Installation Guide

Page 5 of 12
antenna as illustrated below. The GND cut out area shall be on all PCB layers,
and no other signals should be routed in this area.
Figure 3: Example of GND cut out area under module antenna area
2.3 Considerations for nearby Materials
The placement of the Nox Bluetooth LE Module (NOXBLEMOD) onto a carrier
board may depend on the product mechanical design, e.g. plastic housing,
placement of any connectors, cables etc. The general recommendation is to try
to avoid any material close to the antenna of the module. Especially metal or
components containing metal (e.g. batteries) may negatively affect antenna
performance, while also plastic material can affect the antenna if placed near
the antenna. When possible, keep distance of > 5 mm between antenna and
any nearby material.
For wearable applications, where the module antenna may be located close to
the human body there is a significant risk of poor antenna performance due to
body losses. Here, special consideration of the antenna placement and design
is typically required. Therefore, the general recommendation is to try placing
the module as far as possible from the body in wearable applications.
2.4 Other PCB related considerations
The Nox Bluetooth LE Module (NOXBLEMOD) is designed for robust wireless
performance in environments where other interfering radio systems may be
present. The Nox Bluetooth LE Module (NOXBLEMOD) exposes all (IO) pins for
use in an end product application. The pinout uses 2 rows of pads, implying a
multi-layer PCB design if the application makes use of many IO pins.