The tiny antennas used by most of the world’s mobile phones are made by Fractus, a Spanish company that specializes in fractal antennas and boasts more than 150 patents.

Fractus is a spinoff from the Universidad Politécnica de Cataluña (UPC) or BarcelonaTech. In 1999 it patented the world’s first fractal antenna. This technology, which is now employed by most smartphones, tablets and e-readers among other devices, allowed integrating antennas inside a device’s casing for the first time. It also improved their capacity in order to connect simultaneously with several bandwidths such as 2G, 3G, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

One of the great advantages of these antennas, which are even smaller than a grain of rice, is their tiny size. As a result they don’t stick out of a device which used to be the case. Another advantage is that they can work on multiple bands, functioning with numerous types of wireless technologies such as GPS, WLAN and Bluetooth. The metal contained in the antenna adapts very well to a small space such as the inside of a cellphone, while still leaving room for the battery, screen and earpieces.

Thanks to these advances one of the company’s founders, Carles Puente, is among three finalists for the European Inventor Award 2014 within the category of small and medium-sized companies. This award is given annually by the European Patent Office.