MicroApps Schedule

Using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method, a 5G antenna array design will be analyzed and optimized. The calculation of the cumulative distribution function (CDF) of the effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) will be demonstrated and used to determine and optimize the array’s 5G coverage potential.

TMYTEK will host a live demo to showcase BBox, the great develop kit, built for 5G mmWave. Both base station and smartphone can be emulated. Different communication scenario and/or network topologies can be architected easily. Furthermore, the new approach based on BBox developed for mmWave production line will change the landscape of testing and save the cost of manufacture dramatically. We love to contribute to 5G industries.

Modern communication and RADAR systems use rapid frequency changes to make the system more resistant to atmospheric disturbances, targeted attacks (jamming) and unwanted signals (interference). To increase the resolution, these systems also change the modulation, pulse width and pulse sequence based on the target. To analyze and optimize these systems engineers need a gapless processing of the signals in the frequency domain and a trigger on special events.

Doherty amplifiers are commonly used in communications systems as they are able to provide a higher efficiency at backed-off power levels compared with simple balanced amplifiers. In this presentation, a solution integrating behavioral models a in order to shorten the Doherty amplifier design and optimization processes is demonstrated

Low pass filter design for Phase Locked Loops (PLLs) often employ active components, especially Operational Amplifiers in the low pass filter. This abstract highlights the specific applications requiring active filters, and examines the parameters of the Op-Amp and their influence on the steady state and transient behaviour of the PLL loop. Tools to simulate the performance together will some real world examples will be used to help engineers better understand how to select the most appropriate amplifier for their application.

High antenna count and beamforming is an essential technique to achieve superior capacity in 5G systems which will drive the need for low-power, high-performance RF signal chains with small footprint. This paper will focus on an RF transceiver from Texas Instruments which integrates 4 receivers, 4 transmitters, 2 feedback channels, built-in step attenuators, fully autonomous AGC and PLL(s) configurable to support multi-band TDD/FDD combinations. Instantaneous bandwidth in RX is 200MHz and that in TX & FB is 600MHz.

New technologies in cloud computing, advanced electromagnetic (EM) simulation, and additive manufacturing are enabling new microwave components across a spectrum of applications and frequencies. The availability of cloud computing has removed the barrier to novel EM designs, in particular genetic algorithms for complex, three-dimensional (3D) antenna design. Moreover, the advent of additive manufacturing enables engineers to easily realize designs whose complexity would have been extremely difficult and expensive to manufacture using traditional methods. This microapp presents a 3D-mesh antenna designed using AntSyn™ antenna design, synthesis, and optimization software, which utilizes genetic algorithms and simulates on Amazon’s computing cloud.

Millimeter Wave Imaging is a technology that forms images of a target by measuring the phase and amplitude of a signal that reflects off of that target. Multiple wideband frequency sweeps that are spatially dispersed, are used to build up a multi-layer 3D image. This Microapps talk will describe how a new chipset from Analog Devices addresses the demands of commercial mmWave Imaging and will also explore other applications of this chipset.

When machined housings are used for EMI shielding Form-in-Place (FIP) gaskets are used to provide grounding between the machined housing and mating part. FIP gaskets provide both EMI shielding and an environmental seal. In addition to a high material cost, FIP gaskets require automated dispensing at a high capital cost. Where an environmental seal is not required, Conductive PE gaskets can be used to provide the required grounding. Conductive PE gaskets are a cost effective alternative, providing similar isolation performance as FIP gaskets. Conductive PE gaskets are fabricated rather than dispensed eliminating the need for costly equipment.

Beam forming is everywhere: Radar, satellite links and 5G, even in both link directions. As frequencies are going up, antenna dimensions are going down and integration is a key enabler to allow cost efficient RF frontends. However, this leads to the point that devices have an antenna as RF interface instead of a connector. RF verification and compliance testing thus requires over the air test solutions.

Keysight Sys-Parameter device models bring together S-Parameter data along with noise and distortion with the added benefit that the model covers the complete operating frequency range of the device. In this paper, we will use Analog Devices’ library of RF Amplifier and Mixer Sys-Parameters to assess their accuracy and usefulness. We will do this by comparing simulated and measured performance of various Analog Devices RF Amplifiers using metrics such as Compression, Saturation, Adjacent Channel Power Ratio and EVM.

