As design engineers continue to push the miniaturization of electronic devices while maintaining or increasing functionality, there is a corresponding need for smaller and more precise electronic components, such as chip resistors. If a precision application requires both small size and high-power handling, finding suitable precision resistors may be challenging. Stackpole recently increased the power […]
Telecommunications
A look at intrinsic broadband noise spectral density
You can think of noise as an unwanted signal. This signal creates an error by combining with the desired signal in your circuit. Exterior sources can couple into your circuits, such as your 50 or 60 Hz DC mains signal or your cell phone. The starting point in your circuit’s noise evaluation is to reach […]
Free-space optical links, Part 1: principles
Free-space optical links provide a reliable, cost-effective, and quick way to link two fixed communication nodes located a few kilometers apart. When engineers think of “optical data links” or “optical communications” they almost invariably think of light (visible or not) in an optical fiber carrying data at high rates for tens or even thousands of […]
What is passive intermodulation?
Passive intermodulation (PIM) is a pernicious and destructive phenomenon for cellular network operators. PIM shows up as a set of unwanted signals created by mixing two or more strong RF signals. Mixing generally produces the sum and difference frequencies of the two transmit signals F1 and F2. These signals are F1 + F2 and F1 […]
VSWR and impedance, Part 6: Microstrip and stripline
Understanding the role and implications of impedance in RF transmission lines and antennas is vital to successful system performance. The traditional matching approaches are still in wide use, but new application requirements and advances in components, modeling and simulation, and manufacturing precision have also provided new ways to address the matching problem. Q: What is […]
VSWR and impedance, Part 4: Measurements
Understanding the role and implications of impedance in RF transmission lines and antennas is vital to successful system performance. The previous section looked at the basics of VSWR. This section looks at two approaches to measuring impedance and VSWR. Q: What do engineers and users need to know? A: For some applications, such as connecting […]
VSWR and impedance, Part 2: Reflected power
Understanding the role and implications of impedance in RF transmission lines and antennas is vital to successful system performance. Part 1 of this article looked at the basics of impedance matching and power transfer. This part looks at the closely related topic of nominal impedance and VSWR. Q: Why all this worry? Aren’t RF systems […]
Dev kit works with ADC for mixed-signal, subsystem implementations
Teledyne e2v has expanded the scope of engineering support accompanying its popular EV12AQ60x analog-to-digital converter (ADC) series. The new EV12AQ600-FMC-EVM development kit will be an invaluable tool for those implementing mixed-signal subsystems. Intended for prototyping work relating to avionics, military, space, telecommunications, industrial, and high energy physics applications, this kit may be used for evaluating […]
Understanding radio frequency communications
Wireless communication has been around since the 18th century when James Clerk Maxwell first proposed that electromagnetic waves can be generated and can travel through free space. Heinrich Rudolf Hertz conducted the experiments in which he demonstrated the generation, transmission, and reception of electromagnetic waves, which became the basis of Radio Frequency communication. Wireless communication […]
4-channel, ESD device for high-speed interfaces protects automotive and video link applications
Nexperia has announced a new range of ESD protection devices aimed specifically at protecting the ever-increasing number of high-speed interfaces found in automotive applications, especially the in-vehicle networks (IVN) associated with infotainment and vehicle communications. As data rates increase and vehicles feature more electric content, the need for EMC protection becomes more critical, and providing […]
