Specs for 5G NR release-15 have been finalized and plans call for product introductions this year. Sheri DeTomasi | Keysight Technologies, Inc. The development of 5G standards and their commercial rollout appears to be on a fast track. Mobile operators and network equipment makers are conducting field trials and the first smartphones are expected out […]
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Test instruments tackle 5G
The high frequencies involved in 5G will force a re-think of how to go about characterizing circuits and systems. Adnan Khan | Anritsu Co. Engineers responsible for designing and manufacturing 5G chipsets, devices, and systems have more than enough challenges. From a technical standpoint, they must deliver high bandwidth, low latency, and other performance benchmarks. […]
Will 5G be lethal?
Leland Teschler, Executive Editor Peruse a certain kind of website these days and you’ll find warnings about the lethality of RF transmissions in the frequency ranges slated for 5G networks. One site quotes Devra Davis, director of the Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology of the U.S. National Research Council, who warns that our sweat […]
Fluke test tools and protecting against arc flash
Fluke Corp. has manufactured electrical test and measurement instruments for decades, and these instruments have been well-known for accuracy, durability and great user-friendly interfaces. Maintaining those qualities, Fluke is now emphasizing electrical safety. This emphasis is apparent in Fluke’s new line of electricians’ hand tools, which are designed and built with the idea that after […]
Basics of cavity resonators
Experimenters beware! If you think it might be instructive to dismantle a microwave oven and power up the magnetron to make a space gun, don’t do it. A microwave gun (called a magnetron) in a state other than as manufactured has numerous potential hazards. (Nevertheless, you can find a lot of YouTube videos describing exactly […]
The difference between scanning electron microscopes and tunneling scanning electron microscopes
Compared to an optical microscope, the electron microscope achieves far greater resolution and magnification by taking advantage of the wave aspect of electrons. An electron’s wavelength is typically 1/100,000 that of visible light. Resolutions of 50 pm and 10 million-X magnification have been achieved, far better than the 200-mm resolution and 2,000X magnification of a […]
The difference between CCD and CMOS image sensing
Charge-coupled devices (CCDs) and complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology have been in fierce yet friendly competition. Fierce because valuable market share is contested, friendly because the rival digital camera technologies have much in common. It is ironic that the more-costly CCD sensor is used in the most advanced astrophotography instruments and also in low-end point-and-shoot cameras, […]
Gallery: Interesting instruments on display at PCIM Europe
PCIM Europe is often proclaimed to be the world’s leading exhibition and conference for power electronics, intelligent motion, renewable energy, and energy management. Recently finishing up in Nuremberg, the exhibition floor of PCIM featured over 500 booths. Here are some of the more notable test & measurement we saw in touring the event. NEXT PAGE: […]
Testing PV inverters
A photovoltaic, or PV, inverter converts the dc output of a solar cell or array into ac that can feed directly into the electrical grid (Grid Tie) or be used by a local electrical grid (Off-Grid). Solar PV inverters have special functions adapted for use with photovoltaic arrays, including maximum power point tracking (MPPT) and […]
Tools for optimizing circuit bias
If a semiconductor or vacuum tube is to accurately reproduce or amplify signals on its input, it must have on its input a non-time-varying dc voltage, i.e. dc bias, the purpose of which is to keep the device in its linear operating range. Otherwise, the input signal to be reproduced may drive the device beyond […]