3. Course Agenda
Day One
• Morning (Module 1)
– Introduction to RF
• Afternoon (Module 2)
– RF hardware
Day Two
• Morning (Module 3)
– Older systems & mobile telephony
• Afternoon (Module 4)
– Newer systems & the future
4. Module 2 - RF Hardware
1. Basic Building Blocks
2. Other Components
3. Circuits
5. Module 2 - RF Hardware
1. Basic Building Blocks
2. Other Components
3. Circuits
13. Antennas
Function
♦ Turn current on a wire into airborne waves
♦ Vice versa
• Most antennas work in both directions
Basic Building Blocks - Antennas
14. Antennas
What
♦ Act as impedance matching circuits
• From conductor (50 ohms) to free space (377 ohms)
Antenna
Free space Conductor
377 ohms 50 ohms
15. Antennas
How
♦ Conductors that are about ½ wavelength long
begin to radiate RF energy as waves
½ Wavelength
16. Wavelength (meters) Application
Wavelengths 5,000,000 Electrical wall outlet
152,500 The human voice
566 AM radio
5 VHF television
3 FM radio
0.3 Cellular phones
0.1 PCS phones
0.02 DirectTV™
17. Antennas
Characteristics
♦ Active: Requires a power supply
♦ Passive: Does not require a power supply
♦ Directional: Sends RF energy in one direction
♦ Omnidirctional: Sends RF energy in all directions
♦ Size: Depends on the wavelength
♦ Shape: Depends on the direction of the RF energy
Basic Building Blocks - Antennas
18. Antenna Pattern
What Is It?
♦ An engineering tool that shows a birds-eye view of
the RF energy radiating out of an antenna
Basic Building Blocks - Antennas
21. Gain
Two Kinds
♦ Power gain
• Comes from an amplifier
• Increases the power
♦ Antenna gain
• Directional gain
• No increase in power
Basic Building Blocks - Antennas
22. Isotropic Antenna
What Is It?
♦ A mythical "point" antenna
• Antenna pattern is a sphere
• Minimum power density
Basic Building Blocks - Antennas
24. Antenna Gain
Directional Gain
♦ A gain in power density NOT power
• Relative to an isotropic antenna
♦ Measured in dBi
Definition
♦ dBi = "dB greater than isotropic"
Basic Building Blocks - Antennas
25. Antenna Gain
For Example
An directional antenna with 10 dBi of antenna gain
produces an RF signal with TEN TIMES the power
density compared to an isotropic antenna
Basic Building Blocks - Antennas
26. Antenna Gain
10 dBi
Output power = 30 dBm
Input power = 30 dBm Effective Isotropic Radiated Power
= 30 dBm + 10 dBi = 40 dBm
Basic Building Blocks - Antennas
27. Output power
40 dBm
Free space loss 120 dB
-80 dBm
Absorption 10 dB
-90 dBm
S/N 30 dB
Noise floor -120 dBm
36. Polarization
So What
♦ Otherwise identical RF signals can be made
distinct by having different polarizations
• Better use of scarce bandwidth
• Polarization diversity
Basic Building Blocks - Antennas
37. Smart Antennas
What Are They?
♦ Directional antennas in which the antenna beam moves
Basic Building Blocks - Antennas
38. Smart Antennas
What Are They?
♦ Directional antennas in which the antenna beam moves
Basic Building Blocks - Antennas
39. Smart Antennas
What Are They?
♦ Directional antennas in which the antenna beam moves
Basic Building Blocks - Antennas
40. Smart Antennas
What Are They?
♦ Directional antennas in which the antenna beam moves
Basic Building Blocks - Antennas
41. Smart Antennas
How?
♦ Switched beam
♦ Electronically scanned
Why?
