We are back at the International Microwave Symposium 2023, this year held in San Diego, California!

https://ims-ieee.org/

The industry exhibition event was absolutely huge this year, with the latest showing in microwave, mm-wave & THz components, instrumentations & test solutions. This video covers a tiny fraction of the latest gear on display. The video is organized by vendor:

00:00 – Introductions
00:53 – Rohde & Schwarz: https://www.rohde-schwarz.com/us/
07:36 – Keysight Technologies: https://www.keysight.com/
14:21 – Anritsu: https://www.anritsu.com/en-us/
18:07 – Tabor Electronics: https://www.taborelec.com/
19:33 – LPKF: https://www.lpkfusa.com/
21:12 – Siglent: https://siglentna.com/
23:40 – Eravant: https://www.eravant.com/
27:26 – Junkosha: https://www.junkosha.com/en
30:27 – VDI: https://www.vadiodes.com/en/
31:35 – FormFactor: https://www.formfactor.com/
33:49 – HyperLabs: https://www.hyperlabs.com/
35:01 – Samtec: https://www.samtec.com/
36:36 – QuinStar: https://quinstar.com/
37:43 – MPI Corporation: https://www.mpi-corporation.com/
40:33 – Tektronix: https://www.tek.com/en
41:53 – Pickering: https://www.pickeringtest.com/en-us/
45:20 – Boonton Instruments: https://boonton.com/
48:52 – Holzworth Instrumentation: https://holzworth.com/

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In this episode Shahriar presents a deep dive into mm-Wave frequency divider; in particular static frequency dividers. These blocks are ubiquities in nearly every modern integrated circuits. The principle operation, circuit topologies and limitations are presented with several publications as examples.
The 30GHz static divider is then characterized extensively in both time domain and frequency domain. The measurements includes self-oscillation frequency, output waveform shape, input/output phase-noise relationship and the impact of temperature on self-oscillation frequency.
A detailed module teardown is also presented with focus on packaging techniques as well as closeup of the die. The integrated circuit is analyzed and the relationship between the schematic and layout is established.

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In this episode Shahriar reviews the Saker fiber-optically isolated active voltage probe XFVP. The fully galvanically isolated probe can reject common-mode signals in the tens of thousands of volts range. Signals with fast rising common-mode can also be rejected thanks to its high bandwidth of beyond 250MHz. Information about the Saker probe can be found here:

https://saker-mv.com/fiber-isolated-voltage-probe/

This review is organized as follows:

00:00 – Introduction & optical probe overview, principle of operation, dividers and accessories
05:07 – Full teardown of the probe head, probe body and 500x attenuator box
09:28 – Differential probe versus an optically isolated probe architecture
11:22 – Excess noise, SNR, dynamic range, THD and auto-calibration experiments
18:13 – Measured bandwidth of probe, S-parameters, gain ripple, phase response and group delay
19:47 – Measuring a GaN switching behavior with 400V of common-mode signal swing
27:03 – Concluding remarks

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In this episode Shahriar takes a look at a pair of Tektronix TCP0030 current probes which fail the degauss function. The principle theory of the probe is discussed as well as the teardown of the probe head.
The failure is traced to a disconnected Hall effect sensor inside the transformer assembly. Unfortunately the assembly is fully potted and cannot be disassembled without destroying the part. A destructive disassembly shows the unique and intricate design of the transformer module and ultra thin embedded Hall effect sensor. Although neither of the probes could be repaired, the teardown and analysis provides insight in to the probe operation and typical failure point.

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In this episode Shahriar takes a look at a high-speed driver module intended for coherent applications. The Mach-Zehnder driver circuit can reach speeds of 43Gb/s and provide up to 8Vpp into a differential modulator. The ASIC is realized in an InP HBT process and manufactured more than 21 years ago! The teardown shows the interface design as well as detailed circuit analysis & ASIC architecture.

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