Antennas form the vital link between an IoT device and the network, and although that’s simple to say, there are numerous complexities involved in making sure antennas perform to the best of their ability. Antennas can’t simply be bought and added to a device. Careful configuration and optimization needs to take place to ensure devices perform within expected parameters. Across all wireless technologies, transmission is affected by interference, obstructions, weather, and power consumption. All of these performance-affecting issues need to be carefully balanced to achieve optimal performance, and this can involve a complicated series of trade-offs and adjustments.

Before IoT antenna testing and validation, the foundation of performance is antenna selection. It’s an obvious starting point to select an antenna that provides you with the closest blend of attributes to the needs of your device and use case. The network technology or technologies used is a core decision, and then issues such as power consumption, the deployment scenario, and the frequency and duration of communication need to be considered, along with cost and ease of installation.

Once that optimal antenna has been selected, it needs to be optimized to ensure signal strength is maximized, power consumption is minimized, and regulatory compliance is achieved. This is where antenna validation comes in. This requires designers to achieve regulatory compliance with standards such as CE, FCC, and PTCRB so that devices can be deployed and used within the relevant regions.

Organizations often turn to work on antenna validation late in the device development process. However, compliance can be complex and long-winded, so it’s important to consider it early on. In addition, organizations often rely on simulation rather than actual physical testing. This can lead to poor user experiences and even commercial failure because simulation can sometimes fail to correlate with field testing and chamber OTA testing.

Technical challenges in IoT antenna testing and validation

For cellular antennas, there are four key considerations: efficiency, gain, total radiated power, and total isotropic sensitivity. All of which demand careful attention to achieve compliance and optimize antenna performance. Other technologies demand specific skillsets. Non-terrestrial networks (NTNs), for example, have substantial regulatory compliance burdens and are highly specialized. They require in-depth expert knowledge to ensure successful testing and certification. In addition, technologies such as global navigation satellite system (GNSS) demand validation for tracking, signal acquisition, sensitivity, and accuracy.

Antenna testing and validation best practice has been explored in a recent Quectel Masterclass titled ‘How to master IoT antenna testing and validation’. The Masterclass, presented by Dusan Ristic, a field application engineer at Quectel, and Victor Pinazo, the antenna PDM for the EMEA region at Quectel, details how to check the complete system composed of antenna and module before it explains cellular antenna validation and active testing to optimize performance.

The session also contains segments addressing GNSS antenna validation, NTN antenna validation, and Wi-Fi antenna validation. In addition, the Masterclass goes on to explain the Quectel antenna services offering in detail. This encompasses everything needed to ensure smooth antenna integration with a Quectel module and all aspects of testing and validation. The Masterclass can be viewed here.