A Canadian company believes it is backing a revolutionary antenna that will advance the wireless industry.
“There is no antenna to outperform it currently,” said John Robertson, president of IAS Communications Inc. of Richmond, British Columbia.
The Contrawound Toroidal Helical Antenna (CTHA) was developed at the University of West Virginia. IAS formed in 1994 to provide the project with additional research and development funds, and to pay patent fees.
The device is shaped like a doughnut (toroidal) with contrawound wires that create an electromagnetic field. It lies flat on the ground and transmits with the same efficiency as an antenna mounted on a tower, IAS said.
“It travels around trees and over mountains. It’s a 360-degree signal that covers a huge area. You don’t have to worry about aiming it,” Robertson said. Laboratory models have operated at between 2 MHz and 950 MHz.
Evidence suggests the antenna’s signal may ride the earth’s magnetic field near or just below the surface, the company said. The energy wave created by the antenna is circularly polarized so the transmission is less susceptible to absorption or reflection by buildings in a city, and echo is eliminated, IAS said.
In tests, the antenna successfully operated at a distance of 37 miles, compared to the 10-mile distance for common monopole antennas, IAS said.
The CTHA is 60 times shorter than a monopole antenna, but its toroidal magnetic field is equal to the linear electric field of other antennas, IAS said.
“A 3-foot antenna can take the place of a monopole tower. It’s ideal for boats and you can put them on the car at the size of a quarter. It’s cheaper and has three-to-five times the battery life,” said Robertson.
The CTHA antenna is more economical because some mounting costs can be avoided, IAS said. In most applications, it weighs 80 percent less than a monopole tower and can be flush-mounted for low-profile packaging. Because it radiates in all directions, the CTHA is ideal for satellite telephony and global positioning system applications, the company said.
West Virginia University is the patent holder; IAS has sublicensed rights to the technology and is seeking license agreements with manufacturers and end users to produce the product.
“We’ll build a prototype according to their specifications, and then let the company do field tests jointly. Let them use their best antenna and we’re confident we’ll have a better and more efficient antenna,” Robertson said.
IAS has headquarters in Richmond, British Columbia. The company had an initial public offering in April, at which time it warned potential investors, “While not a highly competitive business in terms of numbers of competitors, the business of developing antennas of a new design and attempting to either license or produce them is nonetheless difficult because most existing antenna producers are large, well-financed companies, which are very concerned about maintaining their market position.”
Robertson said the company does not aspire to be a manufacturer, but hopes first to license its technology.
Dr. James Smith is chairman of the IAS board of directors, and is a tenured professor at West Virginia University. He directed the research and development of the antenna. Smith also owns and controls Integral Concepts Inc., which has an exclusive worldwide license for the antenna technology, including military applications and resulting procurement interests.
Additional scientific and practical R&D is required to complete the commercialization of the CTHA, IAS said. Prototypes are being tested by the U.S. Department of Defense, and IAS believes the results will verify non-military applications.
CTHA specifics
The Contrawound Toroidal Helical Antenna consists of two helical windings, pairs wrapped with opposite pitch to each other, referred to as contrawinding. Winding interactions slow the propagation of the electrical current within the antenna, causing it to behave as a larger, lower-frequency antenna, the company said.
Feed ports are located at points where the contrawound conductors cross. At one or more feed ports, the conductors are broken and voltage is applied so that the currents produced in each winding will flow in opposite directions around the toroid.
