RF & Microwave

Samtec has created a line of RF connectors that mount to the edge of PCB by bolting rather than soldering. They measure only 9.5mm from side-to-side where they sit on the PCB and are under 8mm from top to bottom (see photo) “These connectors are commonly used in a lab setting for high-frequency test and measurement and evaluation boards,” according ...

Alif Semiconductor has put an Arm Ethos-U55 neural processor alongside a Bluetooth Low Energy radio in a microcontroller for AI and machine learning workloads – all in a tine WLCSP package. It is called Balletto. “Balletto gives manufacturers the opportunity to implement AI/ML functions such as speech recognition, adaptive noise cancellation, vocal targeting and beam forming in true wireless stereo ...

NXP has finally revealed the wireless versions of its MCX microcontrollers, first announced in mid-2022. “Featuring the industry’s first MCU with Bluetooth Channel Sounding, NXP’s MCX W series enables edge devices with secure multi-protocol wireless for Matter, Thread, Zigbee and Bluetooth Low Energy,” according to the company, which explained: “Bluetooth Channel Sounding standard improves the accuracy and security of distance ...

The diverse challenges facing 5 distinct product segments. When it comes to electronics, most designs will involve multiple semiconductor devices. With this point in mind, Rochester Electronics’ goal is not to offer a single solution for an obsolete device, but instead provide a range of solutions covering the many mature devices likely found in designs. For example, finding a solution ...

u-blox has announced four stamp-sized wireless MCU modules that can run user code and support Bluetooth LE 5.4, Thread, Matter and PSA Certified Level 3 security. ALMA-B10x versions are built around Nordic Semiconductor’s nRF54H20 wireless microcontrollers and have dual 320MHz Arm Cortex-M33 cores, dual 320MHz RISC-V cores, plus 2Mbyte of non-volatile memory and 1Mbyte ram. They also support NFC-A. NORA-B20x ...

This year is the time for ultra-wideband to rise and shine, says Jean-Christophe Doucet. Ultra-wideband (UWB) was once considered a niche, but intriguing alternative to incumbent presence detection and tracking technologies, including radio frequency identification, localisation trackers and infrared sensors. Despite its advantages, the industry overlooked UWB until recently. Experts now project that UWB implementation will grow significantly. They estimate ...

The Qorvo QPQ5601 is an high-performance, high power, Bulk Acoustic Wave (BAW) band-pass filter with extremely steep skirts, simultaneously exhibiting low loss in the Wi-Fi UNII 5-8 band and high near-in rejection in the UNII 1-3 band. The filter module is specifically designed to enable industry leading capacity performance in Wi-Fi applications that result in higher power capability in more ...

Quadsat, the Danish drone-based antenna testing company, has launched its product range with an extended breadth of frequency ranges and the addition of uplink capabilities. The Quadsat range for RF measurement comprises: QS 1-18 DL (downlink tests, covering S-KU band), QS 6-24 DL (downlink tests, X – KA low band), QS 17-31 DL (downlink, KA band), QS 6-24 DL/UL (downlink ...

East Coast Microwave is stocking cryogenic isolators from DiTom Microwave, designed to operate “at or below 77K”, according to East Coast. Taking D3I4080Y as an example, it operates from 4 to 8GHz and can handle average forward inputs up to 30W, peaking at 50W. Maximum reverse input power is 2W. “The component provides more than 16dB of isolation and has ...

For RF inductor selection, José Martos and Heinz Zenkner stress the importance of evaluating inductance, natural resonant frequency, quality, DC resistance and rated current for high-frequency applications. High frequency inductors are used in a variety of industries, from consumer products to highly specialised scientific applications. Typical functions include resonance tuning, impedance matching, filtering and attenuation of high frequency overshoots in ...