Quectel announced at last week’s Electronica in Munich two combo antennas designed to deliver flexibility and choice of network technologies while placing consistent space, power and location demands on device designers.

The YEMD302L1A is a three-in-one combo antenna engineered for optimal connectivity, offering flexible mounting options with magnetic, adhesive or screw mounts.

This antenna supports a frequency range for 4G coverage, including 700-960MHz and 1710-2690MHz bands. The wifi frequency coverage ranges are 2400-2500MHz, 5150-5850MHz and 5925-7125MHz, demonstrating compatibility with standards up to Wifi 7.

For precise navigation, the 1565-1606MHz GNSS band supports multiple satellite positioning systems, including GPS, Beidou and Glonass, ensuring consistent and accurate positioning across various platforms.

This product meets various international certification standards, including Reach, RoHS, Pops and CE. Flame retardancy rating is UL94 V-0 and UV resistance rating UL746c f1, with a durable housing design that ensures an IP67 waterproof rating.

For use cases in public safety, high-definition video streaming, smart cities, utilities, fleet management and automotive vehicle tracking, the YEMD302L1A (www.quectel.com/product/yemd302l1a-4g-wi-fi-gnss-3-in-1-combo-antenna) comprises one 4G antenna, one wifi antenna and one GNSS L1 antenna.

The YEMD301L1A (www.quectel.com/product/yemd301l1a-4g-gnss-3-in-1-combo-antenna) 4G and GNSS three-in-one combo antenna offers magnetic, adhesive or screw mount options and supports 4G in the 700-960MHz and 1710-2690MHz bands and GNSS in the 1565-1606MHz band. For locations where the antenna is required to be discreet, it has the same dimensions as the YEMD302L1A.

This combo antenna has been designed for use in harsh outdoor environments and is also IP67 rated, along with UV resistance and UL94 V-0 flame rating of its enclosure. It provides a two-in-one customisation option, allowing for configurations such as dual 4G or a combination of 4G and Wifi 7, along with customisable cable lengths and various connector types.

“These robust, versatile and flexible combo antennas offer compelling 4G, wifi and GNSS capabilities all in a durable three-in-one enclosure,” said Norbert Muhrer, president of Quectel Wireless. “Designed for versatility across numerous applications, these combo antennas offer developers a discreet, easy-to-install solution with assured durability, making them ideal for demanding outdoor environments.”

By combining multiple technologies in the same form factor of antenna enclosure, regional requirements, resilience needs and futureproofing of devices can be achieved without having to design different device variants. These benefits are further augmented by Quectel’s antenna design services which can be accessed to ensure devices perform optimally and the antenna is pre-integrated with the module.

The durability and features of both these combo antennas can be supported by Quectel’s antenna services (www.quectel.com/antenna-services), developed to help organisations accelerate development by providing consultation, testing and certification support. Experienced engineers offer bespoke antenna design to enable high performance wireless networking backed by detailed testing and reports to help achieve certification and network approval.

Quectel also introduced at the show the SC682A, a smart module featuring multi-mode LTE Cat 4, wifi and Bluetooth 5.1 connectivity as well as dual-band GNSS capabilities. With the Android 13-18 operating system built-in, the module offers an extended life cycle to at least 2030.

The module is engineered for performance and multimedia capabilities, featuring a flexible memory configuration. This versatility lets it support a broad range of industrial and consumer applications, delivering high data rates and robust multimedia functionality.

“We’re proud to unveil the Quectel SC682A multi-mode smart LTE module at this year’s Electronica event,” said Muhrer. “This powerful new module brings together flexible memory configurations and the convenience of the Android 13-18 operating system built-in to the smart module. Further to this, the SC682A will have a lifetime that extends to at least 2030, providing LTE Cat 4, wifi and Bluetooth 5.1 connectivity to a vast range of smart use cases.”

Interfaces for cameras, touch panels, mic, SPK, uart, USN I²C and SPI extend the module’s use cases to include smart versions of PoS, home gateways, robots, wearables, safety devices, vending machines, lockers, and audio and video recorders. In addition, the data rate of 150Mbit/s downlink and 50Mbit/s uplink via LTE Cat 4 supports video streaming and entertainment systems. Further connection flexibility is assured thanks to the wifi and Bluetooth capabilities as well as accurate positioning supported thanks to the embedded dual-band multi-constellation and high-sensitivity GNSS receiver.

Able to operate in temperatures from -35 to +75˚C, the SC682A is set to be both RoHS and Reach compliant. The module’s dimensions are 43.0 by 44.0 by 2.85mm, supporting flexibility for device designers and developers. It provides flexible memory configuration with its LPDDR4X plus eMMC memory architecture, enhancing performance and adaptability for various applications.

Quectel (www.quectel.com) offers a range of antenna options to support the module.