How Well do you Know Antennas? - Antenna Tech 2 Quiz

Top Two Answers to the Essay Question: You are designing a wireless edge device for an asset tracking application. Please explain what you would consider when selection an embedded antenna for the device. Which answer deserves the most points?

Answer #1
There are so many dependencies. Is the asset made of metal or non-metallic material? How far away can the asset be? What is the environment (i.e. temperature, humidity, shock, vibration, EMI, magnetic fields, etc.) where the asset operates? Or is stored (you may want to know where it is stored)? What type of wireless network is being used? Cost? and the country of operations regulatory requirements? So generally, speak if the asset is mobile an omnidirectional antenna may be best. But if the asset is mostly stationary, maybe a directional at antenna would be more efficient. If the asset maybe in storage an isotropic antenna would be nice. Again, too many unknowns, and maybe why there are so many solutions to pick from.
Randall's Comment: This answer is direct and reads like it comes from experience. The use of questions is probing and very effective. It's clearly written for anyone to understand. And the fact it mentions "the unknowns" is of itself a factor.

Answer #2
Due to emerging internet of things (IoT) and machine-to-machine interfaces antennas can be found almost everywhere. This includes connected vehicles, smart thermostats that control heating and air conditioning in the home and in a huge array of industrial sensors, measuring devices and controls. Most consumer and many industrial devices feature embedded antennas, rather than terminal, or external, antennas. Embedded antennas are contained within the device or component, where their proximity to other components can cause many unplanned interactions.

When selecting an embedded antenna for an asset tracking device, the important things to be consider are: Bandwidth, Efficiency, Impedance, Gain, Ground plane, Signal interference, Packaging material, Proximity to a human body, Antenna placement, Size, Cost and performance, Proximity to other electronics, Return loss, Radiation patterns, Directivity and connectivity.
Selecting and integrating an antenna is a unique process within electronics design. It's not like integrating other digital ICs or components, which can be easily chosen by just examining documents and specifications. While I was selecting embedded antenna I would like to consider the things like
Return loss (VSWR) and matching: A lower VSWR is better, as it means more energy is delivered to the antenna. Antennas that are not correctly matched may not radiate power. Within RF, impedance and impedance-match measure an antennas resistance to alternating current.

Efficiency and ground planes: Efficiency is the most important measure of antenna performance. In small battery-powered devices achieving highly efficient performance is integral to the longevity of the device. Ground plane length is another significant player in determining antenna efficiency. Reducing the ground plane length could cause efficiency to fall.

Frequencies and technologies: Embedded antennas are essentially transducers reliant on an optimized board layout and host PCB to enable their effective performance. Different devices such as mobile phones or televisions operate within specific allocated frequencies. So, it is essential as a product designers to select frequency relevant to the application as this will also determine the choice of embedded antenna used.

Gain and directivity: Gain is a performance indicator that is used to determine antenna directivity and losses, the higher the dBi, the higher the gain, and the more focused the beam. However, for the likes of wearables or trackers, directivity is not necessarily helpful. Wearable devices and mobile phone antennas use signals that may come from any direction, so a low gain, non-directional antenna is more effective.

Radiation patterns: Radiation pattern is another fundamental factor to consider when choosing an antenna for a device. Antennas with highly ‘directional’ characteristics may be better suited to fixed applications. Furthermore, handheld and wearable devices may perform better with slightly omni-directional characteristics.

It will be a good to plan the antenna for better receiving of signal when embedded in device.

Randall's Comment: This answer is thorough and informative. It's well communicated. It's perhaps a textbook or academic way of answering the question, which is quite fine.

What do you think? Which answer do you think merits the most points?

Top Two Answers to the Essay Question: You are designing a wireless edge device for an asset tracking application. Please explain what you would consider when selection an embedded antenna for the device. Which answer deserves the most points?

Answer #1
There are so many dependencies. Is the asset made of metal or non-metallic material? How far away can the asset be? What is the environment (i.e. temperature, humidity, shock, vibration, EMI, magnetic fields, etc.) where the asset operates? Or is stored (you may want to know where it is stored)? What type of wireless network is being used? Cost? and the country of operations regulatory requirements? So generally, speak if the asset is mobile an omnidirectional antenna may be best. But if the asset is mostly stationary, maybe a directional at antenna would be more efficient. If the asset maybe in storage an isotropic antenna would be nice. Again, too many unknowns, and maybe why there are so many solutions to pick from.
Randall's Comment: This answer is direct and reads like it comes from experience. The use of questions is probing and very effective. It's clearly written for anyone to understand. And the fact it mentions "the unknowns" is of itself a factor.

Answer #2
Due to emerging internet of things (IoT) and machine-to-machine interfaces antennas can be found almost everywhere. This includes connected vehicles, smart thermostats that control heating and air conditioning in the home and in a huge array of industrial sensors, measuring devices and controls. Most consumer and many industrial devices feature embedded antennas, rather than terminal, or external, antennas. Embedded antennas are contained within the device or component, where their proximity to other components can cause many unplanned interactions.

When selecting an embedded antenna for an asset tracking device, the important things to be consider are: Bandwidth, Efficiency, Impedance, Gain, Ground plane, Signal interference, Packaging material, Proximity to a human body, Antenna placement, Size, Cost and performance, Proximity to other electronics, Return loss, Radiation patterns, Directivity and connectivity.
Selecting and integrating an antenna is a unique process within electronics design. It's not like integrating other digital ICs or components, which can be easily chosen by just examining documents and specifications. While I was selecting embedded antenna I would like to consider the things like
Return loss (VSWR) and matching: A lower VSWR is better, as it means more energy is delivered to the antenna. Antennas that are not correctly matched may not radiate power. Within RF, impedance and impedance-match measure an antennas resistance to alternating current.

Efficiency and ground planes: Efficiency is the most important measure of antenna performance. In small battery-powered devices achieving highly efficient performance is integral to the longevity of the device. Ground plane length is another significant player in determining antenna efficiency. Reducing the ground plane length could cause efficiency to fall.

Frequencies and technologies: Embedded antennas are essentially transducers reliant on an optimized board layout and host PCB to enable their effective performance. Different devices such as mobile phones or televisions operate within specific allocated frequencies. So, it is essential as a product designers to select frequency relevant to the application as this will also determine the choice of embedded antenna used.

Gain and directivity: Gain is a performance indicator that is used to determine antenna directivity and losses, the higher the dBi, the higher the gain, and the more focused the beam. However, for the likes of wearables or trackers, directivity is not necessarily helpful. Wearable devices and mobile phone antennas use signals that may come from any direction, so a low gain, non-directional antenna is more effective.

Radiation patterns: Radiation pattern is another fundamental factor to consider when choosing an antenna for a device. Antennas with highly ‘directional’ characteristics may be better suited to fixed applications. Furthermore, handheld and wearable devices may perform better with slightly omni-directional characteristics.

It will be a good to plan the antenna for better receiving of signal when embedded in device.

Randall's Comment: This answer is thorough and informative. It's well communicated. It's perhaps a textbook or academic way of answering the question, which is quite fine.

What do you think? Which answer do you think merits the most points?

Maybe it depends who the answer is directed to.

I prefer answer 1, because it is the most direct reply to the question

Answer 2 also has the selection criteria , but (opinion :) ) it mixes it with other engineering principles that are more part of the product design than the component selection 

It's self-defined. What you see the audience is. 

Even though it's quite long, I prefer Answer #2.  I think the use of a couple of "I" statements were reaffirming.  Additionally, Answer #1 refers to using an isotropic antenna.  Call me petty, but that's theoretical - not real.

I prefer answer 1 also