Antenova Ltd has created a new software tool to help designers place antennas in a wireless design. 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.Antenova has developed this tool to assist product designers who do not have access to antenna skills in-house.
The tool should help designers to place the antenna in the best position early in the design process and achieve a working wireless design more easily. It can be used for one single antenna or up to three antennas.
Antenna placement becomes 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. With this in mind, Antenova has created the tool to position up to three antennas from different categories or a pair of antennas in a diverse configuration.
Antenova’s 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. Like this, it will help designers to pack components as closely as possible and save space in the design.
