TechBlog

Antennas serve as transducers between electromagnetic waves traveling in free space and guided electromagnetic signals in circuits. As such, they play a critical role in the performance of wireless communication systems. With the proliferation of mobile wireless services that deliver voice and/or data in smaller and smaller devices, the task to design an antenna for a portable unit that meets not only operational requirements but also aesthetic and packaging restrictions is becoming more and more challenging. As result, engineers rely on a combination of theory, simulation, and experimental investigation to arrive at a design that meets all the demands of a particular application.

Basic Antenna Parameters

The basic parameters of antenna are impedence, mismatch and ohmic efficiency, radiation pattern and polarization, directivity, gain and equivalent isotropically radiated power, and effective height and aperture. In addition, celebrated Friis equation is and equations for the signal to noise ratio (SNR) of an antenna and source-field relationships are also important.For a more detailed treatment of the material pointed out here, the reader is referred to “A HANDBOOK OF ANTENNA IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATION” OF CRC Press by Lal Chand Godara.

Continue reading ‘Future Antennas Will be Flat’ »

In the world of high tech, on the top everyone’s wish list are the words smaller, cheaper, and lighter. That bell rings loud and clear from the end-user down to the design and engineering teams assigned to create next generation products.

What if inexpensive, lightweight plastic were capable of conducting electricity? Thomas Aisenbrey, Inventor and General Manager for Bellingham-based Integral Technologies, may have discovered an epochal building block that has the potential to revolutionize the design world.

Moldable Conductive Plastics, or Electriplast, is a polymer blend that can be used to conduct electricity or as an antenna. In other words, this plastic advance could end up being a stand-alone replacement for metals in virtually every electronics device.

“ElectriPlast is a proprietary recipe capable of creating a vast family of highly conductive polymers,” explains CEO William Robinson. “These can be molded into virtually any shape or dimension that any other plastic, rubber, or other polymer can be molded into.”

Continue reading ‘Redefined Plastic Breaks the Manufacturing Mold’ »