Pulse, a Technitrol (News - Alert) Company, has announced its new set of monopole antennas that deliver Zigbee 2.4 gigahertz (GHz) and ISM bands 868 MHz, 915 MHz and 2.4GHz.

 

The new set of monopole antennas occupies very little printed circuit board space while maintaining their key properties regardless of changes to the board. Company officials these antennas are excellent alternatives to using trace antennas.

 

Additionally, the antennas provide a high-quality radio interface for multi-purpose machine-to-machine (M2M) devices and applications such as data loggers, remote control, tracking, monitoring, smart grid, automated meter reading (AMR), tags, remote keyless entry, and more.

 

Elaine Baxter, marketing manager for Wireless Devices Antenna Division at Pulse (News - Alert), said that with so many emerging applications in the M2M sector, designers need an antenna solution which accommodates different ground plane sizes and product dimensions.

 

“Pulse’s new range of ZigBee and ISM band ceramic monopole antennas offers a comprehensive and flexible portfolio which can be matched to the majority of M2M applications,” Baxter said, adding that they provide more reliability and higher performance than traditional trace antennas used on the PCB.

 

The monopole family of ceramic antennas consists of the W3000, W3014, W3016, and W3043. Since these antennas are small in size, they are suited to solutions where PCB size is limited for the antenna, said company officials.

 

The high temperature ceramic material is used in the monopole family. Company officials said this means that they detune less due to human tissue proximity or device mechanics, making them an ideal choice for hand-held or body worn products. Plus, these antennas can be used for multiple functions because the operating frequencies can be changed by implementing different matching circuits.

 

The smallest antenna is the W3043, at 3.2 millimeters (mm) wide x 1.6mm long x 1.1mm high with a weight of 33 milligrams (mg). It is matched to 2.4 GHz or other frequencies.

The W3000 measures 7mm x 1.6mm x 1.6mm and weighs 86mg, and is used for 2.4 GHz and ISM band 868.

 

The W3014 is a 10mm x 3.2mm x 1.5mm chip with a weight of 240mg. It uses ISM band 915 so it can be used for designs containing a suitable matching circuit.  Company officials said that all Pulse monopole antennas are RoHS compliant and fully compatible with surface mount devices.