Molex has released a standard antenna for applications using the 2.4GHz ISM (industrial, scientific and medical) band and Wifi.
The band antenna is the first release in a series of Molex standard antennas designed for the industrial, consumer, medical and automotive markets.
“Markets are trending towards wireless applications,” said Mads Sager, technology manager at Molex. “On the industrial side, global smart grid deployments are leading in M2M wireless communications. In consumer markets, wireless internet television and audio dominate.
“For these applications many wireless devices are better served with a standard antenna rather than a customised one. Molex standard 2.4GHz ISM antennas deliver superior performance for less cost and risk, and shortened lead times bringing wireless products to market.”
The antenna is based on the firm’s LDS laser direct structuring technology. Using a 3D laser system, LDS technology allows the transfer of the antenna from cad data directly onto a moulded antenna carrier or even directly onto the device structure.
“LDS antennas surpass the physical limits of conventional antennas and allow customers to achieve a higher level of product integration with fewer components at a value-oriented price point,” said Sager. “Molex is the LDS antenna market leader with over 150 million shipped to date.”
The antenna is fully compatible with surface mount device and reflow processes for integration with customer processes. The overall size of 3.0mm wide by 3.0mm long by 4.0mm high makes this one of the smallest on-ground antennas in its class.
The antenna is suitable for smart meters and other smart grid enabled appliances, consumer Wifi electronics and other applications running Bluetooth, Zigbee (IEEE 802.15.4) and wlan (IEEE 802.11b/g/n).