V

The top
VOL. III

RF

Essentials
COMPLIMENTS OF
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JACK BROWNE | Technical Contributor

Preventing High PIM Distortion

Minimizing passive sources of intermodulation distortion
requires care in the selection of communications-system
passive components, including antennas, cables and
connectors, and electromagnetic switches.

NTERMODULATION (IM) OCCURS

when multiple signals in a transmission path act on each other. In this age
of cramming as much information into
a signal path as possible, multitone carriers are commonplace, and the components that transport those signals must do
so with minimal distortion. IM was once
associated only with active components,
but at higher signal levels, passive components can be just as guilty of generating
unwanted signals and amplitude modulation (AM), producing signal side-effects
known as passive intermodulation (PIM).
Two or more signals can mix in a wireless receiver, transmitter, or in the antennas between them to form unwanted signals due to the nonlinear behavior of the
various components in the system. The
unwanted signals are related by the spacing of the desired signals and their power
levels. By way of example: Two signals
(F1 and F1) being handled by one system
(such as 830 and 840 MHz in an LTE system) will create additional signals that are
at harmonic multiples of both signals, as
well as signals that are equal to the sum
and difference frequencies of the original
signals and multiples of those sum and
difference frequenciesfor instance, 2F1
F2 and 2F2 F1. The lower orders of PIM
distortion include difference frequencies,
such as the third-order products 2F1 F2
[(830 x 2) 840 MHz = 820 MHz] and 2F2
F1 [(840 x 2) 830 MHz = 850 MHz], as well
as the fifth-order products 3F2 - 2F1 [(840
x 3) (2 x 830 MHz) = 860 MHz] and 3F1
2F2 [(830 x 3) (2 x 840 MHz) = 810 MHz].
But these are lower-order PIM products,
44

RF Essentials Vol. III

and higher-order products are also generated. This makes the calculation of PIM
performance by means of commercial
computer-aided-engineering (CAE) tools,
such as electromagnetic (EM) simulators,
quite difficult and time consuming.
The PIM performance of a component
(like a connector) is generally specified in
power level (dBm) of the generated tone
relative to the power level of the test tones.
If two +40 dBm test tones produce a PIM
signal of -115 dBm, the PIM level is said
to equal -155 dBc. In a case where two
or more test tones are at unequal power
levels, such as +40 and +38 dBm, the PIM
level is referenced to the larger or largest of
the test tones.
System-level PIM can be minimized,
but this requires careful component selection. Even the choice of materials in
those components can impact the level
of generated PIM. For example, antennas are critical components in a wireless
communications system because they are
found at receive and transmit ends of the
system. Especially in the case of the transmit antennas, which are subject to higher
power levels, the presence of ferromagnetic materials (such as nickel) can increase
the level of PIM. Low-quality metal plating
and poor mechanical junctions can also
contribute to high levels of PIM.
Manufacturers of low-PIM connectors generally advise their customers to
make sure that connector mating surfaces
are without damage and that connectors are properly torqued with a torque
wrench, rather than tightened by hand.
In addition, there should be no strain on

These Type N connectors have been engineered with bronze-plated brass bodies
and gold-plated contacts for low PIM performance. (Photo courtesy of Pasternack
Enterprises; www.pasternack.com)

a connector/cable interface. PIM can also

degrade over time, as oxidation buildup
and corrosion on connector surfaces can
result in less-than-optimum electrical
contact for the mating surfaces of the connectors. For connectors, cables, and other
components in the system, the source and
load impedances presented to each component should be tightly controlled to the
system impedance (typically 50 ).
What is considered acceptable PIM
performance? That answer will depend on
the requirements of a particular system.
As an example, cables and connectors are
among the most PIM-prone components
in many systems. The LMR-SW cables
from Times Microwave (www.timesmicrowave.com) have been developed for
applications where PIM must be minimized. They feature a thin-wall aluminum
outer conductor and can achieve better
than -170 dBc PIM performance.
A line of Type N connectors (see figure) developed by Pasternack Enterprises
(www.pasternack.com) was designed to
terminate these cables with minimal additional PIM. The connectors, usable to
about 11 GHz, are interchangeable with
any Type N connector meeting MIL-C39012 specifications. MWRF
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JACK BROWNE | Technical Contributor

Matching Software To
Design
Needs

Selecting high-frequency CAE design software from such

a wide range of available choices requires clearly defined
design goals and knowing what type of help is needed.

