Where should an antenna be placed on a PCB?
An embedded antenna should sit at an edge or corner of the board, with a specified copper-free keep-out on every layer and a clear volume above and below free of metal and lossy materials. The rest of the board provides the ground plane. Vendor layout guides specify keep-out dimensions for each reference antenna, and departing from them is the most common cause of poor embedded-antenna performance.[1][2][3]
What should be kept away from the antenna?
- Batteries, metal shields, connectors, screws and displays.
- High-speed digital lines, switching regulators and clocks, which can desensitize the receiver through radiated noise (self-interference).
- Cables crossing the antenna region.
- Other antennas, to maintain isolation for coexistence.[1]
What about multiple radios?
Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, cellular and GNSS antennas in one product need isolation (often 10–20 dB or more) to avoid desensitization and intermodulation; place them on different edges, use orthogonal polarizations, and add filtering. GNSS, with very weak signals, is especially vulnerable to noise from nearby digital circuits.[4][5]
How do you check a layout before fabrication?
Simulate the full board and enclosure where possible, review against the reference layout, and plan test points for a pigtail measurement and footprint options for matching.[2]
Frequently asked questions
Can I put components under a PCB antenna?
Not in the keep-out area; components and copper there detune and load the antenna.
Is a corner better than an edge?
For many monopole-type antennas, a corner excites ground-plane modes efficiently; follow the vendor reference.
How far should a battery be?
As far as practical, and never in the keep-out; vendor guides give minimums.
See also
References
Online sources accessed October 21, 2026; printed works cited by edition. See all sources.
- “Antenna Selection Guide (SWRA161)”. R. Wallace, Texas Instruments. application note.
- “AN1088: Designing with an Inverted-F 2.4 GHz PCB Antenna”. Silicon Labs. application note.
- “AN043: Small Size 2.4 GHz PCB Antenna (SWRA117)”. A. Andersen, Texas Instruments. application note.
- “Understanding GPS/GNSS: Principles and Applications, 3rd ed.”. E. D. Kaplan and C. J. Hegarty (eds.), Artech House. 2017.
- “Modern Small Antennas”. K. Fujimoto and H. Morishita, Cambridge University Press. 2013.