IMS 2024 roundup: RF components - 5G Technology World

By Martin Rowe | July 19, 2024

Washington, DC — The International Microwave Symposium (IMS), which took place here in June 2024, featured a wide array of RF, microwave, and mmWave components. These components range from passive connectors and waveguides to amplifiers, switches, filters, and data converters. In general, these components make their way into military communications systems or commercial wireless networks. Some components find their way into automated test equipment. Many of the passive components, particularly those aimed at military applications, appear year after year with occasional new products or updates. Active components, however, change more frequently. EE World highlights a few of the active and passive components on display at IMS 2024.

Using its Apollo MXFE, Analog Devices demonstrated spectrum analysis for the so-called FR3 frequency band. FR3, should the telecom industry get to use it, covers approximately 7 GHz to 24 GHz. This demonstration uses the company’s Apollo MXFE and covers 6 GHz to 16 GHz. The AD9084 Apollo MxFE is a quad, 16-bit, 28 Gsample/sec RF DAC and a quad, 12-bit, 20 Gsa/sec RF ADC.

Menlo Micro, maker of what it calls the “Ideal switch,” exhibited its products that now reside in RF switches and on load boards for semiconductor test systems. Operating at up to 20 GHz, Menlo Micro’s switches are used for testing high-speed serial buses such as PCIe6, Ethernet, and DDR memory.

Engineers at Molex went out of their way to maximize the use of the company’s connectors, and not just RF connectors, for testing applications.

Powercast showed wireless charging. Here, the company used 915 MHz to provide power for LEDS. They company says that its RF-to-DC converters can operate at frequencies up to 6 GHz.

pSemi focused on its PE42548 SP4T RF Switch. The device operates at frequencies from 9 kHz to 30 GHz at temperatures up to 105°C. Applications include semiconductor test and measurement. “Engineers want consistency, part-to-part and over a part’s lifetime,” said pSemi’s Payman Rodd.

Quantic Eulex exhibited its Eulex Gap Capacitors in 7XR packages. The company claims that these capacitors can achieve 20x higher capacitance values for a given area than other capacitors. A company spokesperson at IMS told EE World that this technology can achieve 1400 pF in a package that traditionally could hold just 84 pF and 68 pF. Quantic Eulex has produced a video explaining the technology behind these capacitors.

Although Rosenberger features RF connectors at IMS, the company also exhibited aa magnetic RJ-45 Ethernet connector. The magnets allow for quick disconnects. The quick connect and disconnect cables were designed for military/aerospace applications.

At IMS 2024, Samtec assembled a system sending data at 24 Gbps over a 73 GHz carrier modulated using 256QAM. The demonstration includes cables, connectors, a flexible waveguide, and the company’s glass-core technology on transmit and receive radios.

Spectrum Control introduced a family of small RF filters in surface-mount, BGA packages that cover 500 MHz to 10 GHz. The company uses wafer-scale manufacturing on glass substrates.

The company showcased its 4 GHz IF filter, MMG-4000-2000-B, available in a 2.6 mm × 5.4 mm (0.100” × 0.210”) BGA package. Its pass-band covers 3 GHz to 5 GHz with a mid-band insertion loss of 2.2 dB and group delay of 0.8 ns over a temperature range of -55°C to 125°C. Stop-band suppression is greater than 60 dBc from DC to 2.5 GHz and 5.8 GHz to 15 GHz.

French company Wupatec designs RF power amplifiers, DSPs, and provides 5G test services. As IMS 2024, Wupatec partnered with AMD. The video below shows a demonstration of a two-stage Doherty Amplifier operating at 3.3 GHz to 4.2 GHz. The demonstration uses two 100-MHz channels with 400 MHz in between.

IMS 2025 will take place on June 15-20 in San Francisco.

Also see IMS 2024 roundup: test equipment.