OMPUTER-AIDED-ENGINEERING (CAE) SOFTWARE tools can

take time to use properly. But
they also can save an enormous
amount of time in a design cycle by predicting the effects of different operating
conditions on a circuit or a system. Such
tools are no longer a novelty
in RF/microwave design, but
instrumental in efficiently
and cost effectively meeting
a customers design requirements. Knowing the types
of available CAE software
tools is the first step in learning how to use them to the
greatest benefit.
The roots of RF/microwave CAE tools can be traced back some
four decades. Because of his work with a
program called Speedy at Fairchilds
Microwave Division in 1970, and later
with COMPACT (an acronym for Computer Optimization of Microwave Passive
and Active Circuits), Les Besser is often
credited as the Father of Microwave
Software. Numerous companies were
experimenting with the use of scattering (S) parameters and software to help
design RF/microwave circuits, including Texas Instruments with its CAIN-01
program.
These early software tools were written
for time-share computers with many different users vying for a turn. Introduced
in the early 1980s, the IBM personal computer (PC) changed the way that software
would be developed for the microwave
industry. COMSAT, which acquired
60

RF Essentials Vol. III

COMPACT in 1980, would develop SuperCOMPACT-PC for the PC, along with a
layout program called AUTO-ART. Ulrich
Rohde, Chairman of Synergy Microwave
Corp., would later buy COMPACT and
Super-COMPACT from COMSAT, greatly
improving both products. Additional
software companies would
emerge, including EESof,
Inc. of Westlake Village, CA
and Circuit Busters of Stone
Mountain, GA. EESof, for
example, would develop the
Touchstone microwave design software specifically for
the IBM PC and similar computer platforms.
Before a high-frequency
engineer can design an RF/microwave
circuit, there must be some understanding of the qualities of the building materials for that circuit, including
the printed-circuit boards (PCBs), integrated circuits (ICs), and
passive circuit elements.
Software tools can contain
large libraries of circuit elements, ICs, and even extensive choices in PCB materials, but they cannot point to
the secret combination of
ingredients that will result in
delivering a customers demanding set of performance
requirements. PCB materials for highfrequency circuits, for example, can vary
widely in terms of key electrical and mechanical parameters, such as relative dielectric constant, dissipation factor, and

coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE).

Knowing the limits of industry-standard
circuit building blocks can ease the way
towards effectively using high-frequency
CAE software tools.
For a design team starting out, the
choices in RF/microwave design software can seem overwhelming. Software
tools exist for linear and nonlinear circuit analysis and design, for electromagnetic (EM) analysis and design, and even
for system-level design. Modern commercial CAE software packages tend to
be well equipped with device models,
including active devices like packaged
and chip discrete diodes, transistors,
and packaged ICs. Nevertheless, a useful
software tool must include a means for
importing data (from, for example, a microwave vector network analyzer [VNA]),
in order to create a model from S-parameter data for a device that may be new
or otherwise not included in the softwares device library.
Different types of design
software offer different capabilities. While a circuit
simulator or a complete
suite of design tools might
be well suited for traditional
microstrip or stripline circuit design, a planar threedimensional (3D) electromagnetic (EM) simulator
will provide more insight into a circuits
behavior when used as an antenna or
part of an antenna array. A full 3D EM
simulator is capable of analyzing the EM
fields for all three dimensions of an item
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CAE SOFTWARE

of interest, such as a coaxial connector or

a radiating cable (that is sometimes used
as an antenna).
In fact, a number of different firms,
including Sonnet Software (www.sonnetsoftware.com), offer stand-alone EM
simulator programs. Others provide EM

simulators as part of software tool suites,

including Agilent Technologies (www.
agilent.com), ANSYS (www.ansys.com),
Computer Simulation Technology (CST;
www.cst.com), and Mentor Graphics
(www.mentor.com). The technologies
employed in these EM simulators vary,

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64

RF Essentials Vol. III

from method-of-moments (MoM) analysis that helps speed two-dimensional

(2D) planar antenna simulations in
Mentor Graphics IE3D EM simulator
to the full 3D simulations possible with
the finite-element-method (FEM) analysis of ANSYS frequency-domain-based
High-Frequency Structure Simulator
(HFSS) EM simulator. CSTs Microwave
Studio suite also offers 3D EM analysis
capability by means of time-domainbased perfect boundary approximation
(PBA) analysis.
Some commercial software design
packages are very focused. The firm
AMPSA (www.ampsa.com), for example,
focuses on the design of amplifiers and
impedance-matching programs. The
Ampsa Amplifier Design Wizard (ADW)
represents a departure from traditional
design optimization programs, in that
it relies on circuit-element synthesis to
more quickly find the values of required
circuit elements for a target level of amplifier performance. The software performs a number of systematic searches
for best-fit component values, and then
performs an optimization across the circuit elements it has found.

