A Crash Course in Global Positioning System (GPS) The first Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite launched in 1978. Today, it’s so widely used by consumers, businesses, and government agencies that the acronym has become a shorthand term for any navigation or location application. One reason is because GPS pioneered the space — literally. Over the decades, the...

Leverage Innovative New GNSS Antenna Manufacturing Technologies to Ensure High Performance Even with Complex Form Factors If a device needs cellular, Wi-Fi®, or Bluetooth®, then it’s a safe bet that it also requires support for global navigation satellite system (GNSS) positioning. That’s because connectivity and location go hand in hand for many mobile applications, such as...

Timing is Everything: How Operator and Module Choices Drive the Certification Process Carrier and FCC certification are major milestones toward getting a new device to market on time and on budget. One tip for passing certification on the first attempt is to take a holistic view of how all the RF components work together to...

Combining Satellite and Cellular to Unlock New Business Opportunities Forty years ago, satellite telephony and cellular were adversaries, vying for the emerging market of businesspeople and consumers who wanted anytime, anywhere connectivity. For example, Iridium was born after the wife of a Motorola engineer couldn’t call her clients from her mobile phone while vacationing in the...

Inside RJ45 Connectors: The Ultimate Guide to Usage, Components and Functionality The RJ45 connector is one of the oldest and most common interfaces for network cabling, which is why over 100 Taoglas products include an RJ45 port. It’s ubiquitous in telecom and IT because it’s at the end of Ethernet cables, which were originally used in data centers to connect...

Understanding Antenna Gain and How It Affects Device Performance, Reliability, and Competitiveness Gain is one of the most important measurements when assessing any type of antenna, including cellular, Wi-Fi®, and global navigation satellite system (GNSS). That’s because gain directly affects the performance and reliability of your device and all of the services that run on it....

How to Leverage the L-Band to Balance Accuracy and Affordability for GNSS Applications Drones, precision agriculture and autonomous vehicles are among the applications that require higher accuracy than standard GNSS can provide. One option is the L-Band, which is home to data services that augment GNSS signals to maximize granularity down to the centimeter level....

How to Choose Between a Dual-Band or Multi-Band GNSS Antenna What level of accuracy does your location application require: the size of a tennis court or the width of a paperclip? How long will your tracking devices remain in the field: a few years or over a decade? Where will they operate: in fields and...

How IP and IK Ratings Measure Real-World Durability What do liquids, dust, sand, screwdrivers, wires, insects, and fingers have in common? They all can wreak havoc on electronic devices if they get inside. That’s why IP ratings are an important spec to consider when comparing devices such as antennas. IP stands for “ingress protection” and...

Taoglas Expands Invisible Antenna® Series with SMA Connectors Transparent, Peel-and-Stick Antennas Now Available with SMA Connectors for IoT and Smart Applications Taoglas is expanding its Invisible Antenna series with industry-standard SMA connectors. Originally designed with FAKRA connectors for automotive use, these ultra-low-profile, transparent antennas are now optimized for ease of integration into a wider range...