Inside Wireless

Hello Valued Customer,

For over a decade, Linx Technologies has empowered engineers of all skill levels to harness the power of RF. This has made it possible for our customers to greatly reduce the time and expense of bringing wireless products to market. "Wireless Made Simple" is more than just a motto; it is a symbol of our company's unique vision that is the basis of our broad appeal to companies of all sizes and engineers of all skill levels. Linx Technologies pioneered the simplification of wireless technology and now we're all enjoying record success in the dynamic RF market that Linx helped to create. One of the results is that we've moved to a brand new custom-built facility where we'll be able to grow even more and accelerate development of innovative products intended to simplify complicated technologies, such as RF. We're thankful, and won't forget that you've been part of making this milestone possible. It is a pleasure to share our new products and our new home with you.

Contents:

Moved at Last

GPS + any SMA or RP-SMA external antenna

Antenna Factor releases comprehensive application note

How do Linx products compare with standards-based components?

Linx and its associated divisions, Antenna Factor and Connector City, started off the new year by settling into our new corporate headquarters. After almost seven years of effort, the state-of-the-art 20,000+ sq. foot award-winning building is fully operational, just in time to accommodate the company’s accelerating growth. The custom-built facility offers efficient work areas, conference rooms, interior and exterior waterfalls, 50's theme lunch and game rooms, and even a challenging 4-hole putting green. Touches such as these and the beautiful setting combine to further enhance the enjoyable, close-knit work environment and a high quality of life that make Linx a desirable place to work. We are grateful for the blessing of this incredible facility and thankful to all of our customers and distributors who have been a vital part of our success. Please feel free to schedule a visit at any time, either for assistance or to try and beat an engineer at ping-pong. Our new address is 159 Ort Lane, Merlin, Oregon 97532. All phone numbers and e-mail addresses remain unchanged.

Antenna Factor recently introduced its innovative RMG dual-band antenna. The RMG Series combines a high-performance internal GPS antenna with an external RP-SMA connector. A wide range of off-the-shelf antennas can be attached to the connector, enabling the coverage of all popular frequencies. The GPS antenna and the connector for the external element are housed in a sleek, durable base that is intended for permanent through-hole mounting. A 5-meter cable is provided for each antenna and each may be terminated in a variety of standard or custom connector types. The cables feed through a threaded metal post with a flexible compression gasket, which resists the intrusion of water or dirt, and protects the attachment surface. The antenna is ideal for vehicular applications, although its range of applications is virtually unlimited.

Click here for more information about the RMG Series. >>
http://linxtechnologies.com/Products/Antennas/Specialty/RMG-Series-Antenna-And-Base/

Have you ever wondered about antenna specs and how to practically apply an antenna in the real world? A new Application Note from Linx may give you just the answers you need. Entitled “Understanding Antenna Specifications and Operation”, Application Note AN-00501 offers a basic, yet comprehensive overview of one of the most overlooked components in RF design. While the range, performance, and legality of an RF link are critically dependent upon the antenna, it is often left until the end of the design and expected to fit into whatever space is left. Many designs will ultimately accept degraded performance or go through multiple redesigns.

Engineers delving into RF design for the first time can quite easily confuse or misinterpret the meaning of antenna specifications and how to apply them. For instance, the gain of an antenna is very different from the gain of an amplifier. Another common misconception is that the radiation pattern on a monopole antenna’s data sheet will match that of the antenna on the final product. Application Note AN-00501 focuses on the dipole and monopole whips that are commonly used in low-power handheld products, but its helpful observations are also applicable to many other antenna designs.

Download Application Note AN-00501. >>
http://www.linxtechnologies.com/Documents/AN-00501.pdf

Standards such as IEEE 802.11, Bluetooth, Zigbee, etc. are growing in popularity and customers often have questions as to how Linx narrowband solutions compare. Engineers sometimes lump wireless solutions into the same category, when in fact, they differ greatly in approach and purpose. Consider, for example, a brief summary of three of the most popular standards today:

802.11 products, designed for wireless ethernet applications, can reach tens of meters in range, and achieve data rates from 5.5Mbit/s to 54Mbit/s
Bluetooth, a subset of the 802.15 wireless personal area network (WPAN) standard, has a range up to 10 meters (although this can be extended at the expense of increased power consumption) and a data rate of around 1Mbit/s
ZigBee has a range up to 75 meters and a data exchange rate of 250kbit/s using 2.4GHz (10 channels), 40kbit/s at 915MHz (6 channels), and 20kbit/s at 868MHz (single channel)

From this quick summary of just three standards, even a lay person can see that there are significant differences between wireless architectures. Engineers without deep expertise in each RF standard may find themselves ill-equipped to analyze competing technologies or implement the chosen solution.

It would be a misconception to view standards-based solutions as similar to Linx products. Linx RF modules are intended to meet the needs of a distinctly different market. While there is some overlap in targeted applications, the standards above are generally not comparable or competitive within the low-power narrowband marketplace served by Linx. Let’s take a brief look at why that is.

In the electronics industry, standards are often implemented to ensure consistency, compatibility, and interoperability. A standard often defines a wide range of attributes, including physical, electrical, protocol, and security features. Standards provide a common framework to allow powerful, secure wireless communication between network participants. For data transfer at high rates among multiple devices, complex network topologies, or to allow a high degree of interoperability among multiple product suppliers, a standards-based solution may be ideal.

But standards can also limit design flexibility by locking engineers into rigid hardware or software frameworks. The standards listed above are all designed for a network environment and employ complex and confining physical specifications. Even highly qualified engineers may find hardware attributes and complexity cumbersome or unworkable for simple RF applications. Standards-based protocols are also often inappropriate or overkill for the simple transfer of low-speed serial data, analog signals such as voice, or the pulse trains of many RKE devices. These limitations decrease design flexibility and increase the level of engineering and test expertise.

Unlike standards-based solutions, Linx modules provide a compelling blend of simplicity, versatility, low-power consumption, cost-effectiveness, and a transparent interface which does not require a particular packet structure or manipulate the data in any way. This gives a designer total freedom in defining protocol and device interaction. Solutions from 1-to-1 links to complex networks with thousands of nodes may be realized, and proprietary or standardized data structures implemented. In all cases, the simplicity and transparency of the physical hardware greatly lowers the barrier of entry in comparison to standards-based solutions. Most importantly, engineers of all skill levels can quickly and cost-effectively bring wireless products to market and quickly return to their primary engineering focus.

IN THE WORKS
You won’t want to miss the next edition of "Inside Wireless", as we unveil several significant new products. It's hard not to tell you, but that would spoil the surprise.

You are registered as Valued Customer with the e-mail address of placeholder@linxtechnologies.com.