Why the antenna is crucial for wireless devices

Tommy Kärrrman and Antti Silventoinen from our partner ProAnt will give a lecture about the crucial component of a wireless device, the antenna. We are honored that these Swedish antenna experts will come to the D&E event ‘17 on 11 and 12 October next on behalf of us. We asked Tommy a couple questions in advance.

Tommy, you are an engineer. What do you think about the growing demand of wireless devices and IoT?

‘’M2M and IoT have been buzzwords for several years. Still, I believe we are yet in the beginning of the IoT revolution. Along with the overall development of Internet  based services, comes the demand of being able to monitor and handle them wirelessly’’, says Tommy.  He thinks that the freedom, the time savings, the cost savings and the swiftness of being able to connect by a wireless device is presently, and will in the future be, an uncompromising demand of both the industry and consumers. ‘’I believe that, 10 years from now, we will be more connected than anyone can imagine.’’

Why are antennas so important for a wireless connection of an embedded device?

The level of wireless performance will have an overall impact on user experience of the whole product. Hence, optimized antenna performance is immensely important.

What are the criteria by selecting the best antenna solution?

When selecting the antenna technology for a device, always start by defining the most common use cases. This definition will help you to narrow down the amount of suitable embedded antennas. Features like the device’s mobility, use case close to metal, other dense material or even the human body and shock resistance, will further diminish the number of antennas that will suit the application. Apart from this, you need to specify available space on the PCB and target level of performance.

Do you have tips and tricks for engineers who have the intention to make their device wireless?

Prioritize the antenna and its position and proximity to other objects of the design in the early stages of the development project! Good wireless connectivity is crucial for any wireless device. If you launch a product with worse connectivity than you competitor, you most certainly will lose the market battle. So, ensure that your antenna solution has the best conditions to perform well from the start and the matter of antenna performance should be paramount throughout the project. If you are not guided by these advice, you may find yourself in a situation where good antenna performance is impossible to achieve, with time consuming and costly redesign as a result.

 

All electronic designers and other interested individuals are welcome to visit our lecture at the D&E event:
– 11 October, 14.30 p.m., Technopolis, Mechelen (BE)
– 12 October, 11.15 a.m., Brabanthallen Den Bosch (NL)
Visit our booth from 09.00 – 16.30 uur every day !

More information about our IoT solutions: www.acalbfi.nl/iot and www.acalbfi.be/iot
Register for free, click here.