Microwaves & RF

Pattern Generators Deliver Data To 12.5 GHz

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 05:01:06 MST

New serial-data standards are operating at continuously rising speeds. Yet most patterngenerator solutions are either limited in their capabilities or very costly. Now, a pair of pattern generators is promising to provide solid performance at reasonable prices. The 8-GHz model 12040 and 12.5-GHz model 12050 pattern generators boast a 20-ps 10-to-90-percent rise time that ensures low-distortion data patterns. Output levels are programmable from 250 mV to 2 V. In...

To Some, Safety Comes At A Hefty Price

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 05:01:06 MST

When cellular telecom services began rolling out on a wide scale, many microwave companies downplayed their defense heritage as they jockeyed for a position in the expanding commercial market. As the growth in communications dipped and then hit a plateau, however, microwave firms realized how fortunate they were that some of their business remained in military technologies. Following September 11, 2001, the call for military solutions grew while a need for...

Finding Ways To Reduce Filter Size

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 05:01:06 MST

Smaller filters are a requirement for a growing number of commercial and military applications. With available spectrum becoming ever more crowded, filtering requirements are increasingly more severe, but filter suppliers are being asked to shrink their packages to fit more portable and compact applications, from cellular telephones with embedded Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers to tactical radios for miniature military unmanned aerial. ...

Nonlinear VNAs Extend To 50 GHz

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 05:01:06 MST

Vector network analyzers (VNAs) provide measured information about active and passive devices that can be invaluable when developing models for those devices. Recognizing the growing need for scattering-parameter (S-parameter) device characterization through millimeter-wave frequencies, Agilent Technologies has expanded its high-performance PNA-X series of VNAs to include a model with a frequency range of 10 MHz to 50 GHz (model N5245A). And for those not needing the full...

Targeting Measurements For Mobile Radio Systems

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 05:01:06 MST

Radio-frequency (RF) system impairments can disrupt mission-critical communications. Deploying vehicles, aircraft, or portable radios for tactical applications requires a fast and nonintrusive test method to ensure that the radio system will fulfill its intended functions and under a wide range of adverse environmental conditions. Therefore, mission-critical RF system verification must be performed in situ, requiring a test system that is fast,...