Status and Prospects for MID in the antenna industry Status and - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Status and Prospects for MID in the antenna industry

Ellen McMillan, Molex Inc.

Status and Prospects for MID in the antenna industry

Ellen McMillan, Molex Inc.

Molex Proprietary and Confidential

Molex and Antennas Molex and Antennas

Molex began manufacturing mobile phone antennas in the late 90’s

– Similar manufacturing technologies as connectors – Customer base the same as connectors

Today No. 4 antenna supplier in the world

– Largest 3D antenna supplier in the world – Molex has produced 100 Mio. LDS antenna by Sept. 3

ABU Design Hub in Shanghai

– Front-end satellites in Lisle (USA), Denmark, Taiwan, Beijing 2 Factories (Shanghai and Bangalore) – 2 Factories (Shanghai and Bangalore)

ABU part of Molex Commercial Product Division

Molex Proprietary and Confidential

Why MID for Antennas ? Why MID for Antennas ?

End of 1990`s external stubby or telescopic antennas were used in mobile phones 1999 the first phone with an internal two-shot antenna was released – Miniaturization of internal mobile phone components – e.g PCB reduction from 2 to 1 freed up space – Internal antenna improved the industrial design p g 2008 the first LDS antennas went into mass production – Provided fast time-to-market for new products p – Development flexibility – Space saving

Molex Proprietary and Confidential

Antenna Technologies – Features Antenna Technologies – Features

Flex Metal MID

√

3D radiator design

√

Space

√

Material

√ √

Time to Market

√ √

Class 1 capability

√ √

Cover Integration

√ √

Cost

√ √ (√)

RF consistency

√

Molex Proprietary and Confidential

MID Antenna Market Estimate MID Antenna Market Estimate

400.000

3D Antenna Market

300.000 350.000 000

Total smartphones 3D Antenna Market (mobile)

200.000 250.000 quantities * 10

3D Antenna Market (mobile) LDS antenna market (mobile) 2 shot antenna market (mobile) 3 D antenna (notebook)

100.000 150.000 Antenna q 50.000 CY10 CY11 CY12

Low-end mobile devices will still primarily use 2 or 2.5 D radiators (flex, metal stamped)

Molex Proprietary and Confidential

Market trend is heavily towards RF integration together with a significant increase in

Smartphone RF roadmap Smartphone RF roadmap

MIMO LTE

BT WLAN GPS C b

MIMO LTE

product intelligence and RF content development. Number of antennas increases from two per device today to up 7 antennas per device

MIMO LTE Antenna 7-band

WLA BT-WLAN GPS Combo

MIMO LTE Antenna 9-band

WLA WPA B AN MIMO

NFC Digit

AN 2xMIMO

NFC Digit

AN 60GHz BT-WLAN GP

/ FM Tx& tal TV Co

WLAN GP

/ FM Tx& tal TV Co

WLAN PS Combo

&Rx /

• mbo

PS Combo

&Rx /

• mbo

3xMIMO

Main LTE Antenna 7-band Main 3G Antenna 5-band Main LTE Antenna 9-band

Molex Proprietary and Confidential

MID Technologies – Features MID Technologies – Features

LDS Two-shot √ 3D radiator design √ Space

√

Material Time to Market

√

Class 1 capability

√ √

Cover Integration

√

Cost/CAPEX

(√) (√)

RF consistency

√ √

Molex Proprietary and Confidential

In a Perfect MID world… In a Perfect MID world…

Low capacity

J t LDS ! – Just use LDS !

short tuning lead times and quick design changes reduced product development cycle´s

• d

t i (f t h ti ) product mix (fast change over times)

High capacity High capacity

– LDS/Two-shot technology mix

Development and ramp-up using LDS MP volumes in two-shot

Molex Proprietary and Confidential

But in the Real World… But in the Real World…

A lot of technical challenges

ff f S – Different RF properties of LDS and Two-shot materials to be considered from the beginning – Tuning RF tuning areas need to be identified before the two- u g tu g a eas eed to be de t ed be o e t e t o shot tool kicked off and designed flexible in the tool – Typically 1-3 tuning loops are needed for a two-shot tool to match with the LDS performance TAKES TIME !!! match with the LDS performance. TAKES TIME !!! – Limitations for cover integrated antennas because of tooling complexity – Note, that some phone OEMs need separate type approval for LDS and Two-shot, as the antenna patterns are not identical identical

Molex Proprietary and Confidential

What´s next ? …..MID and its competition What´s next ? …..MID and its competition

Ongoing work? Other t h l i ?

LDS integration

technologies?

?

g

• n covers

Printing technologies

?

Ceramic materials Sputtering 3D Flex Technologies

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THANK YOU ! THANK YOU !

Molex Proprietary and Confidential