Features
Palmer Wahl Introduces the C150 On-site Multifunction Calibrator
July 20, 2011 8:39 am | Articles | CommentsThe ergonomically designed Wahl C150 On-site Multifunction Calibrator features unique built in “easy connect” terminals, portable and bench top flexibility, and easy to use intuitive embedded software. Fully protected with an external anti-shock rubber boot with IP 54 rating, it features five user-selectable languages,0.005% accuracy over 1 year, NIST traceability, and HART transmitter compatibility.
Customizing COTS Testing Systems
July 12, 2011 8:07 am | Articles | CommentsTurning Off-the-Shelf Components into an Application-Specific, Total Data Acquisition Solution By definition, the off-the-shelf modular instruments (VME, PXI, VXI, CompactPCI, PCI, etc.) used to create automated test and measurement systems are designed to be general purpose, programmable, and flexible enough to handle a variety of input ranges and types, speeds, and functions.
Amplifier Test Software Simplifies Test and Certification of RF Amplifiers
July 6, 2011 11:25 am | Articles | CommentsBoonton has launched “Amplifier Test Bench”, a new software package that simplifies test and certification of RF Amplifiers. Amplifier Test Bench supports analysis of pulsed and linear amplifiers; furthermore it measures gain over frequency and gain over input power. The software supports both fast Boonton peak power meters 4540 and 4500B and a variety of standard generators.
CCI Solves Crucial Cell Site Interference Issues with Latest Analyzer Solutions
July 5, 2011 8:53 am | Articles | CommentsLeading provider of wireless base station enhancement products, Communications Components Inc. (CCI), has now launched its PiMPro family of analyzers in EMEA, which enable mobile network operators (MNOs) to remove the adverse affects of Passive Intermodulation (PIM) – a form of interference - from their networks, and prevent it from damaging quality of service (QoS) and customer experience.
New Measurement Solution For Optical Transmitter Compliance Testing Offers the Highest Bandwidth Optical Waveform Analysis and Increased Accuracy
June 29, 2011 11:12 am | Articles | CommentsAgilent Technologies introduced a new measurement solution for optical transmitter compliance testing on the Agilent 86100D digital communications analyzer. The solution offers the industry’s highest bandwidth optical waveform analysis and increased accuracy. The DCA provides a new approach, known as system impulse response correction, or SIRC, which enables multimode optical receivers with bandwidths in excess of 25 GHz and single-mode receivers with near 100-GHz bandwidths.
Increasing Complexity of Devices Under Test (DUTs) - Boom or Doom for the Test Engineer
June 27, 2011 7:05 am | Articles | CommentsFrost & Sullivan's Industry Director Jessy Cavazos and Industry Analyst Prathima Bommakanti, along with guest speaker Matthew Friedman, Senior Product Manager for Automated Test at National Instruments, have completed extensive analysis on the electronic test equipment market. The experts will lead a short teleconference about new findings that affect the market, followed by a live question-and-answer session.
Field-to-Lab Testing Equals Better Real-World Performance for Mobile Devices
May 13, 2011 11:15 am | Articles | CommentsThis case study will describe an application of the Azimuth Systems Field-to-Lab (FTL) Solution by a market-leading handset manufacturer. Real-world drive testing is very expensive; lab testing is much less expensive and faster -- provided that the real world can be emulated with sufficient fidelity.
RF/IF Amplifiers and VGAs Cover The Entire Signal Chain
May 12, 2011 6:23 am | Articles | CommentsBy Ashraf Elghamrawi, Analog Devices ( www.analog.com ) The amplifier is one of the most versatile building blocks used in RF/IF signal chains today. They are commonly used throughout designs to overcome signal losses incurred from passive mixers, filters, baluns, and other passive elements. Since these losses occur across the entire signal chain five main families of amplifiers have been developed by Analog Devices.
Use Oscilloscopes to Monitor Multiple Protocols
April 11, 2011 12:32 pm | Articles | CommentsBy Roland Gamper, LeCroy Corporation Regardless of the system topology and application domain, the development, maintenance and monitoring of electronic system architectures using mixed protocols requires tools able to straddle several busses, at various speeds and with different line characteristics.
Limitless Wireless: Hybrid Lithium Batteries Can Power Remote Wireless Sensors for over 25 Years
April 11, 2011 11:41 am | Articles | CommentsBy Sol Jacobs, Tadiran Batteries Rapidly evolving technology and wireless communications have unlocked the dynamic growth potential of remote wireless sensors, resulting in growing demand for hybrid lithium batteries that combine exceptional long life with the ability to handle high current pulses.
Power Saving Techniques in GSM-GPRS-EDGE Handsets
March 10, 2011 10:01 am | Articles | CommentsBy Dr. Oleksandr Gorbachov, CTO, RFaxis, Inc. With over 600 million new mobile phone handsets shipped each year, mobile phones have become an integral part of our daily lives. As more and more new features are being demanded in smaller and thinner handset form factors, excessive current consumption and poor battery life become real issues for the mobile phone user.
RF Envelope Detection Enables Drain Modulation Systems
February 14, 2011 10:14 am | Articles | CommentsBy Eamon Nash and Ashraf Elghamrawi, RF Group, Analog Devices, Inc. Improving the Power Added Efficiency (PAE) of High Powered Amplifiers continues to be a challenging goal in a Wireless equipment industry that is struggling to deliver cheaper, smaller equipment that consumes either less electricity or in the case of portable devices, less battery current.
