January 2008 Magazine Archive

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ISSUE DATE: JANUARY 2008

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Test & Measurement

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January 2008 - In This Issue

[Cover Story]
High-Speed Synthesizer Switches 0.01 To 20 GHz
An innovative VCO architecture arms this low-noise frequency synthesizer with the switching speed needed for high-volume device and component testing. In an automatic-test-equipment (ATE) application, speed is money. Faster measurement times translate into higher throughput and more devices or components approved for shipping at the end of the day. Measurements, of course, require fast analysis equipment but also high-speed stimulus instruments to generate test signals.... — Jack Browne

[News]
Cryogenic Chip Enhances Satcom System Performance
A niobium-based chip in a COTS cryocooler that functions as a high-speed ADC holds great promise for improved microwave communications system performance. Superconducting circuits and devices offer a great deal of promise in a wide range of industries, including military, commercial, test and measurement, and medical electronic systems. While the technology has been in development for several decades, it has long been limited by the need to maintain... — Jack Browne

[Design Features]
Power Meters Make Connections Via USB
For many applications, USB-enabled RF/microwave power meters can provide all the measurement capability and increased flexibility compared to conventional instruments. Craig Allardice Systems Consultant, Satori Technology Ltd. e-mail: craig.allardice@satori-technology.com Tony Lymer Principal Engineer Satori Technology Ltd., 1 Biggar Business Park, Market ... — Craig Allardice , et al.

[Design Features]
Tracking Advances In Probing Mixed-Mode RF Circuitry
Refinements in both the measurement probes and the calibration standard structures used with them makes it possible to perform more accurate microwave VNA S-parameter measurements on differential devices. Larry Dangremond Senior Product Manager For Probes and Signals Cascade Microtech, Inc., 2430 NW 206th Ave., Beaverton, OR 97006; (503) 601-1000, FAX: (503) 601-1002, Internet: ... — Larry Dangremond

[Design Features]
Configure An RF ATE System
These basic guidelines help in the selection of the test instruments and software needed to assemble an effective RF and microwave automated test equipment (ATE) system. DENIS GABLE Director of Frequency Synthesizer Engineering Wide Band Systems, Inc., 389 Franklin Ave., P. O. Box 289, Rockaway, NJ 07866; (973) 586-6500, FAX: (973) 627-9190, e-mail: dgable@widebandsystems.com, Internet: ... — Denis Gable

[Design Features]
Determine Twisted-Line Characteristic Impedance
This approach shows how to calculate and measure the characteristic impedance of balanced twisted bifilar transmission lines using a commercial vector network analyzer. ANTONIO ALVES FERREIRA JUNIOR Electronic and Electrotechnical Department National Telecommunications Institute (INATEL), 510 João de Camargo Ave. 37540-000, Santa Rita do Sapucaí, Minas Gerais, Brazil; e-mail: ... — Antonio Alves Ferreira, Jr. , et al.

[Product Technology]
Synthesizer/Converter Brings DDS Benefits To 40 GHz
This synthesizer module delivers DDS speed, accuracy, and modulation capability in bandwidths as wide as 25 percent of frequencies from 1 to 40 GHz. JASON SEIFERT Vice President of Engineering Spinnaker Microwave, Inc., 3281 Kifer Rd., Santa Clara, CA 95051; (408) 732-9828, Internet: www.spinnakermicrowave.com. Frequency synthesizers operating at microwave and... — Jack Browne

[Product Technology]
RMS Detector Reads Peak Power To 2.7 GHz
This broadband RMS power detector features a wide linear dynamic range and the rapid response time needed for precise measurements in modern wireless communications systems. Modern wireless communications systems often rely on signals with large differences between their peak and average power levels. For optimum performance, such high-crest-factor signals must be precisely measured and controlled. Unfortunately, typical power detectors can generally... — Jack Browne

[Product Technology]
Designer's Kit Collects Frequency Mixers To 4 GHz
Circuit designers in need of frequency translation through 4 GHz will probably find the mixer solution they need as part of this diversified collection of low-cost, low-profile models. ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT Mini-Circuits, P. O. Box 350166, Brooklyn, NY 11235-0003; (718) 934-4500, FAX: (718) 332-4661, Internet: www.minicircuits.com. Frequency translation is an essential function for ... — Jack Browne

[Editorial]
Where Is Test Equipment Going?
This first issue of 2008 is a chance to take a fresh look at one’s life, job and industry. And with an issue theme of “Test & Measurement,” it is only appropriate to try and size up developments in RF/microwave measurement equipment and what to expect from test gear manufacturers in the next few years. “If you can’t test it, you can’t ship it,” is a time-honored adage in this industry, one that emphasizes the importance of maintaining the highest possible... — Jack Browne

