New Iridium Antenna

Helix Geospace announces the launch of the world’s smallest antenna tuned for Iridium satellite services, which can operate safely near the human head with minimal performance degradation. This can be used for mobile handsets, wearable trackers, and personal safety devices.

At only 37mm long and 13.5mm diameter, the HXDC1600 antenna family launched today by Helix Geospace is the smallest available antenna that meets the Iridium satellite data network’s voice and short-burst data (SBD) requirements. Using Helix’s proprietary Dielectrix™ technology, the new Iridium antenna will enable satellite phones to be built at close to the size and form factor of a normal smart mobile phone.

Helix’s DielectriX technology utilises a rugged high dielectric constant material at its heart with multiple helical filaments on its surface to make a self-filtering resonant antenna that is immune to adjacent-band interference, electrical and common-mode noise. Key capabilities of DielectriX antennas are their ability to discriminate true satellite signals from multi-path signals, mitigate against interference and jamming, and deliver high performance in a compact and rugged form factor.

As well as the best choice for handset and wearable applications this makes it ideal for mounting on vehicles, marine craft and aircraft, and for critical infrastructure applications where it is integrated into computer systems. Satellite voice and data communications is not just an essential safety measure for maintaining communications in remote areas or places where cellular communications is unviable, but opens up new capabilities for the application of IoT.

James Lewis, CEO of Helix commented,
“Right now IoT is driving increased demand for short burst data over the Iridium satellite network, with applications including logistics and asset tracking, and monitoring of critical infrastructure and transportation links. There is also a healthy defence and security market for our products”.

Samples of the antennas are available now, with packaging options including IP67 overmould-protected variants for externally mounted applications, or in-enclosure variants that are designed to be housed within a customer-designed enclosure.