RF · Antennas · EMC pre-compliance · Lund, SE · San Diego, CA

Antenna design and EMC pre-compliance.
Same team, same lab.

Sigma Connectivity designs your product’s RF systems, antennas and connectivity, then runs EMC pre-compliance and OTA measurements on the finished device in-house. The same engineers can diagnose, retune and verify issues before formal testing, reducing the risk of late-stage re-spins.

Talk to an RF engineer See the lab

Sigma RF Lab

Selected product work

Proven on products that had to pass

Since 2013RF & antenna design house
5G since 2016FR1 and FR2
400 MHz–60 GHzDesign and measurement range

Jonas Brorsson, Engineering Manager, Hardware, Radio and Antenna

"Most RF projects hit delays at the compliance stage because compliance is treated as a final step instead of a design input. At Sigma, we run antenna simulation, RF tuning, EMC pre-compliance and FCC preparation in the same lab, with the same team. We think about certification from the first schematic. For our customers, that usually means one pre-compliance cycle instead of three."

Industrial handheld · Multi-radio RF

Bartec EX

A rugged industrial 5G smartphone shipping as one hardware SKU for global markets. We delivered the complete RF subsystem and antenna design.

Verizon-certified

RF scope: Complete antenna design · Schematics · PCB layout · SAR sensor · EN-DC/CA band customization
Radios: 2G–5G · Wi-Fi 6 · BT 5.3 · GNSS
Platform: Qualcomm QCM6490

Wearable comms · DECT + Bluetooth

Husqvarna X COM ACTIVE

Group intercom for arborists: ten users talking simultaneously through headsets worn in demanding outdoor conditions.

10 simultaneous talkers

RF scope: DECT/Bluetooth coexistence · Antenna tuning in a body-loaded enclosure
Radios: DECT · Bluetooth
Platform: Qualcomm QCC5144 · RTX DECT 1040

Antenna measurement in Sigma Connectivity's anechoic chamber

Mission-critical · 5G + FirstNet

HMD Secure Ivalo XE

RF and antenna development for a rugged professional smartphone. Antenna performance validated across the full band set for mission-critical deployment.

20+ 5G bands

RF scope: Antenna development · Full band-set validation
Radios: 5G incl. FirstNet Band 14 · Wi-Fi 7 · NFC · BT 5.4
Platform: Qualcomm Dragonwing Q-6690

Smart glasses · Bluetooth LE

Xocchiali

Antenna development for smart glasses: design, simulation, prototyping and verification of the BLE antenna in a glasses form factor.

BLE 5.0 in a glasses form factor

RF scope: Antenna design · Simulation · Prototyping · Verification
Radios: BLE 5.0
Platform: Customer-selected BLE platform

Selected work

Talk to an RF engineer How we work

Design and compliance in one loop

When antenna design and compliance testing happen at two different companies, every issue crosses a contract boundary. And it crosses late, when the product is nearly finished and every change is expensive. We close that loop: the engineer who sees a failing measurement can retune, fix the schematic or the enclosure, and verify the same fix in the same building.

You don’t have to hand us the whole project. Engagements run from a single antenna review to full RF ownership through certification. Teams bring us a failing design, one antenna problem, or the whole scope. The loop is the same.

Each failed test crosses the boundary into the other company’s queue.

Design, tuning, and pre-compliance measurement share one building and one team.

The usual setup · two companies

Each failed test crosses the boundary into the other company’s queue.

At Sigma · one roof

Design, tuning, and pre-compliance measurement share one building and one team.

What surfaces early

Issues that can surface at the compliance stage. None of them are inevitable, and the last one is never fully in anyone’s control. Finding them while the design can still change is the point:

01Emissions and immunity failures

02Detuning after the antennas are integrated into the finished product

03Body loading that appears only when the device is measured on a phantom

04Coexistence desense between radios

05Certification-readiness delays

01Pre-conceptAntenna feasibility before the form factor locks: alternative solutions, size and shape, off-the-shelf module risk.
02Concept developmentBands prioritized and integrated. Antenna impedance and EM simulation, OTA performance validated on fixtures.
03Detailed designAntenna schematics delivered into the product project; the antennas are designed into the device, not added to it.
04Antenna labTuning, impedance matching, gain, efficiency, isolation, and detuning of the antennas from the user’s hand, head and body.
05Active-device labThe finished device measured over the air: EMC and EMI, pre-certification tests, benchmarking against leading brands.
06Live testsAntenna performance as the user experiences it: real-world tests against reference devices.

● = in Sigma’s own labs · steps 01–05 run in the same building

Constrained and body-worn devices

The hardest antenna problems are worn on the body

Small connected products create a different antenna problem. There is less physical space, enclosure materials shift RF performance, the user’s hand or body detunes the antennas, and several radios still have to coexist. The product has to meet its requirements anyway.

We design and tune the antennas in the context of the finished product, then measure OTA performance in realistic use positions. Antenna geometries are validated on 3D-printed mockups before PCB fabrication; body-worn designs are tuned and measured on head and hand phantoms, in the positions the product will be worn.

