Research carried out by Flomerics suggests that plastic enclosures can have extremely negative effects on the radio frequency (RF) signal performance of Bluetooth antennae. Using the powerful Micro-Stripes V6.0 electromagnetic (EM) modelling software, the research showed that placing a Bluetooth antennae against a plastic enclosure reduced its signal strength by 37.5 per cent and shifted the broadcast signal to 2.159 GHz - taking the device's performance outside the standards required for Bluetooth.
The study could have huge implications for device manufacturers and demonstrates the potential hazards they could face if designers neglect to properly simulate and test their devices' RF outputs 'in-situ'. David Johns, vice president of electromagnetic engineering, Flomerics, says: "The research is of consequence to every company that is developing a Bluetooth-enabled device. The magnitude of the change in signal characteristics brought about by simply installing an antenna in a more realistic setting was huge. Manufacturers cannot expect devices to operate optimally simply because a tried and tested antenna is being used."