ARMMS Conference In November 2012 Addresses Electronic Tuning Of Amplifiers

The next ARMMS RF and Microwave Society Conference is to take place on Monday 19th and Tuesday 20th November 2012 at the new venue of Wyboston Lakes. The conference is expanding in size and will greatly benefit from this purpose built conference centre which is well situated on the A1(M) between Cambridge, Bedford and Peterborough. Speakers from around the world are due to present their papers on a variety of subjects, including the history and origins of the magnetron and phase locking techniques for microwave sources.

A speaker from Peregrine Semiconductor will address applications for electronic tunability, which go beyond the antenna. These include filter tuning and amplifier dynamic optimisation. The paper will provide several examples of applications which are benefiting from incorporating methods of real time RF tunability, along with the design challenges surrounding each one.

In addition a major highlight of the two-day conference is a talk on novel infrared thermal measurements. Students from De Montfort, Glasgow, Bristol and Aberdeen universities will review the preliminary thermal and electrical characterisation of an electro-thermal micro-cooler for integration into GaAs planar Gunn diodes, for use at THz frequencies. Thermal management of these very small devices is an important aspect of achieving high performance.

The important topic of electrostatic discharge (ESD) is addressed by two papers to be given by speakers from Austria and Germany. Protection devices with as little as 100fF capacitance are to be described by authors from Infineon Technologies and Graz University. Methods of characterising ESD performance using the transmission line pulse (TLP) technique will be described and demonstrated live by by Werner Simbürger of High Power Pulse Instruments GmbH.

Malcolm Edwards of Applied Wave Research will describe amplifier stability analysis using modern EDA tools. His paper will discuss the various techniques available, so that designers are able to select the most appropriate one.  Mark Ashcroft of Fluke Precision Measurement will examine the detail of mismatch errors in precision attenuators. Gerard Wimpenny of Nujira will speak on the envelope amplifier technique for good linearity at multiple kW power levels.

Following the successful initiation at the April meeting, the ARMMS RF & Microwave Society will be offering sponsorship to any young engineers, (28 or below) who have papers accepted to this meeting. Sponsorship will be £100 cash plus free attendance (including conference dinner and overnight accommodation). The presenter of the best paper overall will win the £100 Steve Evans-Pughe memorial prize.

The ARMMS conference, as always, will include an exhibition, which runs throughout the conference. This programme is arranged to allow delegates time to have useful discussions with the exhibitors. On the Monday evening there is an informal dinner which has proved to be the high spot of the event over the past twenty-five years. For more information on the ARMMS RF and Microwave Society, or to book a place, visit www.armms.org .

The ARMMS RF and Microwave Society is an independent professional society comprised of Electronics Engineers with an interest in high frequency (RF & Microwave) design and measurement.

Prepared by Niall Sullivan & Simon W Day on September 26th 2012.