ISM Antennas Designed to Meet the High-Performance and Reliability Needs of Challenging Applications

Abracon’s ISM antennas are designed to meet the high-performance and reliability needs of the most challenging applications requiring connectivity with high-speed and long-range across all market verticals, especially in Industrial, Scientific and Medical Applications.

The ISM bands are part of the RF spectrum allocated for Industrial, Scientific, and Medical applications by the ITU (International Telecoms Union) hence ISM for short.

The most often used ISM bands are the license-free bands as a costly license is not needed. The lack of license requirements has encouraged the growth of the wireless industry. The frequencies of the bands include 433.92 MHz, 868 MHz, and 915 MHz, which are often referred to as the sub-GHz bands or the regional ISM bands. There is also a license-free band at the 2.4 GHz band.

The sub-GHz bands are allocated for use in one of three radiocommunication regions, broadly 433.92 MHz for Asia, 868 MHz for Europe and Africa, and 915MHz for the Americas.

It is important to understand the “pros and cons” of the sub-GHz versus the 2.4GHz band when deciding which protocol to use when designing an IoT device or other wireless system for optimal system performance and commercial viability. It will have an impact on the key performance of the systems. Below we highlight the key features of each and the typical use-cases for guidance.

The sub-GHz band usually allows a longer-range wireless communication link compared to the 2.4GHz band. This is a result of the longer wavelength inherent to its lower frequency. Sub-GHz band devices tend to have a greater ability to penetrate materials such as walls and buildings, are less susceptible to reflection, can bend further around obstacles, and often experience less interference from the high number of other wireless devices operating in these license-free bands. As a result, often a Sub-GHz wireless protocol is used in large building environments instead of the 2.4 GHz ISM band amongst other similar applications. The Sub-GHz bands tend to be used in low bandwidth/data rate applications conversely the 2.4 GHz band is chosen where a higher data rate is required, there is a trade-off between the two.

Applications – Sub-GHz

• Safety Alarm Systems
• Fire Alarms
• Hand-held Payment Terminals
• Barcode Scanners
• Smart Meters
• Electronic Point-of-Sale (EPOS)
• Inventory Tracking
• Remote Process Monitoring
• Data Loggers
• Restaurant Ordering Systems

Applications – 2.4GHz

• HD video streaming
• Security Camera Systems
• Bluetooth™
• Wi-Fi
• Short-range high data rate wireless communications

Features – Sub-GHz

• High robustness of wireless communication
• Long-range communications
• Low susceptibility to reflection

Features – 2.4 GHz

• High data rate wireless communication

The ISM antennas are available in various sizes and types, such as chip, flexible PCB, Stamped Metal, whip, blade, and dome, to ensure Abracon has the ideal antenna fit for your design. Antenna cables and connectors are customizable to meet design requirements.

Click the link to search for ISM products: ISM Antennas