iCana’s product range for Sub-6 GHz is comprised of high-power amplifiers, driver amplifiers, low noise amplifiers, front-end modules along with control components, including switches, attenuators, and limiters. For mmWave applications, the company is developing beamforming ICs and integrated front-end modules.  They were showing off their 3 W, 3.3-3.6 GHz for 5G applications and demonstrating how it is easy to integrate with predistortion solutions that meet EVM requirements. The company was recently acquired by Foxconn. 

Integra Technologies was showing off their new L-Band, GaN, RF digital pallet with 3 kW output with 55 dB gain and about 50% efficiency. It has full digital control well suited for radar systems and operates over the full 1.2-1.4 GHz band. A universal digital power supply controls the amplifier giving it better pulse fidelity and pulse to pulse stability. 

Isola Group was showing its line-up of high-performance circuit materials, including Astra® MT77, I-Tera® MT40, Tachyon® 100G, and TerraGreen® 400G. Astra® MT77 is an excellent starting point for many RF/microwave circuits. It features a dielectric constant (Dk) which is stable with temperature, typically 3.00 in the z-axis (thickness) measured at 2 and 10 GHz. It offers among the lowest loss available in a microwave circuit material, with dissipation factor (Df) of 0.0017 at both 2 and 10 GHz. I-Tera® MT40, with a Dk of 3.45 at 2 and 10 GHz, has Df of 0.0031 at 2 and 10 GHz. It is a robust substrate for HSD circuits and can be tailored to RF/microwave circuits as I-Tera® MT40 (RF/MW), with Dk from 3.38 to 3.75 at 2 and 10 GHz and Df from 0.0028 to 0.0035. The two materials deliver stable thermal performance with similar characteristics, including the same glass transition temperature (+200°C), to invite combination in production processes for mixed-signal circuits. Tachyon® 100G, with a Tg of +200°C, maintains Dk consistent with frequency: 3.04 at 2 GHz dropping slightly to 3.02 at 10 GHz. Its loss is extremely low, with Df of 0.0021 at both 2 and 10 GHz. Halogen-free TerraGreen® 400G materials have a slightly higher Tg than the other materials, at +210°C. They are RoHS-compliant for lead-free processing and are well suited for mmWave circuits to 110 GHz and beyond. 

Junkosha unveiled its new Cable Assembly Designer; a product selection tool for Junkosha’s microwave and millimeter-wave coaxial cable assemblies that are customizable to a host of test and measurement, high-frequency needs within mobile communication technology, space and defense applications. With this tool, users can pre-select their desired usage conditions and apply various filters such as frequency, phase stability performance, and applications to generate a list of products that best meet their requirements. The new Cable Assembly Designer automatically calculates and confirms electrical characteristics necessary for product selection thereby making it easy to use. Junkosha was also featuring precision engineered-PTFE tape wrapping technology that exhibits excellent phase (within +/- 4.5˚ at 50 GHz) and amplitude (within +/- 0.08 dB at 50 GHz) stability in flexure alongside strong phase stability in temperature. The cable is flexible and can maintain this level of performance when bent 180˚ on a 2.25” radius mandrel, with no spring back. Able to reach 50 GHz and available in a 2.4mm connector, the assembly also displays impressive performance durability – 50,000 tick tock cycles are typical. The ruggedized port side NMD connector is also available to ensure reliable connections to the VNA. 

Keysight Technologies announced the new M8199B arbitrary waveform generator (AWG), which provides R&D engineers a high-performance signal source for arbitrary signals that enables development of designs employing multi-level modulation formats (e.g., 64QAM) at well beyond 160 GBaud. Applications beyond 128 GBaud demand a new class of generators that provide high speed, so Keysight addressed these challenges with the company's new M8199B AWG which offers a high performing signal source for arbitrary signals with sampling rate up to 256 GSa/s and analog bandwidth exceeding 80 GHz, including up to eight synchronized channels operating simultaneously. Keysight's new M8199B AWG provides research engineers the speed, bandwidth, precision, and flexibility to meet the challenges of next-generation applications, enabling data transmission greater than 400 Gb/s per lane in intensity-modulation/direct-detect (IM/DD) and greater than 1.6 Tb/s per carrier in coherent optical communications. 

Keysight was displaying 5G Solutions such as Active Device Analysis, Field Signal Analysis, gNB Design and Validation, and mmWave Design. Keysight also demonstrated the new PathWave Advanced Design System (ADS) 2023, an integrated design and simulation software that rapidly addresses increasing design complexity and higher frequencies in the RF and microwave industry. Keysight also displayed 6G Solutions such as 6G Component Analysis and Sub-THz Wideband Testbed. Keysight Satellite Communication Solutions included RF System Digital Twin, RF-Digital Domain Test, and Wideband Satellite Test. Keysight Automotive Solutions showed off their AV Radar Simulation with instantaneous 5 GHz bandwidth, which is future-proof for 4D and wider band short range radar, improving distance resolution and enabling closer simulation of objects. 

