Antenna Design 2 layer VS 4 Layer PCB

[berkan]

Hi, I would like to use the PCA10000 dongle hardware and antenna design for my PCB, i got some questions: 1)I have just UART pin outs extra, I would like to reduce the cost and the complexity i want to go with 2 Layer PCB, What will be the drawback or advantage for 2 layer vs 4 layer PCB.

2)My PCB is larger than the PCA10000 Dongle so that ground area is bigger, does have a negative affect on the antenna or the matching circuit.

Thanks

[Hung Bui]

Hi Berkan,

1. As far as I am aware of, the main drawbacks of 2 layers PCB vs 4 layers PCB are:

• Bigger PCB size
• Some IC packages (e.g BGA) requires more than 2 layers to route the pins out.

When there is no size constraint, or chip footprint requirements we usually use 2 layers PCB board for our Development Kits.

2. The bigger grounding actually help improving the RF performance. You just have to remember adding sufficient number of vias to have better grounding.