Oakland, NJ 07436
Fax (201) 677-9444

www.dbmcorp.com

A growing trend in RF/microwave software design tools is extended support

for design software from other manufacturers. For example, Sonnet Software
recently announced the release of a software version (Version 13.56) which extends Sonnets Application Program Interface to support the Advanced Design
System (ADS 2011) suite of design software tools from Agilent Technologies.
The new link allows an ADS 2011 user
to activate Sonnets three-dimensional
(3D) planar EM simulation engine from
an ADS layout. When working within the
ADS 2011 environment, the Sonnet EM
extraction process creates a new model
cell with layout, schematic, and layout
look-alike symbol views.
The Sonnet software can also work
with the Cadence Virtuoso IC design
software from Cadence Design Systems
(www.cadence.com) and Microwave
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CAE SOFTWARE

Office software from AWR Corp. (www.

awrcorp.com). Shawn Carpenter, Vice
President of Marketing for Sonnet, explains: With Sonnet, you have one
solver capable of accurate model extraction from kilohertz through terahertz
frequencies.RF designers can now reach

for this powerful and accurate EM model

extraction seamlessly through our automated APIs within Cadence Virtuoso,
Agilent ADS 2011 and AWR Microwave
Officewithout ever having to open our
own project editor.
Of course, not all RF/microwave

design tools are expensive. The MicroWorks Design package from Microwave
Software
(www.microwavesoftware.
com) is priced at only $149.95 (USD)
for its variety of software design tools. It
features six different design functions,
including SmithMatch for designing
matching networks with an interactive
on-screen Smith chart; Sceptre for designing complete two-, three-, and fourport networks; and MStrip+ for designing
microstrip circuits.
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HUBER+SUHNER INC.
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info.us@hubersuhner.com

66

RF Essentials Vol. III

hubersuhner.com

When trying to learn more about different CAE tools, it can make sense to take
advantage of freeware programs or free
trial versions. Many of the suppliers of
full-fledged RF/microwave CAE software
suites offer trial versions to help users get
started, such as AutoCAD 2D/3D circuit
layout software from Autodesk (www.
autodesk.com) which can be downloaded as a 30-day free trial. The software is
available in versions for Macintosh computers and PCs. AWR Corp. (www.awrstartdesigning.com) offers a trial version
of its popular Microwave Office suite of
circuit and EM design tools.
One of the better-known free software
utilities that has repeatedly proven its
worth over the years is AppCAD (currently available from www.hp.woodshot.
com). Originally developed by HewlettPackards Microwave Semiconductor
Division (now Avago Technologies), AppCAD included a useful set of calculators that could be applied to circuit and
system design using discrete components or ICs.
In some cases, device manufacturers
may even offer design software for some
of their products, such as Analog Devices
(www.analog.com) for its digitizers and
phase-lock-loop (PLL) devices. The latest
version of the companys ADIsimRF design tools supports engineers creating RF
signal chains with RF-to-digital function
blocks. In addition, the ADIsimPLL Version 3.4 provides a series of design tools
for the firms lines of PLLs. Both software
programs can be downloaded from the
companys website free of charge. MWRF
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JACK BROWNE | Technical Contributor

Aiming For Higher

Amplifier
Efficiency

Amplifier designers, who have traditionally relied

on biasing approach schemes for high efficiency,
now have their pick of linearization techniques
in chip form.

OWER AMPLIFIER (PA) efficiency can impact several operating

parameters in a wireless communications system. In a portable device, low PA efficiency means short battery
lifetime. In larger, higher-power systems,
poor PA efficiency translates into more
heat generated by the amplifier; if not effectively dissipated, it can shorten the amplifiers lifetime. Efficiency has become
one of the more important specifications
for PA specifiers, almost on a par with gain
and output power.
Efficiency in an amplifier essentially refers to how much DC power applied to the
amplifier is converted into RF output power. It typically pertains to drain efficiency
or the DC power applied to the drain of the
field-effect transistors (FETs) in the amplifier. The term power-added efficiency
(PAE) is another parameter used to compare amplifier efficiency, which also takes
into account the gain of the amplifier. An
amplifier with low level of gain, for example, will have considerably less PAE than
drain efficiency, while an amplifier with
high gain will have PAE close in value to its
drain efficiency.
Power amplifiers are categorized into
different classes based on their efficiency.
In Class A biasing, the amplifiers transistors remain powered or conducting at all
times. In Class B, usually two or more transistors are used in the amplifier, with each
conducting 50% of the time. It provides
much more efficiency than a Class A amplifier, but sacrifices linearity.
A variation of the Class B configuration,
the Doherty amplifier, was originally used
44