[Feedback]
Feedback
Article Corrections I WAS PLEASED to learn of the induction of my father to the Microwave Legends. I don't know who nominated him, nor who wrote the biographical sketch. It is mostly right, but one glaring error does exist. In the sentence, "This ‘hobby’ quickly grew into the Bliley Piezo-Electric Co. in Carlisle, PA," the city should be Erie, PA—where the company still exists. For future information, please look at my history of the... — Various Readers

[The Front End]
Growing SDR Market Predicted To Hit $10 Billion By 2011
NATICK, MA — The defined market for software-defined radio (SDR) is rapidly expanding. It should be noted, however, that this expansion is based largely on how the value propositions of certain SDR components or features resonate with each market segment. There are two distinct markets for SDR technology: military and commercial. The former is dominated by the United States’ Joint Tactical Radio Service (JTRS) program while the latter is driven by the deployment of upgradeable... — Jack Browne

[The Front End]
FTTH Continues Growth In Asia-Pacific Region
SINGAPORE — Fiber to the home (FTTH) is a market on the rise within the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, according to a new study by ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com). The report finds that different markets within the region are currently in different stages of broadband growth. ABI Research Analyst Serene Fong notes: “While broadband adoption is increasing within APAC, growth is not homogeneous across all countries in the... — Jack Browne

[The Front End]
High-Power RF Semiconductor Market To Approach $1 Billion By 2012
NEW YORK, NY — The high-power RF semiconductor market is expected to approach $1 billion USD by 2012 according to a new research study from ABI Research. At present, the market is driven by a number of well-established transistor devices, such as silicon laterally diffused metal-oxide-semiconductor (LDMOS) devices, and several emerging RF power technologies, such as silicon-carbide (SiC) and gallium-nitride (GaN) devices. In order to understand the needs of RF... — Jack Browne

[The Front End]
Kudos
WEST CALDWELL, NJ—Merrimac Industries (www.merrimacind.com) has received a research and development (R&D) award from the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division (NSWC Crane) for Next Generation Airborne Electronic Attack (NGAEA) Enabling Capability (EC) Project using Merrimac’s patented Multi-Mix(R) Technology. The NGAEA EC project is intended to develop subsystem and component technologies to required levels of... — Jack Browne

[Financial News]
CST Acquires Flomerics' EM Business Line
For software vendors, acquisitions usually offer a chance to enter new market areas and an immediate way to provide new services and products for customers. Through its acquisition of Flomerics’ (www.flomerics.com) electromagnetic (EM) simulation software business, for example, Computer Simulation Technology or CST (www.cst.com) gains considerable EM simulation capability while adding... — Nancy Friedrich

[Company News]
Company News
Contracts Aperto Networks—Has been selected by Egypt’s Ministry of Interior to provide equipment for that nation’s first WiMAX network. The equipment will be used to connect Egyptian police stations and offices nationwide. The deployment of the PacketMAX solution will take place in two phases. Phase I is currently underway and will connect all major cities and towns in Northern Egypt. Phase II, planned for next year, will connect smaller towns and ... — Nancy Friedrich

[People]
People
GSA Picks Tong For Board Of Directors The Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA) has elected VINCENT TONG, vice president of worldwide quality and reliability engineering for Xilinx, to its board of directors. Tong has more than 20 years of experience in semiconductor development, design and manufacturing. The alliance also named Guillaume d’Eyssautier, picoChip president and chief executive officer, to its Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) Leadership... — Nancy Friedrich

[Educational Meetings]
Education
SHORT COURSES Besser Associates Short Courses RF CMOS Design February 25-26 (San Diego, CA) Applied RF Techniques I February 25-29 (San Diego, CA) May 12-16 (Burlington, MA) RF and High Speed PC Board Design Fundamentals February 27-29 (San Diego, CA) Designing High Efficiency RF Power Ampliifers February 27-29 (San Diego, CA) Mobile Broadband Wireless Access February 27-29... — Compiled by John Curley

[R&D Roundup]
Radio-Astronomy LNA Boasts Noise Figure Under 0.2 dB
THE SQUARE KILOMETER ARRAY (SKA) radio synthesis telescope is estimated to require millions of receivers. To keep receiver cost down, CMOS technology is being looked at as an option. With recent improvements in CMOS transistors, this technology can even achieve the low noise figures needed in radio astronomy. At the University of Calgary’s (Calgary, Canada) Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Leonid Belostotski and James W. Haslett have achieved... — Nancy Friedrich

