Detecting interfering signals and mitigating them
Jan 1, 2005
By Steve Thomas Interfering signals close to a carrier can be sources of interference that are
difficult to detect. Field technicians must be able to identify and mitigate such
interfering signals that can be less than 1 kHz apart and have a 60 dB difference
in amplitude. The article discusses the type of performance necessary in a test
instrument in order to identify interfering signals and track them down to their
sources....
Designing a ZigBee-ready IEEE 802.15.4-compliant radio transceiver
Nov 1, 2004
By Khanh Tuan Le Besides highlighting the physical (PHY) and MAC
layers of the IEEE 802.15.4 standard, and the network, security and application
layers of the ZigBee wireless technology, this article focuses on efficient
implementation of IEEE 802.15.4-compliant radio-on-a-chip by identifying
potential low-power features in the standard, suitable transceiver architectures
and considering standard CMOS design issues....
Comparing windows for multitone suppression
Nov 1, 2004
By Raghavendra G. Kulkarni Harmonic interference suppression requires windows with fast decaying sidelobes. When the requirement is to keep peak sidelobes low, Harris windows are preferred; but when the mainlobes are to be of minimum widths, the recently published Kulkarni windows offer a good choice....
Signal Processing
Nov 1, 2004
Clock buffer Pericom Semiconductor Corporation has launched a family of 3.3 V, 1:4 LVPECL clock buffers with speeds up to 800 MHz. The PI6C4853x ICs target...
FCC adopts Access Broadband-over-Power-Lines rules
Nov 1, 2004
The Federal Communications Commission released the text of its Report and Order addressing Access Broadband over Power Lines. On Oct. 14, the FCC adopted...
Do we really need a unified ultra-wideband (UWB) standard?
Nov 1, 2004
Ashok Bindra, Editorial Director The way the two ultra-wideband (UWB) camps direct sequence code division multiple access (DS-CDMA) led by Freescale semiconductor vs. multiband orthogonal...
Synthetic instruments in automatic test systems
Nov 1, 2004
By John Stratton This article will describe why there is a move toward synthetic instrument ATS architecture, how synthetic instrument architecture will differ from that of a stand-alone instrument, and how it is possible to achieve high-performance measurements in a synthetic instrument framework....
GSM/GPRS quad band power amp includes antenna switch
Nov 1, 2004
Combining gallium arsenide (GaAs) power amplifier circuit with integrated passive devices (IPDs) and microvia high-density interconnect (HDI) technology,...
M/A-COM produces new AlGaAs PIN diodes
Nov 1, 2004
M/A-COM, a business unit of Tyco Electronics, claims it has improved the performance of aluminum gallium arsenide (AlGaAs) flip-chip PIN diodes to set...
Products
Nov 1, 2004
Test and Measurement 3G base station test system Racal Instruments Wireless Solutions (RIWS) has announced its enhanced and upgraded 3G base station test...
Military modernization accentuates synthetic instrumentation
Nov 1, 2004
Ashok Bindra, Editorial Director For more than the last 60 years, electronic test and measurement instruments have evolved significantly to address the challenges of both commercial and...
Direct-sequence UWB signal generation and measurement
Nov 1, 2004
By Peter Cain This article discusses how to generate and measure ultra-wideband signals to design and test the performance of radio receivers handling UWB signals. A number of novel techniques, such as pulse shape recovery and frequency measurements on sub-nanosecond pulses, are described using modern test equipment....
Power supply and ground design for WiFi transceiver
Nov 1, 2004
By Roger Bremer, Tracey Chavers, Zhongmin Yu A solid RF layout requires careful planning of board stack-up, power supply routing, supply bypassing, and grounding. These techniques, along with correct placement of filter components, can address PLL spurs as demonstrated by an IEEE-902.11a/g transceiver reference design....
CMOS RF antenna switches offer new alternative
Oct 1, 2004
Implementing its proprietary ultrathin-silicon-on-sapphire (UTSi) CMOS, also known as UltraCMOS process, Peregrine Semiconductor has developed RF CMOS...
Using advanced signal analysis to identify sources of WLAN transmitter degradations
Oct 1, 2004
By Christian Olgaard Design engineers can use measurements of the error vector magnitude, frequency
error, phase noise, and the transmit power envelope to identify the sources of
degraded WLAN transmitter performance. In particular, techniques are described
to identify and troubleshoot the impacts of amplitude, phase, and group delay
imbalances between the I and Q channels, phase noise, spurious signals and
transient effects, and signal compression on transmitter performance....
CDMA base-station test toolkit taps software-defined radio
Oct 1, 2004
To provide code-division, multiple-access (CDMA) base-station manufacturers and network operators a tool for testing and tuning networks for optimal performance,...
Electron device forum celebrates golden jubilee
Oct 1, 2004
Ashok Bindra, Editorial Director When device physicists, process engineers and mathematical model developers assemble this year at the 50th anniversary of International Electron Devices...
Medium impedance RF probe is rugged and wideband
Oct 1, 2004
By Bryan Irons Arugged, low-cost RF probe can be made from materials readily available in the lab. This probe is useful for making relative measurements while troubleshooting...
