Microwaves & RF TechXchanges

Automotive Technology

Electronics permeate all aspects of automotive technology from electric cars to telematics. Vehicles are incorporating a range of RF and wireless aspects from radar to IoT.

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Chips and Semiconductors

The chips in an RF-enabled system are primarily designed for one of three things, but they can all be present in an advanced SoC: Power, Logic, and Signal. There have been significant advances in power devices due to the commercialization of Silicon Carbide (SiC) and Gallium Nitride (GaN) wide-bandgap semiconductors, and this has also fomented change in circuit topologies due to their significantly higher switching capabilities and power performance. RFICs and advanced SoCs are also showing topology advances in theri high levels of system integration and the need to operate under multiple RF spectra and wireless communication protocols.

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Passives and Parts

Passive components are currently being forced to improve due to the pressures in topology advances and the advent of wide-bandgap semiconductors. These advances are causing circuits to run at higher and higher speeds, impacting everything on the board from passives to magnetics. In the case of antennas and related components, new configurations and materials are expanding choice and capabilities in product packaging and form factors. Interconnects are also an important, yet often discounted, aspect of a design as not only everything runs through them, but their connections are part of the packaging and structural integrity of the product.

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PCB and EDA Technology

Product design must address every facet of a system today, from the power to the packaging. Board-level design tools are a vital aspect of product development, as every aspect must be verified and validated as early as possible in the process to reduce costs related to redesign and dealing with problems on the manufacturing floor.

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Professional Advancement

These TechXchanges address career advancement issues and topics. 

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RF Design

Today’s designs must address the entire product, from the board design to the package integration. This is especially important in designing RF-oriented products that must integrate antennas into the circuit and the packaging. The best RF design tools take every aspect of the circuit and product into consideration to minimize disruption in manufacturing.

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Rugged System Design

Designing a product for harsh environments and challenging deployments goes far beyond putting some rubber on the corners of the package. When it comes to designing rugged and reliable products one must address every facet, from water resistance to cable integrity to the operating temperature range of the components and subsystems involved. In addition, different challenging application spaces often have their own performance-specific requirements and standards which must be taken into account.

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Sensors and Timing

There is no precision without feedback, and even the most intelligent system cannot function without a variety of sensor inputs to give the logic information to act on. Timekeeping is an aspect of sensor input in that knowing the time is the most important factor in optimal performance in a digital system, for both internal and external data synchronization.

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Software Tools

Software tools are used for design, for evaluation, and for control of the system. Without the proper software nothing can be done in an optimum fashion, and the system may even be vulnerable to unauthorized access. From design software to operating systems, the software used in a product is as critical to its functionality as the hardware it is based on.

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Test & Measurement

RF and wireless systems are often used for data acquisition and testing. Likewise, there are a number of test systems that are needed to design and certify wireless devices such as oscilloscopes and vector network analyzers. 

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The Internet of Things (IoT)

Versions of the IoT have always been with us since telemetry was used in a wireless product. The current definition of the term includes device-to-device communication as well as user-to-device connections, and these inter-device connections are becoming more and more important in advanced connected devices. IoT products must be able to operate in a multimodal, multispectral environment without issues with bandwidths or protocols.

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Wireless Technology

The multimodal and multispectral aspect of the Cloud and the devices operating in it mean that everything must be able to communicate to users and the internet seamlessly. Each protocol has its pluses and minuses, so understanding the various solutions for IoT devices in the Cloud are important to developing products and solutions that must operate in a wireless environment.

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Other Resources

In this section we have some other resources like technical podcasts and videos.