Metal-insulator-metal and metal-oxide-metal capacitors popular in analog/RF designs because of their desirable characteristics. By extracting parasitics from your models that are important in your design, you’ll get a robust circuit.
Wi-Fi 6E is coming, chipsets with MIMO now sampling
The QCS-AX2 series from ON Semiconductor brings 6 GHz Wi-Fi 6E to routers and access points. Just as LTE cellular is running out of capacity (hence 5G), so is Wi-Fi. Originally operating at 2.4 GHz (70 MHz band), IEEE 802.3n added 5 GHz, which supplemented with 500 MHz but at a decreased range. That’s happening…
The basics of 5G’s modulation, OFDM
Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing has become the standard modulation format for 5G New Radio. Lean how OFDM works and how it’s used. Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) is an efficient modulation format used in modern wireless communication systems including 5G. OFDM combines the benefits of Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) and Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM) to produce…
Record and analyze signals to 26.5 GHz
The Tektronix RSA7100B wideband RF signal analyzer and streaming recorder lets engineers working on wideband designs in communications, radar, and electronic warfare capture and analyze signal in the frequency domain. It provides more than 2.5 hours of streaming RF storage with 800-MHz real-time bandwidth. Its 16 kHz to 26.5 GHz frequency range covers a broad…
Pasternack expands mmWave antenna line
RF component manufacturer Pasternack has added some 54 models to its line of mmWave antennas for 5G and other applications. Additions include five new categories of high frequency waveguide antennas are now available to address point-to-point and point-to-multi-point wireless applications, including Probe Waveguide Antennas to 170 GHz with 6.5 dBi of gain Dual Polarized Waveguide…
Digital modulation basics, part 2: QAM and EVM
In Digital modulation basics, part 1 we examined the concept of quadrature modulation and signal generation. We showed a common block diagram for generating a quadrature signal (Figure 1). There is a corresponding receiver block diagram to extract the Inphase (I) and Quadrature (Q) components of the signal (Figure 2). The signal is converted to…
5G moves into production, causes test issues
5G Technology World talks with Teradyne’s Jeorge Hurtarte, who explains components and over-the-air production test of 5G components. 5G phones, base stations, IoT, and other devices have moved into production, but like everything else, 5G’s mmWave frequencies bring new challenges there, just as they have with design and deployment. For starters, production facilities don’t what…
Signal Generators cover 5G FR1 and FR2
The Model 865 from Berkeley Nucleonics lets you generate signals in the sub-6 GHz FR1 band and the mmWave FR2 band for testing 5G and other RF devices and systems such as Radar. 5G starts with RF/microwave/mmWave carriers and engineers need to test devices and systems with clean signals. For example, you might want to…
Monitor CBRS 3.5 GHz with spectrum analyzer and software
Spectrum analyzer maker ThinkRF and Cellular software publisher CelPlan have joined forces to integrate their products, letting engineers monitor the newly opened 3.5 GHz Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) band. The product integration lets RF engineers conduct drive tests and evaluate network performance, map coverage, or identify issues in the 3.5 GHz CBRS band. CBRS…
Digital modulation basics, part 1
Mobile devices have evolved from basic analog phones to digitally enabled smartphones that fit in the palm of your hand. Voice communications are still part of the mix, but voice calls are handled by converting the voice signal from analog to digital and transmitting it digitally. This means that mobile wireless systems are focused on…