ITEQ recently introduced new halogen free products for use in a range of high frequency applications. IT-8350G, with a nominal dielectric constant of 3.50 +/-0.04, is the next generation halogen free product for legacy base stations, power amplifiers, 24 GHz automotive radar applications, 77 GHz short-range and medium-range radar systems, 5 G base stations and mm wave applications, direct broadcast systems, and a number of antenna applications. IT-8338G, with a nominal dielectric constant of 3.38 +/- 0.04, is the next generation halogen free product for base stations, power amplifiers, LNBs (low noise block down converters) for direct broadcast systems and antenna applications. These products are built using Thermoset resins. The products have a Tg around 200°C and a decomposition temperature (Td) in excess of 405°C. The main advantages of these products over incumbent products are lower loss and halogen free composition with dissipation factor around ~0.0024 at 10 GHz.
Marki Microwave was featuring the DMX-64, a high speed SiGe 1:2 demultiplexer (DEMUX) chip in a connectorized module. This broadband 1:2 deserializer converts a DC to 64 Gb/s input signal into two half rate output signals using a half rate clock. The DMX-64 can be operated single ended or differentially. The DMX-64 is suitable for laboratory testing and use in test equipment. They have also recently released a new web site which I can say is very nice!
Mentor, A Siemens Business, featured HyperLynx® DRC which provides fast, comprehensive electrical design verification to all PCB layout persons, hardware engineers, and SI/PI/EMC experts, regardless of their layout tool or level of expertise. HyperLynx DRC’s automated approach can be used iteratively, to identify design violations that lead to signal integrity, power integrity, and EMI/EMC issues, eliminating manual inspection and PCB cycle bottlenecks.
Molex had a wide range of displays including: Impulse Orthogonal Direct Backplane Connector System that delivers improved performance, class-leading density and cost savings by eliminating the need to build and install midplane connections; the Quad Small Form Factor Pluggable Double Density (QSFP-DD) System for high-density, high-speed networking showcased how the eight-lane electrical interface operates up to 25 Gbps NRZ modulation or 56 Gbps PAM-4, with feasibility of 112 Gbps PAM-4, in support of the growth in future bandwidth needs; Mirror Mezz Connectors highlighted flexibility with stackable mating to support data speeds up to 56 Gbps NRZ and 112 Gbps PAM-4 per differential pair; NearStack High-Speed Connector System and Cable Jumper Assemblies use twinax cables to deliver a PCB alternative with superior signal integrity and low insertion loss while enabling implementation of 56 Gbps NRZ and a path to 112 Gbps PAM-4; Impel Plus Cabling System showcases its backbone functionality within the Open19 Project which defines a common form factor for servers, Tier0 switches, and power shelves with a base internal cage system that can be implemented into a standard 19” rack solution; high-density blind-mating optical backplane connectors for card, sled and drawer applications that incorporate multi-fiber MT and VersaBeam expanded beam MT ferrule technology enabling the deployment of optical I/O based hardware; Combining passive, high-speed copper twinax cables with NearStack and QSFP+ or QSFP-DD connectors, BiPass I/O and Backplane Cable Assemblies provide a low-insertion-loss alternative to PCB traces for high bandwidth speeds, efficiency and proper thermal management; and Interconnect Systems International (ISI) displayed their advanced packaging and interconnect solutions using a multi-discipline customized approach to improve solution performance, reduce package size and expedite time-to-market for customers.
Noisecom (WTG) was demonstrating noise on Vcc and power supply rejection ratio by using the Noisecom JV9000 to add controlled levels of broadband noise or CW interferers on to a clean power supply. The internal signal generator can sweep frequencies and change power levels to see how the device responds. When used in conjunction with an oscilloscope and BERT, engineers can analyze system performance and analyze how much noise on voltage rails or inputs to the device the system can tolerate. They were also showing how the J7000 and J9000 noise and jitter generators enable testing design as they move from simulation to fabrication giving design and test engineers the ability to quantify and quality how their device responds to sources of interference in the final system.
Pico Technology was showing off the PicoVNA 106 that is a USB-controlled, laboratory grade vector network instrument with good performance, portability and affordability. Despite its small size and low cost, the instrument boasts a ‘Quad RX’ four-receiver architecture to eliminate the uncorrectable errors, delays and fragility of three-receiver designs with internal transfer switches. It has a dynamic range of 118 dB and only 0.005 dB RMS trace noise at its maximum operating bandwidth of 140 kHz. It can also gather all four S-parameters at every frequency point in just 190 µs; in other words a 500 point 2-port .s2p Touchstone file in less than one tenth of a second. The cost is so low that the PicoVNA 106 could even be used as a cost-effective high-dynamic-range scalar network analyzer so is very affordable.
Remcom demonstrated the latest release of XFdtd, featuring circuit co-simulation and expanded signal integrity capabilities. XF combines a time-domain circuit solver with its full wave electromagnetic solver and uses co-simulation to update complex circuit structures at each timestep in an FDTD simulation. Circuit co-simulation facilitates a more realistic analysis of device performance by including imported circuit components within the EM simulation. Now, users can import the schematic for a desired component via a netlist file, with support for SPICE elements such as resistors, capacitors, inductors, coupled inductors, and sub-circuits.
R&D Interconnect Solutions had on display their new Invis-Array Micro Connectors that offer less than 30 mohms contact resistance for high-speed (56 Gbps) and high density (3969 pins/min) for their elastomer interconnects. They have less than .45 dB insertion loss at 50 GHz and return loss less than 1.5 dB at 50 GHz. These meet thermal and vibration testing to MIL-STD-810C with a current rating of 2-4 A.
R&S introduced high voltage differential probes that are designed for complex measurements on state-of-the-art power electronics with voltages up to 6000 V. They offer a measurement bandwidth of up to 200 MHz, a high common mode rejection ratio (CMRR) and at 0.5 percent, the best DC measurement accuracy. They also introduced cost-efficient, high voltage differential probes with a 25 MHz bandwidth and very low inherent noise for general applications.
The new high voltage differential probes enable measurements with outstanding signal integrity and are perfect for use with the new R&S RTM3000 and R&S RTA4000 embedded oscilloscopes. They have 200 MHz measurement bandwidth and excellent common mode rejection; up to 2000 V offset compensation; the highest DC measuring accuracy at ± 0.5 percent; and full integration to eliminate errors.
When 25 MHz bandwidth is sufficient, two other new additions are the R&S RT-ZD002 and R&S RT-ZD003 differential probes with maximum input voltages up to 700 V and 1400 V, respectively. These 25 MHz probes boast very low inherent noise for their class of around 7 mV (RMS) and 14 mV (RMS), respectively. Their BNC interface makes them a perfect fit for R&S RTC1000, R&S RTB2000 and all standard oscilloscopes.
Rogers Corp was discussing their XtremeSpeed RO1200 circuit materials that are engineered to meet the electrical and thermal/mechanical demands of high speed designs. Rogers XtremeSpeed RO1200 circuit materials enable system designers the flexibility to design leading edge systems that maximize data throughput and minimize latency in performance demanding applications. With a low dielectric constant of 3.05, and a maximum dissipation factor of 0.0017 @10 GHz, these laminates provide outstanding signal integrity, reduced signal skew, and reduced cross-talk. Combined with excellent thermal/mechanical performance, low CTE, and a halogen free UL 94 V-0 rating, these laminates are well suited for the most demanding high layer count applications. Here is a video interview with Rogers about trends and the benefits or their RO1200.