Pasternack Blog

With the advent of the later 4G LTE releases (3GPP Release 13 and 14) and the latest 5G standard (3GPP Release 15), antennas for wireless telecommunications have begun to change substantially. Beyond the addition of sub-6 GHz frequencies for 5G, there are other technologies for enabling 5G use cases that are being developed that generate ..

5G critical communications is one of the most sought after features of upcoming 5G networks. There are many industries, such as industrial robotics/factory automation, autonomous vehicles, traffic, public safety, fire, operations, emergency medical services, and even military/defense that all may benefit from enabling features and technology capabilities offered by mission critical 5G functions. One of ..

The goal of facilitating the growing data-centric behaviors of global society has led to new classifications of wireless communications. One of these new classifications defined in the 3GPP Release 13 is massive machine-type communications (mMTC). A new wireless technology, known as narrow-band Internet of things (NB-IoT) was created to enable communication between large numbers of ..

Load Pull measurements is a class of non-50 Ohm measurements that is used during the design, model extraction, and performance testing of a variety of RF/Microwave devices. A main topic of discussion with load-pull testing is the evaluation of amplifier designs in a large signal sense. Load-pull testing essential consists of taking signal measurements from ..

Passive intermodulation distortion (PIM), is a prevalent issue with cellular networks and other wireless systems with relatively high broadcast power and dense channel plans. The results of PIM can be the desensitization of the receiver, dropped calls, and harmonic interference that can affect receivers for other frequency bands and services well outside of the carrier ..

An Oscilloscope is an essential piece of electrical test equipment, but has a somewhat limited use with RF circuits and systems compared to digital and analog circuits. In many cases an RF engineer will default to using a spectrum analyzer for frequency domain measurements and a network analyzer to measure component behavior. An oscilloscope is ..

The planned technical expectations of 5G services are extreme in many ways. One of the most extreme use cases is the planned enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) services, which are being designed to meet users growing demand for high speed data. The main features of eMBB are a massive increase in beak data rates, the ability ..

RF anechoic chambers are used throughout the industry for prototyping testing and conformance testing. The purpose of an anechoic chamber is to provide both electromagnetic isolation from external sources as well as from internal RF radiation generators. Other types of testing that require complete RF isolation also depend on anechoic chambers, including radar cross section ..

Outside of coaxial and waveguide interconnect, there are two other main methods of interacting with DUT during RF/microwave/millimeter-wave testing. These methods include surface probes that connect to component leads or microstrip pads, and antennas design for test purposes. Test probes and antennas are used for very different types of testing, but both are crucial in ..

Network parameters are mathematical tools used to describe the behavior of linear and non-linear networks, specifically electrical networks based on steady state stimulus. These parameters are heavily used with RF/microwave engineering and electronics that work with high frequency signals. At higher frequencies network parameters, such as S-parameters are often viewed as more useful methods of ..