nRF52805 Reference Design Component Package Sizes

[mjphillip1981]

Hello,

I am looking at using the nRF52805 in a new design, but I am worried about the 0201 and 0402 components that are recommended.  Currently, my company manufactures our PCBs in-house but the smallest size we have ever dealt with is 0603.  I am not sure if we can handle the smaller components.  I am no RF expert and is just curious if those package sizes can be changed to 0603 with minimal performance.

Any help is VERY appreciated.

Thanks,

Mike

[JONATHAN LL]

Hi,

So the thing is that RF is sensitive, so lets say you take our reference design and copy it exactly. If you use the same components from the same manufacturer and in the same size then you can expect performance similar/as good to what we have.   If you start changing things then there wile be changes in performance also. so lets say you go for the 0603 components on the radio. Now the performance of the radio will probably not produce the same results but it might, not likely, but it might.  So then if there is some performance drop you have to tune the radio and the antenna to get the most out of your product, exactly what values that you need i cant say wit out doing the tuning. Harmonics are most likely to change and can result in sub optimal performance and even product tat does not qualify for certification. 


So, If you follow our recomendation it will make the proses a lot easier for you, but it is possible to use different size components then what we recommend. 

Before production you can request a HW review by Nordic and we will give feedback on specifics of your design. 

Regards,
Jonathan