Trending RF & Microwave News Stories of the Week (23

US Army Develops Innovative Quantum Sensor to Detect RF Signals up to 100 GHz

A new breakthrough quantum sensor developed by researchers at the US Army Research Laboratory, could help soldiers detect communication signals over the entire radio frequency spectrum, from 0 to 100 GHz.

Such wide spectral coverage by a single antenna is impossible with a traditional receiver system, and would require multiple systems of individual antennas, amplifiers and other components. In 2018, US Army scientists were the first in the world to create a quantum receiver that uses highly excited, super-sensitive atoms - known as Rydberg atoms - to detect communications signals, said David Meyer, a scientist at the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command's Army Research Laboratory. Click here to read more.

ICNIRP Publishes New RF Electromagnetic Exposure Guidelines up to 300 GHz

The International Commission on Non‐Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) has released new guidelines for the protection of humans exposed to radio frequency electromagnetic fields. The guidelines cover the upcoming 5G technologies, as well as AM and DAB radio, WiFi, Bluetooth, and the currently used 3G/4G mobile phones.

ICNIRP Chairman, Dr. Eric van Rongen, said the new electromagnetic field guidelines have taken seven years to develop and are more appropriate than the 1998 guidelines for the higher frequencies that will be used for 5G in the future. He added that they know parts of the community are concerned about the safety of 5G and they hope the updated guidelines will help put people at ease. Click here to read more.

Researchers Increase Power Level of High Frequency GaN Transistors

Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics IAF have succeeded in significantly increasing the output power of their GaN based high-frequency transistors for the frequency range from 1 to 2 GHz. They were able to double the operating voltage of the devices from 50 volts to 100 volts, thus achieving a power-added efficiency of 77.3%. This technology allows the development of highly efficient amplifiers with even higher power, as required for applications in the fields of plasma generation, industrial heating, communications and radar technologies.

The power density of transistors is one of the most important criteria for their use in high-power applications in the GHz range. It determines the size of amplifier modules and thus largely the system complexity – both of which are decisive for the manufacturing costs and the required use of resources. Click here to read more.

COVID-19 Outbreak Could Lead to 30% Reduction in Production of Smartphones

According to ABI Research, a global tech market advisory firm, the Coronavirus outbreak is expected to lead to a huge reduction in the production of smartphones, potentially falling by as much as 30% in the first half of 2020. ABI Research has also identified the short-and long-term impacts the global pandemic will have on 5G devices, smartphones & wearables.

David McQueen, 5G Devices Research Director at ABI Research stated that the ripples from China will be felt globally. With China located at the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak, the resultant impact has been disastrous for the global mobile device market, which has subsequently witnessed mass disruption to its production lines and a stalling of related supply chains caused by labor shortages and inactive logistics. As China is also the world’s manufacturing center for most of these device types, and one of its biggest markets, the sector has been hit hardest by delayed shipments and a weakened development of next-generation products. Click here to read more.

First Multi-level RF Matching Technology for Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing

Reno Sub-Systems (Reno), a developer of high-performance Radio Frequency (RF) matching networks for leading-edge nanoscale semiconductor manufacturing, has introduced Velocity Multi-level RF matching technology, the first technology that can match process impedance changes in microseconds and match sequential multiple power levels with precision. The benefits of this approach include plasma stability, accurate power delivery, and fast tuning for accelerated processing times. The new technology targets manufacturing nodes at or below 10 nm.

Reno continues to dominate the industry with its novel and inventive technologies to advance subsystem performance to meet the needs of next-generation semiconductor manufacturing. With orders of the Velocity Matching Networks steadily growing over the past year, technology advances like the level-to-level matching capability truly move the bar for subsystem performance and are exclusive to Reno’s products. They’re already working with customers to integrate this new approach into their volume production environments. Click here to read more.

ThinkRF Adds Demodulation Capabilities to its Real-Time Spectrum Analysis Software

ThinkRF has announced the release of a new version of the ThinkRF S240 Real-Time Spectrum Analysis Software. The S240 software now expands its signal analysis capabilities to include signal demodulation. With this new capability, the S240 software extracts the original information-bearing signal from a carrier wave for a deeper signal analysis when using the ThinkRF R5xx0 Real-Time Spectrum Analyzers. This means RF engineers, monitoring program managers, and CTOs have increased functionality and greater coverage for regulatory and intelligence monitoring and telecom deployment optimization.

The ThinkRF S240 software is a simple, intuitive and easy-to-use Windows software application that provides comprehensive data visualization and measurement tools for both spectrum and signal analysis in one application. Thanks to seamless integration with the R5xx0 Spectrum Analyzers, there is no additional set up required. Click here to read more.

Anritsu Instrument Conducts PIM Analysis Over Fiber and RF Spectrum

Anritsu has released its first instrument to perform true PIM analysis over fiber and present RF spectrum results derived from IQ data. The new IQ Fiber Master MT2780A multi-port CPRI-based RF and PIM analyzer reduces test costs and time by providing field engineers, field technicians, and third-party contractors with a single instrument to conduct RF interference measurements and PIM troubleshooting on LTE-based systems using CPRI front haul infrastructure.

The MT2780A analyzer leverages patented PIM over CPRI and RF over CPRI measurement capabilities that allow tests to be conducted on the ground, significantly reducing tower climbs. Field engineers and technicians can use the MT2780A to scan the uplink RF signals of a remote radio head (RRH) for in-band interference while simultaneously conducting PIM over CPRI measurements. Supporting all Tier 1 LTE base station radio manufacturers, the single instrument solution can determine if KPIs are being affected by interference or PIM. Click here to read more.

