White Papers

Design and Production Challenges of Wire-Wrapped Ferrite RF Passives for Broadband Applications

The next generation of wireless and wired communications (S data & video) are reaching ever increasing frequencies and require much greater bandwidth than previous radio delivery systems. As the frequency and bandwidth requirements have risen from hundreds of megahertz to multiple gigahertz, the performance of passives also need to step up to these new performance demands. This article describes the challenges of developing higher frequency and bandwidth wire wrapped ferrite RF passives, as well as some of the ways MiniRF is addressing these challenges and manufacturing ferrites for the next generation of communications technology.


Read More

Four Strategies for Becoming Your Own, Best PCB Designer

"Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) support the functionality of just about every working electronic device in use today. If you want to make something that does something, PCBs are likely a component of your product design.

First in a series of white papers, PCB Design for Smarties will share our expertise on the subject, helping you move forward to your next project, confident there will be smooth sailing from design through manufacturing."


Read More

Millimeter-Wave 5G Beamforming and Phased Array Basics

Experts and major industry bodies have spoken — 5G will arrive faster than many envisioned, and our industry is in the middle of an age of innovation that has not been seen for 25 years. Companies developing systems for millimeter-wave (mmWave) 5G networks are in front of regulating bodies, working to anticipate where the market will move and how to meet the needs of their customers.


Read More

Radar Echo Generator Application Note

Radar test systems are essential in research, development, production and maintenance of radar systems. Most radar tests are expensive to carry out in the field and have a complicated setup and operation. This application note presents a solution for testing the complete radar system by generating any kind of radar echo signals with arbitrary range, Doppler frequency and Radar Cross Section. The Radar Echo Generator makes it possible to perform real time tests on many applications including aerospace & defense and commercial radar systems.


Read More

Making Effective Use of Doherty Architecture

With the evolution of 5G technology, the need for antenna array systems is growing. This increases the demand for efficient power amplifier implementations to support high-density setups. Imagine you could get 60 % more output power, 50 % more bandwith and up to 20 % efficiency gain per amplifier in a MIMO antenna array setup? Would you spend time on rethinking your implementation plans?


Read More

How GaN is Changing the SATCOM RF Front-End

Solid-state technologies such as gallium nitride (GaN) are transforming satellite communications (satcom). GaN’s advantages of high RF power, low DC power consumption, high reliability and smaller size (which reduces system weight) are opening new markets and revolutionizing the RF front-end (RFFE) in existing satcom applications.


Read More