Full Signal Path Solution for Portable Ultrasound Systems
January 10, 2011 12:02 pm | Articles | CommentsBy Suresh Ram, National Semiconductor Corporation There is a rising demand for accessible medical care. The world population is rapidly growing and aging, increasing the cost of healthcare. Medical practitioners need small energy efficient and cost effective diagnostic devices. Portable diagnostic equipment that improve quality of healthcare in a cost effective manner are highly desirable.
Meeting the Challenge of Multi-standard Wireless Communications Testing
December 16, 2010 9:05 am | Articles | CommentsBy Tim Carey, Aeroflex Test Solutions Non-cellular technologies are increasingly being integrated into cellular terminals, and this has generated the need for test systems that comprise a number of different test platforms, which can make system integration both complex and costly. At the same time, there is pressure to increase test speed and, in combination with the proliferation of functional tests associated with the introduction of new standards, this further increases the costs.
Generating Multiple Digitally Modulated Carriers Using an AWG
December 15, 2010 11:11 am | Articles | CommentsBy Thomas Dippon, Agilent Technologies When testing wideband RF components and systems, it is necessary to stimulate the device under test (DUT) with a wideband signal that is as close to the “real” signal as possible. For some measurements, wideband noise or a multi-tone signal might be appropriate.
The Emerging Smart Multi-Grid™ Wireless Architecture – A Network of Networks
December 14, 2010 9:06 am | Articles | CommentsBy Byron Henderson, Mesh Dynamics Smart Grid networks are currently receiving tremendous government attention and funding. The US Department of Energy says the Smart Grid "would integrate advanced functions into the nation's electric grid to enhance reliability, efficiency, and security, and would also contribute to the climate change strategic goal of reducing carbon emissions.
Cars, Clouds, and Pockets: Connecting Vehicle Infotainment Systems to Mobile and Internet Services
December 8, 2010 10:11 am | Articles | CommentsBy Kerry Johnson, QNX Software Systems Already, vehicle telematics services have been deployed in tens of millions of automobiles. Nonetheless, mobile services offered on smart phones and other consumer devices are growing at a far greater pace. A quick survey of these mobile services reveals that many offer significant utility to drivers or passengers; in fact, some are designed specifically for in-vehicle use.
Designing a Robust Failure Indicator
December 8, 2010 10:09 am | Articles | CommentsBy Chris Keeser, Cypress Semiconductor Corp. The other day I was driving to the local dump to drop off a load of trash carefully stacked into the back of the family minivan. Suddenly I noticed that the “trunk open” light came on. I quickly pulled over just as the rear hatch popped all the way open and the van began to empty my garbage bags all over the road.
How Femtocells Are Playing a Critical Role in the Transition to 4G
November 10, 2010 9:41 am | Articles | CommentsBy Joe Cozzarelli, ANADIGICS As mobile carriers and network operators transition to 4G service, they are faced with several challenges, including the massive amount of smartphones available in the market, the volume of data traffic per phone that is rising exponentially, and all the steps required to deploy and upgrade their network infrastructures.
e-MMC Based Embedded Memory Architectures in Mobile Phones
October 20, 2010 12:55 pm | by Scott Beekman, Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc. | Articles | CommentsThe growth of features available in mobile phones has both driven and been enabled by changes in NAND based memory architectures. As phone capabilities evolved, feature rich phones migrated from NOR-based solutions to NAND-based solutions. Today, with the growth of GB1 (Gigabyte) class phones, a variety of NAND-based architecture solutions are available with various tradeoffs to consider.
Design Considerations Using Lithium Polymer Batteries
August 31, 2010 4:43 pm | Articles | CommentsDr. Robin Tichy, Micro Power Electronics Li-ion cells come in three basic form factors: cylindrical, prismatic (rectangular brick shape) and the flat Lithium polymer cells. Lithium polymer cells, sometimes called laminate cells, are available in custom footprint size. They can be very thin or quite large depending on their intended use.
Serial RapidIO Gen 2 in Next-Generation Wireless Base Stations
August 30, 2010 12:52 pm | by Stephane Gagnon, IDT | Articles | CommentsThird- and fourth-generation wireless base stations that use today’s most-common interface standards, such as WCDMA, TD-SCDMA, LTE, TD-LTE and Wimax, require a large amount of signal processing to keep up with the uplink and downlink bandwidth requirements.
One Small Step for Bluetooth Low Energy Technology
August 19, 2010 10:45 am | by Jay Tyzzer, Nordic Semiconductor | Articles | CommentsLast December, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) announced in a statement that it had adopted Bluetooth low energy wireless technology and that the much anticipated ultra-low power (ULP) form of the popular wireless technology, would be the hallmark feature of the Bluetooth Core Specification Version 4.
SIGINT Systems Adapt for Rapidly Changing Threats
August 8, 2010 5:17 pm | Articles | CommentsBy Chris Desalvo, Agilent Technologies Commercially available RF transmitters in the ever-evolving wireless communications technology give SIGINT and COMINT mission managers a most difficult task. They need to detect traditional push-to-talk signals, wideband digital communications, and always be thinking of future threats.
Critical Demands on Ruggedized Wireless Systems for Today and Tomorrow
August 2, 2010 12:57 pm | by Gregory Powers, Tyco Electronics | Articles | CommentsWireless systems are now fully mainstream in our lives, not only in the consumer world of cell phones, Wi-Fi enabled laptops and satellite television, but also in the mission and life critical world of aerospace and defense. Recent applications such as ADS-B (Automatic Dependant Surveillance - Broadcast) managed commercial airline flight, software defined radios, and UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) bristling with sensors, all depend heavily on the electromagnetic spectrum to interact with the world, demand the highest in reliability, and are driving new and innovative solutions relative to electrical interconnect.
