Industry News

High Efficiency Broadband Power Amplifiers

This article is devoted to the design of broadband high efficiency power amplifiers for microwave and RF applications through the synthesis of the load impedance (or load admittance) required by power transistors at fundamental and harmonic frequencies...
The technical definition of an amplification class is not obvious. Patents are among the best documents to explain and define what an amplification class is. 1,2 Reviewing the claims sections of those documents is an interesting exercise in understanding the inherent complexity of an amplification class definition. From a...
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Design of a CPW-fed Printed Antenna for Ultra-wideband Applications

This article describes a compact and simple coplanar waveguide monopole antenna for ultra-wideband (UWB) applications. The overall size of the printed antenna is 26 x 35 x 1.6 mm, which is very compact, low profile and can be integrated in an ultra-wid...
In recent years, wireless communications have progressed very rapidly. Broadband antenna design has become very important for wireless applications. UWB is a high data-rate and short-range wireless technology, utilizing the unlicensed radio spectrum from 3.1 to 10.6 GHz. The UWB antenna is one of the major components of UWB...
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A 5 GHz RFIC Single Chip Solution in GaInP/GaAs HBT Technology

Several high performance GaInP/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) radio frequency integrated circuits (RFIC) implemented by our research group are reviewed in this article. These demonstrated RFICs include source inductively degenerated casco...
Commercially available 5 GHz WLAN transceivers—with the exception of power amplifiers (PA)—have recently been using advanced CMOS and SiGe BiCMOS technology. 1 It is commonly believed that RFICs made with Si technology, especially CMOS technology, have the lowest cost and can be easily integrated with digital CMOS ICs to...
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Extracting a Nonlinear Electro-thermal Model for a GaN HFET

This article describes the procedure used to extract a nonlinear model for a gallium nitride (GaN) power HFET. The source device is a 2 mm gate-width GaN-on-silicon HFET produced by Nitronex Corp., although the procedure can be applied to many other ty...
The development of GaN technology has brought with it the need for accurate nonlinear active device models that can be easily used in standard design tools. A GaN HEMT model should ideally be scalable with gate width and should be able to predict the performance of the device over...
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CMOS AGC Design Strategies

This article presents seven widely used topologies for the AGC.
The automatic gain control (AGC) circuit is a critical building block in modern wireless transceivers. It is used in both the transmitter (TX) and receiver (RX). In the TX, the AGC is used to regulate the output power level. For example, a well-known issue in a CDMA system is...
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A Push-on Connector Series

The development of the multi-coax/DC connector has been prolonged and demanding, taking over 25 years. At first there was the development of the Quick Connectors or ‘push-on’ type connectors, which were originally designed and introduced for applications where limited space requirements made tightening, torquing and loosening a threaded coupling...
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Leadless SMT Cavity Filters

At present, market demand for miniaturization of SMT components is satisfied at the expense of poorer component insertion loss and limited levels of ultimate rejection. While high Q components offer increased range and/or reduced noise figure at the system level, miniaturized components fit mechanical constraints and tight budgets. The...
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Software Update

Intelligent Optimization Tool Optimizer is new intelligent tool for Vector Fields’ electromagnetic modeling and simulation software that will automatically find the best solution to a design problem. Optimizer automatically selects and manages multiple goal-seeking algorithms to eliminate the need for manual intervention and to make optimization feasible in virtually...
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New Waves: RF Components and Systems

SMT Mixer Hittite Microwave has introduced a new HMC258LC3B GaAs MMIC sub-harmonic SMT mixer intended for microwave radios, VSAT, test and measurement, instrumentation and military applications from 14.5 to 19.5 GHz. The unit has an integrated LO amplifier housed in a 3 x 3 mm leadless RoHS-compliant ceramic SMT...
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New Literature

Precision Frequency Sources This catalog describes the complete line of frequency synthesizers from Programmed Test Sources Inc. (PTS). These synthesizers produce fast-switching, low phase-noise precision frequencies. With easy remote programming, they are vital in advanced measurement or production systems and also serve as stand-alone test equipment. Programmed Test Sources...
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