SpaceX to Deploy 1 Million Ground Antennas for its Starlink Satellite Project

Returning from the successful launch of the sixth batch of its Starlink satellites, Elon Musk’s leading space technology company, Space X, has now received FCC (Federal Communications Commission) approval to deploy upto a million ground antennas for the Starlink Satellite Constellation project. The project is the company’s visionary approach towards providing high-speed internet from space.

According to federal documents filed by the company, the FCC has given SpaceX approval release for about a million antennas that are designed to work with the Starlink satellites. The antennas are designed to connect users to SpaceX’s network of satellites. Measuring at about 19 inches across, the antennas look like small UFOs and are very easy to install and use. Click here to read more.

Rohde & Schwarz Introduces New Test Solutions for 5G Base Stations

Rohde & Schwarz has announced the extension of its portfolio of 5G signal waveform generators and analyzers. Meant for for 5G base stations, the RF test solutions for the 5G frequency ranges FR1 (450 MHz to 7.125 GHz) and FR2 up to 44 GHz have been demonstrated by the company.

Rohde & Schwarz has been continuously extending its portfolio of test solutions for 5G base stations and the associated massive MIMO antenna arrays and amplifiers. Highlights include an OTA test solution with frontend modules specifically for the 5G FR2 range and a solution for speed-optimized tests of 5G base stations. Both are ideal for use in production. There is also a new, innovative test solution that allows developers to perform cross-channel measurements with up to 4x4 MIMO in the FR1 range. Click here to read more.

Next Generation Land Mobile Radio Test System for Critical Infrastructure Communications

Leading provider of advanced technologies for global aerospace, defense, and other mission critical industries, Astronics Test Systems, has released its new next-generation Land Mobile Radio (LMR) test instrument. The Freedom R8200 Communications System Analyzer is meant for use in public safety, maritime, commercial, and critical infrastructure communications systems, the new service monitor is the first test instrument that combines comprehensive digital and analog LMR testing with the ability to measure important RF network characteristics, such as distance to fault (DTF), return loss, and voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR). The R8200 is also the only service monitor with the ability to display RF parameters in a Smith Chart for more complicated network analysis.

Featuring a vector network analyzer (VNA), the Freedom R8200 enables users to return communications assets to the field faster by reducing set-up time associated with multiple, stand-alone instruments when performing subscriber radio and infrastructure testing. Building on the company’s Freedom legacy of LMR test equipment, the new offering is an high-impact product designed to increase operational efficiency. Click here to read more.

Researchers Develop New Technique to Cool Gallium Nitride Devices

Scientists from Meisei University and Waseda University in Japan have developed a room-temperature bonding technique for integrating wide bandgap materials such as gallium nitride (GaN) with thermally-conducting materials such as diamond. This could boost the cooling effect on GaN devices and facilitate better performance through higher power levels, longer device lifetime, improved reliability, and reduced manufacturing costs. The technique could have applications for wireless transmitters, radars, satellite equipment, and other high-power and high-frequency electronic devices. The work was supported by a multidisciplinary university research initiative (MURI) project from the U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR).

The technique, called surface-activated bonding, uses an ion source in a high-vacuum environment to first clean the surfaces of the GaN and diamond, which activates the surfaces by creating dangling bonds. Introducing small amounts of silicon into the ion beams facilitates forming strong atomic bonds at room temperature, allowing the direct bonding of the GaN and single-crystal diamond to fabricate high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs). Click here to read more.

European Commission to Approve UTC/Raytheon Acquisition on Selling GPS and Airborne Radio Business

The European Commission, through the EU Merger Regulations, has now approved the proposed acquisition of leading defense company, Raytheon by United Technologies Corporation (UTC). The approval stands conditional on the selling off subsidiaries through a remedy package. The European Commission has asked UTC to divest its entire military GPS receiver and anti-jamming business, located in Cedar Rapids and Coralville, Iowa, United States. They have also asked Raytheon to divest their entire military airborne radios business, based in Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States.

The transaction combines UTC's aerospace businesses and Raytheon's defense business. Both companies are leading global suppliers of military systems and equipment to aircraft and guided munitions producers, as well as armed forces. Click here to read more.

New Bluetooth 5.2 SoC from Nordic Supports Mesh, Thread and ZigBee Connectivity

Nordic Semiconductor has announced the nRF52820 Bluetooth 5.2 System-on-Chip (SoC), the sixth addition to its popular and proven nRF52 Series. The nRF52820 is an ultra-low-power Bluetooth Low Energy (Bluetooth LE), Bluetooth mesh, Thread, Zigbee, and 2.4-GHz proprietary lower-end wireless connectivity solution. The nRF52820 supports all the features of Bluetooth 5, 5.1, and 5.2 including Long Range and high-throughput 2 Mbps, Direction Finding, LE Power Control, and LE Isochronous Channels. The SoC also includes a Full Speed (12 Mbps) USB 2.0 interface.

The nRF52820 features a powerful 64-MHz 32-bit Arm Cortex-M4 processor and includes 256 KB Flash and 32 KB RAM making it an ideal single-chip option for a wide range of commercial and industrial wireless applications including professional lighting, asset tracking, HID, and gaming products. In addition, when paired with an application MCU, the nRF52820’s fully-featured multiprotocol radio and +8 dBm output power makes it an ideal network processor for gateways and other smart home applications requiring advanced wireless connectivity. The nRF52820 is qualified for operation across an extended industrial temperature range of -40 to 105 °C, making it suitable for commercial and industrial applications, including professional lighting. Click here to read more.

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Trending RF & Microwave News Stories of the Week (23 - 27 March, 2020)