Pulse, a Technitrol company, a leader in electronic component and subassembly design and manufacturing, announces the first capacitive-feed antenna that can be enclosed in an all-metal mobile handset case. Pulse’s capacitive-feed antenna can be used in mobile phones that operate at 900, 1800, 1900 and 2100 MHz as well as several antenna manufacturing technologies such as flexible printed wiring board, laser direct structuring (LDS) and molded interconnect device (MID).
The antenna radiator of Pulse’s capacitive-feed antenna is placed at the outside surface of the phone chassis and fed by a capacitively coupled feed circuit. All available antenna function is utilized with no loss of signal performance. The antenna quality, reliability and operation are based on proven technology found in all Pulse antenna systems.
The Pulse antenna offers flexibility in phone design and manufacturing. It can be used either as a stand-alone solution or integrated, for example, with the all-metal cover. Without having to coat the antenna with plastic, the metal shell and the antenna can be constructed as a single unit. The metallic appearance can be applied to the antenna area or the metal cover. The metal cover can also be decorated with paint, leather, or other materials without affecting antenna performance. Integrating an antenna into an all-metal cover design can result in reduced costs. Pulse optimizes the knowledge it has gained from working with a broad range of customer designs and options. A new antenna model can be customized without having to redesign every model, offering additional customer savings.
Metal covers are becoming more popular in mobile phones because they give mobile handsets rigidity and strength, enable thinner devices with bigger displays, are made of recyclable material, and provide an effective dispersion of radio engine heat. They are also popular because the cover is more attractive.
“Although the trend for mobile phones is to encase them completely with metal, there has not been an antenna that performs adequately in an all-metal cover. In the past, plastic had to be used to cover the antenna portion of the handset to enable proper antenna performance. With Pulse’s new capacitive-feed antenna, exterior metal parts can now also be used as antennas,” said Petteri Annamaa, Director of Research and Development for the Pulse Mobile Division.
