Case Study: Development of RF and RFID Systems (PCB/Aerials)
Development of an RF system is not just about engineering excellence and bright engineers: it requires excellence in specification, standards compliance, design, manufacture, all tightly coupled with sound management of cost of delay and risk.
A Case Study to back up this statement
Design of PCBs and systems to operate at high frequency is a deep and esoteric subject: it isn’t possible to show evidence of all the nuances without numerous case studies. For the purposes of this article a recent (2025) EM case study is shown that covers RF PCB design, aerials/antennas, and electronic noise reduction. The project has been chosen because it covers a wide range of RF issues, but it isn’t an example of RF PCB performance at its limits. Feel free to contact us to find out about RF projects that may more closely reflect your needs.
RFID PCB design for The Event Verse Company
Challenge: this project has been chosen because it required:
- Bespoke/aerial antenna design
- RF design techniques on its PCBs
- Electronic noise limitations and considerations (noisy power circuitry mixed with sensitive RF signalling).
- Implementation of all the above in a harsh environment
The challenge was to develop an RFID reader with extended range for countries where environmental conditions are harsh. The reader needed to have a screen, full media connectivity, and ultra high power LED arrays.
Method: this needed a bespoke aerial that wasn’t affected by a large metallic screen in its centre. It also needed thorough PCB design to minimise noise from LED power circuitry with high frequency switching circuits.
Although no RF simulations were done with this particular product, it is worthy of note that it is possible to simulate RF performance via software – to a degree. Software products such as Cadence AWR allow this. If it is desired to design and simulate to this level. ALS is a company, once design is complete, that will assist with the design of PCB/PCBA. The EM recommends them.
Results: All the challenges were met delighting the client.