NAB FASTROAD has announced the release of two reports on the development of improved VHF and UHF frequency band antennas to support reception of broadcast radio and mobile DTV signals in handheld devices. These FASTROAD-funded projects were undertaken to help accelerate the proliferation of radio and mobile DTV receivers in cell phones, which can benefit greatly from the use of embedded antenna solutions.

The reports, released last Tuesday, present the results of separate antenna development efforts conducted by Ethertronics, an antenna systems company based in San Diego, Calif., and The Technology Partnership (TTP), a technology development company based in the United Kingdom. Each company has developed new antenna solutions to operate over low- and high-VHF and UHF TV band frequencies as well as the VHF frequencies which comprise the FM radio band. This broad frequency range requirement, combined with the small size and power constraints of cell phones, presented a significant challenge for design and implementation of small antenna systems.

New, embedded antenna designs, such as those developed under these FASTROAD projects, offer a much more attractive antenna solution to handheld device manufacturers than the headset cords or fragile, telescoping "monopoles" currently in use. NAB and the antenna development partners encourage the use of these new designs by cellular handset and other portable device manufacturers for new radio and ATSC mobile DTV receiver products.

The full text of the TTP report, "Broadcast Antennas for Handsets: Final Report - Executive Summary," and the Ethertronics report, "Embedded FM/TV Antenna System - Final Report" and information on the NAB FASTROAD technology advocacy program are available at www.NABFASTROAD.org. Inquiries on use of this technology in new products is encouraged - please email NAB Science and Technology Senior Director, Advanced Engineering David Layer.