User's Manual

Environmental Specifications
A DIVISION OF TRIMBLE
38 Hardware Overview
Environmental Specifications
Thermal Considerations
The module will operate within its stated specifications over a temperature range o f-20 to
+60 degrees C, measured at the ground plan that the ThingMagic Nano module is
soldered to.
It may be safely stored in temperatures ranging from -40 degrees C to +85 degrees C.
Thermal Management
Heat-sinking
For high duty cycles, it is essential to use a surface mount configuration where all edge
vias are soldered to a carrier or mother board, with a large area of ground plane, that will
either radiate heat or conduct the heat to a larger heat-sink. A high density of PCB vias
from the top to bottom of the board will efficiently conduct heat to a bottom mount heat-
sink. Often the weak link in thermal management design is not the thermal interface from
the ThingMagic Nano to the heat-sink, but rather the thermal interface from the heat-sink
to the outside world.
Duty Cycle
If overheating occurs it is recommended to first try reducing the duty cycle of operation.
This involves modifying the RF On/Off (API parameter settings /reader/read/
asyncOnTime and asyncOffTime) values. A good place to start is 50% duty cycle using
250ms/250ms On/Off.
If your performance requirements can be met, a low enough duty cycle can result in no
heat sinking required. Or with adequate heat sinking you can run continuously at 100%
duty cycle.