White Papers

Microwave RF softwarization in the Ka-band will upend satellite air interface design & deliver substantially more versatile platforms over the next decade. The disruptions impacting the space industry suggest the necessity of a development path towards fully software-defined satellites or SoftSats that deliver on-orbit reconfigurability and transponder re-use.

Phase-critical analog and digital transceiver systems are increasingly relied upon in global Aerospace & Defense programs, due, in part, to the rapid advancement and growth of high-resolution phased array antenna technology. These advancements are enabling significant innovation in satellite-based communications (SATCOM), surface, airborne, and space-based radars, secure point-topoint communications, autonomous vehicles, electronic warfare (EW), and space research.

Taking the R&S ESR EMI test receiver as an example, this paper looks at a CISPR 16-1-1- compliant test instrument with time domain scanning capabilities. The paper compares the measurement speed and level measurement accuracy of a conventional stepped frequency scan versus an advanced FFT-based time domain scan. It also contains guidance on making optimum use of time domain scans.

In Part 1, we introduced the phased array concept, beam steering, and array gain. In Part 2, we presented the concept of grating lobes and beam squint. In this section, we begin with a discussion of antenna sidelobes and the effect of tapering across an array. Tapering is simply the manipulation of the amplitude contribution of an individual element to the overall antenna response.

Automatic Fixture Removal (AFR) is a simple and an accurate way to de-embed a measurement fixture. These fixtures are typically used when measuring Surface Mount Device (SMD) type components to provide an interface from the Vector Network Analyzer (VNA) test port cables to the Device Under Test (DUT). The main challenge when characterizing such components is to completely isolate the actual DUT characteristics from the fixture; which becomes even more challenging at higher frequencies.

Most ADAS functions rely on radar sensors, and these safety-critical components must function correctly even under the most demanding of RF environments. The white paper describs a test procedure to replicate real life scenarios where the ADAS radar functions are activated during EMS testing and it contains some very interesting results.

RF front-end architectures grow more complex with each generation of communication systems. To accommodate these architectures, more densification and miniaturization is taking place with electronic systems implemented through innovations in system-in-package (SiP) design. Cadence offers the broadest, most integrated design solution to bring the Intelligent System Design™ strategy to the communication products of the future.

Suspended substrate filter technology uses air cavity construction achieve high Q and avoid the adverse effects of dielectric materials used in traditional stripline construction. The resulting performance gives designers the advantages of wide passbands with low insertion loss and stopband rejection on the order of 100 dB with fast roll-off. This paper reviews the fundamentals of suspended substrate filters, key performance features and the unique manufacturing challenges associated with these useful building blocks for wideband systems.

5G deployments have only recently started, and releases beyond R15 will continue to tap into the tremendous potential of 5G. However, as a new generation of cellular technology typically appears every 8-10 years, 6G can be expected around 2030.

Arbitrary waveform generators or AWG’s come close to being universal signals sources. They are digitally based devices capable of generating any waveform, within published limits of bandwidth, memory length, accuracy, and output level. Sixteen bits of amplitude resolution are available with bandwidths from 70 to 600 MHz and output levels as high as 24 Vpp.