At TI, we have more than 15 years of experience with low-power RF solutions. Over time, working hands-on with customers, we have learned what it takes to design RF IC’s that work well in industrial environments. The wireless communication needs to be robust and just plain work. To learn more about our 169 MHz, 315 MHz, 433 MHz, 470 MHz, 868 MHz, 915 MHz and 920 MHz solutions, check out our Sub-1 GHz page.
Recently we wanted to test our newest long range RF solution against a well-known competitor in the market. Both solutions have really great RF transmission range when tested in a quiet open space, such as in the countryside environment found in this video from our 25km range test video in South Africa. However, many industrial RF solutions are not deployed in the countryside but rather in urban areas, which is why we shot our latest range test video in downtown Oslo, Norway.
(Please visit the site to view this video)
In the video we set up 2 RF links (one with TI’s CC1120 long range narrowband high performance RF transceiver and one with a long range wideband competitor) to compare what happens to the RF link when we introduce an interferer i.e. an e-meter into the equation. We were really surprised by the results. The wideband solution basically ceased to function if the interferer was within ~200 meter range. This basically means that an e-meter in a neighboring building can block your wide-band RF link completely.
Area where wideband solution didn’t work | Area where narrowband solution didn’t work |
Around 200 meter wide area blocked by interferer |
Almost no area blocked by interferer |
 | Interferer (such as e-meter or walkie-talkie) |
 | Area where interferer prevents tested solution from functionning |
So why is the wideband solution prevented from receiving data while the narrowband solution is just fine?
There are two main benefits with a narrowband solution. First, there are more RF channels available which enable more systems to coexist peacefully. Secondly, wideband solutions have wider RF receive filters which picks up more RF noise and interference than a narrowband solution. Hence, narrowband is the best choice for robust RF solutions in urban and industrial areas. For an in-depth discussion on this topic, please check out our Long-range RF communication: Why narrowband is the de facto standard whitepaper.