Laird Connectivity has developed a new antenna that is designed to be installed underneath vehicle dashboards and offers significant performance improvements over candy bar style antennas. The Trigger under-dash telematics antenna family has been developed for cellular 3G/4G/5G/ISM/CBRS, Wi-Fi, and GNSS applications.
The antenna family includes both four-port and five-port options, each with vertical and horizontal cellular radiating elements within the same antenna. The inclusion of the orthogonally-oriented elements improves the signal power received and the quality due to superior de-correlation of the MIMO pair of cellular ports. Additionally, the Trigger cellular ports benefit from generally reduced gain pattern nulls/ripple and more omnidirectional gain from the vertical dipole element. This configuration can provide as much as 20% improvement in antenna efficiency versus competing technologies.
The unique combination of elements optimizes across-horizon performance and around-the-vehicle coverage. This is key for both dense urban environments as well as remote locations where signals may be either impeded or weak. Bill Steinike, VP of Strategic Business Development at Laird Connectivity said that the Trigger antenna family is a vast improvement for in-vehicle multi-band connectivity over existing technologies. Their team took on a significant challenge with this development to enable a new concept design to provide a market-leading solution.
Antenna installations, when underneath a vehicle dashboard, present complex RF environments and limited space for installation. The innovative L-shape of the Trigger antenna family means they can be covertly mounted alongside or over bulky non-metallic objects such as vent ducts. At the same time, the inclusion of both vertical and horizontal radiating elements means they can offer significant performance increases over traditional flat-form candy bar antennas.
This installation ability means that these antennas can be mounted much closer to vehicle routers and gateways which are generally sited under dashboards, under seats, or in the vehicle's trunk. This avoids complex antenna installations where roof or trunk lids might need to be drilled to install an external antenna. Mounting closer to the gateway also allows for shorter cables resulting in increased RF performance.
Click here to learn more about the Trigger Antenna family.
