Acal BFi – IoT and Wireless Technology Centre

Advanced design support and tailored solutions for complex IoT and wireless challenges

The IoT and Wireless Technology Centre is our dedicated engineering facility for solving the unique challenges of wireless connectivity and IoT integration.

Creating custom solutions that add connectivity to your application requires specialist expertise and capabilities. Our team of wireless technology hardware design and software application engineers cover RF, wireless, cellular, and many more state-of-the-art technologies. Together, they bring extensive individual and collective experience in developing customised solutions to bring your concept to life.

Society’s ever-increasing reliance on smart technologies that deliver better performance in smaller and tougher devices shows no sign of dropping. These diverse applications and evolving IoT and wireless technologies mean our experts always remain ahead of the curve.

What we do at the IoT and Wireless Technology Centre

Our experienced engineers provide expert guidance and bespoke support for wireless technologies such as Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), Wi-Fi, LoRa, cellular (4G/5G), Zigbee, and proprietary RF protocols.

We specialise in:

  • Selecting the right wireless technology and modules for your application environment and performance needs
  • Designing and integrating custom wireless systems, including antenna design, RF layout, and PCB integration
  • Assisting with power optimisation for low-energy and battery-powered devices
  • Supporting secure wireless communication and data encryption
  • Developing mesh networking solutions for extended coverage and reliability
  • Testing and validation including protocol compliance and regulatory certifications
  • Supporting end-to-end design from discrete components through to turnkey wireless sub-systems

Whether you need help integrating a simple BLE sensor or a complex multi-protocol IoT gateway, our team has the knowledge and facilities to support you through every stage of development.

Discuss your IoT & wireless requirements with our specialists

Our technical capabilities

Standard engineering and support services

To help accelerate your development and reduce design risk, our IoT and Wireless Technology Centre provides a complete suite of standard engineering services tailored to your application needs.

Engineering consultation

We offer end-to-end system design and expert consultation tailored to your application needs, including defining wireless requirements, assessing system constraints, and recommending optimal technologies and modules. Our turnkey design services cover everything from concept and prototyping to initial production batches, supported by high-level Field Application Engineering (FAE) and comprehensive RF design reviews to optimise performance and reliability.

Technology integration

We provide seamless firmware and hardware integration of wireless modules, alongside custom chip-level hardware development and software support for both proprietary and standard wireless protocols, ensuring optimal communication efficiency and power performance within your embedded systems

Security and compliance

Our experts help you navigate wireless security best practices and encryption standards, and assist with regulatory certifications such as CE, FCC, and RED to ensure your solution meets all necessary compliance requirements.

Prototyping and testing

Equipped with advanced RF test equipment and anechoic chambers, we validate wireless performance, range, throughput, and interoperability under real-world conditions. Our in-house pre-certification testing accelerates your path to market by ensuring compliance and fit-for-purpose operation. Accelerate your proof-of-concept with ready-to-use modules and evaluation boards, supported by our engineering expertise.

Post-Production Support

Our commitment extends beyond deployment, with comprehensive handover and documentation to ensure ease of use and maintenance. Dedicated technical support is available to address any post-deployment issues, giving you peace of mind throughout your product lifecycle.

From concept to custom IoT solutions — comprehensive engineering support

From semi-custom adaptations to fully bespoke wireless designs, we deliver end-to-end engineering support to create IoT solutions optimised for your specific application.

Semi-custom designs

Our technology centre specialises in adapting existing wireless modules and platforms to perfectly fit your unique application requirements.

This includes:

  • Tailored firmware development: Customising module firmware to enhance performance, add features, or integrate with proprietary protocols and systems.
  • Mechanical modifications: Adjusting module form factors, connectors, or housings to ensure seamless physical integration within your product design.
  • Feature integration: Adding sensors, power management enhancements, or additional communication interfaces to extend module capabilities.
  • Performance optimisation: Fine-tuning RF parameters and power consumption profiles to meet specific operational conditions or regulatory standards.
  • Prototyping and testing: Rapid prototyping with thorough testing and validation to ensure reliability and compliance before full-scale production.

