Rayspan Launches Metamaterial WiFi Antenna

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Rayspan Corp. has released a new WiFi antenna, a standalone metamaterial-balanced (MTM-B) antenna, with a form factor of 15x14-mm. This is 80 percent smaller than typical WiFi dipole antennas.

The antenna is available in 2.4 or 5 GHz models, and is also offered in a dual-band version.

Balanced antennas (dipole), are better than unbalanced antennas (a whip) because they usually offer better noise rejection, better efficiency and more predictable patterns. Rayspan claims its antennas allow for up to five times reduction in size without performance trade-offs, as well as a strong immunity to changes in surroundings.

The polarization and directionality of balanced antennas also work well for MIMO (multiple input, multiple output) 802.11n links.

Rayspan's MTM-B can be created directly on a printed circuit board, retrofitted inside existing products, or integrated inside new devices. The balanced antennas are being sampled by some of the company's customers and will be in volume production this quarter. The first metamaterial balanced antenna should appear in products from Netgear.

Doug Lung
Doug Lung
Contributor

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.