RF specialist expands teaching and test in South Yorkshire

Ian White founded Gaddon, an RF engineering and test consultancy, 10 years ago, in that time it has carried out work for the Ministry of Defence (MOD).

A new workshop at Hoyle Mill in Penistone near Barnsley will allow the firm to carry out general RF and electronic repairs and can be hired out as a test facility by companies that design equipment with RF and Wi-Fi capabilities.

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Electronics Weekly – Intersil Transceivers, RS Components AC Inverters & More

Intersil has announced two high-speed, isolated RS-485 differential bus transceivers that provide 40Mbps bidirectional data communication for Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) networks. The higher working voltage and reinforced isolation is required for today's medical and motor control applications.

The ISL3274xE transceivers provide low radiated emission and EMI susceptibility, support for up to 160 devices on the bus and a 125°C temperature range. These devices utilize giant magnetoresistance (GMR) technology that provides galvanic isolation to keep the communication bus free from common-mode noise generated in electrically noisy factory and building automation environments.

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DARPA tunes machine learning to radio signals

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agencies is looking to apply the same kind of machine learning to the radio spectrum as is used by advanced systems for applications ranging from voice recognition to management of internet-of-things devices to autonomous vehicles.

DARPA has issued a broad agency announcement for a new Radio Frequency Machine Learning Systems (RFMLS) program that will address the need for enhanced situational awareness regarding the ever-changing composition of RF signals in the IoT and spectrum sharing. 

Machine learning is widely used to manage data and images, but the similar work in the radio spectrum offers unique challenges, making a more compelling case for developing a native approach.

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ANSYS 18.2 Focuses on Electromagnetics and Electronics Design

ANSYS has just released version 18.2 of the company’s flagship computer-aided engineering (CAE) software. This release aims to improve ANSYS’ ease-of-use, speed and accuracy for electromagnetics, mechanical and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations.

One example of increased accuracy comes in the form of a new visual ray tracing tool, available in the electromagnetics suite. The tool will help simulate the interactions between high-frequency electromagnetic waves in a macro-environment. This should be useful to engineers working to optimize their designs for radar scattering and antenna placements.

The electromagnetics suite also includes a new RF Link Analysis tool. This can help engineers assess how their wireless products might stack up when dealing with both radio frequency and electromagnetic interference.

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What are common RF noise sources?

In response to the Federal Communications Commission’s inquiry on whether it should study changes in the radio frequency noise floor, a number of commenters identified common sources of RF noise and interference that they encounter. The most common RF noise sources include:

Harmful LED lamp interference. “The solution in most cases is to replace the lamp with a different brand that does not cause harmful interference. … The bottom line is that the interference is strong enough to affect a 700/800 MHz cellular base station,” said Pericle Engineering in its FCC comment.

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What are common RF noise sources?

In response to the Federal Communications Commission’s inquiry on whether it should study changes in the radio frequency noise floor, a number of commenters identified common sources of RF noise and interference that they encounter. The most common RF noise sources include:

Harmful LED lamp interference. “The solution in most cases is to replace the lamp with a different brand that does not cause harmful interference. … The bottom line is that the interference is strong enough to affect a 700/800 MHz cellular base station,” said Pericle Engineering in its FCC comment.

Large [electronic]display signs. “Two examples are the Fashion Show Mall on the Las Vegas Strip and several gambling casinos in Black Hawk, CO,” said Pericle. “The culprits here are the switching DC power supplies powering the LED lamps. Because these signs have large metal backings, they act as a reflector and focus the interfering power in one direction. At 800 MHz, harmful interference has been measured to cell sites within 100 feet of display signs while at VHF, harmful interference was measured as far as 900 feet from display signs.”

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Panasonic IoT wireless modules pre-certified at Avnet Abacus

The RF modules from Panasonic cover a range of communication protocols with ready-to-use modules for Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy and Wi-Fi.

“This extended distribution deal with Avnet Abacus delivers an even better choice for engineers looking to add pre-tested, certified and fully supported wireless connectivity into their products,” said Max Jakob, Panasonic’s distribution sales director EMEA, product marketing department.

Panasonic also supports RF network protocols, including Bluetooth, ISM and SNAP, through partnerships with software firms. And is able to offer pre-tested and certified RF modules.

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Rohde & Schwarz slashes phase noise in RF signal generator

The result is a signal generator which can match higher output power and a spurious free dynamic range.

Designated the R&S SMA100B, which comes as a 6GHz instrument capable of generating up to 38dBm RF output power, or a 20GHz instrument generating up to 32dBm in the microwave frequency range.

Harmonic performance above 6GHz is specified at lower than 70dBc at 18dBm output power. Non-harmonics are below 110dBc at an output signal of 1GHz.

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Nitrades in transition

The average, everyday person might not be familiar with gallium nitride, also known as GaN, but there is a good chance they've heard of silicon, a semiconductor that's been used for decades and found in every computer and most electronics.

As a semiconductor, GaN is similar to silicon, but it differs in its elemental makeup and properties, which makes it a more robust, rugged type of electronic material. GaN's qualities allow it to operate at nearly five times higher power and temperature than silicon and commercial commodity semiconductors in certain applications.

Solid-state (or LED) lighting and wireless data transmitters for cell phone base stations are two examples where GaN has made a considerable impact over the past few years. Power switching components for solar inverters and electric vehicles are also moving towards GaN technology due to its ability to improve efficiency.

"GaN technology ultimately saves energy compared to incumbent technologies and can typically be packaged in smaller and lighter form factors," said Dr. David Meyer, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) section head for wide bandgap materials and devices in the Electronics Science and Technology Division.

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Air Force electronic weapons to get an electromagnetic power boost

The Air Force is working with Raytheon to integrate high power electromagnetic (HPEM) capabilities with cyber and electronic warfare weapons systems to increase the effectiveness of EW weapons through higher energy pulses and the use of new methods of backdoor penetration.

Raytheon, along with other industry developers, will experiment with and develop the most efficient and effective way to integrate HPEM technology with cyber and electronic warfare weapons systems.

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Mega trends in automotive boosting demand for semiconductors

The mega trends set to disrupt the automotive industry: electrification, connectivity, mobility and automation, are set to create considerable value chain element growth. The semiconductor industry, in particular, will see demand increase from around $30 billion in 2015 to $42 billion by 2020. China, will continue to sees its share of the total market increase in the mean time.

The automotive industry is set to continue to see the sale of new units rise, as car ownership becomes more affordable across Asia. The industry is facing a number of mega trends however; as the globe moves towards a sustainable economy, electrification is set to pick up; while digitalisation is opening up connective car opportunities; mobility considerations, such as car sharing and carpooling too are being created through technological advance and new business models; finally, automation, is set to radically transform the roads, reducing accidents and creating new ownership models.

As the mega trends begin to set in, the wider value chain that supports many of the innovations, is likely to see considerable boosts in revenues. In a new report from McKinsey & Company, titled ‘Mobility trends: What’s ahead for automotive semiconductors’, the consultancy firm explores the effects the mega trends will have on semiconductor sales.

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