Beamforming using phased array antennas is a common technology in the aerospace & defense industry for radar and electronic warfare. In satellite communications and 5G NR, beamforming with phased array is becoming the default concept. This requires cost efficient commercial of the shelf beamforming solutions. Hybrid beamforming is a popular way to get to a high number of antenna elements for a narrow beam. Integrated beamformer ICs shrink the size of antenna feed electronics. Multiport network analyzers shrink necessary test setups down to one instrument

The talk will show an advanced behavioral modelling flow, used to simplify the design of complex RF and MW system architectures. The methodology will be exemplified through a commercially available framework that is aimed to aid circuit/system designers in device characterization and generate models compatible with common system-level simulation tools.

As chip sets for communication and 5G become highly integrated devices with on-board amplifiers and antennas and frequencies increase to millimeter wave range, conducted measurements are now physically impractical or even impossible. Over the air testing is required. Learn why noise sources can be used for fast, reliable, economical verification and testing of 5G devices.

Millimeterwave and THz components are fundamental building-blocks of different technologies. The required level of wafer-level testing is rapidly increasing and test engineers face many challenges that require an ever-increasing set of skills.
As RF and millimeterwave CMOS becomes mainstream and enables an unprecedented level of analog, mixed signals and digital integration, the required level of wafer-level testing is rapidly increasing.
In this workshop attendees will understand basic rules for laying out integrated circuits for testability, learn how to probe wafers, calibrate their measurement system, perform accurate and repeatable measurements and evaluate the quality of the results.

Accurately measuring key parameters for high gain systems can be challenging. Measuring such systems places a greater demand on the internal architecture of the driving signal source. Fundamental limitations of broadband noise, modulation depth, power accuracy and other parameters of the source can obscure the true performance of the DUT. Erroneous data could result if the signal source architecture is not well-suited or properly utilized for certain measurements. Particularly when measuring envelope-modulated signals, SNR can be significantly affected if a proper signal source architecture is not selected. We present solutions to common pitfalls encountered in accurately measuring high gain systems.

Receivers and LNAs are not completely immune to the effects of high input power. In practice problems occur when both a high power jamming signal and the desired signal are fed into the input when the amplifier requires a certain time to recover. This phenomenon is known as pulse recovery time. In this workshop a system is presented, that easily characterizes recovery time and recovery behavior of amplifiers and receivers for various jammer scenarios.

Common mistakes with Noise Figure / Noise Parameter measurements are often linked to improper considerations in setup and calibration, not taking the effect of environment into account, and the lack of appropriate validation. In this presentation, the common mistakes are identified and recommendations for best-practices are proposed.

Everyone is talking about 5G and higher signal bandwidth in microwave frequencies to increase data throughput. Various field trials help understanding the new environment. Component suppliers need to provide capable building blocks enabling 5G. This paper provides an overview of the relevant changes and trends to address them.

5G circuit applications are split between two general categories; one being sub-6 GHz applications and the other are applications operating at millimeter-wave frequencies. The optimum high frequency circuit materials for these two categories may be very different and this presentation will give a summary of the differences and why.

Phase coherent signals are required in many applications like massive MIMO, beamforming, radar, etc. Phase stability between the RF signals is critical, however that is not the full story. Ensuring the time alignment between signals is equally as critical. Generating such signals in a reliable and repeatable manner has long been a challenge.
The challenge comes from first, setting up the signals tightly coupled in terms of frequency and phase, then maintaining this alignment over time. Once the system is set up to produce phase coherent signals, the focus moves to the baseband and ensuring the signals are time aligned.

This presentation describes a methodical approach to determine optimized no of antenna elements and electrical specifications for FEM elements in mmWave 5G transceiver. Beam-forming simulation achieves desired link budget including nonlinear effects like AM-PM distortion and Phase Noise. Challenges faced during circuit design of key receiver blocks are also discussed.

5G networks will need to increase bandwidths through carrier aggregation and a push into millimeter-wave spectrum, all while improving spatial efficiency with base station densification and massive MIMO and beam-forming antenna arrays. These technologies will place new demands on underlying RF front-end components, particularly the filter designs required across a heterogeneous network of base stations (of varied cell sizes) and mobile devices. This microapp takes a look at 5G filter design challenges and the factors driving the physical, electrical, and cost restraints for 5G filters, and the supporting simulation technologies that will help designers physically realize these components.

MicroApp seminar will discuss a protocol for designing a multipaction free filter and a test process for confirming the success of that design. The occurrence of multipaction can lower system performance and in severe cases, continuing multipaction can permanently degrade components. The presentation will describe a high power S-band cavity diplexer supporting no multipaction in a space environment.