Knowles Precision Devices recently acquired Integrated Microwave Corporation. With this acquisition, their Microwave group offers a complete range of RF and Microwave filtering solutions supporting VHF to Ka band. In addition to the small, temperature-stable filters you have come to know from us, we can now deliver ceramic and cavity filters for lower frequency and/or higher power applications. Founded in 1982, Integrated Microwave is a worldwide leader in the design and manufacture of custom precision RF microwave filters and multiplexers for the aerospace, defense and communications industries. Additionally, IMC is a proud supplier to NASA and has participated in every Mars mission since 2000. 

Macom was showing up many new products such as a 700 W CW, 900 MHz amplifier with drain efficiency greater than 70%, their GaN pallets for S-Band radar/avionics/SatCom and high power 5 kW, 120 V, 1 GHz amplifier with drain efficiency of 58%. 

Marki Microwave recently announced the expansion of its mmWave portfolio with a series of leading-edge mixers featuring integrated local oscillator (LO) drivers. Ideal for space constrained applications requiring wide bandwidths and operation at mmWave frequencies, the integrated drive mixers reduce size, weight, power and cost (SWaP-C) while simplifying overall integration of the LO path for ease of use and optimized performance. The MM1A-0832HPSM, MM1A-1040HPSM and MM1A-1855HPSM are versatile, broadband double balanced mixers featuring an integrated LO driver amplifier, which allows for operation with LO powers as low as -6 dBm. Unlike traditional industry solutions using discrete packages, Marki Microwave’s co-packaging utilizes optimal die technology for the amplifier and mixer functions. The new technique eliminates the need for a separate amplifier and mixer interface, minimizing design costs without sacrificing performance across the operating bandwidth.  

Maury Microwave’s Nano5G tuners are automated impedance tuners optimized for load pull measurements at 5G FR2 frequencies. They have high VSWR, high tuning accuracy and repeatability. They are direct probe connection with no vibration and the smallest tuner. Nano5G's industry-leading size and weight allows the tuner to be mounted directly to the probe tip for on-wafer measurements, thereby ensuring the highest tuning range (VSWR, lowest impedance) at the DUT reference plane. The direct connection also reduces the phase skew resulting in minimal signal distortion and more accurate vector measurements when using wideband modulated signals. Nano5G is well suited for measurements in the 18-50 GHz band, on-wafer and connectorized. 

Nano Dimension successfully produced additively manufactured from RF devices tested in space, to innovative, high-performance electronics devices (Hi-PEDS®) for 5G and has opportunities in product development to take electronics to new levels of performance, fit, and function. The company has acquired additional capabilities through acquisition and addressing electronics in many industries. 

Otava demonstrated three new tunable filter RFICs, covering from 2 to 40 GHz. Each is a five-pole filter, and the poles can be individually tuned to optimize some aspect of the performance — insertion loss or 3 dB bandwidth, for example. Among the many applications, they can improve the performance of wideband phased arrays by protecting the RF signal chain from interfering signals. Otava also highlighted its 24 to 40 GHz beamformer RFIC, developed to support multiple 5G and DoD bands with a single beamformer. Otava is developing additional RFICs to fill out the mmWave radio block diagram and intends to offer a complete system solution. Otava, MathWorks and R&S gave a workshop at EuMW on model-based simulation. 

PRFI is a UK-based design house specializing in the design and development of RFICs, MMICs and microwave/mmWave modules. They have designed over 100 custom ICs at frequencies ranging from baseband to 100 GHz, and are a third-party design house for Wolfspeed , GCS, Qorvo and WIN. Their designs are used in a wide range of applications from test instrumentation to infrastructure equipment and the latest mmWave 5G systems. They have in-house test facilities for both bare die (RF-On-Wafer) and SMT packaged components and can undertake the development of mmWave packaging solutions. They have recently designed a 500 W CW, 1 kW pulsed 2.5 to 6 GHz amplifier. 

Pharrowtech announced after the event that its 60 GHz high speed wireless evaluation board, PTB-1060, has been integrated into the Renesas RWM6050 baseband wireless modem platform. Pharrowtech’s PTB-1060 integrated solution with the RWM6050 includes its PTR-1060 CMOS radio chip and the PTM-1060 antenna array module, means that the technology is now available for customer evaluation with the Renesas’ Evaluation Kit. 

RF Lambda is a leader of RF Broadband solutions and offers a broad range of high-end RF Components, Modules, and Systems – from RF Solid State Power Amplifiers and Low Noise Amplifiers to RF Switches, Phase Shifters, and Attenuators. With microprocessor and FPGA capacity, their products are widely used for high power radar stations, phased array systems, and broadband jamming systems. They offer customized designs and support a variety of applications, including wireless infrastructure, RF testing equipment, military defense, and aerospace. 

