White Papers

The white paper â??Extremely rugged 50 V LDMOS devices capture ISM and broadcast marketsâ?? takes an in-depth look at all the performance benefits. Youâ??ll see how the superior performance of the XR LDMOS devices compares with the older VDMOS and other 50 V LDMOS technologies currently available in the market.

Cloud computing, smart phones, and LTE services are causing a large increase in network traffic. Instantaneous traffic rates at internet data centers have reached 1 Tbit/s. Supporting this increased traffic, speed of IT equipment used in high-end services in data centers must be increased. This white paper discusses challenges introduced at these higher data rates and how Vector Network Analyzers can help meet these.

The Boonton model 55006 USB Peak Power Sensor and 4542 benchtop Power meter used with model 57006 Peak Power sensor or model 51011 EMC power sensors are the instruments of choice for capturing, displaying and analyzing RF power for automotive EMC and RF immunity testing. This application paper focuses on discussing the usage of peak power meters in RF immunity testing for EMC purposes.

Miniaturization of consumer products, aerospace and defense systems, medical devices, and LED arrays has spawned the development of a technology known as the multi-chip module (MCM), which combines multiple integrated circuits (ICs), semiconductors dies, and other discrete components within a unifying substrate for use as a single component. This two-part white paper outlines the steps for implementing an integrated design flow within the AWR Microwave Office® design environment for MMICs, MCMs and modules.  Design flow considerations for both a GaAs PHEMT power amplifier design as well as for an MCM microwave monolithic integrated circuit (MMIC) design on a microwave laminate module are discussed. 

Semiconductor manufacturing test engineers face increased broadband millimeter wave (MMW) on-wafer testing challenges. Developing accurate models often requires measuring frequencies ranging from near DC up to 100+ GHz. Achieving accurate, stable measurements over extended time periods is challenging. This white paper discusses the impact of calibration downtime during on-wafer testing and how to enable longer time periods between calibrations.

In most power added efficiency (PAE) test setups, multiple instruments are used to measure RF, voltage, and current. Measurements may require the use of an RF power meter or digital oscilloscope (DSO) with diode detectors to determine the RF power, while digital multimeters are used to measure voltage and current. The Agilent Technologies 8990B peak power analyzer (PPA) provides an alternative setup which allows power added efficiency testing to be done on a single instrument.

This white paper describes new methodology and instrumentation for minimizing measurement uncertainty when measuring RF power at power levels of up to 100 W below 1 GHz. The paper discusses two commonly used methods: using low-power sensors traceable through microcalorimeters, and direct measurement of high power using a flow calorimeter that converts the electrical energy from an RF source into thermal energy via a liquid-cooled resistive load. While both methods are functional, the flow calorimeter carries advantages in measurement uncertainties and process automation. The paper outlines a new approach that improves measurement accuracy with greater simplicity.

The advantages of using a differential amplifier to drive a high speed analog-to-digital converter (ADC) include signal gain, isolation, and source impedance matching to the ADC. This paper describes a procedure for designing the required interface circuit and anti-aliasing filter that maintains high performance and minimizes signal loss. A resonant approach is used to design a Butterworth fourth-order band-pass filter with a center frequency of 200 MHz. Some of the important design criteria include properly matching the input and output impedance of the amplifier for minimum signal loss and optimum linearity performance, while considering several possible product lineups.

The most recent 802.11 standard presents some challenges as discussed in The Next Evolution of Wireless LAN white paper. It is not surprising that test engineers have been scrambling to find the right test equipment to test this standard. Many test engineers have now realized that the old method of finding an expensive boxed instrument with the best performance numbers is now dead. Why, you may ask? The answer is simple: test engineers are getting starved for resources, mainly time, money, and space. The modern breed of test engineers is already using intuitive new technologies to reduce space and decrease test and development time all in a reduced budget. National Instruments is helping test engineers address these challenges with user-programmable FPGA-based instrumentation. This paper discusses the benefits of using an open field-programmable gate array (FPGA) for 802.11ac testing specifically.

The Anritsu VectorStar's Noise Figure - Option 041 enables the capability to measure noise figure (NF), which is the degradation of the signal-to-noise ratio caused by components in a signal chain. The NF measurement is based on a cold source technique for improved accuracy. Various levels of match and fixture correction are available for additional enhancement. VectorStar is the only VNA platform offering a Noise Figure option enabling NF measurements from 70 kHz to 125 GHz. It is also the only VNA platform available with an optimized noise receiver for measurements from 30 to 125 GHz.