BLE Extended Range application

RE: BLE Extended Range application

Kinjan Patel — Thu, 21 Feb 2019 11:11:38 GMT

Any update Andreas?

RE: BLE Extended Range application

Kinjan Patel — Mon, 18 Feb 2019 13:07:33 GMT

Hi Andreas,

Thanks for the reply.

I am looking to select the Nordic chipset between two possibilities listed below

1. Chipset without external FEM which can provide approx. 8-9 dBm

2. Chipset with external FEM (probably SKY66112) which can provide me approx up to 13-14 dBm

Can you share the reference design for both scenarios which uses trace antenna? Chipset can be nRF52840 or similar.

Thanks

Kinjan

RE: BLE Extended Range application

Andreas — Fri, 08 Feb 2019 15:18:07 GMT

Hi,

We have a whitepaper on the regulatory limits. It has not been updated in a while, but it should still be valid (link to PDF download). Other than that you have to refer to the standard specifications themselves.

We have seen a couple of designs using Skyworks FEMs, e.g. SKY66112-11.

Best regards,

Andreas

RE: BLE Extended Range application

Kinjan Patel — Fri, 08 Feb 2019 14:18:14 GMT

Thanks, Andreas for the quick reply.

Where can I find region vs allowed EIRP?

Can you suggest some FEM's that Nordic already validated with nRF52 devices?

Best Regards

Kinjan

RE: BLE Extended Range application

Andreas — Fri, 08 Feb 2019 14:00:52 GMT

Hi,

What range you are able to get is very dependent on the environment the product is in, e.g. background noise, reflections and fading will affect the performance negatively meaning you will get lower range in one environment compared to another.

For SoC I would recommend nRF52840, this has higher output power and thus higher link-budget. You also have the opportunity of using the BLE coded-PHY modes, further improving wireless range at the cost of data rate. See this blog post.

All nRF52 series devices are compatible with 50 ohm front-end modules (PA + LNA), but remember that using BLE most regions of the world do not allow more than 10 dBm EIRP, which you will probably get with a nRF52840 and a trace antenna.

Best regards,

Andreas