KYOCERA AVX released the innovative new surface-mount, on-ground, ultra-wideband (UWB) laser direct structuring (LDS) Tulip antenna (9002305L0-L01K) for 6.0 to 8.5 GHz applications to market at Embedded World North America.
While introduced at Embedded World in Nuremberg, Germany, on April 9, 2024, where an independent judging panel of esteemed electronics specialists and industry thought leaders selected it as the recipient of a 2024 Electronics Specifier Electronics Excellence Award, stock — including samples — was just made available through DigiKey and Mouser.
The novel new UWB LDS Tulip antenna is manufactured using LDS technology. This process allows KYOCERA AVX to create conductive traces on complex 3D structures with unique patterns and develop antennas that deliver numerous advantages, including substantial space and weight savings, unparalleled precision and accuracy and optimized performance. As a result, the new Tulip antenna functions as both an on-board and on-ground antenna characterized by an omnidirectional radiation pattern with outstanding 360° phase stability, constant group delay and linear polarization — all of which play a crucial role in signal reconstruction and further improve the accuracy of low-energy, short-range and high-bandwidth UWB systems.
Its superior group delay and phase distribution characteristics improve the accuracy of the phase difference of arrival, which translates into improved system-level services, such as angle of arrival and time of flight, maximizes the precision of device localization in space, and ensures secure communication with said device. Further, given its on-ground capabilities, it can be placed anywhere on a PCB, including the middle of the board and over metal, enabling enhanced design flexibility compared to strictly off-ground antennas, which require ground clearance and, as such, are placed along the perimeters of PCBs.
The UWB LDS Tulip antenna has a small form factor that measures 6.40 x 6.40 x 5.58 mm, weighs ~0.1 g, and supports SMT pick-and-place assembly. It is also compliant with the latest versions of the RoHS and REACH regulations and optimized for 6.0 to 8.5 GHz UWB applications, such as smart city, mobility, retail, asset tracking, healthcare, fitness, security, handheld, and connectivity operations, including telematics and other IoT applications.
“LDS technology allowed us to develop a compact ultra-wideband antenna with a constant phase that delivers unparallelled accuracy in UWB systems and cannot be replicated by traditional stamped metal or flexible printed circuit antennas,” said Carmen Redondo, Director of Global Marketing for Antennas at KYOCERA AVX. “The ability to integrate complex mechanical designs in miniature 3D shapes allows us to optimize antenna size, performance and emissions in even extremely small and oddly shaped designs, satisfy customer and regulatory specifications more easily, and help customers in various segments of the rapidly expanding smart technology industry improve time-to-market.”
When installed on a 40 x 40 mm PCB, the UWB LDS Tulip antenna typically exhibits 2ns maximum group delay, 4.3 dBi peak gain, 2 W continuous wave power handling, and 61 percent average efficiency.
The antenna is also patented and produced in South Korea.