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26 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I APRIL 2025 The Right Blend: Mixed Wireless Technologies Feature Article by Kirsten Zima SIEMENS EDA A common trend recently is to employ as many radios as possible on a single PCB. With the increase of wireless stan- dards and the downscaling of PCB size, it can be difficult to know what the most critical design parameters are to focus on. In this article, we'll discuss the most impor- tant considerations to make when design- ing with mixed wireless technologies, such as Bluetooth, GPS, and Wi-Fi, on a single PCB. ese considerations include antennas, fre- quencies, FCC compliance, shielding, and lay- out with and without transition vias. Although the most common wireless standards have been mentioned previously, the following design considerations can be applied to other wireless spaces like Z-Wave, LoRa, or Zigbee. Consider the Antenna One of the biggest design challenges for wire- less products is the antenna, or antennas. e decrease in size of wireless devices presents the problem of a reduction of necessary ground plane real estate for the antenna. ere is also the choice of using multiple antennas for each standard or a dual or tri-band antenna for the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth applications to save space. Where multiple antennas are used, the fol- lowing should be considered: the potential for an increase in harmful cross interference and the need to achieve the required polarity for desired directionality. Also, will each antenna be inside or outside the final device enclosure? If it's inter-