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Since the mid-1940s, there have been requirements for test sources above 50 GHz. Magnetrons were first pressed into this application during the early to mid-50s, and by the middle of the decade, some manufacturers, such as Demornay Bonardi, were constructing multipliers using a cartridge diode with a window milled...

A spectrum analyzer is an important instrument for all RF/microwave engineers. Measurements of spectral purity, phase noise and spurious signals are everyday tasks for which a spectrum analyzer is the instrument of choice. Additionally, in today’s world of digitally modulated signals, modulation accuracy is a significant category of measurements...

In developing microwave models, real-time verification of characterization data should be considered a priority to ensure its integrity. Sound models must be built upon accurate measurement data, and, as is generally the case, the ‘garbage in – garbage out’ principle applies to model extraction. Even if an instrument calibration...

The recent proliferation of new RF applications has brought about a dramatic increase in spectrum usage, particularly in the unlicensed bands used by many of the new devices. Crowding virtually guarantees the presence of RF interference. This has led to adaptive techniques that can change power, data rate and...

In communications, noise is an annoying phenomenon. Noise occurs naturally and is random, contrary to human-engineered intelligence. Engineers define the signal-to-noise ratio as the most important quantity that qualifies any information-transmitting system fit or unfit for use. Researchers utilize sensitive radio and microwave receivers (sometimes also transmitters) to obtain...

Testing speed is important for all electronic components, but it is vital for low price two- and three-terminal devices such as diodes and transistors. Before RF tests can be conducted, the devices must be tested for DC operation. For diodes, that includes forward voltage, reverse breakdown voltage and leakage...

Fractional-N synthesizers are highly desirable in communication systems because of their high frequency resolution output. This resolution is made possible by dithering the divide value using the output of a sigma-delta modulator. A typical sigma-delta fractional-N frequency synthesizer is shown in Figure 1 . The tri-state phase frequency detector...

Load-pull testing of power transistors usually employs wideband electromechanical tuners. Harmonic signal components, generated by a nonlinear device under test (DUT), must be terminated with known impedances in order to generate a meaningful set of data. This is not possible if a harmonic load-pull set-up is not available, in...

NEW WAVES: TEST, MEASUREMENT AND CAD EM-based Componen and Circuit Design Software This version 6.2 of LINMIC is a microwave/ RF IC design suite that has revised the active device modeling for ease of use and for parameter extraction including detailed control of model quality. Aside of lumped device...

Industry News PCTEL Inc. announced that it has completed the acquisition of MAXRAD Inc. , a manufacturer of wireless communications antennas for broadband wireless, in-building wireless and land mobile radio applications. PCTEL acquired all of the shares of MAXRAD, a privately held company, for $20 M. MAXRAD generated approximately...