Communities

Writing
Writing
Codidact Meta
Codidact Meta
The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors
Photography & Video
Photography & Video
Scientific Speculation
Scientific Speculation
Cooking
Cooking
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Judaism
Judaism
Languages & Linguistics
Languages & Linguistics
Software Development
Software Development
Mathematics
Mathematics
Christianity
Christianity
Code Golf
Code Golf
Music
Music
Physics
Physics
Linux Systems
Linux Systems
Power Users
Power Users
Tabletop RPGs
Tabletop RPGs
Community Proposals
Community Proposals
tag:snake search within a tag
answers:0 unanswered questions
user:xxxx search by author id
score:0.5 posts with 0.5+ score
"snake oil" exact phrase
votes:4 posts with 4+ votes
created:<1w created < 1 week ago
post_type:xxxx type of post
Search help
Notifications
Mark all as read See all your notifications »
Q&A

Post History

71%
+3 −0
Q&A Matching network considerations for STM32WB55CEU6

Hi, I am designing a system using STM32WB55CEU6 and I want to use the RF functionality. Looking at evaluation board I see that there is a matching network for the output pin. The datasheet does no...

2 answers  ·  posted 5d ago by Elleanor Lopez‭  ·  last activity 3d ago by Olin Lathrop‭

Question RF
#1: Initial revision by user avatar Elleanor Lopez‭ · 2025-04-14T08:25:22Z (5 days ago)
Matching network considerations for STM32WB55CEU6
Hi,

I am designing a system using STM32WB55CEU6 and I want to use the RF functionality. Looking at evaluation board I see that there is a matching network for the output pin. The datasheet does not specify the output impedance, but an ST employee posted their empirical measurements:
![Image_alt_text](https://electrical.codidact.com/uploads/gaihulb3ux3b5vtgq8zh7p3hd3ly)

For the package I use the impedance is 42+j19. Using an online Smith chart tool it looks like I would only need a small 0.6pF capacitor:
![Image_alt_text](https://electrical.codidact.com/uploads/8e5oiwcp52ykm3sz5bek1bh0b13o)

However, the evaluation board uses a non-symmetric pi filter: ![Image_alt_text](https://electrical.codidact.com/uploads/3va5szkzmbpfcb7p73kzy11gz9kq)

It was my understanding that the advantage of a pi filter would be the symmetrical nature, where signal direction does not matter.

Therefore, it seems it would make sense to use symmetrical values as such: ![Image_alt_text](https://electrical.codidact.com/uploads/wjp37pnyhgr8mwsmtifuesj3xkqr)

Using the values provided by evaluation design:
![Image_alt_text](https://electrical.codidact.com/uploads/4gtp2y70q88zmssljrw7ycxj2enf)

This lands pretty far off. I see that in evaluation design it is mentioned component values will be updated after evaluation, so is it the case that these values are more or less arbitrary and tuned with a VNA during proto testing? What would be a reason to decide to use non-symmetrical pi filter for initial design? 

Regarding PCB design, most common thickness seems to be 1.6mm, however, with a 10% tolerance on the height could it be the case that the distance to return path changing from batch to batch could negatively impact performance of antenna, and therefore reducing overall thickness of the board prove beneficial to design?
RF