An antenna the size of an integrated circuit chip has landed an Innovation Award from the International Consumer Electronics Show.
The chip resides within a USB card launched last month in Italy by Venice-based Onda Communications and Siano Mobile Silicon, a chipmaker with headquarters in Netanya, Israel. It was described in the CES award listings as “a revolutionary, smallest-in-the-world, UHF chip antenna, covering the entire UHF band of 474 to 870 MHz. Its size is just 10mm-by-15mm-by-1mm.”
The motivation behind the design is one that many stateside broadcasters would laud, and that is to have over-the-air DTV reception built into laptop computers. Currently, the chip is marketed in the DT501HS USB card, which combines DVB-H with HSDPA 3.5G cell technology. UHF signals are said to be captured via the Siano chip, so there is no external antenna with the card, nor is one needed.
Software makers CyberLink and NagraVision also assisted in developing the device. It’s currently be marketed by Telecom Italia Mobile in Italy.
The Consumer Electronics Show, the biggest blow-out in Las Vegas, will be held in the city Jan. 7-10.
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