Rogers was showing off RO4835IND LoPro thermoset laminates are specially designed for 60 to 81 GHz short-range industrial radar applications, where excellent electrical performance and cost-efficiency are equally important. These laminates also provide environmental reliability and interconnection stability, which are critical criteria for PCB material selection. The company also featured their RO3003G2 circuit materials that are a high frequency ceramic-filled PTFE laminate (an extension of the RO30003 series) for mmWave automotive radar applications. It has a Dk of 3.00 @ 10 GHz and 3.07 at 77 GHz with a low insertion loss of 1.3 dB/in for 5 mil laminates. 

Rohde & Schwarz continues to push the limits of sub-THz research and brings an innovative signal generation and analysis solution for measurements in the D-band that will significantly simplify early next generation mobile communications research. The new R&S FE170 front-end extensions are easy to mount to and configure with the R&S SMW200A vector signal generator and the R&S FSW signal and spectrum analyzer. The extensions will allow the two high-end test instruments to cover frequency ranges between 110 GHz and 170 GHz – ideal for early sub-THz research. 

Rohde & Schwarz was also premiering its updated R&S FSWP phase noise analyzer and VCO tester, which accurately measures phase noise to help improve the performance of the oscillators used in these communications applications. The new R&S FSWP models have an updated design, a new capacitive touchscreen and provide greater accuracy for measuring high-end oscillators. 

Another highlight at the Rohde & Schwarz booth is a brand-new solution for the verification of RF components in characterization and production environments. The R&S PVT360A performance vector tester combines vector signal generator and vector signal analyzer in one instrument and provides outstanding measurement speed. It covers a frequency range up to 8 GHz and offers flexible bandwidth configuration and an optional second TRX channel.  

With the R&S FSVA3050, Rohde & Schwarz has introduced a new version of its high-speed signal and spectrum analyzer for labs and production, now covering up to 50 GHz and optionally up to 54 GHz, and therefore ideal for testing satellite components such as filters and amplifiers. With its high dynamic range and outstanding phase noise, the analyzer offers performance previously only possible with high-end instruments.  

The R&S ATS1500C antenna test system is a user-friendly antenna test chamber that enables precise and highly reproducible measurements. The future-proof compact antenna test range (CATR) technology means it is ready for the next generation of imaging radars with higher antenna apertures. The new features increase flexibility, allow parallel access to both polarizations and enable efficient temperature-controlled measurements in a wide temperature range. 

With the R&S CMP200 radio communication tester, Rohde & Schwarz was demonstrating a test solution optimized for solving UWB test challenges in high-volume production environments and in R&D. The tester combines the capabilities of a signal analyzer and a signal generator in a single instrument. In combination with Rohde & Schwarz shielded chambers, the R&S CMP200 offers a complete solution for transmitter, receiver, time of flight (ToF) and angle of arrival (AoA) measurements in conducted and radiated mode, compliant with IEEE 802.15.4a/z specifications. 

Schott featured low loss glass with excellent dielectric properties for RF and sensing applications. It has low CTE, low dielectric loss with a Dk of 4.0 and roughness of less than 5 nm. We have seen a few companies offering RF glass now and its performance for very high frequency applications is excellent and could play a major role in 6G devices. 

Teledyne e2v recently developed a DC to Ka-Band DAC for use in satellite applications. The EV12DD700 dual-channel DACs are capable of operating up into Ka-band frequencies and support beamforming applications. They have a 25 GHz output bandwidth with only 3 dB attenuation. Built into each DAC is an array of sophisticated signal processing functionality. This encompasses a programmable anti-sinc filter and direct digital synthesis capabilities, as well as a programmable complex mixer. Also included is a digital up-converter (with four interpolation stages, plus sinc compensation). 

Virginia Diodes featured a noise figure measurement for 220-330 GHz using their VDI down converters and noise source along with Keysight measurement units. VDI also had their compact converters for frequency up and down-conversion on display. These converters are easy to use and well suited for high performance up and down conversion of wide band modulated millimeter-wave signals. They offer full waveguide band coverage and are available from WR28 (22.5-40 GHz) to WR2.2 (330-500 GHz). 

WIN Semiconductors recently released its latest generation 0.1 µm pHEMT technology, PP10-20. Building on the mature and production proven PP10 platform, this second-generation technology provides a substantial increase in transistor gain and improves ƒt/ƒmax to 160 GHz and 240 GHz respectively. These improvements have been achieved while maintaining reliable 4 V operation necessary for backhaul power amplifiers and high linearity receivers operating from W-Band though D-Band. Targeting applications above 100 GHz, this multifunction GaAs pHEMT technology can be used for low noise and power amplifiers as well as wide bandwidth modulator drivers for high data rate fiber optics.