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Microwaves & RF TechXchanges

Sept. 6, 2024
Check out our curated technical content on hot tech topics

What are TechXchanges?

TechXchanges are collections of articles, videos, surveys and ebook curated by Electronic Design editors so you can easily find new and relevant technical content on these topics. They are regularly updated as new articles are added.

Click a general category below in the Table of Contents to see the related TechXchanges. Click on a TechXchange to see the subtopics, articles, and videos that target the more detailed topic. 


Automotive Technology

Electronics permeate all aspects of automotive technology from electric cars to telematics. Vehicles are incorporating a range of RF and wireless aspects from radar to IoT.

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TechXchange: Automotive Radar

Radar has proven very useful outside and inside the car.

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Chips and Semiconductors

The chips in an RF-enabled system are primarily designed for one of three things, but they can all be present in an advanced SoC: Power, Logic, and Signal. There have been significant advances in power devices due to the commercialization of Silicon Carbide (SiC) and Gallium Nitride (GaN) wide-bandgap semiconductors, and this has also fomented change in circuit topologies due to their significantly higher switching capabilities and power performance. RFICs and advanced SoCs are also showing topology advances in theri high levels of system integration and the need to operate under multiple RF spectra and wireless communication protocols.

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TechXchange: Wide-Bandgap Semiconductors

Wide-bandgap semiconductors permit devices to operate at much higher voltages, frequencies, and temperatures than conventional semiconductor materials like silicon and gallium...
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TechXchange: Chip Shortages & Counterfeits

High-value integrated circuits, such as CPUs, have been the victims of both supply-chain and manufacturing issues as well as counterfeiting.
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TechXchange: MMICs & RFICs

The latest RFICs and MMICs are providing greater functionality integration at higher frequencies, as bare die or in packages.

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Passives and Parts

Passive components are currently being forced to improve due to the pressures in topology advances and the advent of wide-bandgap semiconductors. These advances are causing circuits to run at higher and higher speeds, impacting everything on the board from passives to magnetics. In the case of antennas and related components, new configurations and materials are expanding choice and capabilities in product packaging and form factors. Interconnects are also an important, yet often discounted, aspect of a design as not only everything runs through them, but their connections are part of the packaging and structural integrity of the product.

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TechXchange: Passive Components

Capacitors and resistors are among the most basic of electronic components. Nevertheless, these passive parts are often critical to overall system functionality.
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TechXchange: Antenna Design

Here you'll find a wealth of resources related to all aspects of antenna design.
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TechXchange: Magnetics: Transformers & Inductors

Magnetic components are often overlooked, yet are critical to the performance of your power circuitry.
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TechXchange: Discrete Transistors & Diodes

Discrete components and similar basic board-level devices are in a state of disruptive growth, fomented by both material and topology advances. Knowing your tech is critical in...
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TechXchange: Interconnect Insights

Technologies for high-speed and high-frequency interconnects are constantly improving--keep up with them here.
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TechXchange: Wire & Cable, Busbars, and Vias

Cables, wires, vias, and busbars are what we use to move power and data around and between electronic systems. These critical connections are often underconsidered, yet they are...

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PCB and EDA Technology

Product design must address every facet of a system today, from the power to the packaging. Board-level design tools are a vital aspect of product development, as every aspect must be verified and validated as early as possible in the process to reduce costs related to redesign and dealing with problems on the manufacturing floor.

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TechXchange: PCB Tools and Technology

Check out the latest articles covering printed circuit board technology, methodologies and development tools.
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TechXchange: Software & Design Tools

RF/microwave designers depend heavily on software and design tools such as functional and electromagnetic simulation, modeling, and more.

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Professional Advancement

These TechXchanges address career advancement issues and topics. 

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TechXchange: Workers in Science and Engineering

Though long obscured and overlooked, women and others have from the beginning played critical roles in science and engineering endeavors.

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RF Design

Today’s designs must address the entire product, from the board design to the package integration. This is especially important in designing RF-oriented products that must integrate antennas into the circuit and the packaging. The best RF design tools take every aspect of the circuit and product into consideration to minimize disruption in manufacturing.

