Netanya, Israel-based Siano Mobile Silicon, a developer of semiconductor solutions for mobile digital TV (MDTV), and Vishay Intertechnology have unveiled the smallest UHF antenna chip for MDTV applications. Vishay's RFW8021, or Siano's SMS8021, is an extremely small-form-factor, high-performance, passive, low-cost antenna chip that is applicable for multiple mobile TV formats, stated the partners.

According to the developers, the antenna chip is no larger than a typical small IC, and eliminates the need for the long “telescopic” antennas currently used. Target applications of the SMS8021/RFW-8021 include mobile phones, portable multimedia players, notebooks and UMPCs, and accessory cards.

“One of the strongest conclusions we made from our DVB-H service deployment in Italy is that more than two-thirds of consumers don't like the DVB-H antenna,” said Maria Lorenza Demarie, project manager for DVB-H deployment at Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM), one of the first mobile operators in the world to commerically deploy DVB-H. “During the last five to six years, mobile phone users have become accustomed to phones without a visible antenna, and they find it hard to accept ‘stepping back’ with DVB-H. A miniature antenna that can be buried inside the phone casing like a GSM antenna is exactly the right solution for DVB-H.”

Applicable for all mobile TV technologies that deploy the UHF spectrum band — DVB-T, DVB-H, ISDB-T, MediaFLO and China's DMB-T — the SMS8021/RFW8021 supports a wide bandwidth range from 470 MHz to 870 MHz at high gain. Only 15 mm × 10 mm ×1.2 mm in size, the omnidirectional antenna chip is mounted directly on the internal PCB, with soldering pads similar to any other chip in the phone.

“In developing the RFW8021 (SMS8021), Vishay has combined its long-term experience in innovative material engineering, and the RF expertise of its RFWaves division, with the mobile TV system know-how of Siano,” said David Ben Bassat, president of Vishay RFWaves division.

Starting this month, the SMS8021/RFW-8021 will begin shipping in production quantities as a complementary component to Siano's mobile TV receiver product line, the SMS10xx. The low-cost, ultralow-power, quad-band, multistandard receiver supports DVB-H, DVB-T, DAB, DAB-IP, and T-DMB mobile digital TV standards in various spectrum ranges, from 170 MHz up to 1680 MHz.