TEST & MEASUREMENT APPLICATION NOTES AND WHITE PAPERS

  • S-Parameters For High-frequency Circuit Simulations

    Understanding the meaning of S-parameters, how they are measured, and their limitations can lead to more meaningful RF- and microwave-frequency simulations.

  • Noise Figure: What Is It And Why Does It Matter?

    Noise figure is a key parameter that quantifies receiver performance by measuring how low a power a signal receiver can detect. This white paper covers the basic principles of noise figure, how to make sense of its specifications, how it is measured, and why this parameter is important in high-performance applications.

  • Design Of A Complete RF Downconverter Module For Test Equipment

     The example module and its constituent parts were designed and simulated with AWR Design Environment software using circuit- and system-level analyses. The integration of the downconverter within a mechanical outline influences the layout of the individual radio blocks.

  • R&S®FSWP And The Validity Of Positive Phase Noise Values

    This white paper reviews the classical spectrum analyzer measurement of L(f) and its shortcomings. It also discusses how modern phase noise test sets measure phase noise and avoid the limitations imposed by direct spectrum measurements, especially with the use of the R&S®FSWP.

  • VSWR Conversion To Reflected Power

    VSWR measures how efficiently RF power is transmitted through a load, with high VSWR indicating poor efficiency. Explore VSWR's relation to return loss, reflection coefficient, and mismatch loss.

TEST & MEASUREMENT SOLUTIONS

The dB-9002 from dB Control is a custom-mounted Dual Instantaneous Frequency Measurement (DIFM) unit designed to operate in the C, X, and Ku-band frequency range and provide highly accurate measurements at 100 ns to CW pulse width measurements.

Holzworth Instrumentation was founded as a phase noise measurement company. Along the path to phase noise analysis solutions, our high performance building blocks were developed and sold in the form of RF Synthesizers, Phase Detectors, etc. The HA7401A is a Fixed Frequency Phase Noise Analyzer, and the HA7402A is a Phase Noise Measurement Engine.

Qorvo offers the CMD240C4 wideband GaAs MMIC distributed amplifier housed in a leadless 4x4 mm surface mount package. The amplifier operates from DC to 22 GHz and is ideal for radar, space, satcom, test and measurement, and electronic warfare applications.

The dB-3906 TWT Amplifier (TWTA) is designed to use two wideband, periodic permanent magnet (PPM)-focused TWTs to amplify CW, AM, FM or pulse-modulated signals. The dB-3906 offers higher saturated output power and improved harmonic performance when compared to a single TWT approach.

Pentek offers the Talon® RTX 2684 as a 26 GHz sentinel intelligent signal scanner recording system. The system provides SIGINT engineers the ability to scan the RF spectrum from 1 GHz to 26 GHz for signals of interest and monitor or record bandwidths up to 500 MHz wide.

Electrostatic discharge testing is utilized worldwide by electronics manufacturers to determine the ESD susceptibility of their devices. It is extremely difficult to estimate the exact cost of ESD loss annually, but it can safely be stated that ESD requires the development and testing of many hardware prototypes and contributes to a high number of warranty claims and loss of consumer confidence if failure occurs in the hands of the customer. Given the high cost in time and materials associated with ESD hardware testing, the ability to simulate the ESD testing process in XFdtd is extremely valuable, allowing engineers to pinpoint locations susceptible to ESD damage and optimize ESD mitigation during the concept and design stage of product development.

The 50S-2133 SMA from JFW is a solid-state, self-terminating 1P8T RF switch designed for economical automated RF testing applications in the 20 – 5,000 MHz frequency range.

The Si894x is a galvanically isolated delta-sigma modulator which outputs a digital signal proportional to the voltage level at the input.