ISSUE DATE: SEPTEMBER 2007  OPTIONS
Military Electronics

• Get a FREE Subscription
• Renew Subscription
• Reprints/Licensing
• Submit Article Ideas


Browse Archived Articles By: Issue | Author | Department | Topic

September 2007 - In This Issue

[Cover Story]
Block Upconverter Drops Phase Noise At Ka-Band
Commercial and military satellites deploying Ka-band transponders are driving the need for high-performance L-band-to-Ka-band block upconverters (BUCs). These frequency translators will find use in portable and fixed terminals and must be compatible with both solid-state and tube-based amplifiers. To meet the needs of this growing market, Herley-CTI (www.herley-cti.com) has developed a low-phase-noise, dual-loop frequency synthesized BUC using dielectric resonator oscillators...  — John Odell , et al.

[News]
Tracking Trends In Military-Electronics Technologies
Military-electronics technology has long trended toward achieving more functionality and performance in smaller packages. The ways in which electronic technologies are applied may change, but that trend for smaller and lighter electronic devices and systems remains. For companies faced with supplying electronic components and equipment for military applications, most innovations focus on saving size, power, weight, and, of course, cost. At the highest...  — Jack Browne

[News]
Dividers/Combiners Channel RF/Microwave Signals
Signals must often be divided or combined within a system, a task usually handled at RF and microwave frequencies by power dividers and combiners. An ideal power divider would also be an ideal power combiner, but this is not always the case. The components are not always designed for reciprocal operation. In addition, all power dividers and combiners suffer some insertion loss, which will inevitably limit their power-handling capabilities. But, in spite of their...  — Jack Browne

[Design Features]
Tracking Advances in Pulsed S-Parameter Measurements
Scattering (S) parameter measurements with a vector network analyzer (VNA) are usually performed with a continuous-wave (CW) stimulus applied to the device under test (DUT). In some cases, however, it may be necessary to use a pulsed stimulus for the S-parameter measurements. For example, a DUT that is not thermally coupled (such as a power transistor) might be damaged by the heat buildup of CW measurements, but safely characterized by pulsed measurements. By properly...  — Loren Betts

[Design Features]
Reviewing The Basics Of Intermodulation Distortion
Intermodulation distortion (IMD) can wreak havoc in modern wireless-communications systems. The better it is understood, the better its effects can be minimized. IMD can be described by examining the linearity of a two-port network. This study of IMD will explore the relationship between the intercept points and the coefficients of the polynomial that is used to model the transfer function of an amplifier. Increasingly crowded spectrum brings with it...  — Martin R. Johnson

[Design Features]
Evaluate Test System Impedance Matching And Switch Quality
Impedance mismatches cause reflections, an unwanted effect in high-frequency test systems. For AC signals, any change in dielectric constant between materials can result in a change in characteristic impedances and an impedance mismatch. For example, when a sine wave travels from a 40.9-W transmission line and a 50-W load, some of its energy will be reflected back into the transmission line. Understanding how and why signals reflect can lead to improved...  — Jeremy Meier , et al.

[Design Features]
Design Cross-Coupled Absorptive Filters
Microwave filters conventionally reflect electromagnetic (EM) waves from the load back to the source. In some cases, however, it is desirable to separate the reflected wave from the input, to protect the source from excessive power levels, for example. For this reason, absorptive filters have been developed to minimize reflections.1 Figure 1 shows the basic configuration of an absorptive filter. This...  — Han Shihu , et al.

