Ethertronics sets predictions for 2014

SAN DIEGO, USA: In addition to predicting continued growth for Ethertronics in 2014, Laurent Desclos, president and CEO at Ethertronics. outlined several predictions for the coming year. According to Desclos:

"There are a number of absolutes for 2014: LTE network build out and adoption will continue to grow, increasing pressure on operators to offer LTE international roaming and enabling better user experiences. In addition, devices are going to trend toward having even more functionalities built into them while their form factors will continue to become thinner and sleeker, or at least not stay the same.

"As a result, I predict that we're going to see a major shift in how OEMs approach mobile device design. With a 25 percent shrink rate of the device form factor to accommodate larger batteries, displays and more, little room is left for the RF componentry.

"Therefore, the makeup of the components inside these devices will evolve dramatically. Cross collaboration between RF component makers will be paramount to finding an ever-evolving solution, especially since the antenna is the only RF sensor in a device and is critical to optimizing the overall RF front end.

"Already we have made major strides in bringing ‘active antenna systems' to market - advanced antenna structure combined with active components, such as tunable capacitors and/or switches, driven by increasingly more complex algorithms - to provide advanced capabilities to solve the challenges of 4G.

"While the industry can expect to see demand for active antenna systems continue, they can also expect to see more advancements and innovations in RF chips that are capable of seamlessly adjusting the cellular antenna's characteristics to its dynamic requirements for optimal connectivity, covering wider frequency ranges and offsetting hand and head effects.

"In addition, the demand for integrated antenna system solutions - antenna structures, RF chips and algorithms offered as an optimized package solution to OEMs - will grow to eliminate the burden on OEMs to source individual components from different vendors, integrate them and try to make it all work. Buying an optimized system also helps bring products to market faster as OEMs won't need to devote resources to the steep learning curve that comes with new technologies.

"It is all about applying technology with a high level of service, speed and quality. These innovative integrated antenna and RF system solutions will have a significant effect on OEMs since they will provide the high-performance capabilities they desire; help them meet the specification requirements for LTE and international LTE roaming; speed up their time-to-market; and reduce their Bill of Materials by combining multiple active components into a single RFIC (tunable capacitor and switch combinations and more)."