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ISSUE DATE: AUGUST 2009 | |
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August 2009 - In This Issue [Cover Story] Hybrid Amp Modules Drive 6 To 18 GHz Wideband amplifier modules find uses in a variety of industries, including in communications and test applications. A new line of hybrid power amplifier modules (HPMs) from AR RF/Microwave Instrumentation provides coverage from 6 to 18 GHz with a wide range of choices in signal gain and output power, including two models with noise figures as low as 3 dB. The simple-to-integrate modules are cascadable 50-Ohm system building blocks designed to operate on a... — Jack Browne [News] Sorting Through News From The Boston MTT-S Attendance was modest at this year’s IEEE Microwave Theory & Techniques Society (MTT-S) annual conference and exhibition, held recently in Boston, MA. But bleak economic forecasts didn’t stop this industry’s resourceful engineers from unleashing a host of new product ideas that can only help to turn business in a positive direction. Among the most noticeable of display booths were those hosted by the major test and measurement and... — Jack Browne , et al. [News] Arbitrary Generators Answer Most Testing Needs Asignal generator is what the name implies: a generator of signals used as a stimulus for electronic tests. Most circuits require an input test signal with time-varying amplitude for characterization. It may be a true bipolar alternating-current (AC) signal with peaks oscillating above and below a ground reference point. Or it may vary over a range of direct-current (DC) offset voltages that are either positive or negative. The signal may be a sine wave or... — Randy White [News] An Interview With Vinod Chitkara MRF: Narda manufactures products for the defense industry. What is your view of the defense market in 2009? Chitkara: The health of the defense industry is important to Narda, which had its best year ever in 2008 due in large measure to our sales of products for defense applications. The military is in the process of upgrading existing radar, electronic warfare (EW), countermeasure, and terrestrial and satellite-based... — Jack Browne [News] Microwave Legends Empty... — Nancy Friedrich [Design Features] LDMOS FETs Power Efficient Doherty Amps Doherty amplifiers have risen from obscurity to become the architecture of choice for many wireless networks, from multicarrier GSM to Long Term Evolution (LTE) cellular systems. Most of these amplifiers rely on laterally diffused metal-oxidesemiconductor (LDMOS) field-effect transistors (FETs), which meet the performance, reliability, and cost requirements of this intensely cost-sensitive market. The transistors produced by the eighth-generation, ... — Eric Toulouse [Design Features] Bandpass Filter Integrates Notch Dielectric resonators (DRs) are commonly associated with high-quality-factor (high-Q) oscillators, although they can also be used to form compact antennas. To demonstrate the effectiveness of antenna design with DRs, a rectangular dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) was developed with target frequency range between 2 and 4 GHz and center resonant frequency around 3 GHz. The design goal was to achieve antenna return loss of less than 10 dB to... — [Design Features] Rectangular DR Antenna Resonates At 3 GHz Ultrawideband (UWB) technology provides the means for high-datarate communications within the 3.1-to-10.6- GHz band authorized for UWB by the United States Federal Communications Commission.1 In order to best use that frequency band, filtering is essential. A proposed bandpass filter provides the bandwidth needed for UWB communications while incorporating a notch to reject any unwanted radio signals falling in the band. The notched band ... — Dr. J.S. Mandeep [Design Features] Designing Effective Baseband Circuits High-speed components such as opamps and analog- to-digital converters (ADCs) are now typically available at RF and microwave frequencies for use in 50-Ohm systems. But since they are often at different impedances, parameters such as power gain and noise figure can be misused during a circuit analysis. To better understand the integration of baseband components into high-frequency circuits and systems, it may be helpful to review the concepts of... — Doug Stuetzle [Product Technology] Sources Shave Phase NoiseFor Millimeter-Wave Applications Phase noise limits the performance of many high-frequency systems from electronic-warfare (EW) to test equipment. But new low-noise transistors are making possible a score of higherfrequency oscillators and synthesizers with outstanding spectral purity to meet the performance requirements of existing and emerging systems. At Micro Lambda Wireless, for instance, designers are replacing... — Ashok Bindra [Product Technology] Load-Pull System Aids Nonlinear Device Modeling Transistor amplifier linearity is essential to many wireless systems. Unfortunately, linearity often comes at the expense of efficiency. However, a load-pull system from Focus Microwaves when combined with nonlinear X-parameter measurements can help achieve the best compromise between linearity and efficiency for a given bias class of power amplifier. A traditional load-pull... — Jack Browne [Product Technology] Portable VNAs Tune To 20 GHz Vector network analyzers (VNAs) usually occupy mul-tiple