Short Range Wireless
Figure 2. 5G IC supply chain
that are used for cellular infrastructure are close in specification and function to what is required for the defence and instrumentation industry. It’s this growth of readily available ICs and test solutions, enabling a fast time to a final product, that is significantly de-escalating the level of threats in the mmWave frequencies for the defence industry.
Analog Devices helps to enable multiple industries feeling the 5G effect
Figure 3. HMC863A measured gain (left) and OIP3 (right) vs. temperature The 5G effect on ICs
The world today is dependent on mobile communications. The core components that make up these systems are the ICs that route the data through the networks. We can see that each aspect of the IC supply chain is adapting and evolving. Starting with the foundry processes available to the final test solutions of those products, we see significant innovation in the technology supporting these products.
The IC design evolves as new process technology becomes available. With new functionality available in one process node, the IC designer is able to combine certain features into one product or extract a higher level of performance from the core transistors than was previously
possible. These trends ultimately lead to chips that are more integrated and more easily deployed. Also attractive, as we expand to mmWave frequencies, is the ability to take advantage of low-cost packaging, which enables easier assembly. Traditional defence assemblies at mmWave frequencies have been a chip-and-wire assembly, which translates to a small metal housing where chips are wire bonded to each other which is expensive and not a high-volume method. Increased integration into smaller packages with increased performance makes surface-mount assembly much more attractive. Test solutions such as the over-the-air test have become a reality for phased array antennae and their ICs at 28GHz
Figure 4. ADPA7005 measured saturated power (left) and OIP3 (right) vs. temperature
and 39GHz. These test solutions are becoming much more affordable, smaller, and available off the shelf, which greatly expands the number of vendors that can offer a full antenna solution to measure the final product. Phased array antennas have migrated from a technology that mainly defence companies could explore to one that is becoming mainstream. Not only does it allow for the telecommunication companies targeting 5G opportunities to take advantage of this new technology, but to better defend against emerging defence threats as well.
The result is many more mmWave products available in the industry that can be deployed in communications, and in defence applications. The products
The products for the telecommunications market tend to be narrower frequency bands where performance can be optimized more easily. The defence industry often desires a wide bandwidth solution as there are multiple frequencies from which a threat can originate without advanced knowledge.
One example of a power amplifier (PA) used in 28GHz 5G telecommunications infrastructure is the HMC863ALC4, covering 24GHz to 29.5GHz and supplying greater than 0.5W of RF power. The plots of performance are shown in Figure 3. Analog Devices has developed solutions for the defence and instrumentation market, such as the ADPA7005, covering 20GHz to 44GHz. The ADPA7005 supports over an octave of operational bandwidth and provides a saturated output power of greater than 1W over the band of operation. Additionally, the high TOI of over 40dBm is ideal for measuring or generating highly modulated input signals (Figure 4). The advancements in telecommunications networks have generated a reaction in peripheral industries that will unfold in the years to come. At the centre of this migration is the need for more information in the form of data that is likely to create new weapons that will never physically strike an object. The applications in today’s world are moving higher in frequency and it is only beginning.
www.analog.com 44 November 2022 Components in Electronics
www.cieonline.co.uk
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