Fractus TVNow™ internal mobile TV antennas reduce handset size by up to 25 per cent

  • Comprehensive DVB-H/ISDB-H antenna suite marks end of the mobile TV antenna concealed in the headset wire

Barcelona, 26 October 2006 - Fractus, the pioneer developer of fractal antenna technology, has launched a suite of DVB-H internal antenna solutions for all three mobile TV frequencies; VHF (200MHz), UHF (600MHz) and L-band (1.4GHz). Fractus offers a fully customised internal antenna solution for 200MHz, and a customised and integrated solution for 600MHz and 1.4GHz. The TVNow™ range also includes a modular and compact standard antenna for 600MHz and 1.4GHz, with a size of just 40 x 4.8 x 5mm3, that can reduce mobile TV handset size by as much as 25 per cent. This innovation in mobile TV also works for the ISDB-H standard used in Japan and Brazil.

"Mobile TV represents one of the greatest challenges for handset design today," said Josep Puig, Fractus Director, Mobile Handset Antennas. "Fractus provides the technical performance and the size reduction necessary to enable mobile TV in both existing form factors and completely new DVB-H/ISDB-H handset platforms."

Implementing mobile television in handsets raises major antenna design challenges including interference from overlapping frequencies including GSM and UMTS, and differing effects of users' hands and body positions on device performance when viewing the TV screen (usually towards the lap) or making phone calls (usually against the head) on mobile devices.

A problem with a traditional antenna design approach for low frequencies such as the 200MHz band is that the antenna required is longer than the handset. A recently launched UK mobile TV handset for example uses the headphone cable as the antenna, rendering the device useless without the headphones. 

Fractus technology enables a fully customised antenna discretely housed within the handset, no matter what the mobile TV frequency.

For UHF and L-band, Fractus has a modular TVNow™ antenna that can be applied in existing handsets or new platforms enabling up to 25 per cent reductions in handset size compared to other antennas.  The modular antenna is the only SMT (Surface Mounted Technology) design currently available and helps OEMs and ODMs reduce product development costs and time to market.   

About Fractus
Fractus designs and manufactures miniature and multi-band antennas for wireless applications that are easy to integrate, cost-effective and provide high performance. Using the unique space-filling and multi-level properties of fractals, Fractus antennas are used in mobile phones, wireless consumer electronics using Bluetooth®, WLAN and UWB, and base stations. Fractus has a significant intellectual property portfolio with 42 patent families. Its technology is applied globally in Samsung, Sagem, ST Microelectronics, Atheros Communications, CSR and Philips Semiconductors devices.  For more information please visit www.fractus.com.

Press/Analyst Contacts:

Fractus
Gemma Montesinos
Tel: +34 935 442 690
gemma.montesinos@fractus.com

AxiCom PR
Oliver Chapman
Tel: +44 20 8392 4061
fractus@axicom.com

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