Optimizing Performance When Integrating Multiple Antennas

The general trend of smaller hand held devices with an increasing number of wireless functions significantly complicates the antenna selection and integration process. It is now common to have devices combining regular cellular communication capabilities with wireless LAN, GPS and Bluetooth; each technology requiring its own antenna. The size reduction is a known problem for the individual performance f each antenna. Beyond the size/performance tradeoff, the interaction between the different antennas is also critical for the whole system performance. In this article Ethertronics presents its IMD (Isolated Magnetic Dipole) technology. This technology enables high isolation and selectivity while reducing the antenna size and delivering higher performance. After reviewing the challenges of multiple antenna integration, the basic benefits of the IMD technology will are discussed. After which they show how the use of the IMD technology can increase the performance of multiple antenna devices while deducing development time. They also go over the next challenges facing antenna design and integration as the number of antennas further increase with systems such as EVDO and MIMO.