♦ More users per area
♦ Spatial division multiple access
Basic Building Blocks - Antennas
44. Amplifiers
Function
♦ Increase the power of RF signals
• "Power gain"
Basic Building Blocks - Amplifiers
45. Amplifiers
Main Types
♦ Low noise amplifier (LNA)
• First one in a receiver
♦ High power amplifier (HPA)
• Last one in a transmitter
♦ Other
• Many different kinds
• "Gain blocks"
Basic Building Blocks - Amplifiers
54. Output Power
Dictates Amplifier Performance
♦ Suppose Psat = 40 dBm
30 dB
20 dB
20 dBm
40 dBm
Basic Building Blocks - Amplifiers
55. Noise Figure
Definition
♦ How much an amplifier decreases the S/N ratio
• Measured in dB
LNA
S/N 40 dB S/N 37 dB
NF=3dB
Basic Building Blocks - Amplifiers
56. A Special Amplifier
Variable Gain Amplifier (VGA)
♦ Gain can be made to vary
15 dB
Basic Building Blocks - Amplifiers
57. A Special Amplifier
Variable Gain Amplifier (VGA)
♦ Gain can be made to vary
30 dB
Basic Building Blocks - Amplifiers
63. Filters
Types
♦ Low pass
• Only signals below a certain frequency can pass
♦ High pass
• Only signals above a certain frequency can pass
♦ Band pass
• Only signals between two frequencies can pass
♦ Band reject ("Notch")
• Only signals outside two frequencies can pass
72. Special Filters
SAW (Surface Acoustic Wave)
♦ Converts RF signals into sound signals
♦ Used for low frequency applications
• Typically less than 3 GHz
♦ Very small and low cost
• Ideal for use in cell phones
Basic Building Blocks - Filters
73. Special Filters
Superconducting Filters
♦ Have zero insertion loss in the pass band
♦ Have a near-vertical frequency response
♦ Require cooling units
• Used primarily in cellular base station receivers
Basic Building Blocks - Filters
74. Filters
Interesting Things To Know
♦ All devices have a 1 dB compression point
-even passive ones like filters
• A function of input power
♦ IL of a passive device is its noise figure
Basics Building Blocks - Filters
77. Mixers
Function
♦ To change the frequency of the RF signal
Basics Building Blocks - Mixers
78. Mixers
How
♦ Mixers have two inputs and one output called ports
Input 1 Output
Input 2
Basics Building Blocks - Mixers
79. Mixers
How
♦ One RF signal goes into Input 1
♦ One RF signal goes into Input 2
♦ TWO RF signals come out of the Output
Basics Building Blocks - Mixers
80. Mixers
How
♦ Output signal 1
• Frequency = sum of frequencies of input signals
♦ Output signal 2
• Frequency = difference of frequencies of input signals
Basics Building Blocks - Mixers
81. Mixers
Example
One input signal to a mixer has a frequency of 400 MHz
while the other has a frequency of 500 MHz. What is
the frequency of the two output signals?
Frequency (signal 1) = 400 MHz + 500 MHz = 900 MHz
Frequency (signal 2) = 500 MHz - 400 MHz = 100 MHz
Basics Building Blocks - Mixers
83. Mixers
What
♦ Mixers can be used to raise OR lower the
frequency of an RF signal
• Raise: upconverter and it's in a transmitter
• Lower: downconverter and it's in a receiver
♦ Only one output signal is used
♦ The other is eliminated with a filter
Basics Building Blocks - Mixers
84. Mixers
Characteristics
♦ Noise figure
♦ Insertion loss called conversion loss (CL)
♦ One dB compression point
♦ Ports have designations
Basics Building Blocks - Mixers
86. Mixers
Port Designations
♦ LO is always one of the inputs
• LO: Local Oscillator
♦ RF/IF can be input or output
• IF: Intermediate Frequency
• Upconverter (transmitter): RF is output
• Downconverter (receiver): RF is input
Basics Building Blocks - Mixers
87. Mixers
How They're Actually Used
♦ Upconverters/Downconverters
• Change the frequency
♦ Phase modulators/demodulators
• Impart or detect a phase shift
Basics Building Blocks - Mixers
88. Mixers
Downconverter
