8 Experts on Overcoming Challenges of RF Solution Design 10
"Using a wireless module has several advantages.
For one thing, all the RF engineering is done."
Tim Cutler
Senior Business Development
Manager, Connectivity Solutions
at Murata Electronics North America
Tim Cutler has more than twenty years of
experience helping customers integrate
unlicensed wireless—proprietary, Wi-Fi,
Bluetooth, 802.15.4/ZigBee, LoRa/Sigfox,
and cellular—into their products. He has
worked in industrial, commercial, consumer,
and medical markets, determining the
best technology for his clients' needs. He
holds a bachelor of electrical engineering
degree from Georgia Tech and an MBA from
Georgia State University.
The reality for many wireless engineering teams is that the wireless capability of their
products is not their key selling feature. The market is pushing products that once
functioned as wired devices now to be wireless.
The question for engineering teams with finite development resources is how much time
and money they devote to engineering wireless capabilities rather than enhancing the
core functionality of their product to make it more competitive. For many products, the
answer is to find the fastest, most cost-effective solution to the wireless challenge. But,
what are the key challenges, and how do you overcome them so that you can focus on
core product functionality?
Start with the following factors:
• Understanding your requirement. Sometimes, the wireless requirement comes
from a marketing organization that knows little about wireless technology. You must
clearly understand the radio-frequency (RF) requirements and the environment
in which your device will function. For industrial applications, the requirement
includes all the physical aspects of operating in an industrial environment, range
and bandwidth, noise immunity, ruggedness, and operational stability. If you are
RF May Not Be Your Product's
Key Selling Feature
