Archive : 8 February 2008 год

Chomerics Europe has worked with a automotive supplier to provide a solution to a design challenge they encountered on a rear windscreen antenna receiver unit for a European luxury vehicle manufacturer. The requirement was for an electrical connecter that, prior to Chomerics involvement in the project, had been achieved using metal spring finger stock. Using its CHO-SEAL 1285 conductive elastomer, Chomerics was able to design a custom extrusion that satisfied several important unmet needs. The low impedance connector supplied by Chomerics allowed high frequency radio signals from the glass-mounted antenna to pass easily through its structure. This helped to ensure quality reception for in-car multi-media and telematics devices. The same component also allowed current to pass in the other direction to power screen-mounted LEDs and other applications. CHO-SEAL 1285 is suitable for use at temperatures between –65ºC and +200ºC. It has a silicone binder / silver plated aluminium filler construction and allows engineers to design lightweight, compliant (65± 5 Shore A) mouldings for use in harsh environments.

Tektronix announced the addition of DPX waveform image processor technology to the mid-range RSA3000B Series Real-Time Spectrum Analyzers. This provides a live RF view of the spectrum using the RSA3300B and RSA3408B family models, enabling an unprecedented RF signal discovery capability for a broad range of digital RF applications including RFID, radio communications, and spectrum management. DPX transforms volumes of real-time data and produces a live RF spectrum display that reveals previously unseen RF signals and signal anomalies.

 

Digital RF signals carry complex modulation and change from one instant to the next, hopping frequencies, spiking briefly and then disappearing. These transient and time varying transmission techniques help RF devices avoid interference, maximize peak power and, oftentimes, evade detection. The RSA3300B series and RSA3408B provide 100% probability of intercept for transients as brief as 31 microseconds on the RSA3408B and 41 microseconds on the RSA3300B Series models. Combined with the ability to trigger on transient signals in both time and frequency domains, the RSA3300B Series and RSA3408B offers troubleshooting and debug of digital RF designs. The RSA3300B series is available with either DC-3 GHz or DC- 8GHz frequency coverage.

 

With 15 MHz capture bandwidth and 70 dB Spurious Free Dynamic Range (SFDR), the RSA3300Bs are ideal for use in the design and debug of 3G mobile systems, Near-Field systems (such as RFID and Bluetooth), and narrow to medium bandwidth communications systems. The RSA3408B with DC-8GHz frequency coverage, 36 MHz capture bandwidth and 73 dB SFDR is tailored for higher bandwidth and dynamic range applications including 3G mobile components and system debug, WLAN and WiMax system design, demanding spectrum management applications and general purpose digital RF debug.

 

What about DPX

DPX waveform image processor technology in the RSA3300B Series and RSA3408B models displays the live spectrum by processing >48,000 spectrum measurements per second, similar to the previously announced top-of-the-line RSA6114A model. This is orders of magnitude more information than is shown by any other spectrum analyzer without DPX, minimizing the analysis gaps inherent in swept spectrum and vector signal analyzers. To achieve >48,000 spectrum measurements per second, DPX makes use of dedicated, real-time hardware to process the incoming signal.

 

In addition to live RF, the waveform image processor also provides an intensity-graded persistence display that holds anomalies until the eye can see them to show the history of occurrence for dynamic signals and immediate feedback on signal variations over time. This provides engineers the ability to rapidly see on screen both transients and signals that ordinarily could not be seen, either because they are masked by other signals or could only be deduced after time consuming offline analysis. DPX waveform imaging will enhance productivity by quickly capturing elusive anomalies and transient events, improving accuracy and insight, and accelerating design debug.

 

Frequency Domain Triggering

Through Frequency Mask Trigger (FMT) The RSA3000B model with 15 MHz bandwidth and the RSA3408B with 36 MHz bandwidth are the only mid-range performance spectrum analyzers that can offer a frequency domain trigger. This is performed using the Frequency Mask Trigger (FMT) feature, finding interfering and transient signals that no other instrument can. FMT ensures that potential systems instabilities are eliminated from the design before they can cause a problem. By displaying a seamless record of frequency and power changes over time, the Tektronix analyzers can solve many transient problems ranging from modulation switching on software-defined radio systems to identification of rogue pulses in RADAR transmission to dynamic modulation changes during a WLAN transmission.

 

Price and Availability

Prices for the RSA3303B with DPX begin at €27,800 MSRP. RSA3300B and RSA3408B software options are available for 3G, WiMAX, WLAN, RFID, Signal Source and General Purpose modulation and RF analysis. All models and options are available for order.
 

AMS Technologies announces a product enhancement at Caddock Electronics: MP820 and MP821 TO-220 Style Metal Tab Resistors are now compliant with the EU RoHS Directive (2002/95/EC). A new EU RoHS Compliant molding compound has been qualified by Caddock for use in the MP820 and MP821. All MP820 an MP821 resistors manufactured after January 01, 2008 are fully compliant to the EU RoHS Directive (2002/95/EC). MP820 and MP821 Series are 20 Watt resistors in a TO-220 style power package with metal heat sink mounting tab. The resistor element is electrically isolated from the mounting surface. MP821 devices feature a resistance from 0.020 to 9.99 Ohm; MP820 devices from 10 Ohm to 10KOhm. The non-inductive resistors are especially designed for measurement, high speed switching, snubbers and RF applications.