From 400 MHz to 60 GHz, from design to measurement

Design work extends below 400 MHz when the product needs it; low-frequency emissions are measured in the SAC5 chamber.

Antenna design

Simulation and placementFor mission-critical applications
Custom antenna design400 MHz–60 GHz, embedded and external
MiniaturizationFor space-constrained enclosures

RF systems

RF front-end architectureIncluding impedance matching
Multi-radio and MIMOCoexistence, e.g. DECT and Bluetooth
Link-budget analysisAgainst OTA performance targets

Measurement & compliance

Efficiency, TRP, and TISMeasured in our own chambers
Body-proximity tuningHandheld and wearable devices
EMC pre-complianceAnd design troubleshooting

Certification readiness

Carrier certification supportIncluding Verizon

The lab

MVG SG 24L anechoic chamber3D TRP / TIS · antenna efficiency
SAC5 semi-anechoic chamberEmissions · low-frequency
Radiated spurious-emissions testingIn-house
EMC pre-compliance benchEmissions · immunity
Network analyzers & communication testersTuning · troubleshooting
SimulationCST · Optenni · SIwave · ADS
SPEAG head & hand phantomsBody-proximity

Explore the labs in detail

Platform experience

QualcommQCM6490, Dragonwing Q-6690, and QCC51x families
Nordic SemiconductornRF52x and nRF91x
Silicon LabsMGM, BGM, and EFR
QuectelBG9x

Standards coverage

US

47 CFR Parts 15, 22, 24, 25 & 27ANSI C63.4 / C63.10PTCRB · Carrier certification readiness

EU

Radio Equipment DirectiveETSI EN 300 328 · EN 301 893 · EN 301 908 · EN 301 489 seriesCISPR 32 / EN 55032 · GCF

CA

ISEDCanadian RSS standardsCertification readiness

Wireless technologies

Cellular5G FR1/FR2 · LTE/4G · Cat M1/NB-IoT

Local & short-rangeWi-Fi through Wi-Fi 7 · Bluetooth/BLE · UWB · NFC

Positioning & specialistGNSS · LoRa · Zigbee · UHF RFID · DECT

We do the engineering: RF and antenna design, EMC pre-compliance, OTA measurement, and the test-readiness evidence behind your submission. Formal testing and approval are run by accredited laboratories and certification bodies.

Questions we get before a project starts

FAQ

Can Sigma handle RF design, antenna design and EMC pre-compliance together?Yes. The same team designs the RF systems and antennas, runs EMC pre-compliance and OTA measurements, and works through the resulting design changes. That keeps diagnosis, retuning and verification inside one engineering loop.
How is pre-compliance different from certification testing?Pre-compliance is in-house engineering work used to identify emissions, immunity and RF-performance risks while the design can still change. Formal assessment follows the applicable market path: FCC certification in the US or the manufacturer's CE conformity assessment in the EU. Sigma prepares the design and evidence for those later steps but does not issue the approval or CE mark.
When should we involve Sigma?Ideally, before the form factor and RF architecture are locked. We also take on targeted antenna reviews, connectivity troubleshooting and programs that already have failing measurements. Earlier involvement usually leaves more options for low-cost design changes.
What EMC work can Sigma perform?Sigma performs in-house EMC pre-compliance engineering, including radiated and conducted emissions and immunity work, while the design can still change. Formal accredited testing is completed through the applicable external route. Sigma's role is to improve the design and build the evidence needed for test readiness.
Can Sigma get our product FCC certified or provide CE approval?Sigma does not issue FCC certification or a CE mark. In the US, transmitter certification is issued through an FCC-recognized Telecommunication Certification Body using accredited test data. In the EU, CE marking under the Radio Equipment Directive is the manufacturer's declaration of conformity, with a Notified Body involved in specific cases. Sigma provides the engineering, pre-compliance work and test-readiness evidence behind either path.
Can you troubleshoot a device with range, sensitivity or coexistence problems?Yes. Typical starting points include poor range, desense, interference, sensitivity problems and radios affecting one another. Sigma can measure the finished device, isolate the cause, recommend design changes, retune the system and verify the result.
Which wireless technologies and platforms do you support?Technology experience includes 5G, LTE, Cat M1, NB-IoT, Wi-Fi through Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth and BLE, UWB, GNSS, NFC, LoRa, Zigbee, UHF RFID and DECT. Platform experience includes Qualcomm QCM6490, Dragonwing Q-6690 and QCC51x families; Nordic nRF52 and nRF91 families; Silicon Labs MGM, BGM and EFR families; and Quectel BG9x.

Tell us what it has to pass

Tell us what you’re building, which radios are involved, and where the product ships. Vesa will route your request to the right RF engineer, who will assess whether Sigma is a fit and explain the next step.

Sigma also designs Audio DSP & Voice Processing and Camera & Computer Vision systems.

Vesa Korkala, Director, Partner Management at Sigma Connectivity

Vesa Korkala Director, Partner Management
San Diego, CA +1 858-603-4984 Vesa.Korkala@sigmaconnectivity.com

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Sigma Connectivity is part of the Sigma Group, with 4,000 experts across 12 countries, combining technology, design, and engineering.