Angle of Arrival – Where are we?

Bluetooth “Angle of Arrival” was included in the Bluetooth 5.1 Core Specification, which was released in January 2019. As with all Bluetooth updates, there were several changes within the specification, but Angle of Arrival (AoA) was the only one that gained any real attention.

Over the last decade, processors used in embedded systems have become increasingly sophisticated. Not long ago, simple 8 or 16-bit microprocessors were common. Now ARM core 32-bit processors are almost standard.

Designers often want to test the performance of RF products such as Bluetooth modules as part of the product selection process. However, they may find the final performance of their products in the field bears little relationship to their lab tests. This article discussing some of the issues around testing RF products and in particular the way the antenna and system interact to make an impact on any measurements.

There has been an explosion in the use of Short Range Wireless Solutions in recent years, driven principally by the arrival and development of the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) standard. Whilst plenty of short range wireless solutions existed previously, their uptake was limited. This was either because they focussed on narrow niches such as Zigbee or ANT or were ill-suited to battery powered or intermittent use such as Bluetooth “classic”. BLE fulfilled the original general “cable replacement” objectives of the original Bluetooth standard. With BLE quickly becoming natively available on phones, laptops and tablets, there was a ready-made market of devices to connect to.

The healthcare/medical and wellness wearables market flourishes, thanks in part to wireless IoT connectivity provided by RF modules. In this article, we look at the market, key trends and innovative wearables in this space including some in which our RF modules are embedded.

Nick Wood, President, Insight SiP explains how design engineers can use SIP (Systems-in-Package) to squeeze ever more functionality into ever smaller spaces.

System in Package is a way of providing a complete system in what looks externally like a single component (like a chip in a QFN package), but which inside are increasingly sophisticated systems, which can incorporate semiconductors, passives and RF components.