Are you an engineer trying to create a new IoT wireless product or ecosystem? This checklist will help you prioritize what’s important, what not to forget, and what to keep top of mind while designing your new IoT solution – both theoretically and technically.
Before beginning your design…
Study Your Desired Product Market
虽然这通常被认为是产品营销人员的责任，但定义最适合您要求的产品非常重要，并且知道可能已经存在的解决方案。基准测试目前可用的最终产品和技术解决方案，除了研究最终消费者的需求外，还为您的项目提供了一个很好的基本起点。使用现有文献来研究市场，如此关于Wi-Fi趋势的文章，将确保您不会不必要地重塑车轮或进入过度饱和的产品段。
Stay Informed on Popular Design Trends in the World of IoT Today
In addition to specific product analysis, it is important to understand what is happening on the design side. Knowing the next IoT trend being designed to simplify your life as an engineer, and that of the consumers using your end-product, will keep you working toward a solution that matters and will be more easily supported and adopted when released.
完全定义您的IoT解决方案将实现的目标
To design the best solution for the market, ask yourself purposeful questions to determine the best path forward:
What will the end-product or device be specifically – a new Smart Home solution, wearable IoT sensors, improved routers for the new Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)? What are the desired use cases for your target audience – sensors for home monitoring, or a set-top box that would be the main Wi-Fi gateway for a home or business? Once you’ve narrowed down the product segment, determine what the best solution is to achieve the ideal mix of performance and cost while balancing any necessary tradeoffs that may arise. What signal range and capabilities are required to be successful? Can you afford to sacrifice power or package size if needed to find the parts that fit your budget?
验证最佳射频技术为您的设计– Part 1
This step goes hand-in-hand with the previous one and is critical in the development of any IoT solution. It might seem obvious that different environments may require different components to achieve the desired results, but the more research you can do before actually testing a design, the less time you’ll spend rebuilding for unexpected shortcomings. For example, are you designing for an indoor or an outdoor product? This will determine the type of range and power requirements needed along with potential protocols to use. Regarding power, will you need a long battery life – like for a wearable device – or are you focused on improving power usage in a more stationary unit? Answers to questions like these will also determine the complexity and potential cost of your design.
Validate the Best RF Technologies – Part 2
ZigBee，线程，蓝牙（低能量），NB-IOT，Wi-Fi和新的IOT通信标准都有许多IOT通信标准是一直开发的。保持了解所有可用选项，以获得最佳选择和有效利用您的资源是很重要的。例如，有两种不同类别的标准 - 开放和专有协议 - 两者之间的选择通常可以确定您在市场上的IOT解决方案的成功或失败。开放式协议是一个通用标准，可以由每个人使用，具有各种设备的接口，并由业界接受。虽然专有协议通常由特定制造商创建，并且经常无法与指定生态系统之外的设备通信。用这些选项设计，决定您是否希望在关闭或开放的生态系统中看到您的解决方案和进化。开放式解决方案可能会长期提供更多机会。
知道组件市场发生了什么
务必退房我们的监管路线图for future trends or announcements that may affect your design. Awareness of new regulations coming soon for the specific standards or parts with which you are working will help determine if there are any potential shortages planned that may nullify specific components (like the impacted Multilayer Chip Capacitors). If so, make sure you are ready to face the challenges of a redesign by planning ahead for a potential alternative solution.
Once you have a more specific idea of what you are going to design…
识别潜在的供应合作伙伴
找到一个值得信赖的合作伙伴来帮助发展解决方案并实现项目最终目标非常重要。这应该在您的规划和设计过程中提早来，特别是根据您在内部管理的设计工作范围。合适的合作伙伴可以帮助您提前确定潜在的问题，并支持在沿途的每一步中的解决方案的开发。由于您的主要工程目标是为您的产品达到最佳的RF性能，请务必使用您的合作伙伴关系更好地了解您选择使用的任何系统或组件的测试参数。 You also want to ensure all regulatory requirements are met, especially on an international level, so that your final solution is fully compliant and provides a consistent end-user experience. A good design or supply partner will provide guidance on how to best accomplish your desired RF solution and they should be leveraged to discuss these logistical elements as well.Determine Your Investment in Internal Development
您会设计自己的RF板还是购买认证的无线电模块？两者都具有考虑的优点和缺点：使用完全是内部设计的元件，可以更好地控制和监控过程的所有部分的能力。这要求您确保您的产品符合您原籍国的所有现有规则和规定，以及您将要销售您的产品的任何地方，这可能是一个昂贵的测试和认证过程。或者，利用提供交钥匙的合作伙伴，验证的RF解决方案可能允许您少担心这些规定，并更多地关注开发产品的应用。此外，使用涵盖相关射频系统的现有参考设计可以在开发期间节省大量的能量和挫折。这种设计可以大大提高您的市场时间，并释放您组织的资源，以努力更加有意义的收入产生活动。 Yet another option is using a pre-assembled solution such as an integrated RF module, that comes pre-packaged, fully tested and includes integrated parts, thus providing even more of a “plug-and-play” capability.
有许多解决方案需要考虑，因此花时间研究符合您组织目标的最佳目标，并将您的团队放在成功的路上最快！
随着您的整体设计过程开始越来越完全发展，这里有一些额外的技术考虑因素来牢记......
Focus on What’s Critical
鉴于有很多需要考虑的事情 - 技术规范，参考设计可用性，成本，效率，法律规定等 - 了解您的设计的绝对是必需的，因为当推动推动和牺牲时，可能需要牺牲。通常有多种方式来实现您的设计目标并了解您可以放弃的内容以及必须保持不变的内容如果需要重新设计，则会使其更容易。如果您正在设计Wi-Fi前端解决方案，请参阅此list to help you decide exactly what to considerand why it really matters.
Be Aware of Coexistence Issues
射频技术具有许多内在的共存挑战。根据您的产品所属的环境，以及现有的生态系统，应计划和避免对其他无线电技术的干扰，如果可能的话，并避免。这尤其如此，因为LTE，BLE，5G和Wi-Fi 6（802.11ax）继续开发，并且可用乐队增长越来越拥挤。虽然有很多方法来处理干扰，但一些比其他方式更好，因为并非所有过滤器都是相等的。意识到潜在的重叠与其他可以在邻近的其他频率到最终产品的频率将有助于确定最佳组件和设计解决方案以缓解潜在问题。
heat
With the increasing pressure to fit more performance in ever smaller and sleeker packages, thermal creep should not be underestimated. Whether building for the new Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) protocols or determining the best frequency to use in your IoT ecosystem, each technology poses its own set of thermal challenges to consider. The more power needed, the more ventilation that may be required which can quickly increase cost and result in larger form factors if not planned for effectively. In these instances, using highly efficient BAW filters and integrated Front End Modules (iFEMs) can greatly decrease overall spend and improve design efficiency.
There is obviously an abundance of things to consider when designing products for the Internet of Things and the above list is certainly not exhaustive. We hope that it will offer some guidance on where to begin when sorting through the variety of design issues and potential pitfalls. The journey into the new landscape of connectivity is being blazed by those who dare to experiment and challenge the expectations of what’s possible.