How to Design PCB Transmission Lines with Controlled Impedance
Presented by: Sierra Circuits
Featuring: Brian Walker, Senior RF Engineer SME
When designing circuits in the GHz range, ensuring uniform transmission line impedance becomes critical to maintain signal integrity. These traces play a key role in managing propagation delay, which is essential for synchronized data transfer.
In this webinar, you’ll learn the best practices for designing PCB transmission lines with controlled impedance.
How to Design PCB Transmission Lines with Controlled Impedance - Presented by Sierra Circuits
How to Design PCB Transmission Lines with Controlled Impedance
Presented by: Sierra Circuits
Featuring: Brian Walker, Senior RF Engineer SME
When designing circuits in the GHz range, ensuring uniform transmission line impedance becomes critical to maintain signal integrity. These traces play a key role in managing propagation delay, which is essential for synchronized data transfer.
In this webinar, you’ll learn the best practices for designing PCB transmission lines with controlled impedance.
High-Speed PCB Design and VNA Testing - Presented by Sierra Circuits
High-Speed PCB Design and VNA Testing
Presented by: Sierra Circuits
Featuring: Brian Walker, Senior RF Engineer SME
When designing PCBs with operating frequencies beyond 10 GHz, you’ll often encounter challenges such as signal reflections, crosstalk, propagation delay, and EMI. These issues might degrade the S/N ratio and attenuate the transmitted signal. If left unchecked, the signal’s fidelity decreases over time, and the entire system might crash.
In this high-speed PCB webinar, you will learn the key design challenges and techniques to tackle them.
- What is the OTA Antenna Test System?
- What applications can it be used for?
- How to calibrate the VNA for radiation pattern measurement?
- How to select the correct bundle for your application?
- Live Measurement Demonstration
Overview of CMT's Over-The-Air (OTA) Antenna Test System for 5G and mmWave Frequencies
Overview of CMT's Over-The-Air (OTA) Antenna Test System for 5G and mmWave Frequencies
In this webinar, CMT’s Applications Engineering Team Lead, Patrick Li, will provide a comprehensive overview of the new OTA Antenna Test System for 5G and mmWave measurements. The following topics will be discussed:
- What is the OTA Antenna Test System?
- What applications can it be used for?
- How to calibrate the VNA for radiation pattern measurement?
- How to select the correct bundle for your application?
- Live Measurement Demonstration
Present and Future of 75Ω in Vector Network Analysis
Present and Future of 75Ω in Vector Network Analysis
In this webinar, Eddy Vanderkerken of SOURCERER will discuss the current market for 75 Ohm VNAs and highlight some of the best calibration tools and accessories available for 75 Ohm analyzers. Then he’ll discuss the key differences in 50 Ohm and 75 Ohm connectors, followed by a couple of live measurement demonstrations, before offering insight into the future of 75 Ohm measurements and answering listener-submitted questions.
The measurement demonstrations performed by CMT’s Brian Walker will include a 470 MHz LPF measurement using CMT’s SC7540 VNA and an evaluation of a 75 Ohm cable up to 12 GHz using CMT’s S5180B VNA with 50-to-75-ohm mechanical adapters.
Free Space Material Characterization at Millimeter Wave: Using Frequency Extenders with CTG's Focused Beam System
Free Space Material Characterization at Millimeter Wave: Using Frequency Extenders with CTG's Focused Beam System
Introduction to OTA Measurement for mmWave and Sub-THz with MilliBox and CMT Components
Introduction to OTA Measurement for mmWave and Sub-THz with MilliBox and CMT Components
Jeanmarc Laurent from MilliBox is showing a live demo of an accessible complete OTA system setup consisting of a VNA, an anechoic chamber and a 3D DUT positioner.
During this course we will cover the following points:
- How to select the right positioner type
- How to select the right chamber size
- How to operate the MilliBox software controller
- How to collect and process the data from a VNA
- How to expend this setup for frequency beyond 50GHz
- Q&A
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A VNA may be used in automated test for manufacturing. A basic automation plugin is available on the CMT website which may be modified to suit the particular needs of a manufacturing environment. This webinar will demonstrate a simple manufacturing test setup and show how it might be adapted to more sophisticated applications.
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Pulse Measurement of a Power Amplifier
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Benchtop VNA measurement of an RF Power Amplifier can be greatly facilitated by using a pulsed RF stimulus. If a continuous wave excitation is used, the PA may require a large heatsink and a fan to produce airflow. On the other hand, if the PA is measured with pulsed RF with a low duty cycle, the overall heat dissipation can be greatly reduced and heat-sinking may not be necessary at all.
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Time domain gating is a very useful tool in vector network analysis. If a measurement can be made over sufficient bandwidth, there will be ample resolution in the time domain to “gate out” reflections which are of no interest and obscure the desired measurement. It is helpful to first understand the time domain conversion process and then the simple manner in which chosen spatially defined reflections may be eliminated. Join us for this webinar where we explore time domain gating measurements with a VNA.
