This article is part of the TechXchange: Device-Level Antenna Selection Considerations.
Determining exactly where to place an antenna on a printed-circuit board (PCB) isn’t a trivial exercise. It’s difficult enough when there’s a single antenna, and if there are multiple antennas, you’ll have to balance the goals of optimal signal strength with that of minimal interference while accounting for the PCB’s dimensions. Many product designers don’t have that kind of in-house antenna design skills to rely on, either.
Antenova, a maker of antennas and RF antenna modules for machine-to-machine (M2M) and IoT applications, is trying to help with a free software tool that’ll not only aid in selecting an antenna for embedded applications, but also in optimizing placement of the antenna on your PCB. The tool displays the optimum position for embedded antennas on the PCB, depending upon the dimensions of the PCB and the specifications of the antennas. It places each individual antenna on the PCB in the best location for signal strength, doing so early in the design process and enabling designers to converge on a working wireless design more easily.
Antenna placement becomes much more complex when there is more than one antenna in the design, as each antenna needs to be able to radiate correctly without causing interference to the others. Antenova has created the tool to position up to three antennas from different categories or a pair of antennas in a diversity configuration.
The placement tool will be valuable for designers creating layouts for the small PCBs within some of the latest trackers and mobile devices. As well as showing the best position for the antenna, the tool displays the “keep-out” area adjacent to the antenna, which must be kept free of other components, helping designers to pack components as closely as possible and save space in the design.
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