RF Essentials Vol. III

with a pair of vacuum tubes to achieve plitude. Because the envelope changes, in
high efficiency at high power levels. Class theory, an amplifiers supply voltage can
AB combines traits of both Class A and B be raised or lowered dynamically to adapt
approaches. In a Class C amplifier, the effi- to the state of the envelope, conserving
ciency is increased by operating the active power consumed by the amplifier and
devices in conduction less than 50% of the boosting efficiency in the process.
This technique, known as envelope
time, although linearity is further reduced.
In Class D and higher amplifiers, various tracking, is one of a number of techniques
switching approaches are used to further developed over the years to increase amplifier efficiency without
increase efficiency.
degrading linearity. AdLinearity and efficienditional methods include
cy have long been acceptvarious forms of adaped tradeoffs in RF/microtive feedback based on
wave PA design, but now
detecting or predicting
amplifier designers must
the amplifiers distorattempt to optimize both
tion characteristics and
parameters, especially
feedforward techniques,
when handing third-genwhere the amplifiers diseration (3G) and fourthtortion is actually meageneration (4G) signals
with their advanced This RDB2-SC1894 circuit board sured and a signal with
modulation
formats. (25 x 25 mm) surrounds a model the negative values of
More-efficient amplifiers SC1894 third-generation RFPAL amplitude and phase
run cooler than ampli- SoC with all necessary compoare mixed with the amfiers with low efficiency, nents for improving the linearity plifiers signal to cancel
helping to simplify the and efficiency of a PA for small
the distortion.
thermal management of cellular base stations. [Photo
Many of these metha design and minimize courtesy of Scintera (www.
ods can deliver quite
reliability problems.
effective results but, trascintera.com).]
Linearity is of growditionally, have been exing importance in newer communications pensive to implement because of their use
systems that rely on variable-envelope of such components as high-speed data
modulation formats to carry large amounts converters, broadband sensors, and preof data on high-frequency signals. In a sig- cision delay lines. But as new techniques
nal with constant-envelope modulation, are developed and as the integration levels
the information is represented by either and speeds of semiconductor processes
the phase or frequency of the signal. In a such as silicon CMOScontinue to insignal with variable-envelope modulation, crease, many of these amplifier add-on
the information is represented by the am- efficiency boosters can be implemented
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PA EFFICIENCY

in integrated-circuit (IC) form, often as a

single device.
Most of the methods developed to improve amplifier efficiency and linearity involve the use of a dynamic supply voltage
that changes with the signal envelope, as
in envelope tracking, or generating some
form of correction signal with the required amplitude and phase characteristics needed to cancel the amplitude and
phase distortion nominally being added
by the amplifier. The approaches differ by
whether they add the correction signal to
the input of the amplifier or mix it with the
output signal.
FEELING OUT FEEDBACK

For example, predistortion feedback is

based on tracking the intermodulation
(IM) terms created by an amplifier and
feeding a correction signal, with the opposite amplitude and phase characteristics
of the nonlinearities, back to the input of
the amplifier to cancel those variations. In
practice, calculating or predicting the necessary gain and phase variations of the IM
terms is difficult since they can vary with
changes in temperature and bias supply.
Often the correction factors are stored in
memory in lookup tables to facilitate this
feedback approach.
Additional feedback linearization approaches include Cartesian feedback, in
which I and Q signals are fed to the amplifier to essentially tune the amplitude
and phase distortion, and polar feedback,
which uses two wideband control loops
to make amplitude and phase corrections
that are injected to the input of the amplifier. In feedforward techniques, in which a
correction signal is generated from measurements of the amplifiers output signal,
delay lines are used to provide multiple
signal paths, corrected and noncorrected
(which is measured or detected). Implementing delay lines with consistent, repeatable characteristics over time, temperature, and process variations can be
difficult. This has traditionally been one
of the roadblocks to the widespread use of
this amplifier linearization approach.
Any practical implementation of a PA
efficiency/linearity scheme must provide
46

RF Essentials Vol. III

adequate signal bandwidth to support

the wide-bandwidth signals used in modern communications systems. Several
companies have emerged with add-on
solutions for PA designers, in the form of
system-on-chip (SoC) or IC devices. Nujira (www.nujira.com), for example, has
developed power modulator ICs based on
its patented envelope tracking (ET) technology that apply for either high-power
basestation or lower-power handset PAs
(see Microwaves & RF, July 2012, p. 92).
Its Coolteq family of products includes
the Coolteq.H power modulators for PAs
to about 60 W and Coolteq.L ICs for use
in mobile communications handsets.
In a typical application, the ICs dynamically adjust the bias to the PA working
in conjunction with input predistortion
circuitry, to improve both efficiency and
linearity. The firms Coolteq.L ICs, such
as the model NCT-L1100, support channel bandwidths to 20 MHz for use with 4G
Long Term Evolution (LTE) handsets. The
chip, which includes an analog envelope
interface and Mobile Industry Processor
Interface (MIPI) RF front-end (RFFE) control interface, is compatible with multiple
air interface standards.
SURVEYING THE FIELD

