TEST & MEASUREMENT APPLICATION NOTES AND WHITE PAPERS

• Accurate Test Fixture Characterization And De-Embedding

  This application note provides practical hints to accurately characterize and de-embed these lead-in and lead-out structures with R&S Vector Network Analyzers ZNA, ZNB, ZNBT and ZND.

• 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.

• Circuit Models For Plastic Packaged Microwave Diodes

  This paper reports on the measurement and establishment of circuit models for SOT-23 and SOD-323 packaged diodes. Results indicate that the 1.5 nH estimate for the SOT-23 is a useful result, as is 1.2 nH for SOD-323 single packaged diodes. It was also determined that the effective inductance of the SOT-23 may be reduced to approximately 0.4 nH by adding a second bond wire and modifying the microstrip line. Other lead configurations, including parallel bond wires and common cathode configurations, were also studied.

• Linearity Of The JFET And MOSFET When In Saturation Over The Entire Cycle

  Performing RF amplification in a way that is simultaneously linear and efficient has been a challenge in power amplifier (PA) design. Single transistor PAs can either be operated in a linear, but inefficient, current source mode of operation or as efficient, but nonlinear, switches. These techniques use two FETs, but this paper demonstrates that linear amplification can be achieved at high power with an efficiency greater than 60%, using a single FET.

• Design And Implementation Of A Miniature X-Band Edge-Coupled Microstrip Bandpass Filter

  Microwave bandpass filters are the fundamental component used in many RF/microwave applications to eliminate interference from signals operating at nearby frequencies. This application note presents a straightforward and largely nonmathematical method for designing an edge-coupled, bandpass filter for X-band operations with a combination of filter synthesis, closed-form edge-coupled transmission-line models, and EM analysis using the Microwave Office circuit simulator within Cadence AWR Design Environment software.