Molex released its new Wi-Fi flexible antenna series intended for fast and easy integration into wireless devices with minimal implementation cost. The compact 206994-series side-fed cable-flexible antenna enables high-performance RF transmission for the most demanding Wi-Fi applications, including those with space constraints, while the 204281-series supports applications that need fully balanced transmission and ground-plane independence regardless of the cable length.
"The design constraints imposed by today's miniaturized devices are a huge challenge, but it's not simply a question of board and casing real estate," said Bob Wang, product manager, Molex Shanghai. "These days a smartphone or tablet can pack several radios, while using sophisticated techniques such as frequency hopping, spread-spectrum and OFDM modulation. Meanwhile the 2.4- and 5.0-GHz unlicensed bands are increasingly crowded. The demand for expertly designed and precision-manufactured antennas has never been greater, and Molex is here to answer that challenge."
When center-fed cable antennas do not address the needs of particular applications, side-fed cable antenna designs are required and, to answer market demand, Molex has developed two side-fed cable antenna versions - the 206994-series monopole and the 204281-series dipole-style side-fed flex antennas.
The 206994-series antenna is a highly compact Wi-Fi flexible antenna, measuring just 15.0mm x 6.0mm in order to fit within today’s space constraints applications. This highly compact antenna also offers high RF performance of >70% radiation efficiency and return loss of <-10 dB, making it a good fit for applications that need gain values of at least 3.6 dBi.