Fully custom wireless solutions

For applications where off-the-shelf modules fall short, our experts collaborate closely with you to deliver fully bespoke wireless designs that meet your most demanding requirements. Our full custom support includes:

  • Custom RF circuit design: Developing high-performance, application-specific RF front-ends, including amplifiers, filters, and matching networks optimised for your operating environment.
  • Custom antenna design and integration: Creating tailored antenna solutions to maximise signal quality, range, and robustness while fitting your device’s mechanical constraints.
  • Embedded firmware development: Writing dedicated firmware from the ground up to enable advanced wireless protocols, security features, and seamless integration with your system architecture.
  • Hardware integration and miniaturisation: Designing compact, power-efficient wireless modules that fit stringent size and power budgets without compromising performance.
  • Regulatory compliance support: Assisting with certifications and testing to ensure your custom wireless solution meets global standards and industry regulations.
  • End-to-end project management: Providing comprehensive support from initial concept and design through prototyping, testing, and production ramp-up to ensure timely delivery and quality.

Why work with the IoT and Wireless Technology Centre?

  • Access to leading wireless technologies and module manufacturers
  • Expertise spanning RF design, embedded integration, security, and certification
  • Accelerated development with hands-on prototyping and testing support
  • Reduced risk through compliance guidance and supply chain management
  • A trusted partner focused on delivering robust, scalable wireless solutions tailored to your industry needs

Contact us to discuss your project requirements

Why Acal BFi? Your partner for innovative IoT and wireless solutions

With decades of experience in electronic components and technology, Acal BFi combines deep technical knowledge with a strong supplier network to provide comprehensive support for IoT and wireless design challenges.

Our engineers assist with technology selection, design reviews, prototyping, testing, and lifecycle management, ensuring your wireless projects are not only successful but future-proof.

Supported by central logistics and regional expertise, we deliver fast, reliable service and supply across Europe and beyond.

Contact our IoT and Wireless Technology Centre today to discuss your wireless design challenges and explore how we can support your next project.

FAQ’s

Yes. The IoT & Wireless Technology Centre provides technology-agnostic guidance across RF, cellular, LPWA, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and more, helping you balance range, power, data rate, cost, and lifecycle considerations for your design.

Absolutely. Support ranges from bespoke System-on-Chip (SoC) design-in through to fully certified, application-ready modules, depending on your project complexity and time-to-market goals.

Yes. Our engineers can adapt off-the-shelf modules through hardware modifications, firmware changes, antenna tuning, and interface customisation to meet application-specific constraints such as size, environment, or performance.

We provide end-to-end integration support, including RF design, embedded software, system architecture, and multi-technology integration- ensuring all elements work together reliably within your final system.

Yes. The centre supports feasibility studies, proof-of-concept builds, and full prototype development, allowing you to validate performance, reduce risk, and refine your design before production.

Risk is reduced through pre-certification testing, compliance support, and early-stage design validation, ensuring your solution meets regulatory requirements and performs reliably in real-world conditions.

Yes. The team supports initial production, supply chain considerations, and lifecycle management, helping you transition from prototype to scalable deployment while maintaining performance and availability.

Support continues beyond delivery, with documentation, maintenance guidance, and technical assistance available to help optimise and evolve your solution over time.

Part of the Technology Network

Each Technology Centre is part of Acal BFI’s wider Technology Network, giving you access to a collaborative team of specialist engineers across multiple disciplines. This connected approach allows us to support larger, more complex projects that span multiple technologies – from embedded computing and wireless to power, sensing, photonics, and imaging. By bringing expertise together across our centres, we help reduce design risk, simplify integration, and deliver complete, production-ready solutions through a single, trusted engineering partner.

