Formed in 2020 by Dr Matthew Magill and Dr Gareth Conway as a spin-out from Queens University, Belfast, AntennaWare developed antennas specifically designed for wireless wearables. Combining 20 years of academic research with industry expertise, AntennaWare's BodyWave antenna technology enables increased radiation efficiency, increased detuning immunity, and unique propagation in a product range that applies to Bluetooth, UWB and DECT wireless designs.
Placing devices on difficult platforms, such as the human body, is challenging due to the twin issues of body blocking and detuning limiting wireless coverage. Body blocking occurs when there is no direct line of sight communication between a wearable device and the remote receiving data collector. The wearer’s body blocks the signal path causing reduced communication ranges, reduced performance in open spaces, poor performance in noisy RF environments, and dropout caused by user movement.
In attempts to counteract this issue, system designers have traditionally increased transmission power, using diversity, and increasing the surrounding access point infrastructure. However, this comes at a significant cost and ultimately doesn’t solve the fundamental problem of body blocking and unreliable wireless coverage in wearable designs.
AntennaWare has developed a more elegant solution to overcome these difficulties with wireless coverage. AntennaWare’s BodyWave technology generates waves that flow efficiently around the body, supporting communication links even when the body is blocking the signal.
Side-by-side testing of the AntennaWare/Silicon Labs reference design, which integrates the BodyWave Bluetooth antenna and the Silicon Labs Thunderboard BG22, demonstrates an additional 16dB link margin, resulting in maximized performance, dependability, longer communication ranges, or lower power levels, without the need for additional access points.
"By joining forces with a partner with the reach and reputation of Silicon Labs, we will be able to offer the market a robust solution to a very real problem for many wireless manufacturers – one that has held back adoption of wireless technologies in many areas up to now," states Gareth Conway, AntennaWare Co-founder.
"One of the stickiest trends from the COVID-19 pandemic has been the adoption of wearable devices by consumers to gain greater insights into their own health," adds Anders Pettersson, Director of Mass Market, Silicon Labs. "Our partnership with AntennaWare gives us a new way to address one of the most common challenges with wearables and improve their connectivity."
www.silabs.com
www.antennaware.co.uk