To aid PA designers, the company recently

launched the ET Surface Explorer software upgrade to its existing NCT-T9102
RF PA characterization system. It works
with the test hardware to help PA designers visualize how their designs will behave
with ET power supplies. The software is
written to speed the amplifier characterization process by replacing thousands
of repetitive measurements with a single
measurement pass, taking only about two
minutes to acquire the data on a PA circuit
for modeling it under ET operating conditions. The combination of software and
hardware improves measurement accuracy of PA efficiency under dynamic powersupply conditions.
Scintera (www.scintera.com) has developed a family of RF predistortion adaptive linearization (RFPAL) SoC solutions
for improving the efficiency and linearity of cellular-base-station and small-cell

PAs. The firm combines analog and digital

circuitry in their radio-frequency power
amplifier linearizers to produce predistortion linearizationall in compact device
packages with low power consumption
and wide channel bandwidths. Their predistortion solution is relatively simple to
implement and does not require external
host control, like many other PA efficiency/linearity-boosting solutions. Their solution targets Class A/AB amplifiers operating from 0.5 W output power and higher
where predistortion solutions traditionally
have not been used (due to cost), as well as
Doherty amplifiers operating at 10 W output power and higher.
The company recently announced
their model SC1894 third-generation RFPAL SoC for use with PAs in small cell sites
and repeaters (see figure). It incorporates
new features aimed at RF transmitters,
including PA gate biasing, a temperature
sensor, and dual RF power measurement
capabilityusing on-board quad analogto-digital converters (ADCs), quad digital-to-analog converters (DACs), and the
ADCs associated with the RF input and RF
feedback signals. The RFPAL SoC is suitable for operating frequencies from 168 to
4200 MHz and signal bandwidths from 25
kHz to 60 MHz. The SC1894 is housed in a
standard 64-pin, 9 x 9 mm QFN package.
The firms website features an efficiency
calculator that allows visitors to enter
power-consumption values for their own
system to compare the efficiency of their
PA with and without the RFPAL solution.
Improved PA efficiency and linearity
are also important to many military applications. Auriga Microwave (www.aurigamicrowave.com) recently completed a
two-year Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR N08-039) program on
improving the linearization of wide-bandgap amplifiers, including those based on
gallium-nitide (GaN) device technology.
The two-year effort resulted in high-efficiency 30-W PA prototypes aimed at the
US Navys Next Generation Jammer (NGJ)
system. The prototype amplifiers are suitable for a number of electronic-jamming
applications requiring wide bandwidths
and high linearity. MWRF
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JACK BROWNE | Technical Contributor

Preparing For High

Power Levels

Designing circuits and systems for high-power

applications requires imaginationspecifically,
visualizing suitable thermal paths for heat to flow
away from transistors and other sources.

OW MUCH POWER CAN IT HANDLE? That is a question inevitably asked about most components meant
for transmittersand usually for passive components,
such as filters, couplers, and antennas. But the increasing power levels of microwave vacuum tubes, like traveling-wave
tubes (TWTs), and hearty active devices, such as silicon laterally diffused metal-oxide-semiconductor (LDMOS) transistors
and gallium-nitride (GaN) field-effect transistors (FETs), when
mounted in well-conceived amplifier circuits, will
also be limited by the power-handling capabilities of such components as the
connectors and even the printedcircuit-board (PCB) materials.
Knowing the limits of the
different parts that make
up a high-power component or system can
help to answer that
enduring question.
Transmitters
require power, within
limits. Typically, those
limits are set by governing agencies, such
as the United States
Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) for communications standards. But in
the case of ungoverned systems,
such as radar and electronic-warfare
(EW) platforms, the limits will primarily
arise from the electronic components in the system. Every component has a maximum power limit, whether it is an active component, such as an amplifier, or a passive component, such as a
cable or filter. Understanding how power flows through these
components can help when designing circuits and systems to
handle higher power levels.
When current flows through an electric circuit, part of the
electrical energy is converted into heat energy. A circuit han48

