Description

The purpose of the CC-Antenna-DK is to ease the decision for which type of low cost antenna can be implemented as well as to give an estimation of the performance that can be achieved.

The frequency range of the antennas is from 136 MHz to 2480 MHz. The A4 sized PCB panel contains 16 different boards; 13 antenna designs and 3 boards for calibration purposes. Each board has been v-cut and can be snapped out of the PCB panel.

All antennas are tuned for connecting to an EM board on the EB platform. A matching network is used on each antenna design so the antenna boards can matched for other GND sizes than the EB board.

Additionally, the ambition with DN031 is to collect the various antenna measurements that have been performed and to compare the results obtained in an overview format. For each antenna, a CTIA measurement summary is provided with a link to the full measurement CTIA report. DN6xx is designated for the full CTIA measurement reports.
Choosing the correct antenna for the application is crucial if the optimum range is to be achieved. Similarly, for a given distance, the power can be reduced on the transmitter side if the optimum antenna is chosen.
DN031 categorizes the antennas under the operating frequency (169 MHz, 315 MHz, 433 MHz, 868 / 915 MHz or 2.44 GHz) and then the type of antenna (PCB Antennas, Chip Antennas, and Wire Antennas). The main focus is on PCB, Wire and Chip antennas, since these are mainly used in high volume products. Also, this will set a bench mark for evaluation of future new antennas.
Over-The-Air (OTA) testing provides a more accurate testing for wireless devices in order to be able to determine the RF characteristics of the final product. Traditionally, the antenna radiation patterns were stated as horizontal and vertical polarizations in XY, XZ & YZ planes. This information is still useful, but for the majority of wireless devices, the polarization and positioning is usually unknown and makes comparing antennas difficult.

The tests are performed in an anechoic chamber at the Texas Instruments facilities in Oslo and the transmitted power is recorded in a dual polarized antenna. The DUT is fixed onto the turn arm which is on the turn table. The turn table rotates from 0 to 180 degrees and the turn arm is rotated 360 degrees so a 3D radiation diagram can illustrate the spatial distributions.

CC-Antenna-DK is a part of the total antenna in-design support that is provided by LPRF. There is no one antenna that fits all applications but hopefully this CC-Antenna-DK will help in determining which antenna type should be the best solution for your application.

Features

The kit contains the following antennas:

• 169 MHz (136 - 240 MHz) Antenna
• 315 MHz (273 - 348 MHz) Antenna
• 433 MHz (387 - 510 MHz) Antenna
• 868 MHz (779 - 960 MHz) Antenna
• 915 MHz (779 - 960 MHz) Antenna
• 2.4 GHz AntennaDual Band Antenna (868 & 2440 MHz)