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Impedance Matching Devices
Explore impedance matching techniques and understand the differences between the various types of impedance matching devices, from step transitions to L-C networks, quarter-wave transformers and more.
Understanding Lumped Element Filters
Review the fundamentals and design considerations of lumped element filters including the different filter responses, as well as advantages and disadvantages relative to other technologies.
High-Q Ceramic Resonator Filters for GNSS Applications
GNSS has become an increasingly prevalent RF application for both military and commercial use. Advanced technology allows for miniaturization and cost reduction of LBS-enabled devices, which has opened up a large and growing commercial market.
Reflectionless Filter Basics: A Brief History of the Genesis of Reflectionless Filters
The advent of broad bandwidth amplifiers, analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), digital-to-analog converters (DACs), and software-defined radios has brought about growing interest in broadband communications, radar, and sensing applications.
Specifying VCOs for Clock Timing Circuits
Timing is everything for many systems, especially for modern electronic systems with high-speed data converters and high-resolution sampling. A clock source is "the keeper of time" in these systems and system timing performance is very much dependent upon the performance of its clock source. Many designers have learned to appreciate the flexibility of using voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs) as clock sources.
VCO Footprints
Three basic types of VCO's are manufactured by Mini-Circuits: plug-in, surface mount, and connectorized versions. To obtain the best overall performance from Mini-Circuits VCO's, good RF practices should be used. A double sided printed circuit board with plated through holes is recommended.
A Practical Approach to the Design and Implementation of Scalable, High-Performance, Custom SMT Packages for mmWave Applications
After many years of research and development, electrical engineers, physicists, mathematicians and scientists have come to realize the benefits of operating communications systems at higher frequencies.
Achieving First-Spin Success in LTCC Components with Advanced Material Simulation Models
Since the advent of network synthesis theory at the turn of the last century, filter designers have been developing ever more sophisticated solutions to translate polynomial transfer functions into working, physical components.
Solid State Switching for Next Generation Wireless Test Applications
Rapid growth in the number of connected devices for next generation wireless applications is driving demand for faster, more innovative, and more cost-effective test solutions. The need for reduction in cost and improvement in test throughput is found both at the design verification stage as well as in high-volume production testing.
Flattening Negative Gain Slope with MMIC Fixed Equalizers
Unlike a standard attenuator with a flat frequency response, an equalizer is a unique kind of attenuator which exhibits lower insertion loss as frequency increases with some known slope. This is a useful characteristic for system designers working in wideband applications where the gain response of circuit elements or of the entire RF chain often varies across frequency.
More than Just a Phase: Understanding Phase Stability in RF Test Cables
One important factor in ensuring accurate, repeatable measurements in RF test applications is the stability of performance of the test cable used. Therefore, in choosing the right test cable for your needs, it’s important to consider how bending affects cable phase performance and how a cable is (or isn’t) qualified for stability of phase versus flexure.
MMIC Die Testing Made Easy with Ultra-Wideband 0 dB Attenuator (Thru-Line) Die
This article presents a method for die performance characterization using Mini-Circuits’ commercially available 0 dB attenuator/thru-line die (KAT-0-DG+) that effectively addresses both of these issues.