Antenna Development
Efficient solutions, advanced three-dimensional simulations and consultancy
RF Measurements
Quantitative and documentary approach contextual to the technical solutions provided
Approvals and Certifications
RED directive for Europe and for the geographical areas that absorb the ETSI, FCC, ISED and Bluetooth related to the Bluetooth SIG
RF Simulations
Modeling and simulation of electromagnetic and circuit structures
RF Hardware Development
Development, sizing, creation of schemes and specific consultancy
Communications Stacks
Development of proprietary communication stacks
Athena
The Rational Seed in Connectivity
Athena uses its professionalism, its technologies, its own laboratory and the most advanced development tools for the realization of its customers' ideas.
Thanks to the multifaceted experience in the field of telecommunications, Athena has faced and is able to face the most innovative issues.
Since Athena is itself a developer of basic technology, the support it offers also in relation to the use and implementation of current standards or those ones in the definition stage, is characterized by the attention to the synthesizability of the final solutions.
The partnership with a network of qualified and reliable companies allows Athena to provide support for all development operations of a new product, from concept to the supply of approvals and certification documentation by laboratories accredited by government bodies or globally recognized bodies.
Antenna
Development
One of the key and often overlooked elements for the good performance of a radio communications system is the set of antennas that characterize it. Athena has in-depth experience in the development of efficient radiant solutions, with a specific focus on those directly integrated on PCBs. In addition to the correct dimensioning of the radiating structures, Athena uses advanced 3D simulation systems and is equipped with measuring instruments that are useful both during the development phase and for the final characterization of performance.
Alongside the development activity, Athena provides consultancy focused on the instrumental evaluation of existing antenna systems and measurement services aimed at optimizing their performance.
The spectrum of evaluations ranges from sub-GHz monoband applications to multiband geographic technologies such as LTE.
RF Measurements
The laboratory is one of the fundamental dimensions of Athena's work. The quantitative and documental approach related to the technical solutions provided is perhaps the primary characteristic of the company's activity. Attention to measurement techniques, to the identification of artifacts, to the search for increasingly precise and innovative solutions that provide reliable tools for predicting, validating and comparing the solutions examined, is the fulcrum around which the real value of the final result revolves.
Approvals and Certifications
During development activities, Athena, since the beginning, has always provided technical services accompanying product approvals and certifications, with particular specialization in the radio-communications sector. Over time, the activities contextualized to the complete developments relating to these aspects, have in fact become a service provided also in independent terms. Today Athena provides support both for the approvals under the RED directive for Europe and for the geographical areas that absorb ETSI norms and FCC and ISED regulations. In addition, Athena also has considerable experience in Bluetooth certifications related to the Bluetooth SIG.
In this context, Athena has developed a network of continuous collaborations with renowned international laboratories and TCBs and is able to complete operations even in complex situations.
RF Simulations
An activity that involves different areas of development is the modeling and simulation of both electromagnetic structures (antennas, sensitive PCB parts) and circuit structures. Athena is equipped with advanced simulation tools (FEM simulators and linear and non-linear RF circuit simulators) which it uses during the development phases. The study of the antennas in particular is always carried out starting from simulation models (completely 3D) and studies that make it possible to reduce development times overall and provide a predictive tool that limits efforts in creating even complex prototype structures, discarding solutions that immediately show poor concrete prospects. The same simulations highlight the impact of the parasitic parameters and allow more detailed studies of the circuit solutions.
RF Hardware Development
Athena provides its expertise in the hardware development of RF devices and/or specific radio sub-parts. In addition to the dimensioning and the creation of the schematics, Athena provides specific consultancy for building the circuit layouts in compatibility with the needs dictated by the radio problems, up to the complete development of the printed circuits with sensitivity towards DFM issues related to the supply chains of own customers.
Communications stacks development
Since the origins of its activities Athena has specialized in the development of proprietary communication stacks. For many years Athena has been providing mesh connectivity solutions on important systems (hundreds of nodes in single real systems) based on different physical layers.
Today Athena offers its own CN10 technology based on LoRa® physic layer and on proprietary Data Link and Network structures with a mesh approach.
With expertise in developing proprietary communications stacks, Athena also provides support for applicability and comparison assessments of third-party and/or consortile stacks.