Spatial and temporal resolution of thermoreflectance-based imaging has established it as an effective technique for thermal analysis of GaN HEMTs and other high performance microwave devices. We describe developments in this analysis technique to meet the increased thermal challenges with these devices with respect to thermal sensitivity and transient performance.

An increase in differential LNA design has led to the need for improved analysis of differential noise figure. Previously, inserting a balun and performing simple de-embedding of a 2-port noise figure measurement or just measuring the noise figure of one of the output ports have been used. The balun-based method can miss subtle influences of the balun, particularly its imperfections on noise correlation and limited visibility into the multi-mode behavior of the DUT. An alternative process offers a clearer picture of DUT behavior with improved results. VNA-based methods employing direct-correlation techniques and improved balun-based methods will be presented.

Latest high-speed data converters can replace RF synthesis up to 6 GHz. Sampling and generation of modulated signals. This allows lean system architectures for many applications in the wireless market. Data converters turn into a complete RF system, which need to comply with the target application specifications for analog but also wideband-modulated signals where they are adding the biggest benefit.

Efficiency of full-wave simulations of multi-layer printed structures using WIPL-D software will be presented. Special tools for efficient modeling and meshing, together with techniques that reduce memory and time requirements will be demonstrated. The feature is especially attractive for users working in multi-layer PCB, LTCC, thin film and MIMIC technologies.

The WLAN multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) wireless connectivity method has been widely used in today's broadband data transmission equipment. The ETSI test standard defined multi-channel RF power measurement requirement and the test challenges:
- up to 4/8/16 measurement channels have to be synchronous at all antenna outputs
- at least a 1MSamples/sec measurement rate has to be used
- up to 4/8/16 million data samples of detection power of the burst signal have to be obtained.
In this microapp seminar, a new power sensor solution addresses the test challenges and thus meeting the ETSI test standard requirements.

As system and circuit designs get more complex, designers need to consider the electrical effects caused by physical layouts, such as coupling, insertion loss, etc. Learn to improve your productivity with the Virtuoso RF Module Design Flow’s parasitic extraction (PE) and EM analysis tools, all integrated within Virtuoso environment.

To analyze jamming, spoofing, and other EW techniques or to develop electronic countermeasures long sequences of several minutes or even hours of these signals have to be recorded in the field to detect threats and increase robustness against attacks. A system is needed to capture and record these wideband signals with high dynamic range, able to handle up to 40 Gbit/s.
Signal and spectrum analyzer can be equipped with up to 2 GHz wide analysis bandwidth, where users can directly stream a up to 512 MHz wide signal via the digital base band interface into a recorder.

Calibration of direct conversion RF signal generator instruments presents unique challenges due to the broad frequency range of operation, from a few kilohertz to several GHz. This MicroApp discusses techniques based on published literature and internal innovation to achieve image and LO leakage rejection of > 50 dBc for a RF VSG synthetic instrument using a platform-resident VSA.

Results of S-parameters measurements (up to 110 GHz) that incorporates probe-tip power calibration for wafer-level measurements are presented in this MicroApps seminar. This new instrumentation technique, ensures accurate and consistent RF source power is applied to active devices, lengthens the post-calibration stability of the system, minimizes measurement discontinuities while maximizing the measurement throughput of a 110 GHz wafer-level measurement system. Demonstrated with probe-tip source power of -20 dBm, an increased system post-calibration stability of more than 4 hours, compared to 10 minutes has been achieved, giving microwave engineers more time to test their mmW devices in a single calibration.

GaN LNAs are becoming a popular choice to replace traditional limiter/LNA front ends due to the simplified block diagram and improved system noise figure offered by this approach. One potential downside to this approach is that GaN LNAs can take longer to recover after being hit with a large pulse. This seminar will discuss biasing techniques which can reduce the recovery time and make GaN LNAs a clear performance favorite for receiver front ends which need to withstand a high maximum input power.

More integration, smaller footprint, thinner profile, better consistency and lower cost makes IPD perfect candidates for upcoming 5G and IoT applications. An IPD library, with full kinds of passive devices, has been developed on high resistivity silicon. The off-the-shelf devices can be used in various applications directly or as a baseline for further customization in specified RF front end packagings. Through Glass Via (TGV) based IPDs will also be presented with additional high-Q benefits, which can be critical for many wireless applications. Finally, the ceramic, silicon and TGV based IPDs are compared in terms of performance and size.

