The technology is a significant breakthrough that combines Ethertronics' ultra-small antenna with Altair's ALT1250 dual-mode Cat-M1/NB-IoT chipset algorithms to reduce the size of cellular wearable devices without sacrificing performance.
“Ethertronics is a recognized leader in antenna design and tunable components, making it an excellent partner for developing this concept," says Dima Feldman, Head of Product Management for Altair. "Combining Altair’s modem algorithmic capabilities with a world class antenna designer has resulted in the smallest antenna design for cellular wearable devices and other tiny IoT devices, setting a new standard for antenna performance that improves coverage, power efficiency and overall user experience."
The ALT1250 is the market's most highly integrated dual-mode Cat-M1/NB-IoT chipset, with lowest power consumption and enabling longest battery life. It includes GNSS location positioning, a RF front-end supporting all commercial LTE bands within a single hardware design, a hardware-based security framework and an internal application subsystem. The prototype was demonstrated by Altair at Mobile World Congress Americas from September 12 to 14 in Los Angeles.
“Until now, wearable device manufacturers have struggled to reduce the size of their products without sacrificing cellular coverage and overall performance," explains Olivier Pajona, Chief Scientist for Ethertronics. "Altair's antenna tuning algorithm and leadership in integrated solutions, together with our expertise in antenna design, paves the way to developing the smallest and highest performing wearable devices."
Ethertronics Active Steering Antenna technology provides performance enhancements for throughput, range, efficiency and reliability across a range of applications, from 5G to Wi-Fi and the Internet of Things. Ethertronics has shipped over 1.8 billion antenna systems that are being used by leading wireless handset and device manufacturers worldwide.
A subsidiary of Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation, Altair Semiconductor’s 4G/LTE chipset portfolio covers the complete spectrum of cellular applications, from supercharged video-centric applications all the way to ultra-low power, low cost IoT and M2M. Altair has shipped millions of LTE chipsets to date, commercially deployed on the world's most advanced LTE networks including Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Softbank and KT (Korea Telecom). The company's customer roster includes some of the world's leading OEMs and ODMs, such as Hewlett-Packard, ASUS, D-Link, WNC, Sierra Wireless and Murata, as well as the majority of Asian ODMs developing LTE products for global markets.
www.avx.com/ethertronics | www.altair-semi.com