♦ Superheterodyne
From Antenna To Demod
RF Signal
Baseband Signal
900 MHz
IF Signal 64 KHz
70 MHz
Basics Building Blocks - Mixers
91. Sources
Function
♦ To generate a perfect sine wave at a specified
frequency
• It is the "source" of the RF
• It is also called an oscillator
• It feeds the LO port of a mixer
92. Sources
How
♦ Many materials produce a sine wave when
excited with electrical energy
What
♦ The objective is to produce the most perfect
sine wave possible
Basics Building Blocks - Sources
93. Sources
Examples
Acronym Oscillator
DRO Dielectric resonator
XO Crystal
YIG Yttrium Iron Garnet
Basics Building Blocks - Sources
94. Special Sources
Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO)
♦ The frequency of the sine wave can be made to
vary by means of an external control
Sine wave out
Control voltage in
Basics Building Blocks - Sources
96. Recap
Antenna Airborne waves to current
Amplifer Makes signals bigger
Filter Elliminates unwanted frequencies
Mixer Changes a signal’s frequency
Source Produces a perfect sine wave
123. Switch Types
Switch Type Characterstics
Solid state Fast
Small
Inexpensive
Electromechanical Big
Slow
Low insertion loss
Other Components - Switches
124. Insertion Loss vs Isolation
Insertion Loss
♦ Loss in the closed path
Insertion loss ≈ 1 dB
Other Components - Switches
125. Insertion Loss vs Isolation
Isolation
♦ Loss in the open path
Isolation ≈ 30 dB
Other Components - Switches
129. Attenuator Types
Attenuator Type Characterstics
Fixed Insertion loss has a
single value
Voltage Variable Insertion loss can take any
value over a range
Digital Insertion loss can only take
certain values over a range
Other Components - Attenuators
157. Phase Shifters
Function
♦ To phase shift the output relative to the input
Phase shifted
Input signal
Φ output signal
Other Components - Phase Shifters
160. Phase Detectors
Function
♦ To convert a phase difference to a voltage
Where
♦ In demodulators
RF Input 1 Phase
Voltage Output
RF Input 2 Detector
Other Components - Phase Detectors
161. Recap
Switch Change an RF signals’ path
Antennuator Makes signals smaller
Divider/ Splits a signal evenly
Combiner
Coupler Samples a signal
Quad Coupler Splits a signal with phase shift
162. Recap
Circulator/ Reroutes a signal
Isolator
Transformer Impedance matching, coupling, etc
Detector Converts an RF signal to a voltage
Phase Shifter Imparts a phase shift on a signal Φ
Phase Converts a phase diff to a voltage Phase
Detector
Detector
170. Transistors
Main Structures
♦ Bipolar Junction (BJT)
• Low frequency
• High power
♦ Field Effect (FET)
• High frequency
• Low noise
Circuits - Seminconductors
183. Circuit Construction
Hybrid
♦ Packaged or bare
chip semiconductors
♦ Lumped or
distributed passives
♦ Ceramic substrate
Circuits - Circuit Technologies
184. Circuit Construction
MMIC
♦ Semiconductors
devices
♦ Distributed passives
♦ On a single piece of
semiconductor
Circuits - Circuit Technologies
185. Circuit Construction
Cavity
♦ A hollow container
♦ Signals move as waves
inside
♦ Used for high power
Circuits - Circuit Technologies
186. Recap
Circuit Design
♦ Lumped - Low frequency
♦ Distributed - High frequency
Circuit Construction
♦ Discrete - High power, quick design time
♦ Hybrid - High frequency, best performance
♦ MMIC - Small size, high volume
♦ Cavity - Very high power
Circuits - Circuit Technologies
189. Interconnection
Transmission Lines
♦ Should be 50 ohms (i.e. good match)
♦ Have insertion loss
♦ Effect system performance
♦ Can be made several different ways
Circuits - Interconnection
190. Transmission Lines
Can Be Made Using
1) Cables - box to box
2) Waveguides - high power box to box
3) Metal traces - low power, inside a box
Circuits - Interconnection