RF design services

“ Successful design ”

Telestrian offers RF design, development and investigation services to Client companies. Any aspect of RF design, development or testing can be undertaken from HF to 6GHz. Work ranges from investigations and resolution of a single RF issue, through to RF module design.

General investigations and optimisation

When the measured performance falls short of expected results, investigations and optimisations are required. Both conducted and radiated investigations into RF issues can be undertaken by Telestrian.

Network analysis can be used to solve board level issues with RF matching and layout. Often, designs only require optimization of circuit values to achieve the desired performance. For example, matching the antenna for optimal VSWR or return loss can solve poor range issues.

Radiated signals up to 18GHz and conducted to 26.5GHz can be analysed, covering multiple harmonics of most wireless systems. By using vector signal analysis, EVM and other signal metrics can be measured for popular wireless standards.

RF modules and transceivers

Commercial realities guide designers to reach a completed product in the minimum number of PCB iterations. Starting discussions with Telestrian before any layout commences minimizes the product's time to market.

Even relatively simple 50Ω modules, attached via short tracks on a PCB to an antenna, can create a mismatch to the antenna, unless the layout is carefully considered. This can severely affect performance such as transmit power and hence the link budget will be degraded.

The process of implementing an RF transceiver is often well described by Manufacturers' application notes. It can still be very cost effective to consider a second opinion before committing to design, or even outsourcing the whole RF design to Telestrian, to keep your team focused on their core activities.

RF Layout

At higher frequencies tracks and components do not behave as ideal elements.

There are a number of important factors to decide before layout commences for a PCB with RF components. The designer must consider the key track widths in conjunction with the layer stack, the location of key components with their associated routing and positioning of any antennas.

The design should also incorporate provisioning for screening to protect against EMC and EMI as this is essential to successfully meet the current regulatory requirements.

Custom RF

Telestrian has the tools to design an RF system to a customer requirement starting from a marketing requirement specification, through the system architecture and topology phases, on to the board level design, development and validation phases. Owning both system and circuit simulators, along with a large selection of modern test equipment, places the company in a ideal position to design to your specific requirement.

If using an RF module does not meet your commercial requirement, or there is no suitable available module, then your solution may be to opt for a custom RF design.

Working with Telestrian

A typical project start-up involves a customer consultation from which a mutually agreed task list will be generated, which will form a project plan and generate a schedule of work. This method enables maximum flexibility while allowing a clear definition of the work to be undertaken.

Telestrian maintains a large selection of contacts within the RF and supporting industries, to enable Clients to have access to a complete product or service solution.