White Papers

Test system migration and modernization doesn’t have to be expensive and fraught with hassle. In fact, carefully planned migration can maximize test-system efficiency, performance and readiness while providing meaningful cost savings.

Printed circuit boards with both analog and digital circuitry are nearly universal. Recently, integration of RF circuitry in addition to the mixed analog and digital circuits has become more common. Problems arise because the PCB design tools have been ignorant of RF shapes printed on the board and a great deal of manual work was required to achieve a functioning product. Now, Mentor has teamed with RF Design Tool suppliers, such as Agilent, to bring the first integrated RF-PCB system tool.

RF LDMOS (RF Laterally Diffused MOS), hereafter referred to as LDMOS, is the dominant device technology used in high power wireless infrastructure power amplifier (PP applications for frequencies ranging from less than 900 MHz to 3.8 GHz.

White paper discussing the advantages of dedicated system-level tool over spreadsheets.

Mark Elo, Marketing Director of RF Products, Keithley Instruments

DC to 85GHz TWA and Ka-band 4.9W Power Amplifier Using an Optical Lithography Based Low Cost PHEMT Process

This article focuses on the physical layer (“Layer 1”) characteristics of the LTE uplink, describing the new Single-Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) transmission scheme and some of the measurements associated with it. Understanding the details of this new transmission scheme and measurements is a vital step towards developing LTE UE designs and getting them to market.

Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) is a form of digital modulation used in a wide array of communications systems. This paper will explain what OFDM is, why it’s important, where it’s used, and what test instrumentation is required to maintain it.

Carl Scharrer, Keithley Instruments, Inc. RF Tests Becoming Indispensable

Michael Millhaem, Principal RF Application Engineer Keithley Instruments, Inc. Test equipment manufacturers are constantly challenged to develop new solutions for testing their customers’ latest devices, but they’ve traditionally developed specialized hardware to meet this challenge....