Connectivity Makes Smart Digital Lifestyle A Reality
The saying that ‘the biggest reason for wireless is convenience’ cannot be truer. With billions of IoT devices deployed in our homes, vehicles, office buildings, factories, public spaces and smart city infrastructure, the crave of electronic device users for convenience over the ability to connect comes as no surprise. With the roll-out of Internet of Things (IoT) and the Internet of Everything (IoE), anything from smart appliances and wearables to connected cars and smart cities need connections and disconnecting from the network will mean disconnection from society. So much is at stake in the connected world we live in and depend on today.
Wireless connectivity can provide for something as simple as a secure connection to the Internet from anywhere to everywhere in the world but a profoundly engineered solution can enable service providers to deliver favorable subscriber experience, track performance data and integrity all the way to their access points and execute operations, trouble-shoot issues remotely, quickly and effectively. The value of well-engineered connectivity is without question, immense.
Wi-Fi networks have been deployed for their ease of implementation, ease of increasing additional users, infrastructure cost containment, expandability and portability. Road warriors are seeing wireless networks in public spaces as an easy way to stay connected, enabled further by the availability of 5G and Multiple Input, Multiple Output (MIMO*) technologies. In-vehicle multimedia with real-time high-definition (HD) video streaming while on-the-move is now not just a possibility but a reality. Factory personnel using industry routers running on IoT or M2M (Machine-to-Machine) application platforms can stream HD video over LTE bands to their display systems for training or communication. The possibilities are limitless.
*MIMO technology is used for Wi-Fi networks and cellular Fourth-generation (4G) Long-Term Evolution (LTE) and Fifth-generation (5G) technology in a wide range of markets, and can also be used in wireless local area networks (WLANs). All wireless products with IEEE 802.11n support MIMO. The technology helps allow 802.11n to reach higher speeds than products without 802.11n.
With good view-to-sky conditions, Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSSs) can provide positioning with performances that meet the requirements for a multitude of services and applications, whether in-vehicle or outside. Networking, navigation and telematics – whether for networked commercial vehicles or smart cars – are use cases of connectivity technology where multi-functional antennas such as the Molex Sunshade 5-in-1 Antenna (5G MIMOx2/Wi-Fi MIMOx2/GNSS) provide the perfect fit.
The Connected World of Wireless Technologies in the Fields of Clean Green Energy, Smart Cities, Smart Industries, Smart Transportation, Smart Agriculture and Smart Homes.
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One Solution, Many Possibilities
Top right picture: The Series 219264 Sunshade 5-in-1 Antenna Lite includes 2 x LTE, 2 x Wi-Fi and 1x GNSS antennas. It comprises 5G MIMO and Wi-Fi MIMO antenna systems within a compact antenna radome made of high-quality plastic material and comes with backside adhesive mounting on any type of surface. Ideally suited for automotive telematics, transportation and remote monitoring applications, this product has a feeding cable that comes from the bottom side of the antenna casing.
Bottom right picture: The Series 220573 Sunshade 5-in-1 Antenna Pro offers 2 x 5G/LTE, 2 x Wi-Fi and 1 x GNSS connectivity. It features 5G/LTE MIMO and Wi-Fi MIMO antennas all encased within a compact high-quality plastic radome and with bolt-nut mounting configuration. Like the Series 219264 variant, the antenna has a feeding cable coming from the bottom side of the antenna casing.
Offering extended frequency ranges to handle a combination of multiple wireless communication protocols while delivering long-range connectivity with high radiation efficiency, the Molex Sunshade 5-in-1 Antenna answers to market demands for modular connectivity that fits quickly and easily into a variety of applications. These range from commercial vehicles to wireless IT infrastructure, telecommunication, networking systems or installations with harsh operating environments.
The built-in cellular (LTE, 5G) MIMOx2, Wi-Fi (Tri-band)x2 and GNSS capabilities of the Sunshade 5-in-1 antenna feature extensive frequency band spectrum that helps overcome designer challenges of limited antenna choices that work only in one environment and not the other. By incorporating an array of antennas that support a wide range of operating frequencies, designers of wireless applications can access the connectivity they need for optimum device performance.
The low-profile Sunshade 5-in-1 Antenna Pro encapsulates LTE/5G full-band cellular, Wi-Fi and GNSS antennas within a compact and robust enclosure designed to support high IK10 rating for anti-impact applications. Additional durability features include IP67-rating to protect against harsh environment condition. The antenna is available in either backside adhesive or bolt-nut mounting configurations. It integrates easily into applications such as smart and specialized vehicles, T-boxes, IoT and Industrial IoT and telematic systems.
The integration of a myriad of electronic devices into global wireless networks has created challenges for system designers. These challenges could include meeting design requirements of high radiation efficiency over a small footprint and metallic surface or perhaps cable length and connector-type limitations. The Sunshade antenna’s SMA (Male) connector facilitates adjustable cable length and has connecting ends adjustable to FAKRA and HFM connectors. The Molex Sunshade 5-in-1 Antenna Pro offers excellent performance on both metal and non-metal surfaces.
Both Sunshade 5-in-1 Antennas measure only 95 x 95 x 38mm with 1000mm cable length and operates with an RF power of 2 Watts over frequency bands of: 698-960MHz/1710-2690MHz/3300-5000MHz for 5G/LTE MIMO; 2400-2500MHz/5150-5850MHz/5925-7125MHz for WI-FI MIMO and 1561-1602MHz for GNSS. Linearly polarized, the antenna has an operating temperature of -40 to +85°C with matching.
Two-part numbers for Sunshade 5-in-1 Antennas are available. These include the Sunshade 5-in-1 Antenna Pro (220573-1000) and Sunshade 5-in-1 Antenna Lite (219264-0001). More product and application specification information is available on the External Antennas or Combo Antenna websites on Molex.com.
Conclusion
With continued miniaturization, versatility and portability of electronic products, wireless technologies and the solutions deploying them have turned smarter and become increasingly connected. Connectivity technologies of IoT, IoE and Vehicle to Everything (V2X) lend momentum to the speed and style with which wireless technologies advance – the antenna still being the lynchpin of such developments – not to mention the increasing convenience that connectivity and being connected brings. If the Molex’s Sunshade 5-in-1 Antenna introduced in this article can be described in three words, it can be said to be multifarious, multifeatured and multifunctional, and possibly true in every aspect of its construction, configuration and contribution, to the expanding ecosystem of antenna technologies.