NPL's SMART range

The development of smaller, smarter and even wearable antennas has received a boost thanks to the completion of a new facility at the

(NPL).

Wireless communication through mobile phones, GPS, WiFi and WLAN is becoming increasingly in demand, while devices such as laptops commonly use Bluetooth and ultra wideband (UWB) over short distances. However, with this has come demand for smaller devices with lower power consumption, allowing the entire unit to be made smaller and lighter.

The new facility will allow minimally invasive measurements of electrically small antennas and smart antennas for wireless communication platforms, allowing their performance to be accurately measured and compared during development and testing.

'Universities including Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), Cambridge and Brunel are researching wideband and UWB communication,' said Dr Phil Miller from NPL's Time Quantum and Electromagnetics team. 'They are looking at very small units and consequently the use of very small antennas.

'But so they can design such equipment they need to know the antennas' coverage and efficiency to ascertain how much extra power they will need to make it all work. We previously had a chamber that could do this for larger antennas but we have now designed one that can provide measurements for the new generation of handsets. QMUL is also looking at body-mounted antennas for military use.'