NINA-B1 series - System Integration Manual
UBX-15026175 - R06
Design-in
Page 33 of 48
It is recommended to place the NINA-B112 module so that the internal antenna is in the corner of the host PCB
(Pin 15/16 should be in the corner) as shown in Figure 12. The antenna side (short side closest to the antenna),
positioned along one side of the host PCB ground plane is the second best option. It is beneficial to have a large
ground plane on the host PCB and have a good grounding on the NINA-B1 module.
Figure 12: NINA-B112 with internal antenna
Take care when handling the EVK-NINA-B112. Applying force to the NINA-B112 module might
damage the internal antenna.
3.3
Supply interfaces
3.3.1
Module supply design
Good connection of the module’s VCC pin with DC supply source is required for correct RF performance. The
guidelines are summarized below:
•
The VCC connection must be as wide and short as possible.
•
The VCC connection must be routed through a PCB area separated from sensitive analog signals and
sensitive functional units. It is a good practice to interpose at least one layer of PCB ground between
VCC track and other signal routing.
There is no strict requirement of adding bypass capacitance to the supply net close to the module. But
depending on the layout of the supply net and other consumers on the same net, bypass capacitors might still
be beneficial. Though the GND pins are internally connected, connect all the available pins to solid ground on
the application board, as a good (low impedance) connection to an external ground can minimize power loss
and improve RF and thermal performance.
3.4
Data communication interfaces
3.4.1
Asynchronous serial interface (UART) design
The layout of the UART bus should be done so that noise injection and cross talk are avoided.
It is recommended to use the hardware flow control with RTS/CTS to prevent temporary UART buffer overrun.
•
If CTS is 1, then the Host/Host Controller is allowed to send.
•
If CTS is 0, then the Host/Host Controller is not allowed to send.