IQSTAR enables versatile bench control through multiple configurations. Different measurements capabilities including 1-Tone, 2 Tones, CW and Pulsed as well as VBW and Modulated signal characterization are possible with one push button. A state-of-the-art data analysis tool enables fast and efficient visualization through interactive graphs and tables. Adjustment of different filters, sliders and data-windows will highlight the exact characteristics the end-user is looking for.

Pulsed power amplifiers are an essential component of many 4G/5G base stations, military radar and electronic warfare systems, and commercial aviation and weather radars. As the demands on these amplifiers continue to grow with the need for higher data rates, greater variation in pulse waveforms, and less tolerance for signal anomalies, it is essential to properly characterize the performance of the amplifiers. Learn why peak power meters are more essential than ever for making these measurements.

High-end Vector Network Analyzers have always been instruments with unrivaled accuracy and defined measurement uncertainty. During the last decade, general-purpose Vector Network Analyzers have morphed into precision instruments for most demanding measurements. This talk will describe architectural advances and engineering breakthroughs enabling unknown levels of accuracy for general-purpose instruments.

When it comes to characterizing an oscillator, frequency stability and accuracy are key values. Frequency stability is typically characterized as its phase noise. The SSB phase noise is the amount of power located in a bandwidth B around an offset frequency that results from phase changes of the oscillator under test.
Alternatively to the spectral domain based phase noise characterization, oscillator stability can also be specified in the time domain. Stability in the time domain can be characterized using the two-sample or Allan variance. It plots the variance of two samples over the time that separates these two samples.

The Doherty Amplifier represents the benchmark for energy efficient, quasi-linear, power amplification.
But for 5G, SatCom or any other application demanding high performance and reproducibility, the challenges remain the same: how can you be sure that you are getting the maximum possible performance from the design and how can you evaluate its sensitivities and variations for series production?
During this session we will describe how, measuring the Doherty Amplifier as a dual-input device provides the designer with a hitherto unattainable visibility, enabling them to make the best design choices based on evidence, preparing for volume production with insight.

Demands for faster measurements in Instrumentation, and for quicker scans in Millimetre Wave body scanners, present fresh challenges for faster acquisition or shorter 'lock time' in traditional Phase Locked Loop (PLL) architectures. This abstract examines the inherent limits in lock time, and how in certain applications, and with certain trade-off's, lock time can be reduced to below 1 us enabling fully phase locked signals to be used in these systems, increasing accuracy and throughput time.

One key component of data transmission systems are frequency converting transponders. Data transmission with low bit-error-rate requires constant gain and linear phase resp. constant group-delay within the transmission channel. In many cases these devices don’t offer any access to the local oscillator so classical measurements methods provide poor results or will even fail. In this sessions a VNA based system is shown, using a two-tone technique to characterizes phase and group-delay behaviour of frequency-converters without the need of reference mixer. This technique provides accurate results and is immune against phase and frequency drift of the DUT’s local oscillator.

For 5G applications, 3D-MIMO antenna-array systems are tested. In order to test mutual coupling that occurs between neighboring antenna elements, a simultaneous stimulation of the involved elements is required. Vector network analyzers are used to test the involved antenna-array elements and optimize the performance of the antenna array.
Vector network analyzers with multiple ports that can be driven in parallel are essential to test cross-correlations between different paths. In this talk a typical measurement setup is described.

Passive load pull systems are no longer ideal for the characterization of components used with wideband signals, such as 5G, where individual channel bandwidths may be 80-160 MHz. A novel multi-harmonic active load pull system with instantaneous wideband impedance control over 1000 MHz bandwidth is presented.

The advent of New Radio (NR), automotive radar for safety and autonomous transport, along with more demanding requirements for test and measurement devices capable of accurate operation at millimeter wave frequencies and at phase noise floors below -150dBc has created a performance divide in which traditional techniques are challenged. A new generation of YIG Oscillators can bridge this divide with ultra-low noise. These new YIG technologies combine lower cost, smaller footprint, and reduced power consumption along with high reliability that can cross the performance divide in millimeter wave applications of the future.

Power Sensors are a common tool around every RF and Microwave lab, they provide very accurate power level measurements. However, the technology that enables these accurate power measurements, also has some limitations. Making narrowband power measurements or low level power measurements is not possible due to the broadband nature of a traditional power sensors.
A new type of power sensor, the frequency selective power sensor, overcomes these limitations. Enabling highly accurate power measurements to be make on specific RF signals in a crowded spectrum, or on signals close to the noise floor.

