RF & Microwave Industry News

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I first realized there was a major problem in 1982 when I moved from GE Valley Forge Space Division to GE Electronics Laboratory (E-Lab) in Syracuse to design some of the first GaAs monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMIC). I took over the design of a C-band low noise amplifier...

Because of the rapid growth in density and complexity of modern integrated circuit interconnects, modeling has been a requirement in circuit design and simulations. On-chip interconnects have achieved a dominant role, especially in determining the performance of RF and monolitic microwave integrated circuits (MMIC). In the last two decades,...

An active integrated antenna (AIA) may be defined as a system in which an active device, usually a transistor, is closely integrated within an antenna, using a minimum of intervening circuitry. In recent years, AIAs have been considered a useful approach for improving performance and reducing size in front-end...

The inclusion of adapters and test fixtures in a measurement setup is often necessary even if the consequence is less accuracy. De-embedding the device characteristics has been traditionally the most effective method of minimizing the negative effects. However, the process of de-embedding has been a laborious, expensive procedure restricted...

The DC IV characterization of a device is important in predicting RF operation. DC IV results predict the quiescent bias and low frequency IV characteristics for a device, while in some cases they can be corrected to represent RF characteristics at a given quiescent bias point. 1,2 In addition,...

Harmonic balance simulation is a fast and effective means for accurately predicting the steady-state performance of RF, microwave and millimeter-wave circuits. Transient simulation is also important for predicting the time-domain behavior of many of these circuits, especially when they include oscillators, frequency dividers and mixed-signal functions. Several SPICE-based circuit...

Raytheon Co.’s option to proceed with its X-band thin radar aperture (XTRA) contract has been exercised, allowing the company to produce the next generation radar antenna technology for the J-UCAS (Joint Unmanned Air Combat System) that could revolutionize manned and unmanned combat systems. The AFRL (Air Force Research Laboratory)...

Northrop Grumman Corp. announced it will install and flight test its commercial aircraft protection system on a Boeing 747 and MD-11 this year. The system, called Guardian, represents the successful transfer of proven military directional infrared countermeasures (DIRCM) technology to protect commercial aircraft from attack by ground-based, shoulder-fired missiles....

Raytheon Co.’s Affordable Ground Based Radar (AGBR) passed a critical milestone during a recent United States Marine Corps test in support of the goal to field future radar sensors configured in a tactical and highly mobile design for the Marine Expeditionary Forces worldwide. In line with the schedule laid...

Lockheed Martin conducted the fourth flight test of a Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) Unitary rocket at White Sands Missile Range, NM. Test objectives included demonstrating the GMLRS Unitary rocket in the delay mode, the improved guidance software, and the warhead and fuzing mechanism under cold weather conditions....