How Can Your Embedded Antennas Partner Streamline Your Product Development?
16th February 2026
How Can Your Embedded Antennas Partner Streamline Your Product Development?
Written by Panorama Antennas Technical Director – Jan Jesman
The success of your connected device may all come down to one decision.
It is a decision that is frequently an afterthought, considered when the project is almost complete and transacted via distribution without too much effort. While this decision may seem inconsequential, the ramifications of a suboptimal choice at this critical juncture can affect the entire course of the project and deployment, delaying certifications, stymying performance, and jeopardizing commercial success.
On the other hand, making an informed choice at this stage can accelerate time to market, drive deployment success, and reduce lifetime costs considerably.
The decision that’s often made too late
The decision is: who to choose as your embedded antenna partner?
Antenna selection can seem simple; after all, there is a huge range of antennas available via distribution, and whatever the characteristics of the device, there seems to be a solution available.
The traditional metrics for antenna selection
The traditional metrics for embedded antenna selection are, of course, important. The antenna must support the correct frequencies and technologies, whether that be WiFi, Cellular, or ISM bands. Following on from that, price is generally a deciding factor. After price, size becomes a key consideration. As antennas are frequently the last component selected, there is generally very little space left for them, either on the main board or attached to the housing.
Where the antenna is not mounted directly to a PCB, cable length and connector type are also generally front of mind. There needs to be enough cable to connect to the correct point from where the antenna is positioned, and the connector needs to match the board or communication module. It is also generally understood that excess cable causes signal attenuation (loss), so cable length should be kept to a minimum especially for higher frequency operation.
RF Performance
Beyond these parameters, we enter the world of RF performance, and the decision becomes more complex. Some reasons for this are obvious: antenna characterisation, testing, and verification require specialist equipment, including network analysers, anechoic test chambers, and specialist engineers to operate them. These tools are not readily available to most device manufacturers.
Some parameters are tough to judge; the relevance of peak gain seems like a simple figure for judging performance with a higher figure being better? Not necessarily. Peak gain tells you that there is a peak of the stated magnitude somewhere in the radiation pattern of the antenna but not where that peak is. It might be up in the sky or down into the ground, neither of which are areas where base stations or network hubs tend to be.
Efficiency (measuring how much input power is transmitted or received by the antenna) is generally a better metric for embedded products but needs to be understood in a wider context, which isn’t always stated by antenna manufacturers.
The hidden variable
Less obvious still is the importance of measurement context; how has the antenna in the manufacturer’s datasheet been characterised? How much cable was used? do the measurements rely on a particular ground plane or matching circuit? These facts can be buried in a datasheet (or not stated at all) yet they can have a critical impact on the performance of an antenna and – by extension – your device.
That peak gain figure, which looks attractive when the antenna is measured in free space, can push your device over mandated regulatory limits once the antenna is installed. The return loss or efficiency achieved when the antenna is mounted on the manufacturer’s recommended ground plane, in the correct position, can evaporate when it is positioned differently within your device.
Problems vs. solutions
These issues are unlikely to come to light until a device fails certification, pushing the project timeline back and adding substantial costs. Worse still, issues surface when the device is deployed and fails to meet performance expectations, necessitating truck rolls, recalls or in a worst case leading to the complete failure of the project and reputational damage to the company.
The lifetime cost implications are substantial, and a deceptively simple decision can suddenly seem incredibly complex.
The solution is to view the problem through a different lens.
While the overview above considers embedded antenna selection as sourcing a component, Panorama Antennas thinks of it as forming a partnership.
