results from over three years of R&D that has transformed the effect of High Dielectric Antennas (HDAs) from scientific curiosity into completely characterized technology - backed by a design methodology and computer-aided tools. HDAs not only improve the size and performance of antennas - they enable completely new product design possibilities. These include the first practical approach to incorporating 'antenna diversity' into products. Directionality is another possibility, which may be used to foster coexistence of multiple protocols on equipment, to add spatial multiplexing of bandwidth to increase the capacity of wireless networks.

For handset and terminal developers, HDA technology offers much smaller size, much higher efficiency, immunity to detuning, and directionality. These parameters can be employed to deliver many new degrees of performance. Multiple antennas to be integrated inside the product to support diversity processing for example; this would be extremely difficult to achieve with conventional antennas because they would need to be at least a half-wavelength apart to avoid coupling (around 7 cm at 3G frequencies). Antennas can be made to transmit in certain directions only - reducing power consumption. And they have almost no 'near field', further reducing local radiation and avoiding the detuning effects which can deteriorate performance in the field, and/or necessitate design changes during development.

Alongside the practical know-how on HDA technology, Antenova has constructed a tool suite including its own simulator, which allows antennas to be created to suit the specific needs of product developers. The company's own anechoic chambers and other test facilities then allow working samples to be provided rapidly to end users for product prototyping and test. The design can be provided for clients to manufacture themselves, or produced by Antenova in conjunction with its volume-manufacturing partners. Antenova was formed in 1999, and has designed two products: a pico base station antenna for ip.access and a location monitoring unit antenna for Cambridge Positioning Systems. "

Posted to the site on 11th December 2002