Built in Wifi antenna for Omega2S+ SMT

eblasband

Hi,

TL;DR for the SMT omega2s+, does it already have a wifi antenna or do I need to add one to my PCB?

I just found the onion board and want to incorporate it into my own PCB for an IoT device. I have started the design and read through all of the docs but I am still unclear about the wifi antenna.

I can clearly see from pictures that the through hole onion board has a wifi antenna, however does the SMT version also have one built in? It is vague in the docs and I cant see anything. And if not, would I have to go through FCC certification if I add my own? If it does, and the signal is good enough, I assume I am good to go. Can anyone shed some light on this?

Thanks

JeffZhou

Hi，Omega2S+ need to add an extend wifi antenna.you can use ipex connector to connect an extend wifi antenn or use the ANT PIN to connect a pcb wifi antenn.

Lazar Demin

@eblasband how can we improve the docs to make it clear that an external antenna is required?

eblasband

@JeffZhou Thank you for the clarification! Then I will add an antenna for wifi. I don't suppose there have been any part or layout recommendations already?

eblasband

@Lazar-Demin I looked through all of the docs again, and it seems it is specified. However it is specified in the Omega2S Dev Kit - Getting Started document in section 2.1.1 Differences from the Omega2:

Does not feature a built-in SMT WiFi antenna - optimizing area and allowing the end-user the freedom to select between using the ANT I/O or the uFL connector

My recommendation would be to put this detail (or whole section) in the Omega2S Hardware Design Guide as well. There is a section on Two Antenna Design but nothing else.

Also side note about the documentation, is there a specific place to be posting recommendations? For example, in the Omega2S-Dev-Board schematic C1, and C2 have different values than specified in the Hardware design guide and Reference schematic. Some clarification on that would be helpful.

Lazar Demin

@eblasband said in Built in Wifi antenna for Omega2S+ SMT:

My recommendation would be to put this detail (or whole section) in the Omega2S Hardware Design Guide as well.

That's a good suggestion, thanks! We'll make this update in our next round of documentation revisions.

@eblasband said in Built in Wifi antenna for Omega2S+ SMT:

Also side note about the documentation, is there a specific place to be posting recommendations?

Definitely! You can create an Issue on the Omega2 Repo on GitHub with your documentation feedback: https://github.com/OnionIoT/Omega2/issues

Btw, the datasheet and hw design guide actually include "Give Feedback" links at the bottom of each page that lead to this same GitHub repo. Is there anything we can do to make that more noticable?

eblasband

@Lazar-Demin I guess I was thinking in terms of a community channel or something about the documentation. But I think it is fine in the docs and gitlab. Thanks for the response.

Lazar Demin

@eblasband closing the loop here:
Omega2S Hardware Design Guide v1.1 was just published with an updated section on the WiFi antenna

Let us know if that's more clear and if there's anything else missing from the documentation that would be helpful