2.4GHz antenna offers 70° efficiency

Antenova Ltd is releasing a new, compact and very efficient antenna for the Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and ZigBee frequencies at 2.4 – 2.5 GHz.  

The Invicta antenna averages efficiency of 70% across the 2.4 GHz band. Consequently, designs using this antenna will operate better, over longer distances and through walls and obstacles, thus extending the coverage and performance of wireless devices using Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and ZigBee.   

Invicta is a Flexible Printed Circuit (FPC) antenna, which is easy to place in a design. It connects directly to the PCB via a cable and IPX MHF (UFL) connector. The antenna comes with 100mm cable as standard and other cable lengths and connector options are available on request.

An FPC antenna is different to an SMD antenna in that it operates independent to a ground plane length and no antenna matching is required, so the design cycle for Invicta is simpler and shorter. 

The FPC antenna also makes for easier manufacturing, as a simple self-adhesive strip fixed the antenna in place, and can be curved and inserted into the case of a design. This style of antenna is ideally suited to small to medium-volume manufacturing.

Antenova has designed the Invicta antenna primarily for smart battery-powered devices for the home and office, where one single device provides global coverage. Typical applications in the home would be smart meters, home automation, wireless sensor networks, smoke and intruder alarms. It would also be used for remote monitoring in industrial and medical environments. 

Commenting, Antenova’s Product Marketing Manager Michael Castle says: “The efficiency of an antenna is related to its size, with larger antennas usually providing better performance. The Invicta antenna will be a winner because it performs better than PCB trace antennas and provides exceptional performance and range in return for the relatively small space in a design.”