AoD vs AoA

RE: AoD vs AoA

Simonr — Thu, 08 Jan 2026 06:44:58 GMT

Noted. Mostly, that throws the antenna array on the beacon device and AoD out the window I think, but both Channel Sounding and AoA should work just fine for this type of use case. Which you choose will be entirely up to you though. We can only recommend that for new designs, Channel Sounding is the way to go, while Direction Finding will work just fine, but won't have any new features coming.

Best regards,

Simon

RE: AoD vs AoA

Saadat — Wed, 07 Jan 2026 10:04:37 GMT

Hi,

Yes, so device that is being located would need to be low power consumption.

RE: AoD vs AoA

Simonr — Wed, 07 Jan 2026 09:53:39 GMT

It should be possible to do trilateration with multiple Channel Sounding nodes as well, so getting the position is possible with either technology. The Channel Sounding is still under development, so it is not at the same tested level as AoA/AoD yet, no. Note that neither of these are very low power solutions. Will both the device and the locator be restricted to low power or is only the device that is being located the power constrained one?

Best regards,

Simon

RE: AoD vs AoA

Saadat — Tue, 06 Jan 2026 14:24:27 GMT

Hello,

I would need a exact position, not the distance from the device. Thank you for your reply! Is the fimrware for Channel sounding as extensive and well tested as for AoA? I also am taking into account teh power consumption of the device that has to be located, it is planned to be powered by a small battery

RE: AoD vs AoA

Simonr — Tue, 06 Jan 2026 14:18:20 GMT

Both channel sounding and Direction Finding (AOA/AOD) should be usable here. Depends somewhat on what exactly you want to do. Do you need the exact position using trilateration or is distance to the device sufficient for example? Both technologies will be affected if there are a lot of metal in the way, as the 2.4GHz band is generally prone to that, I'm not sure what you mean by "nlos". Direction Finding will be provided as is from us and we don't plan adding new features to it or improving the algorithm further on our side as far as I know, while Channel sounding is an ongoing project where we work continuously on improving the solution we have. For new products I would lean towards Channel Sounding for the use case you describe, but it's ultimately up to you.

Best regards,

Simon

RE: AoD vs AoA

Saadat — Tue, 06 Jan 2026 11:55:30 GMT

Hi,

Thank you for your reply!

I am loooking into developing the position locator for small storage areas (around 20x50m) but with a lof of metal and nlos. Would still recommend Channel Sounding for that case?

RE: AoD vs AoA

Simonr — Tue, 06 Jan 2026 11:52:19 GMT

For locator solutions now, I'd recommend looking into the Channel Sounding feature on nRF54L15 rather than AOA/AOD, as you get similar accuracy without the massive antenna arrays required for Direction Finding with AOA/AOD.

As for your questions, there is no big difference in terms of accuracy between AOA and AOD, the big difference is what suits your application really, since it will decide where the antenna array is mounted.

For example, the typical use case for an AOA solution would be to have multiple locators/receivers with the antenna array mounted in the corners of a room, that are taking the Direction Finding data from moving devices transmitting IQ data to these receivers and thus finding the devices that way.

AOD would generally be used if the transmitter is the "stationary" device with the antenna array mounted and the receivers are moving around.

We have done most experimentation with AOA on our side, as that seem the most common use case, but both should work similarly and it will be up to you to decide what to use.

Best regards,

Simon