isolated mode antenna technology
"Antennas remain the 'Rodney Dangerfields' of wireless devices—they get too little respect for the critical role they play in 3G-4G devices. Apple and other device suppliers should avail themselves of best-of-breed antenna designs from Skycross and other suitable vendors. The mainstream mobile/ICT market has become increasingly driven by broadband applications that demand continuous and higher data throughputs. The market-driving WebPhone device that largely determines operator and supplier success has a window of opportunity that has shortened to 12-18 months. With so much riding on these devices working as close to 'first time, every time' as possible, suppliers should place antenna design as a very high priority on the checklist."
- Robert Syputa, Partner, Senior Strategic Analyst, Maravedis
www.maravedis.com
"Realizing the real need for high speed in the mobile device is vitally important to fully exploit the massive investment in super fast broadband networks, such as HSDPA+ and LTE. This clever deployment of MIMO antenna technology shows how to match device speed with network speed."
- GSMA 2010 Global Mobile Awards Judges
“SkyCross developed a solution that many thought was impossible—a single antenna that offers the performance benefits of multiple antennas without creating interference issues. The continued innovation at SkyCross is impressive.”
- Sue Marek, Editor-in-Chief, FierceWireless
This is very cool, and I think SkyCross has a winner on their hands here.
- Crag J. Mathias, Principal, Farpoint Group
Jan. 30, 2008 edition of NetworkWorld
The Challenge
Many next-generation protocols including HSxPA, LTE, and WiMAX require multiple antennas for
multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO). The advantage to using multiple antennas in a radio-frequency (RF) system is to achieve higher link gain leading to faster data rates, increased network capacity, and better reliability.
Historically, it has been challenging to arrange multiple antennas so they don’t interfere with each other,
particularly for small mobile devices such as smartphones, USB modems, netbooks, and others. An obvious solution for keeping the antennas isolated is to move them farther apart, but this is not practical for small mobile devices. The design is either no longer sleek or the antennas don’t fit at all. Further, if MIMO antennas paths are not sufficiently isolated from each other, the benefits of the multi-path environment for are lost, performance suffers, and end-users are disappointed.
The Solution
What is iMAT?
iMAT is a patented antenna design technique that enable a single antenna structure in small wireless devices to behave like multiple antennas through the use of multiple feeds for MIMO
operation. Each feed accesses the antenna as if it consisted of multiple antennas, each with high isolation, low correlation, and high per-feed antenna efficiency. The resulting improvement in antenna gain and receiver sensitivity significantly enhances device performance and network capacity.
Key Benefits
The antenna is the only structure in a mobile device that communicates with the network. This one fact makes the antenna pivotal to how the
the network and the device, are perceived by end-users.
For the network operator, a high performance device antenna is a very cost effective way to optimize network performance without additional infrastructure investment. iMAT antennas offer improved signal coverage with up to 2.5 times faster data rates, particularly in fringe areas, when compared to a conventional two-antenna approach. Plus, a large number of efficient devices on the network increase the capacity and bandwidth of the network as a whole.
For the device manufacturers, iMAT can reduce the number of antennas required by a factor of three. This saves integration time, bill-of-materials cost, and space (up to 50%) to enable added features or smaller devices. iMAT is a ready-made diversity or MIMO antenna system with performance optimization built in to a very small footprint. The need to configure multiple antennas is eliminated.
A single antenna solution means fewer parts on the BOM. Surface mount technology and common materials translate to cost effective manufacturing.
For the end-user, iMAT enables the next-generation network
to live up to their expectations. Highly efficient iMAT antennas
deliver a better signal for end users, even when the nearest tower or base unit is far away. This reduces dropped wireless connections and supports fast data transfer for high definition video or music, and more. In addition, efficient devices have longer battery life.
| 
