Tony Garcia, Sr. Manager, Business Development, Murata Electronics North America
“The more time it takes to develop a product, the higher its
development costs and the longer it will be before that product gets into the market where it can start generating revenue.”
One of the first considerations in developing any wireless design is choosing the communication protocol appropriate for the application. This choice usually depends on the kind of data the device will send and the transmission range. Range and throughput go hand-in-hand, with lower frequencies typically operating at longer ranges and lower throughput. The communication protocol affects all aspects of the design, including radio-frequency (RF) components, battery requirements, and antenna design.
Major challenges in any design are cost and time to market. These factors relate to each other in that the more time it takes to develop a product, the higher its development costs and the longer it will be before that product gets into the market, where it can start generating revenue. Key factors that contribute to costs and development time include:
• Software development. Software manages how the RF section operates in the device to enable wireless communications and data transfer. Depending on the application and data throughput requirements, software development can be complex and time consuming. Software developers need a working prototype with RF and data processing so that they can develop and test software drivers.
This is an excerpt from 8 Experts on Overcoming Challenges of RF Solution Design. The eBook was generously sponsored by Murata Electronics and Mouser Electronics.
