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Hi,
I'm trying to understand how to layout this IC so that I get the best range possible but the instructions on the technical manual are nor very clear to me.
Are side A and D on the edge of the board or is the GND Plane on the edge of the board? If the GND plane is not the edge of the board then what should I do after that? Can I just extend this GND plane for the entire board?
Where there is the L indication for the GND plane the same does nor reach the edge of the keepout area. Why is that? What should be placed above this area?
Would someone have an example that has a good range with this IC (no external antenna)?
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PCBLayout
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Firstly, the above picture is the layout recommendation of the 20737S SiP module. This module has packaged the IC, filter, crystal, EEPROM and antenna altogether under one roof.
Side A can be near to the edge of the motherboard.
The purpose of the L-shaped ground plane is to maximize the antenna efficiency (up to 40% with a maximum usable range of 50m) of the embedded antenna. Deviations will result in the reduction of range, but it may be acceptable to some as they need probably only 10m. It can sit on the top layer or underneath. Below is a picture of a top-only layout and do take note there are no component on the ground plane.
Otherwise, you may lay the ground in a two-layer arrangement as shown below. The picture were extracted from an actual layout and I think it offered a better view.
(1) Top layer (in blue)
(2) Second layer (in purple)
More details at here: