CPL Technology

DockOn’s CPL^™ antenna technology is based on the concept of increasing efficiency and bandwidth by exciting magnetic and electric radiators together from a single feed location. This concept, referred to as “compound antenna theory”, has been perfected by DockOn for use in a wide variety of commercial applications and implemented on a variety of substrates including rigid/flex PCB, stamped metal and Laser Direct Structuring (LDS).

Magnetic Dipole
CPL^™ antennas are loop based architectures and can be made to operate independently from a PCB ground plane or can use the ground plane for size reduction. The loop based architecture reduces the complexity of antenna integration by concentrating most, if not all, the RF currents in the antenna structure and not the PCB ground plane. This results in less interference from PCB components to the antenna and vice versa. The magnetic energy produced from the loop radiator increases the antenna’s stability from de-tuning sources such as the human body, metal objects, etc.

Electric Dipole
The electric radiator(s) contained within the CPL^™ antenna elements serve to control the antenna pattern and increase the bandwidth of the antenna. These radiators are connected together with the magnetic dipole in such a way to produce a quadrature relationship between the electric and magnetic fields, resulting in a traveling electromagnetic (EM) radio wave. This method of producing an EM wave is unlike any other printed antenna design.

Simulation and Real World Measurements
Because of the stability of the surface currents within CPL^™ antennas, high correlations between simulated and measured results are possible. DockOn has developed custom software tools (CPL^™ Builder) to enhance the optimization of custom antenna designs and reduce the time required for an initial design. Learn more about DockOn’s development processes.