Characteristics of PCB, FPC, and Narrowband IoT Antennas
I. Narrowband IoT Antennas
IoT and smart hardware products require antennas to connect to the internet
and transmit data. The smaller the space and the more frequency bands, the more
complex the antenna design. The antenna length is approximately one-quarter of
the electromagnetic wavelength, so the lower the signal frequency, the longer
the antenna.
To achieve the transmission efficiency of a long antenna with a short
antenna, the transmission power must be increased. Therefore, walkie-talkies,
which need to transmit signals, often have long external antennas, while FM
radios, which only receive, have internal receiving antennas. Examples include
2G (900MHz), 4G (700-2600MHz), Wi-Fi and Bluetooth (2.4GHz), and GPS
(1.5GHz).
These commonly used narrowband IoT antenna communication methods can be
implemented as internal antennas. External antennas are rarely used for
small-sized products such as mobile phones, wearables, and smart homes; internal
antennas are commonly used. They offer high integration and a more aesthetically
pleasing product appearance, but their performance is slightly lower than that
of external antennas.
II. Characteristics of PCB Antennas
An antenna is simply a wire of a specific length. This line can also be
drawn on the PCB, creating a PCB antenna. PCB antennas are widely used on
single-band module circuit boards, such as Bluetooth modules, Wi-Fi modules, and
Zigbee modules. Advantages: They are virtually cost-effective and require no
re-adjustment after a single adjustment.
3. Characteristics of FPC Antennas
FPC antennas are essentially antenna traces removed from the PCB, using
external metal to create the antenna. They are commonly used in low- and
mid-range mobile phones and smart hardware products with complex frequency
bands. Advantages of FPC antennas: They are suitable for nearly all small
electronic products and can be used to create complex antennas covering more
than ten frequency bands, such as 4G. They offer excellent performance due to
the flexibility of FPC and are easily attached to curved and irregular surfaces.
Cost is also relatively low.
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