In this paper, the effect of the substrate on wireless sensor network (WSN) node’s RF performance is studied experimentally by using different substrate materials with different thickness. A six-layer FR4 substrate PCB WSN node is fabricated and compared with the original two-layer FR4 PCB node to show the impact of substrate material thickness. Also different substrate dielectric constants’ impacts are studied by the same method. All these demonstrators are modeling by RF circuit analysis method and simulated in the Ansoft Designer software. Simulation results match the experimental measurement. An optimization method based on simulation for WSN node design with different substrate is presented. This analysis, modeling, simulation and optimization procedure can be carried out on some novel substrate materials such as LTCC and LCP.
Return loss of wireless sensor network (WSN) node indicates the impedance matching between signal ports of the RF chip and the antenna, and thus shows the transmission efficiency in the signal path. All circuit components, including capacitors, inductors, PCB tracks, packaging parasitic and RF ports were modeled as equivalent passives, to achieve accurate simulation result of return loss of the WSN node. An optimization methodology of return loss was proposed based on the parameter sweep of the equivalent passive network simulation. With the help of the methodology, some critical components’ values were changed to obtain optimized RF performance for the wireless node. Measurements matched the analysis and simulation well and showed great improvement.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2025 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.