[R&D Roundup]
Imaging Systems Overcome Atmosphere And Materials
BOTH HOMELAND SECURITY and military agencies have been seeking technologies that detect guns, knives and improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Using the millimeter and sub-millimeter wavebands, techniques to image people when they are close to a sensor have already been developed. Yet research by Roger Appleby from QinetiQ (Malvern, UK) and H. Bruce Wallace of MMW Concepts LLC (Havre De Grace, MD) examines standoff ranges above 5 m. In this range and in the open,... — Nancy Friedrich

[R&D Roundup]
Dielectric Waveguides Feed Millimeter-Wave Antennas
FOR RECEIVER AND TRANSMITTER front ends in the millimeter-wave range to be widely used, certain problems must be resolved. An example is the connection of a miniature millimeterwave, monolithic integrated-circuit chip to an external antenna. To address this issue, Andreas Patrovsky and Ke Wu from the Poly-Grames Research Center at Ecole Polytechnique (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) developed a linear-array antenna fed by substrate integrated image guide (SIIG) at 94... — Nancy Friedrich

[Application Notes]
Simulation And Measurements Prove RF-Relay Performance
TODAY'S MANUFACTURERS ARE being pressured to put their parts through more rigorous high-speed/ high-frequency testing. Teledyne Relays (www. teledynerelays.com), for example, recently collaborated with two customers to evaluate the performance of its GRF relay series. This work is documented in the eight-page white paper, “Signal Integrity Performance of the Teledyne Relays GRF300/GRF303 Relay Series.” At the recommendation of its customers, Teledyne... — Nancy Friedrich

[Application Notes]
OFDM Will Soon Be Dominant Form Of Digital Modulation
ORTHOGONAL FREQUENCY division multiplexing (OFDM) is at the root of WiMAX and many next-generation technologies. This form of digital modulation is spectrally efficient, as it carries more data per unit of bandwidth than modulation formats used in services like GSM and W-CDMA. It also tolerates environments with high RF interference. In addition, OFDM works well in hard multipath environments. In “Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing,” Keithley Instruments ... — Nancy Friedrich

[Editor's Choice]
Oscillators Cut Current To 8 mA Through 80 MHz
OSCILLATORS THAT TARGET portable applications must meet a unique set of demands in terms of size, power consumption, and more. For instance, the MXH series of ceramic SMD oscillators measure just 2 x 2.5 mm. They are available in a wide frequency range of 1.54 to 80 MHz. The oscillators operate at supply voltages of +/-1.6 VDC minimum. During full operation, maximum power consumption is as low as 8 mA. The oscillators boast a standby function that enables them to use a... — Nancy Friedrich

[Editor's Choice]
250-W Terminator And 10-W Attenuator Target High Frequencies
TOGETHER, A HIGH-POWER ATTENUATOR and surface-mount transmission-line power termination are promising to deliver high power dissipation and performance at RF and microwave bands. Designated the PAT3060P Series attenuator and RFTF Series terminator, both devices feature low VSWRs at high frequencies. The attenuator has a frequency range from DC to 10 GHz with a VSWR of less than 1.30:1 at 10 GHz. Attenuation values include 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,... — Nancy Friedrich

[Editor's Choice]
Millimeter-Wave Power Divider Spans 10 To 45 GHz
THE MILLIMETER-WAVE ARENA continues to experience growth in applications like radar, microwave communications, and broadband test equipment. Finding a niche in such applications is the 4428C-2 two-way RF power divider, which boasts a bandwidth of 10 to 45 GHz. This power divider has minimum insertion loss ranging from 1.9 dB at 45 GHz to 0.6 dB at 10 GHz. The device’s isolation extends from 13 dB at 45 GHz to 20 dB at 10 GHz. Amplitude balance is 0.8 dB at... — Nancy Friedrich

[Editor's Choice]
GPS And Galileo RF IC Offers 1.4 dB Cascaded Noise
BECAUSE THE BASEBAND FUNCTIONALITY is already available, all that is needed for a complete Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver is often an additional GPS radio-frequency integrated circuit (RF IC). The MAX2769E/W, for example, is a global-navigation-satellite-system (GNSS) receiver for GPS (L1 C/A code and P-code), WAAS, EGNOS, Galileo, and GLONASS navigation satellite systems. This RFIC provides a total cascaded noise figure of 1.4 dB and is designed for... — Nancy Friedrich

[Bookmark]
Phase-Lock Basics
Phase-lock loops (PLLs) have become invaluable circuits in electronic circuits, in everything from frequency-modulated (FM) radio tuners to high-performance microwave frequency synthesizers. In the second edition of Phase-Lock Basics, author William Egan builds upon the basic design principles contained in the first edition of his text, exploring the effects of noise on PLL performance. Mr. Egan is uniquely qualified to present this textbook course on... — Jack Browne