rack spaces in an equipment enclosure. But the two latest VNA Master VNAs from Anritsu Company, the MS2026B and the MS2028B, are portable, batterypowered versions of the microwave test instrument, weighing less than 10 lbs but bringing full two-port S-parameter measurement capability across frequency ranges of 5 kHz to 6 GHz and 5 kHz to 20 GHz,... — Jack Browne [Product Technology] Synthesizer Merges Fast Switching With Low Phase Noise Frequency synthesizers come in many configurations—but often with performance tradeoffs. Phase Matrix’s QuickSyn challenges traditional performance expectations with frequency switching speed of 100 s and phase noise of –150 dBc/Hz at 10 kHz offset from the carrier. This synthesizer covers 0.1 to 10 GHz with resolution down to 0.001 Hz. It delivers output levels from –25 to +15 dBm. Aside from frequency coverage and resolution, a... — Louis E. Frenzel [Product Technology] Signal Generator Breaks 1-W Barrier Microwave measurements that call for robust test signal levels often require an external broadband amplifier along with the signal generator. But the new E8257D option 521 Performance Signal Generator (PSG) from Agilent Technologies can deliver better than 1 W (+30 dBm) output power over most of its 20-GHz frequency range without an additional amplifier while achieving outstanding output-power flatness and low output harmonics (... — Berry Carone [Feedback] Feedback Dear Editor, First of all, let me commend you and your magazine for your efforts to bring younger, less experienced RF/microwave design engineers “up to speed on the many complex topics that comprise our industry, notably in your monthly RF Primer article. I read with great interest your installment on electromagnetic simulation software tools, “EM Simulators Study Field Patterns,” in the July 2009 issue of Microwaves & RF and found it to be... — Various Readers [The Front End] OEMs Will Support Bluetooth Low-Energy Products WELLINGBOROUGH, UK—Despite concern about single-mode device development, IMS Research expects that partnerships will be formed between integrated-circuit (IC) vendors and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) as well as makers of single-mode and dual-mode Bluetooth low-energy-enabled products. Although uncertain, many people expect that single-mode devices will require a year to gain value as a low-energy standard. The market is currently waiting for a... — Kelly Allegra [The Front End] Raytheon Signs Contract To Develop Nano-Thermal-Interface Materials TEWKSBURY, MA — Raytheon Co. has signed a $6-million-dollar contract to work with nano-thermalinterface materials (nTIM) in the hopes of enhancing the thermal performance of advanced defense- electronics systems. Split into three phases, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) program will have a duration of 45 months. According to Raytheon, it will utilize engineered nanomaterials to lower the thermal resistance between ... — Kelly Allegra [The Front End] Flat And Trackless Cables Result In Lower Particulation LANDENBERG, PA—W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc. has released the results of a cable particulation study conducted with the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing, Engineering, and Automation IPA located in Germany. Four different cable systems—two Gore high-flex flat cables, one round cable chain, and one Gore trackless cable—were utilized to determine their particulation for ISO cleanroom certification. In addition, two non-metal cable chains, a... — Kelly Allegra [Financial News] Interplex Acquires Quantum Leap Packaging INTERPLEX INDUSTRIES has acquired Quantum Leap Packaging, Inc. (QLP). This transaction involves all of QLP’s proprietary technologies including resin technologies like Quantech. Interplex will integrate QLP’s packaging technology into its Interplex Engineered Products (IEP) facility in East Providence, RI and eventually expand it to the global market. To maintain the original vision of the founder as a “Quantum Leap” in technology, QLP’s new name will... — Dawn Hightower [Company News] Company News CONTRACTS Nextreme Thermal Solutions—Announced its cooperation agreement with Lockheed Martin to develop new products using Nextreme’s thin-film thermoelectric materials. As part of the agreement, Nextreme—a company focused on microscale thermal and power-management devices for the electronics field—will have its materials and services available for Lockheed Martin to use for its government and civil application... — Dawn Hightower [People] People Conexant Names Co-Presidents CHRISTIAN SCHERP and SAILESH CHITTIPEDDI will share responsibilities as Co-Presidents for Conexant Systems, Inc. when the transactions to sell the Broadband Access business to Ikanos Communications, Inc. is completed in the fourth fiscal quarter. Most recently, Scherp served as Conexant President while... — Dawn Hightower [Educational Meetings] Educational Meetings MEETINGS 4GWE Wireless Evolution Conference Sept. 1-3, 2009 (Las Angeles, CA) Register online and save at: www.4GWE.com Contact Frank Coppola at: (203) 852-6800, ext. 131 Send your registration form to: 4GWE Conference, TMC, One Technology Plaza, Norwalk, CT 06854 FAX: (203) 866-3326 4G World Sept. 15-18, 2009 (Chicago, IL) To... — Dawn Hightower [R&D Roundup] ASIC Processes UWB Baseband Signals IMPULSE-RADIO ULTRA WIDEBAND (IR-UWB) targets low data rates in the range of 0.1 to 10.0 Mb/s. Recently, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) for IR-UWB baseband signals was realized and characterized by David Barras, George von Bueren, and Heinz Jaeckel from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology together with Robert Meyer-Piening from Sensirion AG and Walter Hirt from the IBM Zurich Research Laboratory. This baseband ASIC, which is... — Nancy Friedrich [R&D Roundup] Antenna Enables Communication Over Body Surface CURRENTLY, A LOT of effort is being devoted to the integration of RF transceiver modules with embedded signal processing and sensor circuitry for small, low-power wireless nodes—mostly at 2.45 GHz and below. The antenna presents a significant problem in such miniaturized systems, as the smaller size demands tradeoffs between design parameters like efficiency, bandwidth, and radiation characteristics. In addition, antenna performance is affected by close... — Nancy Friedrich [R&D Roundup] Pump-Probe Scheme Allows Terahertz Generation And Detection UNLIKE OPTICAL SPECTROSCOPY, terahertz timedomain spectroscopy allows the engineer to measure complex amplitude instead of the intensity of the terahertz probe. Recently, a terahertz generation and detection setup based on a pump-probe scheme was presented by An-Tao Chen from the University of Washington, Li-Shuang Feng from Beihang University in Beijing, Xiang-Jun Xin and Chong-Xiu Yu from Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, and Zhen Zhou,... — Nancy Friedrich [Application Notes] Choose The Right Substrate For GaN Devices For high-power rF applications, aluminum-gallium- nitride (AlGaN)/GaN high-electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) are predominantly fabricated on silicon or silicon-carbide substrates. The choice of substrate represents an array of essential material properties. Those properties, in turn, affect device performance and reliability. In application note AN-011, titled “Substrates for GaN RF Devices,” Nitronex Corp. explains why it has adopted 100- mm silicon as its... — Nancy Friedrich [Application Notes] Multilayer Broadband Baluns Target ADCs Both cellular-inFrastructure equipment and high-end instrumentation feature multi-carrier, multimode receivers. With conversion rates to 125 MSamples/s, the AD9445 high-speed dataconverter from Analog Devices (www. analog.com) is optimized for such receivers. Its sibling, the AD9446, operates to 100 MSamples/s. It targets instrumentation, medicalimaging, and radar receivers that employ sub- 100-MHz baseband intermediate frequencies. If those 14-/16-b... — Nancy Friedrich [Editor's Choice] Software Simplifies Sensor-Network Design And RF Testing TO ALLOW DESIGNERS to more easily take advantage of emerging opportunities, the LabVIEW 2009 test software combines technologies like multicore, field-programmable- gate-array (FPGA) design, wireless platforms, and real-time math. To simplify the development challenges of parallel hardware architectures, for example, its virtualization technology makes it possible to run multiple operating systems (OSs) side by side on the same multicore processing ... — Nancy Friedrich [Editor's Choice] 20-GHz Signal Generator Fulfills Test And Research Needs WITH A FREQUENCY RANGE of 10 MHz to 20 GHz, the HMC-T2100 synthesized signal generator covers all major communication bands with frequency resolution of 10 kHz and switching speed of 300 s. This compact, lightweight frequency generator delivers continuous-wave (CW) output power to +27 dBm in 0.1-dB steps over a 40-dB dynamic range. It offers harmonic rejection that is better than –39 dBc at 1 GHz with less than –65 dBc spurious products at 10 GHz. The... — Nancy Friedrich [Editor's Choice] PA Achieves 5 W From 18 To 26.5 GHz THE LATEST ADDITION to a family of broadband high-power amplifiers boasts nominal smallsignal gain of 52 dB and typical saturated output power of +38 with ±1 dB output-power flatness. The model AMF-8B-18002650-70-37P plate-mounted high-power amplifier spans 18 to 26.5 GHz while delivering at least 5 W of saturated output power. It generally offers input/output-port voltage standing wave ratios (VSWRs) of 2.0:1 or less. The unit runs from +12 to +15 VDC (+48 VDC... — Nancy Friedrich [Editor's Choice] MMIC Limits Noise Figure To 3 dB At 4 GHz WITH LOW INTERMODULATION distortion from 50 MHz to 6 GHz, the PHA-1+ monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) may be used as a replacement amplifier in high-dynamic-range systems like linearized transmitters and receivers. Usually, this device provides an output third-order intercept point of +42 dBm while maintaining a noise figure below 3 dB to 4 GHz. It offers typical gain of 14 dB at 2 GHz. Overall performance is comparable to the firm’s previously... — Nancy Friedrich [Editor's Choice] Medical Segment May Inspire Today’s Inventors This year, we honor five history-making figures as additions to our “Microwave Legends” hall of fame (see “Microwave Legends,” p. 47; full list is available at www.mwrf.com/legends). Yet the “legend” title is not limited to great minds of the past. In today’s world, microwave engineers are heroes every time a life-saving call is made from a cell phone or a person in need is located via technologies that... — Nancy Friedrich |
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