Improvements in Embedded Antennas for Broadcast Reception in Handheld Devices Unveiled

The reports released today present the results of separate antenna development efforts conducted by Ethertronics, an antenna systems company based in San Diego, CA, and The Technology Partnership (TTP), a technology development company based in the UK. Each company has developed new antenna solutions to operate over low- and high-VHF and UHF TV band frequencies as well as the VHF frequencies which comprise the FM radio band. This broad frequency range requirement, combined with the small size and power constraints of cell phones, presented a significant challenge for design and implementation of small antenna systems.

New, embedded antenna designs, such as those developed under these FASTROAD projects, offer a much more attractive antenna solution to handheld device manufacturers than the headset cords or fragile, telescoping monopoles currently in use. NAB and the antenna development partners encourage the use of these new designs by cellular handset and other portable device manufacturers for new radio and ATSC mobile DTV receiver products.