06 May 2007

Fractus’ Micro Reach XtendTM 2.4GHz antenna sets new standard for antenna miniaturisation

Antenna the size of a grain of rice leaves more space for multimedia applications in mobile devices

Barcelona, 6 March 2007 – Fractus, the pioneer developer of fractal antenna technology, has set a new standard for antenna miniaturisation with the launch of its smallest antenna for the ISM 2.4GHz band. The 3,7mm by 2mm Micro Reach Xtend antenna is the size of a single grain of rice, providing device designers with significantly more available space to enable new multimedia applications or reducing the space needed within devices.

The miniature antenna was designed using Fractus’ patented fractal antenna technologies and developed especially for Bluetooth headsets and mobile handsets. It supports all standards working at the 2.4GHz ISM band, including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Zigbee. Using fractal geometry with its extremely economical use of space, Fractus has created a solution that offers the maximum performance-to-space ratio as well as reduced costs.

“Handset manufacturers are faced with the contradictory demands of consumers who want more and more applications in even smaller handsets. This is becoming an increasingly important challenge as new multimedia applications are introduced in the market,” said Albert Algans, Manager, Technical Sales & Client Support at Fractus. “The new Micro Reach Xtend antenna will enable manufacturers to incorporate more new multimedia applications into devices as well as allowing them to wireless-enable a wider range of consumer electronic devices.”

The Micro Reach Xtend antenna requires a minimal area on the PCB, therefore freeing up space to incorporate new multimedia applications. This gives device designers and manufacturers more freedom to include compelling new features and services into smaller and more attractive devices being demanded in the consumer electronics market.

Fractus can provide complete development support, testing and approval services to ensure that the antenna is as effective as possible within a device, enabling product designers to concentrate on developing the device capabilities without employing in- house RF expertise.