Smart Antenna Technologies Announces Multi-Frequency Antenna

Smart Antenna Technologies has announced it has a single antenna technology for mobile devices, allowing multiband coverage with performance matching that of separate antennas. The technology is based on research by Professor Peter Hall and his team at the University of Birmingham (UK).

The announcement stated:

“The patented solution uses a novel foil or printable antenna and control chip to produce a compact multi-frequency antenna. SAT’s single antenna solution is expected to ultimately cost a few dollars per handset compared to U.S. $20 per handset for existing antennas. Additionally, SAT uses software re-configurable hardware enabling manufacturers to produce one device for all territories, reduce costs and streamline manufacturing and logistics.”

Given the current situation in the United States where the FCC is reallocating spectrum from the federal government and others for wireless broadband, tunable antennas such as this from Smart Antenna Technologies could be very useful. While it does appear to cover a wider frequency range, there are several other companies making tunable antennas and it is difficult to tell from the announcement whether Smart Antenna Technologies solution is better than the others.

Doug Lung

Doug Lung is one of America's foremost authorities on broadcast RF technology. As vice president of Broadcast Technology for NBCUniversal Local, H. Douglas Lung leads NBC and Telemundo-owned stations’ RF and transmission affairs, including microwave, radars, satellite uplinks, and FCC technical filings. Beginning his career in 1976 at KSCI in Los Angeles, Lung has nearly 50 years of experience in broadcast television engineering. Beginning in 1985, he led the engineering department for what was to become the Telemundo network and station group, assisting in the design, construction and installation of the company’s broadcast and cable facilities. Other projects include work on the launch of Hawaii’s first UHF TV station, the rollout and testing of the ATSC mobile-handheld standard, and software development related to the incentive auction TV spectrum repack.
A longtime columnist for TV Technology, Doug is also a regular contributor to IEEE Broadcast Technology. He is the recipient of the 2023 NAB Television Engineering Award. He also received a Tech Leadership Award from TV Tech publisher Future plc in 2021 and is a member of the IEEE Broadcast Technology Society and the Society of Broadcast Engineers.