We start by meeting with you to get a complete understanding of your performance, mechanical and timing requirements.

 

First, we assess your key performance targets and requirements. These may include efficiency, TIS, TRP, SAR, VSWR and radiation pattern characteristics.

 

Then, we determine the available antenna space, surrounding componentry and degrees of design freedom.

 

Next, we develop a clear picture of your schedules for production volume, evaluation units and test plans throughout the project. We then map out an integrated project schedule that we manage closely with you.

After completing the requirements analysis, we assemble a design team that will meet the specific needs of your project. Each team typically has over 40 years of combined antenna experience.

 

Key team members include:

 

    * RF Engineer (typically PhD-level)

    * Mechanical Engineer

    * RF Technician

    * Operations Manager

    * Quality Engineer

    * Project Manager

    * Account Manager

 

The design team will review the assignment and do a preliminary assessment, including outlining potential risks and suggesting changes as needed to ensure that we meet your requirements.

At this stage, our objective is to get a quick indication of antenna performance, identify potential problem areas and make adjustments so that we can finalize the antenna design as quickly as possible. We employ our Design Toolbox™, which includes Darwin design and optimization software that significantly accelerates our design process. We combine this with rapid in-house prototyping and state-of-the-art test and measurement equipment to evaluate the designs and their environment. The result is faster design times and quicker time-to-market for your product.

To meet the need for large sample runs for field, customer and regulatory testing, we use a soft-tool build process that enables us to quickly build and deliver runs of 50 to 10,000 units for testing. Should design changes be required, our team is ready to make adjustments and implement them immediately. Once this is accomplished, the design is finalized for production.

Once your design is finalized, we prepare the appropriate tooling, order materials and start high volume manufacturing. Extensive quality testing of the production ramp-up is conducted including First Article Inspection and CpK analysis. To ensure that appropriate quality levels are maintained throughout the project, RF performance testing and mechanical inspections are also completed throughout the builds.