Emerging technologies like 5G operate anywhere from 20GHz to 90 GHz. Delivering high volume, low cost devices at these frequencies is challenging, and so is testing. This paper presents a new approach to RF-Measurements that will simplify testing at these frequencies while still enabling complex features like Beam-Forming transmitters to be tested.
Just physically connecting to a device at these microwave frequencies is expensive, complex and time consuming, none of which is helpful when trying to produce low cost high volume parts.
This paper presents a new approach to RF-Measurements that will simplify testing at these frequencies.

Sparkle codes, glitches, conversion errors or flyers-- all analog to digital converters (ADCs) occasionally suffer from conversion errors regardless of what you call them. Some applications are highly sensitive to sparkle codes no matter how infrequently they occur. Detecting and correcting sparkle code errors is even more challenging. This workshop will present ways to detect and correct sparkle codes (and other systematic converter errors) using efficient and non-traditional filters techniques.

Accelerate your simulation and address advanced-node challenges with the enhanced Spectre® Accelerated Parallel Simulator (APS) RF engine. Learn how to optimize performance and accuracy tradeoffs along with new features including simulating with parasitics, tackling convergence issues, and new automation in S-parameter analysis.

MIMO system with 8-antennae feeding Rx/Tx chains in CMOS and GaAs respectively has challenge of CPW routing, heat-dissipation and replicated chains making floorplanning extremely critical. This paper showcases Package-on-Package(PoP) configuration to handle above challenges including limited handset dimensions. PoP has PA-module on mother package with RFIC, PMIC, AMS-IC on interposer.

Using a Keysight SystemVue Workspace built around Analog Devices ADAR1000 X/Ku Analog Beam Former IC, this paper will show how device-level performance specifications such as Frequency Response, Noise Figure and Distortion, affect System Level Performance. A complete design will be presented that includes antenna, analog beam former, mixer and digital drive source. Simulated results will show system-level frequency response, beam patterns and the effect of part-to-part variations in the array. This will be a joint presentation between Keysight and Analog Devices.

A new capability in NI AWR software automatically places ports on the pins of the nets for easy simulation in the EM simulation tool. This required the invention of a new type of port: the point port. This microapp explains how the new point port works, focusing on the physical principles underlying its use. Tradeoffs had to be made to enable the port to be automatically placed on any pin and yet keep it accurate enough to be useful to the designer. Emphasis is placed on the grounding assumptions and when they work well, as well as when they don’t.

Power distribution networks (PDN) have a primary role in the circuitry printed on boards. The correct design of these important electronic structures ensures stability across the whole board, allows the transit of high-speed signals in a low-noise environment, and has direct influence on electromagnetic emissions reduction. In this document it is explained how the impedance of these circuits is a metric of stability and a yardstick for the board optimization. Finally, a test setup is proposed, where the PDN is evaluated through the impedance analysis function of a vector network analyzer (VNA).

Advanced EDA software is ideally suited for 5G designs. Development usually starts with an evaluation of competing design approaches with respect to meeting specific electrical, mechanical and thermal requirements. Filter order, type and topology can be determined with the help of prototype filter tools. After deciding on a physical layout satisfying both size restraints and required Q factor, the critical design step from coupling matrix data to actual physical dimensions can be performed manually or by applying a novel automated software. Results for 3 GHz combline filter, 27 GHz stripline filter and 60 GHz waveguide filter will be presented.

As modern transceivers continue to increase modulation rates, phase hits and microphonics are a growing concern. Some wireless service providers are compounding this difficult problem by imposing zero bit error rate (BER) certification requirements on transceiver manufacturers. Phase transients that previously could be managed are now problematic. This discussion will focus on recent work performed at Analog Devices to better understand the source of these unwanted, unannounced visitors. Causes and potential solutions based on this work will be presented.

The latest COTS SDR systems offer SoC solutions with integrated I/O, ARM processors, and large FPGAs with IP for accessing, routing, and processing digital data. Combining these attributes with superior signal integrity, phase-coherent sampling, and multi-channel transceivers a COTS SDR system is an ideal choice for your 5G development platform.

Communication between IC design and package design is often lost through misinterpretation of instructions, especially concerning C4 Bump placement. Virtuoso RF Solution eliminates this problem by combining a Golden Schematic, Virtuoso Layout XL connectivity, and a Co-Design mode, allowing IC and Package to be designed in concert across multiple technologies.

Efficient, high fidelity RF switching is a critical function in RF front-ends. Specialty silicon technology such as advanced RF-SOI or CMOS on high resistivity substrates are required to meet 5G system requirements. In this MicroApps session we will review some of the key technology attributes and PDK enablement features that are required for first-pass design success.

