Testing complex radio communication

Danish-American start-up Airtame has developed a wireless HDMI solution for education and business. The small Airtame device enables wireless screen sharing between smartphones, computers etc. and different kinds of screens.

Although Airtame is a surprisingly small, versatile, and user-friendly device, it is also highly sophisticated. If you look at it closely it is in fact not one but two devices. At least when you apply the definitions used by the EU Radio Equipment Directive.

To establish a secure and robust connection the new version of the device – Airtame 2 – transmits on two separate radio bands: 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. Thus, according to the radio equipment directive it has to be considered two devices, although they are gathered in one product.

 

 

Double testing

– Airtame 2 is a complicated product that transmits a lot of data. Furthermore it is crucial that it is extremely robust and able to work under almost any circumstance. That is the reason for choosing two separate transmission channels, says Kennet Palm, head of EKTOS Test & Reliability Services. The EKTOS testing facilities are located in Copenhagen and accredited by the national accreditation body of Denmark, DANAK.

– For type approval we tested the radio technology inside Airtame 2. We did the testing as if it were two separate products, since there are different requirements for devices using the 2.4 GHz and the 5 GHz bands. 2.4 GHz is used for WiFi and become unstable when traffic is dense. Therefore the authorities have opened the new 5 GHz frequency. But as it is relatively new there are no fixed standards for it yet. Instead we are testing according to a set of preliminary standards. This is really important for a consulting company like ours: We have to be updated on the latest standards, even if they are preliminary, Kennet Palm explains.

We did the testing as if it were two separate products, since there are different requirements for devices using the 2.4 GHz and the 5 GHz bands – Kennet Palm, managing director at EKTOS Test & Reliability Services

 

 

Higher frequency, larger bandwidth

Hardware Team Lead at Airtame Kendra Bannister elaborates:
– Our state of the art WiFi chip from Cypress allows us to use both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz WLANs in our application. 2.4 GHz is already very popular in current consumer and industrial designs because it offers the range, bandwidth, and wall-penetrability required for typical applications. But 2.4 GHz has some drawbacks, as it’s unable to avoid interference and provide as reliable of a link as the 5 GHz WLAN, which is less crowded and has more non-overlapping channels. With 5 GHz there is also a benefit of increased bandwidth because of the higher communication frequency.

 

Certified in the EU and the US

According to Kennet Palm EKTOS Test & Reliability Services has also tested Airtame 2 for the American market – again in two separate test runs for the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequencies. This also gives access to 80 additional countries apart from the EU and the US because of DANAK’s membership of the global network of accreditation bodies ILAC MRA.

 

Close collaboration

According to Attila Sukosd, CTO and Co-founder of Airtame, the collaboration with EKTOS has worked well:
– EKTOS has been an excellent certification partner to work with. They have brought the knowledge of the latest standards together with deep technical know-how on anything related to certifying a product, including tricky areas, such as RF and PSUs. Not only have they helped us through the process of certifying, but their excellent feedback was also greatly appreciated, which made Airtame 2 a better product in the end.

 

Not only have they [at EKTOS] helped us through the process of certifying [our product], but their excellent feedback […] made Airtame 2 a better product in the end – Attila Sukosd, CTO and Co-founder of Airtame

 

Hardware Team Lead at Airtame Kendra Bannister adds:
– We worked closely with EKTOS to plan, prepare and execute the type approval of our new device. Their close proximity to our main office in Copenhagen and partnership with RISE in Sweden made them a flexible partner that could adapt to our development schedule and provide 5 GHz testing services.

 

[EKTOS’] close proximity to our main office in Copenhagen and partnership with RISE in Sweden made them a flexible partner that could adapt to our development schedule and provide 5 GHz testing services – Kendra Bannister, Hardware Team Lead at Airtame

 

– EKTOS, as well as RTX and Cypress have helped us during development and type approval to design an Airtame 2 product that ensures more reliable connection for our customers, Kendra Bannister concludes.

Feel free to contact us at EKTOS for additional information. We would be happy to discuss the standards and demands that are relevant for your product.