If you think antennas must live “outside” a circuit, think again: they can also be housed in a small package adjacent to the active components they serve. The previous part established the context and rationale for AiP; this part continues the exploration. Who are some of the AiP technology suppliers or OEMs? ASE, a leading…
FAQ: Antenna-in-package answers the “last mile” RF challenge, Part 1
If you think antennas must live “outside” a circuit, think again: they can also be housed in a small package adjacent to the active components they serve. The RF signal chain has become increasingly integrated in the past years. Whether by merging RF circuitry with the digital function onto a single die or by co-locating…
How RF measurements verify satellite links
Noise measurement, LO substitution, receiver stress testing, power measurement, CCDF and PAPR characterization, and antenna-pattern measurement play critical roles in link budget, bit-error rate, and SNR requirements. Low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite systems are being deployed for mission-critical use cases at an accelerating rate. This brings associated critical test requirements that, if not performed accurately, could…
EE World’s 2023 communications handbook is here
Our 2023 5G, Wired, & Wireless Handbook is now available in ebook form. Download your copy today. It started on a cold January day with an editorial call. A month later, the abstracts came in. After another month, the manuscripts came in. Then came the editing and some back-and-forth with the authors. Next, it was…
5G mmWave test builds on RF best practices
The high level of integration in today’s mmWave phone means traditional test methods no longer apply.
Identify, troubleshoot, and resolve PIM issues in wireless networks
5G brought passive intermodulation problems into the spotlight. Now it’s up to engineers and technicians to identify and mitigate signal degradation to minimize dropped calls and other issues. A loose connection; a metal roof; power lines. Even a rusty bolt. It’s estimated that mobile operators will spend $1.1 trillion on capital expenditure between 2020 and…
How does PAPR reduction improve power amplifier efficiency?
5G’s Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) brings with it a major design challenge, namely an inherent wide dynamic variation between a signal’s peak and the average power. The peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) leads to inefficient transmission performance. That’s because the OFDM waveform is created by the sum of multiple sinusoidal signals that can exhibit constructive…
Experiments bring hope for 6G above 100 GHz
Efforts to explore and “unlock” this frequency region require an interdisciplinary approach with high-frequency RF semiconductor technology. The THz region also shows great promise for many application areas ranging from imaging to spectroscopy to sensing.
Test methods for mmWave AiP designs bring tradeoffs
Engineers have several mmWave over-the-air test methods available for evaluating phased-array antennas used in antenna-in-package designs. Each has pros and cons.
How does 5G’s O-RAN E2 interface work?
Open radio-access networks (Open RAN) disaggregate a cell tower’s baseband unit into three units. The 5G Open RAN architecture specified by 3GPP separates functions into a centralized unit (CU) and distributed unit (DU), where these functions were otherwise contained in the baseband unit, which also included the radio. These units provide network operators with the…