Novel antenna reduces size and cost for Bluetooth, Wi-Fi devices

23 October 2002 Telecoms, Datacoms, Wireless, IoT

E-tenna is a North American developer of unique radio frequency (RF) technologies for commercial wireless applications. The company recently unveiled an ultra-small, low-cost, low-profile antenna for 802.11b wireless local area network (WLAN) and Bluetooth personal area networking (PAN) applications.

Available for integration within 2,4 GHz wireless devices, the ClearLink 2400 technology will allow Bluetooth and Wi-Fi module manufacturers to design one antenna that works in any device. Unlike conventional antennas, ClearLink is said to be easily integrateable into consumer electronics devices because of its unique ability to control RF signals, including the way a signal propagates across the antenna's surface. With conventional antennas, performance varies greatly with size and electromagnetic properties of the antenna's installation site, as well as interaction with other nearby components within the device, such as the battery.

These critical factors typically demand the development of custom antennas for varying WLAN and PAN devices, based on the size, shape and internal components of each manufacturer's product. This drives up costs - a key factor holding back the widespread availability of Bluetooth-enabled devices - and lengthens design cycles because engineers cannot develop the antenna until the position of surrounding internal components has been determined.

In contrast, ClearLink antennas capitalise on the properties of E-tenna's patented RF Mirror artificial magnetic conductor (AMC) technology to better control RF energy and isolate antennas from nearby influences that could degrade performance. With this technology, e-tenna claims ClearLink 2400 operates efficiently when mounted on a circuit board and remains largely unaffected by other components on the board.

Because of these characteristics, the antenna can be easily integrated into a complete wireless networking module to create a single-chip solution, which is particularly attractive for applications that involve small devices. The 2,4 GHz ClearLink antenna is around 9 x 13 x 2,4 mm, and it weighs less than 0,25 grams.

See www.etenna.com

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