Receiver sensitivity testing is one of the most crucial tests for a prototype or production receiver. This type of test is often performed to either determine the extent of the capability of a new receiver design/communication technology, or as part of a certification...
In the previous blogs in this series, the basics of dielectric measurement with RF equipment was discussed. This also included a highlight of two common methods of dielectric characterization using VNAs, transmission/reflection line method and Open-ended coaxial probe...
In the previous post, the basics of dielectric material properties were discussed as well as a few possible applications of RF dielectrics. This week’s post will focus on common RF dielectric material characteristic measurement techniques. Namely, the transmission...
Delectric materials are used in nearly all RF and microwave structures, outside of those that are strictly made of conductors. Dielectrics are crucial for making transmission lines, dielectric waveguides, and separating conductors. Given that the properties of planar...
There are many RF communications and sensing applications that are moving to higher frequencies as well as a wealth of new use cases and applications emerging in the millimeter-wave (mmW) spectrum. This obviously includes a variety of 5G use cases and applications,...
Not to be confused with awkward socials at microwave industry events, RF Mixers are fundamental building blocks of many RF circuits and systems. The basic function of a RF mixer is frequency translation. Frequency translation shifts the frequency content of a signal,...
RF Phase Shifters are increasingly used in modern telecommunications, radar, and sensing systems for their key ability to shift the phase of in the input signal by a set amount, an adjustable amount, or a programmable amount, The basic utility of an RF Phase Shifter...
RF Isolators are specific cases of RF Circulators where one of the three ports, typically the reverse port in reference to the signal chain, is terminated. This modification of RF Isolators only allows for signal energy to pass in the forward direction, in reference...
RF Bias Tees are essentially three-terminal diplexers that allow for very low frequency pass through from an input RF port to a dedicated DC port, while blocking the DC from passing to the RF output port. This assumes that the incident energy at the RF input contains...
RF Power Combiners/Splitters, sometimes referred to as either RF combiners, RF splitters, or RF dividers, are a fundamental passive RF component used to combine power from multiple inputs to a single output or split RF power from one input to multiple outputs. RF...