Growing data rates for communication interfaces as USB-C require high quality of transmissions paths, connectors or test cables. Characterizing all components in a test setup as comprehensive as possible requires an analysis in time as well as in the frequency domain. These measurement types are often performed with an oscilloscope whereas the vector network analyzer gains more importance since multiple paths are measured in parallel.
In this session we talk about the steps to perform precise multiport s-parameter measurements (e.g. FEXT, NEXT) which are the base to create a proper signal integrity analysis by creating e.g. eye-diagram and jitter analysis.

Recent power amplifier designs using new GaAs and GaN technology are described, with a focus on the unified modelling of electrical, electromagnetic and thermal characteristics of the transistor device. Through appropriate technology selection and a model-aware design process, we demonstrate superior circuit performance in products that support emerging applications such as 5G, mobile satcom and advanced radar sensors.

Characterization of surface-mount microwave devices with acceptable accuracy can be a difficult task for any engineer. This presentation will focus on the use of a specially designed test system equipped with a highly versatile VNA, test fixtures and software which allows accurate de-embedded measurement. The process with de-embedding and reference plane extension puts the measurement plane directly on the component contacts. The simplicity of the setup and uncertainties involved in the measurement will be discussed. This system will demonstrate that accurate microwave SMT component measurement is possible with the right equipment and procedures.

With increasing data rates, system bandwidths and RF frequencies, clock and LO phase noise becomes more and more critical. To see the best performance of components like data converters, PLLs, etc. or of a complete design, a stimulus with a quasi-ideal clock or LO is required. To verify the impact of commercial, non-ideal clocks and LOs, system margin tests need to be carried out to test the design under real-world conditions. We will look at modern ways to generate ideal as well as defined real-world clock and LO signals with defined phase noise profiles.

Autonomous vehicles are becoming a reality, and one key to their long term success will be the navigation systems. The heart of these systems is a GNSS receiver and its ability to give accurate and reliable positioning information.
To ensure reliable information the navigation system must be able to operate in an environment where it's exposed to RF interference and jammers that could cause it to “lose lock”. The navigation system can use many sources of information to validate position. However understanding how susceptible the GNSS Receiver is to external threats is critical to delivering a safe autonomous vehicle.

A method for the design and construction of thin-film lumped-element microwave filters is presented. The resulting filters exhibit; Temperature Stability, Broadband Spurious-Free, Size Reduction, High Reliability and Repeatability due to their thin film process on Aluminum Titanate (Al2TiO5) construction. The necessary models for inductors and capacitors are discussed. Data from Wide-Band Multiplexers and Generating Transmission zeros from All-Pole structures are presented. With embedded Thin Film Resistor Technology, Non-Reflective Filters with flat Group Delay are designed and manufactured. These filters are used to reduce the overshoot and transition time of instruments and improve the pulsed performance.

The glass-weave effect has been well-known in the high speed digital industry for several years, however this potential circuit influence has not been studied much for the aspects critical to RF applications. This presentation will summarize several studies on glass-weave effect and show the potential influences for millimeter-wave applications.

FormFactor Inc. supplies probes, impedance standard substrates, and calibration software enabling our customers to achieve the best possible measurement results for their devices on wafer. Vector Network Analyzer calibration is an important step in the process. This MicroApp presentation will explain the best methods for evaluating the accuracy of the VNA calibration using FormFactor’s WinCal software.

4G networks integrators are demanding multiple RF tests which require large dynamic range and versatility. The continuous evolving of LTE bands are presenting a challenge to the design engineers, in terms of multiple modulation bandwidth and wide band span from 700MHz to 6000MHz. Tests such as; Carrier Aggregation, Load-Pull, Harmonics and Jammers require digitally tunable filter solutions. This presentation will put together new block diagrams based on tunable and/or fixed filters to provide large dynamic range and versatility, which will cover:

•    Tunable Frequency and Band-Width for Band-Pass and Band-Reject Filters.
•    Tunable frequency of Band-Pass/Band-Stop Duplexer

In short, a cost effective system that can measure across multiple LTE bands and that can be expanded in a “Plug and Play” style.

As the industry moves towards new 5G platforms, the demands for reliability and performance are increasing. One challenge to achieving this is voiding. The ability to minimize and control voiding is paramount. This presentation will focus on material and process selection to help address voiding in bottom termination components.
Author: Seth Homer, Product Manager - Engineered Solders, Indium Corporation, shomer@indium.com