Overview
Since its founding in 2002, Deltenna has built up an extensive
technology portfolio which it has applied to both its own product
developments and developments carried out under contract for
specific customers. This includes a portfolio of more than ten
issued and pending patents in the fields of antennas and integrated
wireless systems. We have also established close relationships with
leading semiconductor manufacturers, often guiding them in the
development of their next generation devices.
Deltenna has particular expertise in the development of antenna
products and in the integration of these with radio systems, skill
sets that are surprisingly rare in an industry where antennas,
radios and baseband are often treated as completely separate
entities. We have developed solutions for a wide variety of
wireless standards, including GSM, WCDMA, WiMAX and WiFi. Our
approach to the market is simple:
- We identify a need or limitation with existing technology or
products.
- We develop an optimal solution by applying an end-to-end system
approach and the disruptive use of technology.
- We prove it works and bring it to market. In the past this was
often through licensing, but today our usual approach is to
manufacture and sell our own product.
This approach has allowed us to develop products that meet a
number of diverse criteria rather than using a "one size fits all"
approach. Sometimes the requirement is for smaller size, sometimes
for higher performance and sometimes for lower cost, or some
combination of all of these. The requirement for our rugged
antenna, for example, was for small size but also high performance,
and of course the ability to withstand all kinds of harsh
environments.
Antenna Design
Whatever testing is done in the lab, ultimate performance of an
integrated radio and antenna depends on its surroundings when
deployed. Do the signals propagate as expected and how might they
affect nearby electronic equipment?
Deltenna uses tools for the Far-field Analysis of Integrated
Structures (FAIS). The system uses powerful and accurate 64-bit
numerical analysis running on large multi-processor computers.
These enable full 3D electromagnetic modeling of structures at high
frequencies from airplanes to mobile handsets. Advanced
cell-reduction techniques enable radiating structures to be easily
optimized and integrated.
With multiple antenna techniques such as Multiple-Input,
Multiple-Output (MIMO) being used to enhance system performance,
understanding the antenna and its environment is essential. FAIS
highlights possible constraints: high coupling between co-located
antennas or limited multipath in the channel. Both of these reduce
data throughput and without a detailed simulation finding a
solution is a matter of guesswork.
Using FAIS, far-field patterns and electromagnetic exposure can
be accurately modeled, antenna de-tuning can be precisely simulated
and propagation tools and models can be modified using data
generated from a virtual environment.
Manufacturing
Having world beating designs is a necessary ingredient for a
successful product, but it's not sufficient. The product also needs
to be made. In the design of any complex product, particularly
those which contain complex antenna structures, it is also
necessary to consider how it will be manufactured right from the
start of the development process, or the result may be a product
that meets all the necessary technical specification but is
un-manufacturable, or at least un-manufacturable in volume for a
price that enables it to be sold profitably.
Deltenna has built up a huge store of manufacturing knowledge,
working closely with manufacturers both in the UK and further
afield, depending on where particular processes are available
economically. We are adept at keeping costs to minimum whilst
maintaining the highest quality standards. Some of our products are
designed to be sold in tens, which means that much of the assembly
will be done by hand, whereas others as designed to be sold in tens
or hundreds of thousands, which means that the effort that we put
into the development of the manufacturing processes and tooling can
dominate the non-recurring costs.