RF Essentials Vol. III

dling sufficient current will generate heatparticularly at areas

where resistance is high, such as a discrete resistor. The basic
idea behind setting power limits on a circuit or system is to prevent any rise in temperature that can cause damage to components or materials in the circuit or system with the low operating
temperatures, such as the dielectric materials used in the printed-circuit boards (PCBs). Interruptions in the current/heat flow
through the circuit, such as a loose or poorly soldered connector, can also result in thermal discontinuities or hot spots that
can result in damage or reliability problems. Temperature effects, including differences in the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) among materials, can also cause reliability problems
in high-frequency circuits and systems.
Heat will always flow from an area at a higher temperature to
an area at a lower temperature, and this principle can be used
to conduct heat produced in a high-power circuit away from a
heat-generating source, such as a transistor or TWT. Of course,
the thermal path from a heat source should include a destination composed of a material capable of channeling or dissipating the heat, such as the metal ground plane or a heat sink.
To that end, thermal management in any circuit or system is
best accomplished when it is included at the beginning of a
design cycle.
Materials for managing heat in RF/microwave circuits are
generally compared in terms of their thermal conductivity,
which is measured in terms of applied power per degree of temperature (in Kelvin) per meter of material (W/mK). Perhaps the
most important of these materials for any high-frequency circuit
is the PCB laminate, which tends to have low thermal conductivity. FR4 laminates, for example, are often used in low-cost,
high-frequency circuits, even though they exhibit a typical thermal conductivity of only 0.25 W/mK.
In contrast, copper (deposited on the FR4 as a ground plane
or as circuit traces) has thermal conductivity of 355 W/mK.
Copper has a large capacity for heat flow, while FR4 has almost
negligible thermal conductivity. To prevent hot spots from
building in the copper transmission lines, high-thermal-conductivity paths must be provides from the transmission lines to
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POWER-HANDLING CAPABILITY

mal conductivity. Thinner PCB materials

allow shorter paths to the ground plane,
using plated through holes (PTHs) when
it is possible to connect from a circuit
trace to the ground plane.
Of course, the power-handling capabilities of a PCB are a function of numerous factors, including the width of the
conductors, the ground-plane spacing,
and the dissipation factor (loss) of the
material. In addition, the dielectric constant of the material will determine the
dimensions of the circuitry for a given
desired characteristic impedance, such
as 50 , so that materials with higher
dielectric constant values will allow
circuit designers to reduce the size of
their RF/microwave circuits. That said,
these smaller metal traces will imply the
need for a PCB dielectric material with
higher thermal conductivity for proper
thermal management.
Circuit materials with higher values
of thermal conductivity will exhibit lower
rises in temperature above the ambient
temperature for a given applied power
level than materials with lower values of
thermal conductivity. Unfortunately, FR4
is not unlike many other PCB materials in
having a low value of thermal conductivity. However, the thermal- and powerhandling capabilities of a circuit can be
improved by specifying a PCB material
with somewhat higher values of thermal
conductivity, at least compared to FR4.
For example, although not in the range
of copper, several PCB materials from
Rogers Corp. (www.rogerscorp.com) offer considerably higher thermal conductivity than FR4. RO4350B material has a
thermal conductivity of 0.62 W/mK, while
the firms RO4360 laminate has a thermal
conductivity of 0.80 W/mK. Although not
significant increases, they do represent
two and three times the thermal/power
capacities, respectively, of FR4 laminates
for effective dissipation of RF/microwave
circuit-generated heat. These two materials, which are ideally suited for amplifier
application with their built-in thermal
sources (transistors), both exhibit low
values of coefficient of thermal expansion
(CTE), allowing for minimal dimensional
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RF Essentials Vol. III

changes with temperature.

Many commercial computer-aidedengineering (CAE) software design packages include capabilities for modeling the
thermal flow through an RF/microwave
circuit for a given applied power level
and given set of circuit parameters, including PCB thermal conductivity. These
packages include individual programs,
such as the electromagnetic (EM) simulation tools from Sonnet Software (www.
sonnetsoftware.com), IcePak Software by
Fluent (www.fluent.com), the TAS PCB
software by ANSYS (www.ansys.com),
and Flotherm software by Flomerics
(www.flomerics.com). They also encom-

Many computer-aidedengineering software

design packages
include capabilities for
modeling the thermal
flow through an RF/
microwave circuit.
pass design suites of software tools, such
as the Advanced Design System (ADS)
from Agilent Technologies (www.agilent.
com), CST Microwave Studio from Computer Simulation Technology (CST; www.
cst.com), and AWR Microwave Office
from AWR Corp (www.awrcorp.com).
These software tools can even be used
to study the impact of different operating
environments on RF/microwave circuit
power-handling capabilities, such as the
arcing that can occur at sufficient power
levels at low atmospheric pressure or at
the high altitudes found in aircraft. Such
programs can also improve the powerhandling capabilities of discrete RF/microwave components by modeling the
field distribution of the energy through a
component, such as a coupler or a filter.
Of course, PCB materials are not the
only culprits when it comes to managing
the thermal flow through an RF/microwave circuit or system. Cables and con-

