Antenova’s Beltii miniature antenna designed for small PCBs in GNSS devices

Antenova Ltd., manufacturer of antennas and RF antenna modules for machine-to-machine (M2M) and the Internet of Things, is now offering Beltii (P/N SR4G013), an embedded antenna that measures 15.6 x 3.3 x 4.4 millimeters and operates with all satellite navigation constellations.

The antenna has been designed to work over a very small ground plane on a small printed circuit board (PCB), where it can be placed in a corner position, and does not need any ground clearance.

Beltii works with GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou and Galileo, and can add a positioning capability to any small, lightweight device at 1559-1609 MHz. It is suitable for wearable electronics, trackers, drones, navigation devices, and sports applications, the company said.

It is the latest in Antenova’s lamiiANT range of antennas, which are manufactured from FR4 materials and use the latest in dielectric constant laminate substrates to construct smaller, more efficient antennas.

“Beltii is a brand-new design using new materials. It beats the typical larger, ceramic patch antennas on all counts: it is smaller, more efficient, and performs better,” said Antenova CEO Colin Newman. “It is a great addition to our range of positioning antennas.”

Beltii radiation pattern at 1557.42 MHz.

Because the performance of a wireless device depends on the performance of its antenna, and the performance of the antenna depends on how it is integrated into the PCB, Antenova’s antenna designers give the integration requirement top priority and design each antenna so that it can be integrated easily, and to perform well in situ within the device. Antenova calls this concept DFI, or Design For Integration.

Antenova also provides detailed datasheets with advice on integrating the antenna, and offers the services of its engineering team to help customers and OEMs with antenna integration if required.

Evaluation boards (P/N SR4G013-U1) are available with full details of all of Antenova’s embedded antennas.