Meaning
Communication components lack integrated metal enclosures to provide physical containment for electromagnetic radiation. Using unshielded modular transceivers allows for smaller and cheaper designs in low power applications. These modules rely on the external housing of the product to provide the necessary shielding.
If the product enclosure is plastic, the device might fail to meet regulatory standards for emissions.
Interference Risk
Stray signals from the module can disrupt other circuits on the same board. Because unshielded modular transceivers have no internal barrier, they are susceptible to noise from nearby power supplies.
Design Constraint
Integration requires careful attention to the layout of the carrier board. Designers who use unshielded modular transceivers must place them far away from sensitive analog circuits. Extra layers of ground planes are often needed to provide a local shield beneath the module.
Compliance Margin
Regulatory testing is more difficult when the radio source is open to the environment. The margin for passing emission tests is smaller with unshielded modular transceivers compared to shielded versions. Engineers must use external components like ferrite beads and bypass capacitors to suppress the noise at the interface.
Final testing of the complete assembly is the only way to confirm that the shielding provided by the device enclosure is sufficient. This approach requires more iterations during the development phase.
