Pulse unveils NFC stamp antenna for mobile phones

A Pulse product story

Edited by the Electronicstalk editorial team Nov 3, 2010

At Electronica 2010, Pulse will introduce its NFC (near field communication) stamp antenna for mobile phones and portable wireless devices.

This 15 x 20 x 5mm antenna can be integrated with a main antenna so both fit inside a 40 x 21 x 5mm module, enabling 13.56MHz NFC communication and frequency ranges of 824-960 and 1710-2170MHz for wireless connectivity using GSM and WCDMA in the same device.

'Despite its small size, our new NFC antennas open many possibilities for the additional mechanical integration of speakers for audio, cameras, camera windows, flash, LEDs and other options to the antenna module within these devices, and can be tailored for each customer's design,' said Maritta Timosaari, director of sales and marketing for Pulse Mobile Products Division.

'Application possibilities for near-field communications are almost endless because it enables the exchange of data from modules in close proximity within devices such as mobile phones,' Timosaari said.

'For example, the phones can be used to read RFID tags for payments, ticketing, security identification and diagnostics,' she added.

Pulse's NFC stamp antenna is especially well suited to function with small RFID (radio frequency identification) tags.

It can read tags with diameters ranging from 15 to 65mm at distances ranging from 5 to 20mm, which cannot be read with a large loop antenna (size 110 x 42mm).

When comparing the performance with rectangular tags measuring up to 86 x 53mm, the performance is comparable to that of a large loop antenna (size 110 x 42mm).

The NFC antenna operates at a frequency of 13.56MHz, and has an H-field of 1.5A/m and a return loss of -25dB.

The main antenna is a penta-band antenna.

For the 824-960MHz frequency range it has an efficiency of 58 per cent/-2.35dB peak, 27/48 per cent/-5.7/-3.1dB band edges and a return loss of -5.2dB.

In the 1,710-2,170MHz frequency range it has efficiencies of 59 per cent/-2.3dB peak and 40/45 per cent/-3.9/-3.4dB band edges with a return loss of -5.1dB.

Both antennas have an impedance of 50 ohms and have operating temperatures ranging from -40 to 85C.

The separate NFC antenna can be integrated in the device back cover, with a snap-fit structure also available.