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In this webinar, one- and two-port calibration of a Vector Network Analyzer (VNA) will be examined in depth. The properties of a typical SOLT calibration kit will be explained. The two-port, twelve term error model and the three-term error model for one-port calibration will be analyzed and the mathematics for three term, one-port calibration will be shown. Finally, Brian will highlight the simple steps to use more than three calibration standards for an over-determined calibration before answering viewer submitted questions.
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A Copper Mountain Technologies’ VNA can make antenna measurements easy. If a pair of antennas must be measured at close range, a simple 2-port measurement can be made. For the evaluation of antenna patterns, a reference antenna can be utilized to normalize the illuminating signal. Various methods of antenna measurement, from simple to sophisticated will be examined and explained. A field pattern measurement of an antenna using a rotating platform will be demonstrated.
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Contributing factors to the uncertainty of a VNA measurement can be either random or systematic. Systematic errors may be greatly reduced through a calibration process such as Short, Open, Load and Thru (SOLT) or Thru, Reflect and Line (TRL), or any of a number of other methods. Random factors cannot be reduced by any algorithmic means because they are naturally random and unpredictable. However, certain measurement techniques can reduce them, which will be the topic of this webinar.
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Creating and evaluating high-speed digital designs now requires extensive knowledge of RF principles. Improperly designed power plane systems can couple noise from one section of the design to another. High-speed differential SRDES lines must exhibit proper characteristic impedance, and the sources of reflection must be properly understood. This webinar will address some of these issues and show how a VNA might be used to analyze and improve a high-speed digital design. USB-C and HDMI cables contain multiple high-speed twisted pair conductors. The four pairs in an HDMI cable may be thoroughly analyzed for differential Insertion Loss, Return Loss, and pair-to-pair Near and Far End Crosstalk (NEXT and FEXT) using the new SN5090 16-port VNA from Copper Mountain Technologies.
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This webinar will demonstrate Eravant’s VNA frequency extenders and their ability to perform full two-port S-parameter measurements of millimeter-wave components. The example test system will include Eravant’s Proxi-FlangeTM waveguide adapters, as well as the Wave-GlideTM positioning system. The VNA frequency extenders add full waveguide-band frequency coverage to several industry-standard coaxial VNAs, including models available from Copper Mountain Technologies. Proxi-Flange contactless waveguide flanges enable fast and repeatable connections between VNA frequency extenders and the waveguide components being tested. The Wave-Glide positioning system further streamlines component testing by maintaining the alignment between VNA frequency extenders and the components being tested while providing an easy and reliable method of inserting and removing tested components. Eravant’s metrology-grade calibration kits and Quick-Connect waveguide assembly tools will also be demonstrated.
Presenter
Andrew Laundrie
Andrew Laundrie graduated with a Master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin College of Engineering in 1987 and worked for twelve years in various industries as a design and applications engineer. He then returned to the University of Wisconsin to earn a Master’s degree in technology management. For the next 20 years, he worked at the University of Wisconsin as a senior staff engineer supporting large research projects including the IceCube and DUNE neutrino experiments. He now works at Eravant as a senior staff engineer.
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The AFR software moves the calibration plane towards hard-to-access DUTs and guides the de-embedding process using either time-gating, filtering, or bisect methods on a 2-port 2xThru or 1xReflect fixture. These methods provide the user with better measurement accuracy and reliability based on the components being tested. The AFR software plug-in is easy to use and is compatible with all CMT 2- and 4-port Cobalt series VNAs up to 20 GHz and Compact series two-port, two-path VNAs up to 44 GHz.
During this webinar, we briefly demonstrate this using the software plug-in with the different methods available for de-embedding fixture effects. For more information about method selection, please read this application note.
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This webinar will provide a brief overview of the theory of microwave NDE methods for radome characterization. We will then demonstrate both handheld and robotic testing of radomes with integrated wideband spot probes and miniaturized VNAs.
Join Copper Mountain Technologies and Compass Technology Group’s Dr. John Schultz as he demonstrates state-of-the-art techniques to evaluate Radome performance.
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It is an unfortunate reality in some cases that after spending a lot of valuable time making measurements with a VNA, it is determined later that you cannot use the data because your cables were faulty or a port was broken.
During this webinar, we walk through the best practices to follow when setting up a VNA test. Then we review steps on how to check it to avoid this scenario of having to retest and save valuable time. Brian will give tips and tricks and share things he’s learned from his many years as a VNA user.
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In this webinar, we review how to create state files, limit tests, and how to easily recall these settings. After that, VNA automation is briefly covered with references to the VNA 101 Bootcamp webinar on automating VNA measurements. Subbaiah then reviews measurement speed and how to account for it when using a VNA for mass production testing. Lastly, the Manufacturing Test Plug-in is reviewed to give insight into its use for mass production testing and its capabilities for customization.
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In this webinar, we discussed advanced calibration features, such as de-embedding. A VNA demonstration is used to illustrate these features.
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Dr. Allen Katz presented how his lab at the College of New Jersey uses USB VNAs. Interested in hearing more about Dr. Katz and his RF program? View the recording for this webinar as he discusses 2-port measurements, S parameters, impedance matching and the design projects his students participate in.
