Lately, most mobile phones no longer have whip antennas. This has been made possible by advancements in the technology used to integrate the antenna in the handset, and our ceramics chip antennas are greatly contributing to this trend. Murata’s new antennas feature a mix of our special materials, design, electrode and multilayer technologies in order to provide optimal reception of a variety of wireless signals. Our antenna lineup, which includes dielectric antennas and multilayer antennas optimized to receive the 800MHz, 1.5GHz, 2.4GHz and other frequencies is playing a major role in making mobile phones even more functionally sophisticated while further reducing their size and thickness.

The filter selects only the necessary frequency from radio signals. Larger number of duplexers dividing the frequency into transmitting and receiving bands tends to be used as mobile phone system becomes more highly integrated and sophisticated. Consequently, those duplexers are required to be smaller and thinner. Murata fulfills these requirements by offering SAW devices and the world’s first filter that employs boundary elastic waves. Our products are indispensable in designing these highly functional, yet stylish and thin phones.

Signals passing through the antenna contain much interference. The mobile phone consists of complex circuits to handle various functions, including a filtering function to eliminate noise and a switching function to switch between transmitting and receiving. Multilayer modules have been conceived in order to integrate all these functions in a single component. Several ceramic sheets that can be co-fired at low temperatures are laminated together to form passive components such as inductor (coils), capacitors and RF-passive components. Semiconductive components and other components are mounted on the surface of the ceramic substrate.

Murata develops a broad range of RF modules for mobile phones and other mobile equipment. Our lineup of modules for Bluetooth^® （a new method for short range wireless communication）, includes Blue Device^®, an RF module dedicated for RF circuits, and Blue Module^®, an HCI （Host Controller Interface） module that combines a Blue Device^® module with other components, such as baseband signal processing circuits and flash memories. Use of low-temperature, co-fired ceramic multilayer substrates makes both modules the world's smallest in their categories. Murata also offers small high-performance modules for use in car navigation systems, mobile phones and GPS （satellite-based Global Positioning System）.