nectors are well known for their power/

heat limitations in high-frequency systems. In a coaxial assembly, a connector
can usually handle more heat/power than
the cable to which it is attached, and different connectors have different power
ratings. For example, a Type-N connector
has a somewhat higher power rating than
an SMA connector with its smaller dimensions. Cables and connectors are rated in
terms of average and peak power capabilities, with peak power equal to V2/Z, where
Z is the characteristic impedance and V is
the peak voltage. A simple estimate for average power rating is to multiply the peak
power rating of a cable assembly by the
duty cycle.
Many cable suppliers such as Astrolab
(www.astrolab.com) have developed proprietary computer programs to calculate
the power-handling capabilities of their
coaxial cable assemblies. Some, such as
Times Microwave Systems (www.timesmicrowave.com), offer free downloadable
calculator programs to predict the powerhandling capability of different types of
their own coaxial cables.
Note that this has been a greatly simplified treatment of a complex topic. It has
not touched on such topics as breakdown
voltages in materials, how a PCBs dissipation factor (loss factor) can impact a circuits power-handling capabilities, the effects on performance of a PCB materials
coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), or
the differences in heating effects between
CW and pulsed energy sources.
Within components, circuits, and
systems, there are many complex phenomena that can affect power-handling
capabilities, including components such
as switches that have open and closed
states that may have different RF/microwave power capacities. In addition to the
software programs, tools available for
thermal analysis offer impressive imaging
capabilities based on infrared (IR) technology, and can be used to safely study
thermal buildup in components, circuits,
and systems. These thermal imagers are
available from various sources, including
FLIR Systems (www.flir.com) and Fluke
(www.fluke.com). MWRF
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RFEssentials

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JACK BROWNE | Technical Contributor

Preparing RF/MW Parts For

Space

PACE HAS BEEN called the final

frontier in both fiction and reality,
and it does represent a challenging
market for many RF/microwave
companies. Components built for use on
orbiting satellites as part of communications links (to give one example) simply
cannot fail during the intended lifetime of
the satellite, which is typically 10 years or
longer. After all, there is no luxury of making a house call for maintenance. Along
with high reliability, there is also the expectation that performance remains at the
highest levels, with minimal degradation,
for at least a decade (see figure).
Ensuring reliability is an essential step
in preparing any RF/microwave component or subsystem for an application in
space, but it is only one of many requirements that must be met before an electronic device can be considered a spacequalified part. Companies pursuing
sales in space must first ensure that their
manufacturing facilities meet the requirements for producing space-qualified componentstypically through a set of guidelines as detailed in the MIL-PRF-38534
Class K standards for commercial and
government spaceflight equipment. The
MIL-PRF-38534 Class K documentation
applies to military specification for microcircuits and multichip modules (MCMs)
for use by the US Department of Defense
(DoD) and other government agencies.
However, MIL-PRF-38534 Class K is
only one such document or guideline for
companies interested in pursuing spacegrade components. Since it is generally true that most companies selling into
space-based applications are also design46

RF Essentials Vol. III

Companies seeking to sell their RF and microwave

electronic products into space must meet a rigid set
of requirements, ensuring the highest reliability for
prolonged periods of service.

NASA technicians evaluate the temperature effects of atmospheric re-entry on electronic

materials. [Photo courtesy of NASA (www.nasa.gov).]

ing and manufacturing parts for military

and aerospace applications, firms that
intend to serve both markets will usually
comply with a number of different specification guidelines. These include military documents MIL-STD-202, MIL-STD883, MIL-STD-790, and MIL-STD-1344,
as well as several NASA (www.nasa.gov)
documents.
The MIL-STD-202 documentation, for
example, covers guidelines for vibration,
thermal shock, and mechanical shock,
while MIL-STD-883 provides details on
salt spray testing, temperature cycling, immersion, barometric pressure, and shock.
In truth, many of these may be more appropriate for maritime applications. But
because the reliability requirements for
space applications are so demanding, a

combination of military standards is typically needed to ensure that a component

or assembly is ready for deep space use.
As an example, SV Microwave (www.
svmicro.com) is a supplier of space-qualified RF/microwave connectors and components. The company has processes and
systems for MIL-STD-202, MIL-STD-790,
and MIL-STD-1344 requirements, and
performs high-reliability (hi-rel) screening for a number of parameters that can
impact reliability in space or even in critical ground-based requirements. Among
these are screening for contact stresses,
separating forces, solderability, and plating adhesion in components and assemblies. In addition, the company has an
approved destructive physical analysis
(DPA) laboratory for evaluating its spaceSubscribe at mwrf.com/magazine
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Visit http://mwrf.com

