Texas Instruments: CC-ANTENNA-DK - CC Antenna Development Kit

Kit Overview

The purpose of the Texas Instruments CC-Antenna-DKCC-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.

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.

Antennas are categorized 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.

The CC-Antenna-DKCC-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.

Key Applications: Decision making for Low-cost Antenna  implementation and estimation of the performance