Fractal Antenna Awarded Fifth Patent


BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 31, 2002--Fractal Antenna Systems, Inc., today disclosed that the firm has been issued a new U.S. patent on "fractal antennas and fractal resonators." This is the fifth patent for the antenna and electronics innovator, augmenting its IP portfolio on the breakthrough technology it discovered and pioneered.

Fractal antennas are based on intricate repeating geometrical shapes. They have unique attributes that make them especially valuable for telecommunications and other wireless needs. They are very broadband, physically smaller, and can be chosen to work at specific bands. A subset of fractal designs has been shown by the firm's scientists to be essential to understanding the property of `frequency independence' in Maxwell's equations, which govern the properties of the electromagnetic spectrum including radio frequencies.

The new patent discloses popular fractal shapes used for antennas including: Sierpinski, Koch, Mandlebrot, Julia, and virtually all other fractal geometries. In addition to securing many of the core rights on the basic fractal element antenna (FEA) technology, the new patent also discloses `fractal resonators.' These are RLC circuits that are built entirely from a fractal-shaped conductor--with no electronic components.

Fractal Antenna Systems, Inc. was founded in 1995 by Nathan Cohen, now a recently retired Boston University telecommunications professor and radio astronomer. The firm has grown exponentially in the last year, with the continued acceptance of fractal antennas in engineering circles. "Although it has taken a while for this patent to issue, it coincides beautifully with the substantial increase in our business," notes CEO David Moschella. "The issuance of another of our core patents continues to assure our customers that we have priority ownership of the rights of this disruptive technology." Moschella adds, "and the number of markets recognizing the value of our technology grows daily."

While the firm founded the field of fractal element antennas, it remains at the very cutting edge. Notes CTO Nathan Cohen: "We would judge that our knowledge base and development base is at least a decade ahead of what academic researchers are reporting. In fact, we have yet to see anything scientifically substantive that expands upon what we've done many years ago." Cohen further noted that this years-ahead experience translates directly into valuable designs for the company's customers.

The firm has dozens of U.S. and international patents pending and expects further issuance of patents in coming months.