DESIGNING FOR SPACE

qualified products. Prior to shipment, the

firm can provide documented verification
of any number of key reliability parameters, including adhesion, axial contact retention, contact engaging and separation
forces, solderability, joint destruct torque,
epoxy captivation, and full design review
and verification.
For any company, selling
into space requires a considerable investment in laboratory equipment and training
to use that equipment properly. For example, satcom
component and assembly
supplier MITEQ (www.
miteq.com) relies on five
Class 100,000 clean rooms
and two Class 10,000 clean
rooms to support manufacturing of components and
assemblies for its military
and hi-rel space businesses. In addition to electrical
and environmental test equipment, every
circuit element that goes into an RF/microwave component intended for use in
space must be carefully considered. Parts
that are needed for an oscillator, for instance, must meet the requirements as set
forth by the governments Qualified Products List (QPL). Alternately, when specific
circuit elements are not available with the
proper screened designation, they must
be up-screened through the use of a specification-controlled drawing (SCD).
Military-grade parts may be adequate
for some space applications. By way of
example: For an oscillator, chip resistors
screened to MIL-PRF-55342 military requirements and chip capacitors screened
to MIL-PRF-55681 requirements are readily available for use in military circuits; they
can also provide high reliability for spacebased designs. But when space customers
demand it, the highest-reliability parts,
such as Class T for resistors and Class S for
capacitors must be used.
Although the reliability required of
space-based components is easily associated with the performance needed in
military electronic systems, many spacebased applications are actually commer-

cial. Think of the many satellite-communications (satcom) systems used for

commercial broadcast television services,
telephone services, computer networking,
and other high-speed digital services, not
to mention the Global Positioning System
(GPS) satellites so often used for position
information. To give an idea of
the many thousands of satellites currently in orbit around
the Earth, either active or decaying, EchoStar XVII was
launched this past summer.
Manufacturing a component such as an oscillator for
space requires using the proper materials and following the
proper guidelines. Using standardized circuit elements and
partsfrom such lists as the
QPL, the NASA Parts Selection
List, and the NASA Goddard
Space Flight Center (GSFC)
Preferred Parts Lists (which
are screened for the effects of radiation
in space)can help the overall process
of documenting reliability, but it will also
add to manufacturing costs. And the costs
of components for space far outweigh the
costs of those for terrestrial use.
An RF/microwave component that
has been readied for space use has been
through extensive testing and inspections.
It must be made with space-approved
materials, and even the circuit elements
within the component must be qualified
for use in space. As an example of a spacequalified oven-controlled crystal oscillator (OCXO), model OSC029 from TRAK
Microwave Corp. (www.trak.com) has
been space qualified for at least 10 years of
in-orbit operating life. The S-level OCXO,
which operates at 10.3 GHz, exhibits longterm stability of 1.2 ppm over 10 years,
with outstanding spurious performance
of typically 95 dBc. The phase noise is
a mere 95 dBc/Hz offset 2 kHz from the
carrier. Designed for a space environment,
it is rated for baseplate operating temperatures from 15 to +65C.
Many suppliers of space-grade components and assemblies refer to their track
record of success in space as an assur-

Numerous
military
standards
are typically
applied
to ensure
deep-space
readiness.

48

RF Essentials Vol. III

ance that its products will be 100% reliable when put to work. Dow-Key Microwave (www.dowkey.com), for example,
refers to its 42-year heritage and its use of
a dedicated group for its space products,
with zero failures in its past. Similarly,
Teledyne Cougar (www.teledyne-cougar.
com) points to its 22-year legacy of supplying components for space missionsas
well as its MIL-PRF-38534 Class K certification. Suppliers of miniature passive
components and waveguide assemblies,
respectively, Anaren Microwave (www.
anaren.com) and ARRA, Inc. (www.arra.
com) have also built strong reputations as
space-level component manufacturers.
W.L. Gore & Associates (www.gore.
com) has provided its cable assemblies
to more than 70 satellite programs since
1976, with a 100% failure-free flight record.
EMC Technology (www.emc-rflabs.com)
has even gone as far as creating a spacelevel product working reference sheet,
available for free download on their website, by which customers can review different options for screening their component
orders for space-level requirements.
Finally, given the high price of spacegrade components and assemblies, some
companies have considered ways to cut
costs for their space-level customers without sacrificing reliability. Merrimac Industries (www.merrimacind.com), which has
supplied everything from power dividers
to complete beam-forming networks for
space platforms, has developed a program called Merrimac Space Qualified
Products (MSQP). The MSQP program
was created to reduce the complexity of
procuring RF/microwave components for
space. It builds on Merrimacs heritage of
designing and shipping hi-rel military and
space-qualified components for a large
number of systems and already having
documentation and screening levels set
for those components; in effect, the company has created a list of standard components that are already qualified for use
in space. Customers can select a part from
the MSQP list, or have Merrimac create a
specification for the component they need
based on the MSQP design, process, qualification, and screening guidelines. MWRF
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October 2012 | Microwaves&RF