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.

MMIC Die Testing Made Easy with Ultra-Wideband 0 dB Attenuator (Thru-Line) Dice

Microwave hybrid circuitry is generally built by integrating several discrete dice via wire bonding.  Circuit designers are faced with the task of predicting the performance of hybrids, which comes with some specific challenges.

Affordable Solutions for Testing 28 GHz 5G Devices with Your 6 GHz Lab Instrumentation

The capabilities that define the 5G wireless standard will require utilization of wider bandwidths across more regions of spectrum than any current wireless technology.  5G communications will eventually occupy multiple bands from below 6 GHz to above 60 GHz.  For now, much of the development effort is divided among sub-6 GHz bands for vehicular connectivity and longer-range transmissions, and the 26, 28, 38 and 60 GHz bands for enhanced mobile broadband applications.  The migration to higher frequencies and the multi-band nature of the technology pose a variety of unique challenges for designers developing 5G devices and network equipment.  Significant among these is the high cost of instrumentation for test and measurement over such a wide range of frequencies.

Using Mini-Circuits Switch Matrices in 75Ω CATV Test Applications

The 75Ω equipment often used in CATV applications occupies a small enclave of a largely 50Ω world. Although dedicated 75Ω equipment does exist, its availability and its applicability to other test needs are limited; most general-purpose test and measurement equipment is designed for 50Ω use. Because of this, it can be difficult to create test setups entirely out of dedicated 75Ω test equipment.