Do RF modules eliminate the need for RF Engineers?

Nice post Chris, and plenty to think about.

I've talked to a lot of these module makers, and they all say the same thing, that a real shortage of RF engineers created the market. There were many more companies wanting radio capabilities in their design than there were engineers to employ. Some companies chose the outcourcing route, especially the ones that needed a bespoke solution. Others went the modular route. Modules are great for low production runs, especially where low NRE costs are important to  the success of the project. The modules are already certified, software is included and design in is a lot easier than a discrete solution. Even final testing is often outsourced to the CEM buiding the final design.

I think all topics are still relevant, and RF engineers are very much in demand from what I have seen, either to be employed intenally by larger companies doing discrete design, or by consultants like yourself.

In my opinion the study of RF theory is more important than ever before as many more new products will include radio capability. The first few generations of these products may use off-the-shelf modules, but I believe manufacturers would like to move to bespoke solutions if they can find the expertise

The truth is that an RF module cannot replace the know how, experience, and instinct of a seasoned RF engineer. I'm not an RF engineer myself but I have a lot of respect for them. RF engineering is one of the most complex specializations in engineering, at high frequencies every detail is important. Simple Capacitors and Inductors become complex impedance networks, heck the ordinary transformer begins to behave as a third or fourth order bandpass filter whose influence on the design must be taken into account.

I like modules because they are easy to experiment with and are good for setting up a basic link, but I would never be so audacious as to say that thanks to little Zigbee modules we no longer need RF engineers.

I don't feel I have moral authority to post anything on RF(not my specialization, and frankly a weakness in my knowledge base) but I can appreciate how hard it must be to design an RF device. Any manager (or other higher up) who fires his RF engineer, because he has discovered X brand RF module, is ignorant and will pay a very high price for it.

Those are my 2cents.

Regards,

Jorge Garcia

Cadsoft Computer

P.S. If anyone can recommend some reading material on basic RF, I appreciate any suggestions, just so I can learn a little more on this subject and hopefully have something to contribute.

Hello Jorge Garcia,

You asked about a resource to learn more about RF theory.   You might be interested in our BLOG and newsletter feeds.

Pinter Electronics Consultants provides leadership in Wireless development and High Tech Project Management.   I have a couple of blogs that describe the importance of good RF design.

You might find my blog titled  "  Chris Pinter’s Top 10 things every engineer should know about radio development."  interesting.   Please check it out.

http://www.pinterec.ca/category/blog/wireless

Chris Pinter

Pinter Electronics Consultants

When your radio absolutely must work…

___________________You need a specialist… Choose the best.

Great discussions.

On the positive side, RF modules have brought new products to market quicker and often cheaper. On the negative side, there are more performance similarities between the new products brought to market...the old "me too" syndrome as everyone has access to similar modules in their designs, thus similar specs.

Rather than an RF engineer focusing on a specific circuit, they can now focus on the higher level assembly, which should include CE/interference diagnostics and predictions as well as certifications mentioned above.

We can probably all remember when there was a RF/MW Filter Designer on staff that spent endless hours designing LC or cavity filters, now the engineering team buy fixed ceramic types from any number of qualified, high volume suppliers....no production tweaking usually needed.

Still think that there is a real need for unique design solutions to differenciate product with novel RF circuit approaches, especially in military/aerospace communications.

This covers a lot!

Yes the current batch of modules save a lot of work, but only in the sense that previous generations of RF modules did the same. They still, on the whole, need to be integrated into a product and have antennas attached etc and they will still interact with the rest of the circuitry in a wanted or unwanted manner. EMC can be a factor in the box as well as out of it. This is going back to the days of Wood & Douglas and even Microwave Modules.

You can look at the design problems with such as the iPhone 4G and see that the rest of the product can go wrong. There is still a lot of work needs doing in matching the module to the real world, so to speak, as most aren't completely self contained (ie no antenna on board).

That is a good point.  Yes Apple did drop the ball on the Iphone antenna.

We posted an article on our website in relation to that event.  Have a read.

http://www.pinterec.ca/antennagate

Hmm ... it's an interesting question. Speaking as an RF engineer who works for a manufacturer or modules, I should say 'no: our modules solve all the issues'.  But that's rubbish. A module is a good choice for small to medium volumes and short design cycles, but it isn't going to compete with an in-house design (for cost, or functions) if you have the resources. Also, ignorance of basic RF techniques will make successful implementation of even a module based design questionable, and a good knowledge of RF design is essential to understand what is wrong (in specification terms) with so many of the  'single integrated circuit' radios that companies are trying to use.  I'd like to see a lot more "RF trained" engineers out there, for all our sakes.

I think the RF modules open up the posibility of a Non-RF engineer getting that project out the door at a fixed known cost with expectation off passing emisssions regulations etc. Unless you are doing a custom layout or have a very specific requirement I think it's very hard for an RF engineer to give you real benefits in the the short to medium run. No doubt the bets are off in big comercial runs but I doubt they buy from E14 or ask the likes of us at that point

Surely this is very similar to the prevelence of SBCs in the custom market place. It's simply not viable to optimise the design with the complexity of these products when the "good enough" modules will get you there. for a hard pressed design team you can then focus on the truely unique elements of your design such as maybe S/W????

"I think the RF modules open up the posibility of a Non-RF engineer getting that project out the door at a fixed known cost with expectation off passing emisssions regulations etc. Unless you are doing a custom layout or have a very specific requirement I think it's very hard for an RF engineer to give you real benefits in the the short to medium run."

I agree in many cases.  The RF engineer can get you a few more dB, but you have so little link margin that a few dB matters, you may have other problems.  If the volumes are high, though, there may be good reason to squeeze every out every bit of link budget possible.

Even with modules, there may be problems that go beyond link margin, such as intermod or in-band interference from digital noise.  The modules are good, though, because they get you started, esp if you just want a minimum viable product to get feedback about what people are willing to pay for.