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ISSUE DATE: SEPTEMBER 2006 | |
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September 2006 - In This Issue [Cover Story] Next-Generation Instruments Speed Wireless Testing Speed is as important as accuracy for production testing. With that in mind, Agilent Technologies (Palo Alto, CA) undertook major development programs for three different families of high-frequency test instruments. These extensive efforts resulted in the model N9020A MXA signal analyzer, a midrange signal and spectrum analyzer with high performance and blazing speed in four versions spanning 20 Hz to 3.6 GHz, 8.4 GHz, 13.6 GHz, and 26.5 GHz; the models N5181A MXG... — Jack Browne [News] Frequency Synthesizers Supply Stable Signals Frequency synthesizers generate the stable, low-noise signals for many microwave designs, including commercial communications systems, electronic warfare and intelligence systems, and test equipment. Synthesizers come in many shapes and sizes, from tiny integrated circuits (ICs) to modular systems in rugged rack-mount enclosures, and in many technologies, from direct and indirect analog types of fast-switching direct-digital synthesizers (DDS). Because of the breadth ... — Jack Browne [News] Technology Cancels Cellular Interferenc Interference often stands in the way of effective communications. In third-generation (3G) wireless-communications systems, interference can degrade the quality of service (QoS), decrease efficiency, and bring the data rates of digital communications networks to a crawl. Fortunately, a company called TensorComm (Westminster, CO, www.tensorcomm.com) has developed an innovative technique for dealing with interference... — Jack Browne [Design Features] Developing Designs For RFID Transponders Radio-frequency-identification (RFID) technology has expanded into a wide range of markets. It is particularly well suited to supply-chain management, due to the contact-less, non-line-of-sight nature of the technology. Passive RFID has been on the market at low (125 kHz) and higher (13.56 MHz) frequencies for some time, with various UHF RFID standards established prior to 2003. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Auto-ID Center (Cambridge, MA) recognized the... — Faisal Mohd-Yasin , et al. [Design Features] Understand Requirements For WiMAX Testing High-data-rate communications as defined in the WiMAX IEEE 802.16-2004 standard may pave the way for true broadband, multimedia services over wireless networks. Based on orthogonal-frequency-division-multiplex (OFDM) techniques, the WiMAX physical-layer (PHY) and media-access-control (MAC) protocols are outlined in the IEEE 802.16-2004 standard. These protocols have inspired the development of a baseband test transceiver detailed last month in Part 2 of this article ... — Huseyin Arslan , et al. [Design Features] Directional Couplers Aid Antenna Power Monitoring Directional couplers are useful for monitoring and measuring power levels from antennas and at different points in a communications system. Designing a microstrip or stripline directional coupler requires a clear understanding of the physics of coupled lines and the limitations of a printed-circuitboard (PCB) process. What follows is the design of a novel microstrip/coplanar-to-stripline directional coupler that is convenient for simultaneous monitoring of power ... — Andrzej Sawicki [Design Features] Monopole Arrays Are Electronically Steerable Electronically steerable antennas can provide beam scanning in azimthal and elevation planes without moving parts, adding to their reliability under severe weather conditions. Such an antenna has been developed based on a monopole center feed, an eight-monopole main ring, and 16 monopoles in two parasitic rings. The monopoles are embedded in dielectric to achieve a size reduction. The parasitic elements are connected to a controller circuit via a PIN diode and... — Dr. A. Kumar [Product Technology] Handheld Analyzer Scans 4-GHz Spectrum Portable, handheld spectrum analyzers such as the new model 9102 from Boonton Electronics allow engineers to bring their measurement gear to a site, rather than the other way around. This battery-powered test tool is a mere 355 X 190 X 91 mm but packs all the measurement power of a rack-mount spectrum analyzer. It covers a frequency range from 100 kHz to 4 GHz and features a built-in frequency counter for accurately identifying received signals with 1-Hz frequency... — Jack Browne [Product Technology] GaN Transistors Reach For High Power And Linearity Cellular base-station developers face an ongoing quest for higher output power levels and improved linearity. To meet these high linearity and power requirements, many power transistor suppliers, including Eudyna Devices (San Jose, CA), are turning to gallium-nitride (GaN) semiconductor materials. Eudyna's commitment to GaN research and development has resulted in a full line of devices ranging in output-power levels from 30 to 180 W and usable at frequencies past 3.5 GHz for both cellular... — Jack Browne [Product Technology] Tiny Instruments Combine Power Meter And Sensor Conventional microwave power measurements call for a power meter and the right power sensor for the frequency range and power level of interest. The LB4XX Series universal serial bus (USB) PowerSensor+ products from LadyBug Technologies LLC (Santa Rosa, CA) are hardly conventional, but they can make the same, highly accurate power measurements as the high-priced meter and sensor combinations, and in a fraction of the bench space. These compact measurement instruments ... — Jack Browne [Editorial] RFID Is Not Just For Wal-Mart Radio-frequency-identification (RFID) electronics have often been considered a "low-end" form of wireless technology due to their widespread use for tagging and tracking retail. But the technology took a major step toward scientific respectability when the United States Department of Defense (DoD) required that its suppliers use RFID tags on shipments to military customers and installations. A news story in the current (September) issue of digital magazine Military ... — Jack Browne [White Paper] White Paper: Achieve Improved Spectrum Analyzer Amplitude Accuracy A swept-tuned superheterodyne spectrum analyzer (Fig. 1) mixes input signals with a local oscillator (LO) with signal amplification, filtering, and detection performed at intermediate frequencies (IFs). The preselector filter (sometimes a lowpass filter) prevents high-frequency signals from reaching the mixer and mixing with the LO. The reference level shown on the spectrum analyzer's display is adjusted by the level of... — Pablo Estrada |
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