Wireless Transceiver from Ground Up or With Modules
When electronic manufacturers try to make a wireless modem system companies must often decide whether they want to use an off-the-shelf module solution or if they want to design the system manually using oscillators, modulators, processors, and amplifiers. Important factors to consider in the decision include the complexities involved with designing from scratch, including passing regulatory requirements like FCC or ESTI for Europe. PCB design for high frequencies can be very difficult, and for important designs it should only be undertaken by experienced engineers. Apart from these design challenges, FCC approval can take many months or even years to pass, which can greatly reduce the time to market.
A wireless IO module can offer engineers and companies many other advantages versus attempting to create a private wireless solution. Wireless modules make engineering more simple, and reduce the time to market by many orders of magnitude. Wireless modules incorporate the complex software or firmware to for reliable data transmission, such as checksums and error handling. The principle behind wireless modules is to aid engineers with wireless integration, removing the heartache of wireless design, and speeding up time to market.
Some transceiver modules are even designed to be simple drop in solutions that can easily replace existing wired installations. These wireless modules can can transfer analog, digital, or even serial signals. Most wireless modems will require no configuration and work right out of the box. These wireless transceivers are called wireless cable replacements and can often be treated like a standard wire. These wireless modules are often already FCC and ESTI certified, allowing companies to bypass further testing for their product. All of these advantages allow the product to incorporate the power of wireless without the complex understanding or frustration of designing a wireless system from scratch.
