08 March, 2007

UWB Antenna Wins Accolades from Germany’s Elektronik Magazine


On March 8, the German trade magazine Elektronik announced its 2006 Readers’ Choice Top Three Products at an award ceremony at the Bavarian State Library in Munich, Germany. Omron’s Wi-PlaDsTM ultra-wideband (UWB) antenna took second place in the ‘Passive’ category.

Elektronik is a technical trade publication targeting electronics design engineers. In its ninth year, the magazine’s annual reader survey is regarded as one of the most influential and prestigious events among German engineers and the electronics industry. Elektronik editors first select the ten most outstanding products/technologies for each category. The top three products in each category are then selected via a poll of 5,000 magazine subscribers.



While various UWB antennas are currently available on the market, Omron’s UWB polymeric antenna combines a compact design with outstanding performance thanks to Omron’s proprietary molding technology and dielectric polymer material. Capitalizing on its core ultrahigh-precision machining technology, Omron has succeeded in mass-producing the UWB polymeric antenna ahead of other manufacturers worldwide. The achievement of this prestigious award is the result of the outstanding characteristics of the Omron UWB antenna combined with the aggressive promotion efforts of Omron Electronic Components Europe B.V. (OCB-EU). Everyone involved can take pride in knowing that the product was selected by very discerning German engineers, and should be encouraged to undertake further sales promotion for UWB antennas.

Jimmy (Hajime) Shimizu, Global Marketing Manager of ECB’s Advanced Components Division, and Michael Sturm, General Manager of European Marketing at OCB-EU’s Microelectronic Business, were among the approximately 100 guests invited to the award ceremony. Representing the Omron Group, Mr. Shimizu and Mr. Sturm together accepted the award and expressed their joy and pride at receiving the award.

UWB (Ultra-Wideband)
UWB is a next-generation wireless communications technology. UWB standards that support data transfer rates of up to 480 Mbps at a range of 3 meters or less, or up to 110 Mbps at a range of 10 meters or less, are currently being developed. In the recently booming market for wireless communications, UWB is attracting particular attention as a solution to meet the growing need for shorter-range, higher-speed, and higher-volume data transmission. UWB serves as a low-power wireless form of USB capable of transferring large amounts of data at high speeds between various devices such as personal computers, printers, mobile phones and digital cameras at close range. UWB also enables wireless transmission of high-definition video data between devices such as digital TVs and DVD players.

Omron’s Wireless, High-frequency Devices
Omron launched the WXZ-N1SL SMD polymeric antenna for UWB communications on June 1, 2006, as the first of its Wi-PlaDs™ line of wireless, high-frequency devices. The S1, a UWB polymer antenna for transmitting high-definition video signals, is scheduled for launch in the spring of 2007. By maximizing the advantages of polymer antennas, which allow highly flexible designs and mass production, Omron will market a wide variety of Wi-PlaDs™ devices, such as antennas that are adaptable to various equipment shapes.

SMD polymeric antenna

UWB polymeric antenna for high definition video streaming applications