Taoglas’ Universe PCS.50.A is a patent-pending, frequency-flexible active Cellular and GNSS antenna designed specifically for IoT devices with small ground planes. The resonance frequency can be adjusted via RF switching to connect the antenna to matching circuits designed for the bands used in your application, allowing high performance on multiple bands within a device using a single antenna. This FR4, 38 x 10 x 1.6 mm antenna is fully compatible with automated SMD assembly processes and is tuned for PCBs of just 40 x 50 mm, making it suitable for the very smallest of IoT and CAT-M devices. Typical applications include smart sensors, wearables, and asset tracking.
The PCS.50.A combines aperture tuning and active switching technologies to provide wideband coverage for GNSS and most 4G cellular bands (LTE: 698-960 MHz, 1710-2700 MHz, GPS/GLONASS/Galileo/BeiDou: 1561-1602 MHz). A second active switch can be added to select between Cellular or GNSS operation, and Taoglas provides extensive support to help integrate the PCS.50.A into your end device.
The PCS.50.A is compatible with radio modules that support RF front end control interface (RFFE), and this module would control the active RF switch to adjust the antenna resonance frequency, ensuring efficient operation on multiple bands and increasing the RF capabilities by 3 dB compared with standard passive solutions. This will in turn improve the Total Radiated Power (TRP) and Total Isotropic Sensitivity (TIS).
Taoglas’ PCSD.50.A board was created for evaluating this technology, and it includes the PCS.50.A antenna, RF switches, and other components to operate this smart antenna solution. The evaluation kit uses a simple SP8T RF switch to select different matching circuits and a SPDT to select GNSS or LTE radios.
(All images sourced from Taoglas)