[Design Features]
Enhance CMOS Charge Pumps And Phase-Frequency Detectors
Frequency synthesizers orchestrate the frequency translation in modern wireless transceivers. The performance of the synthesizer, notably its phase jitter and spurious levels, can greatly determine the performance of the overall wireless system. Many factors impact phase jitter and spurious, including the choice of synthesizer architecture—integer-N or fractional-N phase-locked loop (PLL)—and the number of loops and comparison frequency. Synthesizers...  — Louis Fan Fei

[Product Technology]
Tri-Company Teamwork Leads To High-Performance Assemblies
Dover Technologies carries a great deal of "microwave firepower." By acquiring Voltronics Corp. (www.voltronicscorp. com), for example, Dielectric Laboratories (www.dilabs.com) (DLI) added major market share in precision trimmer capacitors to its already formidable capabilities in ceramic capacitors, filters, and application-specific ...  — Jack Browne

[Product Technology]
Spectrum Analyzer Spans 20 Hz To 67 GHz
Spectrum analyzers are considered essential RF/microwave test tools. With spectral crowding, the need closely track interference caused by harmonic signals, and the opening of millimeter-wave bands for commercial communications, spectrum analyzers must provide greater frequency coverage than ever before, and the R&S FSU67 spectrum analyzer from Rohde & Schwarz (www.rohdeschwarz.com) sets a new...  — Richard Pieciak

[Editorial]
Wireless Adoption Surges Despite Fears
About a year ago, I received a phone call from a man who was looking for backup material for his son's science-fair project. The project asserted that exposure to a wireless local-area network (WLAN) would prevent living things from flourishing. The student had set up a wireless network in his home and then bought two of the same plants in seemingly identical condition. He placed one in an anechoic chamber while the other one was left in the open right next to it....  — Nancy Friedrich

[White Paper]
Making Source-Corrected Noise-Figure Measurements
Noise limits the sensitivity of a receiver and degrades the performance of a transmitter.Both R&D and production environments rely on several time-honored approaches to evaluate component noise in terms of noise figure. They now have an additional option in the form of single-connection, source-corrected noise-figure measurements through 26.5 GHz using the Agilent PNA-X vector network analyzer (VNA) from Agilent Technologies (...  — David Ballo

[Feedback]
Claire Wainwright
I have been a reader of Microwaves & RF for more than 30 years, and I was very sad when I read your editorial ("The Odyssey Of Claire Wainwright," Editorial, June 2007, p. 17) about my very good friend Claire Wainwright. Apart from being a representative of Hewlett-Packard in Catalonia, I also represented Telonic Industries. Claire was a very kind person and also a good engineer, especially in sweep generators and filters. It is very gratifying...  — Julio del Olmo

[Feedback]
MTT-S Editorial
A correction is needed in regard to your July editorial ("Hawaii Gets A Thumbs Up After All," Editorial, July 2007, p. 17). The acronym MTT-S has always represented Microwave Theory and Techniques Society, never MTT Symposium. The conference held in Honolulu was the 2007 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium, or, as it is frequently shortened to, simply the 2007 IMS. Also, information on the radar that detected the Japanese...  — Dick Sparks

[Feedback]
WiMAX Article
I was looking over the WiMAX article that you graciously published as the Cover Story in the June issue ("Single Chip Holds WiMAX Transceivers," June 2007, p. 96), and I found one typo and a misplaced figure reference. The typo occurred on the last page in the middle column, the second line from the bottom—the part number should be MAX2837. Somehow, the numbers got scrambled. As for the misplaced reference, you have Figure 7 referenced in the...  — Dave Bursky

[Feedback]
Waveguide Components
It is very rare that I am driven to write to the media but your recent piece in Microwaves & RF supposedly reviewing the world of waveguides ("Waveguide Components Cut Losses While Passing Power," July 2007, p. 40) has certainly raised some eyebrows here at Credowan. We have manufactured waveguide products here since the early 1950s and now, combined with our French factory known as Hypertechnologies, are the dominant force in space and...  — Nigel Bowes

[The Front End]
RFID Transponders Approach The $1B Mark
Natick, MA—According to a report from Venture Development Corp. (www.vdc-corp.com), the global market for RFID transponders approached $1 billion in 2006 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 24 percent through 2008 (see figure). Transponder revenue distribution was relatively uniform among the regional markets—EMEA accounted for slightly more...  — Compiled by John Curley

