Dev board flexibly positions small Bluetooth antenna, for wearables

Antenna booster?

“This technology enables replacing conventional and custom antenna solutions by a new class of so-called antenna boosters, delivered in the form of miniature off-the-shelf chip antenna components,” according to the firm. This one “has been specifically designed for providing Bluetooth in wireless devices with small space requirements.”

“It does not need any clearance beyond the antenna footprint,” company marketing manager Raquel Arribas told Electronics Weekly. “Since the device does not need any clearance on the PCB ground beyond its antenna footprint, you can use the proximity area in the component to arrange other element in the PCB.”

The 40 x 80mm board (part EB_NN03-320-m-BT) has two sites to locate the antenna and is intended to demonstrate that the component can be mounted on the edge of a PCB or in the corner of a PCB.

It integrates a cable with an SMA connector to connect the antenna, plus sites for necessary matching components (three SMD capacitors, and operates from 2.4GHz to 2.5GHz.

Taking a look at the eval board data sheet:

The antenna performance is always conditioned by its operating environment so that different devices with different printed circuit board sizes, components nearby the antenna, LCD’s, batteries, covers and connectors affect the antenna performance. Accordingly, it is highly recommended placing pads compatible with 0402 and 0603 SMD components for a matching network as close as possible to the feeding point of the antenna element. Do it in the ground plane area, not in the clearance area. By tuning the matching network in your final design with your final surrounding components (batteries, displays, covers, etc.) you will be able to optimize the antenna performance without changing the antenna part.

The actual antenna is dual purpose – it has one poet for operating at Bluetooth frequencies (used in this application) and a second for operating at GNSS (global navigation satellite systems, like GPS). There is a second evaluation board that exploits both ports.