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TechXchange: Device-Level Antenna Selection Considerations

The selection of an antenna depends on a number of criteria, such as the application, the available board size, the solution cost, and the desired RF range.
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TechXchange: Antenna Design

Here you'll find a wealth of resources related to all aspects of antenna design.
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TechXchange: RF Amplifier Design

RF amplifiers convert low-power RF signals into higher-power signals suited for driving antennas or other circuitry.
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TechXchange: MMICs & RFICs

The latest RFICs and MMICs are providing greater functionality integration at higher frequencies, as bare die or in packages.

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Rugged System Design

Designing a product for harsh environments and challenging deployments goes far beyond putting some rubber on the corners of the package. When it comes to designing rugged and reliable products one must address every facet, from water resistance to cable integrity to the operating temperature range of the components and subsystems involved. In addition, different challenging application spaces often have their own performance-specific requirements and standards which must be taken into account.

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TechXchange: Defense Electronics

RF/microwave technology is at the heart of the modern defense electronics sector.

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Sensors and Timing

There is no precision without feedback, and even the most intelligent system cannot function without a variety of sensor inputs to give the logic information to act on. Timekeeping is an aspect of sensor input in that knowing the time is the most important factor in optimal performance in a digital system, for both internal and external data synchronization.

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TechXchange: Automotive Radar

Radar has proven very useful outside and inside the car.
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TechXchange: It's About Time

Microwave and RF's latest TechXchange explores the many facets of clocking, synchronization, and more.

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Software Tools

Software tools are used for design, for evaluation, and for control of the system. Without the proper software nothing can be done in an optimum fashion, and the system may even be vulnerable to unauthorized access. From design software to operating systems, the software used in a product is as critical to its functionality as the hardware it is based on.

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TechXchange: Software & Design Tools

RF/microwave designers depend heavily on software and design tools such as functional and electromagnetic simulation, modeling, and more.

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Test & Measurement

RF and wireless systems are often used for data acquisition and testing. Likewise, there are a number of test systems that are needed to design and certify wireless devices such as oscilloscopes and vector network analyzers. 

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TechXchange: Vector Network Analyzers

In this TechXchange, you'll find a compendium of articles intended to help you get the most out of your VNA.
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TechXchange: 5G Test & Measurement

The successful proliferation of 5G technology depends on many things, but none more so than test technologies and methodologies.

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The Internet of Things (IoT)

Versions of the IoT have always been with us since telemetry was used in a wireless product. The current definition of the term includes device-to-device communication as well as user-to-device connections, and these inter-device connections are becoming more and more important in advanced connected devices. IoT products must be able to operate in a multimodal, multispectral environment without issues with bandwidths or protocols.

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TechXchange: IoT & Narrowband Communications

For reliable and efficient long-range RF communications, narrowband systems may be a prime choice.
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TechXchange: The Internet of Things

The IoT represents the intersection of many technologies: sensors, processors, software, embedded, machine learning, and RF-based interfaces.
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TechXchange: 5G Infrastructure

5G infrastructure consists of a network of small-cell and macrocell base stations required for fifth-generation cellular networks.

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Wireless Technology

The multimodal and multispectral aspect of the Cloud and the devices operating in it mean that everything must be able to communicate to users and the internet seamlessly. Each protocol has its pluses and minuses, so understanding the various solutions for IoT devices in the Cloud are important to developing products and solutions that must operate in a wireless environment.

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TechXchange: 5G Infrastructure

5G infrastructure consists of a network of small-cell and macrocell base stations required for fifth-generation cellular networks.
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TechXchange: LoRaWAN

The LoRaWAN specification is a Low Power, Wide Area (LPWA) networking protocol designed to wirelessly connect battery operated ‘things’ to the internet.
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TechXchange: Software-Defined Radio

In this Microwaves & RF TechXchange, we cover the world of software-defined radio.
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Other Resources

In this section we have some other resources like technical podcasts and videos.

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Industry Insights

Inside Electronics: Making Sense of the Maker Movement

Check out the latest episode of our popular tech podcast.

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