[The Front End]
QUALCOMM Equips 300 Million Mobile Handsets Worldwide With GPS
San Diego, CA—QUALCOMM, Inc., a developer of code-division multiple access (CDMA) and other advanced wireless technologies, has marked a milestone in the adoption of the company's gpsOne® position-location technology. More than 300 million mobile handsets worldwide have now been shipped with the gpsOne solution, helping the wireless industry meet worldwide user demand for accurate, easy-to-use location services on mobile...  — Compiled by John Curley

[The Front End]
Prospects Are Improving For RF Power-Amplifier Markets
Scottsdale, AZ—Updated forecasts from ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com) for the global RF power-amplifier market indicate that while the total available market for these essential cellular base-station equipment items is still shrinking, the decline is not as severe as had been feared. An ABI Research report on this market also points to two other significant factors that have changed the...  — Compiled by John Curley

[The Front End]
Kudos
Phoenix, AZ—White Mountain Labs, a firm involved in the test and characterization of advanced technologies, was recently ranked by the Inc. 5000 index as the 2727th fastest-growing private company in the US. The Inc. 5000 is an extension of Inc. magazine's annual Inc. 500 list, but digs deeper to offer the most comprehensive look at the entrepreneurial engine driving the US economy. Hong Kong —Elcoteq SE,...  — Compiled by John Curley

[Financial News]
RFMD To Acquire Sirenza Microdevices
RF Micro Devices, Inc. and Sirenza Microdevices announced that they have signed a definitive merger agreement. Under the terms of the merger agreement unanimously approved by therespective boards of directors of the two companies, each outstanding share of Sirenza's common stock will be exchanged for a combination of 1.7848 shares of RFMD common stock and $5.56 in cash. Outstanding options to purchase Sirenza stock will be assumed by RFMD and...  — Compiled by John Curley

[Company News]
Company News
Contracts MU-DEL Electronics, Inc.—For the second time in 12years, has been awarded an Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) five-year contract by the FAA to supply the FAA with its new generation of VHF and UHF receiver multicouplers. The basic contract is valued at $9.8 million with a five-year option. This option, if exercised by the FAA, brings the potential value of this contract to $21 million....  — Compiled by John Curley

[People]
People
Skyworks Solutions, Inc. has announced that Donald (Don) W. Palette has joined Skyworks as vice president and CFO. Palette most recently served as senior vice president of finance and controller of Axcelis Technologies, Inc. Harris Corp.—Brian A. Fitzpatrick to vice president of business development for the Civil Programs business of Harris Government Communications Systems; formerly corporate director...  — Compiled by John Curley

[Educational Meetings]
Educational Meetings
Short Courses R.A. Wood Associates Short Courses Introductory RF and Microwaves November 5-6 (Philadelphia, PA) RF and Microwave Receiver Design November 7-9 (Philadelphia, PA) RF Power Amplifiers, Classes A-S: How the Circuits Operate, How to Design Them, and When to Use Each November 12-13 (Philadelphia, PA) For further information, contact: R.A. Wood...  — Compiled by John Curley

[R&D Roundup]
Single Sideband Schottky-Diode IC Mixer Covers 180 To 196 GHz
Broadband Telecommunication services and wireless local-area networks (WLANs) increasingly depend on millimeter-wave operation. Millimeter-wave components based on galliumarsenide (GaAs) and indium-phosphide (InP) monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) are at the heart of such wideband systems. At Australia's CSIRO ICT Centre, John W. Archer and Juan Tello took part in the design and testing of a mixer that was made by United Monolithic Semiconductors using a GaAs-based...  — Nancy Friedrich

[R&D Roundup]
2D Tomographic Imaging Characterizes Benign And Malignant Breast Tissue
X-Ray mammography currently misses an estimated 15 percent of breast cancer. It also has trouble imaging women with dense breasts and discriminating between benign and malignant masses. As an alternative, a characterization of benign and malignant breast tissues based on their reconstructed shape and permittivity profile has been presented by G. Bindu and K.T. Mathew from the Microwave Tomography and Materials Research Laboratory at Cochin University of Science and Technology....  — Nancy Friedrich

