Engineering Student's Invention Could Reduce Mobile Phone Antenna Power Losses

Atif Shamim, an electronics PhD student at Carleton University, has built a prototype that extends the battery life of mobile phones, by getting rid of all the wires used to connect the electronic circuits with the antenna.

The invention involves a packaging technique to connect the antenna with the circuits via a wireless connection between a micro-antenna embedded within the circuits on the chip.

"This has not been tried before - that the circuits are connected to the antenna wirelessly. TheyÃ've been connected through wires and a bunch of other components. ThatÃ's where the power gets lost," Mr. Shamim said.

He estimates his module consumes 12 times less power than the traditional, wired-transmitter module. It is also much simpler in design, lowering the overall cost of any hand-held device, he said.

Mr. Shamim has filed patent applications in the U.S. and in Canada.

Earlier this year, the Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation honoured Mr. Shamim and Mr. Arsalan as student researchers of the year for their work in the field of wireless biomedical sensors. Also honoured was University of Ottawa student David Nadeau, for his contribution to the "more intelligent online search engine," yooname.com

Research on the invention, to be published in the upcoming edition of Microwave Journal, has already received international accolades.

Posted to the site on 21st December 2008