Discover more about the Technology Network

Collaborative expertise across Acal BFI Technology Centres

The IoT and Wireless Technology Centre works closely with our other Technology Centres to deliver fully integrated system solutions. When your project requires additional specialist support, we collaborate with teams from Embedded, Power Supply, Magnetic Products, and Sensor & Imaging Centres to provide a seamless, multidisciplinary approach. By combining expertise across embedded platforms, power management, connectivity, sensing, and more, we create tailored solutions that address the complex, evolving challenges of modern electronic design.

Our Technology Centres

BioPhotonics

With more than 15 years of experience in sales, installation, and service of BioPhotonics systems, we can offer products and solutions tailored to your specific requirements.

The wide range of BioPhotonics cameras, lasers, LED light sources, spectrometers, optical components, microscope systems, microscope accessories, and associated software enables us to assemble almost any photonics or imaging solution.

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Embedded Computing

The Embedded Computing Technology Centre drives advanced solutions, so you can deliver the technologies of tomorrow – today.

Design customer driven systems, build prototypes and manufacture products to meet your distinct needs. Many of the platform-based technologies that we offer were designed with customisation in mind.

Our capabilities help us to offer solutions across all stages of your project. Whether your requirements are standard, modified or highly customised, our experts support and identify your aims and work to ensure that we provide a solution that fits.

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Fibre Optics

The Fibre Optics Technology Centre allows our engineers to develop fibre optic solutions to meet changing demands in a high-speed world.

With over 25 years of experience in fibre optics and application engineering for hardware and components, we help to analyse and qualify to improve the stability and functionality of your transceivers. Supporting our engineers with expertise and state of the art technology, the Fibre Optics Technology Centre houses a number of our specialist capabilities.

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Imaging Technology Centre

The Imaging Technology Centre is our dedicated hub for infrared and thermal imaging expertise, supporting the design, integration, testing, and deployment of customised imaging solutions across industrial, energy, transportation, aerospace, security, and specialist applications.

The Imaging Technology Centre is our dedicated hub for infrared and thermal imaging expertise, supporting the design, integration, testing, and deployment of customised imaging solutions across industrial, energy, transportation, aerospace, security, and specialist applications.

By combining deep technical knowledge with specialist facilities and equipment, our team supports customers developing everything from standard infrared camera integrations to fully bespoke imaging systems.

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Interconnect and Cable Assembly

The capabilities and expertise housed within the Interconnect and Cable Assembly Technology Centre ensure that our team can support you every step of the way.

Providing and customising bespoke specialist fibre and cables including hybrids with custom connectors, the Technology Centre is on hand to support with design, assembly, testing and approvals for your customised solutions.

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IoT and wireless

The IoT and Wireless Technology Centre has the ability to support complex discrete component design-in from a bespoke System on Chip (SoC), right through to fully integrated modules that are certified and application ready.

Creating custom solutions that add connectivity to an application requires specialist expertise and capabilities. Our team of wireless technology hardware design and software application engineers cover RF, wireless, cellular and many more state-of-the-art technologies. Together they have extensive individual and collective experience of developing customised solutions, ensuring we can bring your concept to life.

Explore our Technology Centre

Magnetic Products

The Magnetic Products Technology Centre is at the forefront of our solution led approach for applications that require customised cores and components, driving our commitment to developing an enhanced technological future together.

Over the last 25 years, we have grown our expertise in the design-led customisation of magnetic components. With the largest team of technical support specialists, the Magnetic Products Technology Centre is at the forefront of magnetic based technological advancements. Our team design and manufacture magnetic components including transformers, inductors, and even cores to meet the technical and commercial aspects of your project, whether you are in design or production.

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Power Supply

The extensive breadth of experience held by our in-house design industrial power engineers ensures that we have the expertise to develop customised industrial power supply solutions, ranging from 1W to 25kW for a wide range of applications.

Whether you’re looking to modify or configure a standard power product, integrate it into a custom design, design and modify a rack, chassis, PCB, or require a full custom-designed power solution, our Power Supply Technology Centre can support you with the design, assembly, testing and integration of a tailored industrial power solution to meet your specific application’s requirements.

Explore our Technology Centre