[R&D Roundup]
Nonsurgical Microwave Procedure Uncovers Pregnancy Risks
During pregnancy, the physiological changes that occur can result in complications for the mother and—in turn—the fetus. At the Microwave Tomography and Materials Research Laboratory's Department of Electronics at Cochin University of Science and Technology, in-vitro measurements of amniotic fluid were done using a rectangular cavity perturbation technique in the 2-to-3-GHz frequency range. Because this method can rely on a low-volume sample, it is appropriate for...  — Nancy Friedrich

[Application Notes]
Modern Signal Generators Simplify I/Q Modulator Characterization
In-Phase/Quadrature (I/Q) Modulators are crucial to modern telecommunications. Currently, designers are working on I/Q modulators to meet the increasing demands for transmission bandwidth and signal quality. The performance of such devices must be evaluated during the design phase. In "Characterization of IQ Modulator Counts on Flexible Signal Generator Stimulus," Tektronix, Inc. (Beaverton, OR) delves into several of the key measurements that engineers routinely make on an I/Q...  — Nancy Friedrich

[Application Notes]
PCB Layout Enables Lowest Thermal Resistance
Printed-Circuit Board (PCB) layout is critical to both thermal and RF performance. It is therefore crucial that designers consider the heat source as well as how the heat will be removed before the electromechanical design is finished. Texas Instruments, Inc. (Dallas, TX) offers a white paper on this subject titled, "Junction Temperature of TRF1123/TRF1223 and Recommended PCB Layout Guidelines." Specifically, this seven-page document describes the PCB layout guidelines for optimal...  — Nancy Friedrich

[Editor's Choice]
Calibrator Kit Pinpoints Cable Loss
Every cable has some signal loss. In precision wireless test setups, that loss must be measured and compensated for in order to obtain accurate results. Such is the goal of the True-Cable kit, which measures the loss of cables used in precision wireless test set ups like channel emulation. For a given test setup—once that measurement is performed and the file is saved—that data can be incorporated into an IQfact automated test program for easy program setup. The TrueCable...  — Nancy Friedrich

[Editor's Choice]
Switch IC Offers Broadband Operation To 3.8 GHz
WiMAX is inspiring new designs across the industry. A 10-W, double-pole, four-throw (DP4T), gallium-arsenide (GaAs), monolithic-microwave-integrated-circuit (MMIC) switch has now been spawned to help designers integrate WiMAX into customer premise equipment (CPE). The UPG2181T5R operates to 3.8 GHz with control voltage of +3.0/0 V. Insertion loss is 0.8 dB at 2.3 to 2.7 GHz and 1.0 dB at 3.3 to 8.0 GHz. The switch reaches 1-dB compression at +40 dBm power. It hits receive 1-dB...  — Nancy Friedrich

[Editor's Choice]
Antenna Modeling System Checks Hearing-Aid Compatibility
By February of next year, all US wireless carriers will have to guarantee that 50 percent of their phones are hearing-aid compatible. With version 2007.4 of the Antenna Modeling Design System (AMDS), users can evaluate hearing-aid compatibility (HAC) between wireless-communication devices and hearing aids according to the IEEE American National Standard Methods of Measurement of Compatibility (ANSI C63.19-2006). AMDS imports, meshes, and simulates an entire wireless device...  — Nancy Friedrich

[Editor's Choice]
UHF Satcom Antenna Covers 240 To 270 MHz
Mobile and shipboard applications demand high-performance operation from the zenith down to the horizon. Typically, such coverage requires two separate antennas and a switch to select from the two. In contrast, the Model SC-303B provides full hemispheric coverage in a single antenna unit. Its use of right-hand circular polarization provides full coverage over the hemisphere with superior multipath rejection. To improve DAMA operation, the antenna is available with an option to...  — Nancy Friedrich