Amidst the headlines of first quarter losses and layoffs, there is one company with an announcement to boast about. Antenova has secured $4.9-million of venture capital to fund its ‘smart’ directional antenna technology. The U.K.-based company claims that its technology has the potential to multiply the capacity of 3G networks while shrinking the size of handsets and base stations.

A consortium led by Cambridge Gateway Fund along with NIF (Nippon Investment Fund), Quester, and FNI was attracted by the company’s innovative technology. Alan Barrell of Cambridge Gateway, said, "Antenova has a unique technology targeting a very large and well defined market. It directly addresses fundamental problems faced by all the players concerned—from the handset and base station equipment suppliers to the network operators themselves."

According to Antenova’s CEO Dr. Graham Cooley, this influx of funding will enable the company to "release product samples early in the 2.5G and 3G infrastructure development cycles, as well as upgrades for current 2G technology."

Antenova owns the intellectual property to the technology developed at the universities of Sheffield, U.K., and Griffith (Brisbane), Australia.

• Controls the direction of transmissions thus blocking RF radiation away from the user’s head or, in the case of base stations that are close to sensitive areas, from schools or residential locales. This would minimize the health risks from RF radiation
• Enhances performance significantly while reducing the size and power consumption thus resulting in smaller handsets and base stations
• Allows the capacity of communications networks to be multiplied by means of spatial multiplexing, as the antenna is electronically steer-able

For more information: http://www.antenova.com/pr/pr2.html