Care & Handling of RF/Microwave Adapters

The performance of every RF system depends on the quality and application of each component. In industry, much of the focus is on complex, expensive RF equipment. At the same time, it is also prudent to give equal attention to the quality and type of interconnections between components.

RF cables, connectors, adapters, and accessories (for the purposes of this paper, this family of components will be referred to as RF connectors) directly impact system performance. Impedance mismatch, insertion loss, and return loss are just a few of the parameters that impact the reliability, repeatability and accuracy of an RF system. This paper will focus mainly on coaxial connectors — by far the most common type of interconnect. Still, the principles discussed apply to a range of connectors and interconnections.

Extending Power and Dynamic Range in E-Band Backhaul Test Sets

According to Ericsson’s 2022 Mobility Report, global mobile data traffic is expected to grow by a factor of 4 to 325 Exabytes total per month or 46 GB per smartphone on average by 2028, excluding Fixed Wireless Access usage.1 Network operators’ ability to support this rapid growth in consumption hinges on the speed and capacity of the backhaul systems connecting base stations to the core networks. Accordingly, the market for cellular backhaul equipment is projected to grow by 12.6% CAGR from 17.85B to 32.29B USD between 2020 and 2025. Looking more narrowly at E-Band systems still in nascent stages of development, that growth rate jumps to 22.3% (534M to 1.46B over the same period).1

Impedance Matching Devices

The impedance of a component or transmission line is a major concern when designing RF/microwave systems.  At the circuit level, optimum performance is obtained when devices are matched to the desired system impedance, typically 50Ω or 75Ω. At the system level, each building block must be matched to the system impedance to maintain performance along the signal path.