TSP 262 – Tesla Model Y Indoor Cabin Radar Teardown & Deep Analysis of SoC, Package, Antennas & PCB

May 11, 2025 One comment

In this episode Shahriar takes a close look at the Tesla Model Y Indoor Cabin 60GHz radar module. This deep analysis video covers a lot of ground starting with the mechanical design of the module. The primary PCB is studied with attention to power management, vehicle interfaces, choice of radar SoC chipset, antenna design, isolation & RF routing.

The PCB is further examined using X-Ray fluorescence to confirm the use of silver immersion as a surface finish. Furthermore, leveraging Raman spectroscopy the material composition of the radar radome is also examined. The radar chipset package is also analyzed by using an x-ray image.

The main TI radar SoC is removed from the packaged and after studying the block diagram of the integrated circuits, the bare die is examined under a high power microscope for a silicon design reverse engineering.

I hope to see you at the IEEE IMS & RFIC event in San Francisco, California, USA this year in June 15th, 2025:

https://ims-ieee.org/

And here is a teaser to my Technical Lecture at the IEEE RFIC Conference:

https://rfic-ieee.org/technical-program/technical-lectures?date=2025-06-15

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TSP #261 – Sencore PA-81 Stereo Power Amplifier Analyzer Teardown, Repair & Experiments

April 26, 2025 No comments

-= Description coming soon! =-

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TCP #1 – Electricity to Liquid Oxygen – Tutorial on Pressure Swing Absorption & Stirling Cryocoolers

March 28, 2025 No comments

In this April 1st episode, The Signal Path enters a new era. We are rebranding to The Chemical Path! We are interested in designing a system which consumes only electricity and produces liquid oxygen. There are several fascinating physics and thermodynamic effects involved to achieve this.

This video dives into the various scientific phenomenon and explores the operation of pressure swing absorption oxygen concentrators, ultrasonic oxygen sensors and Stirling cryocoolers in details.

The demonstrated complete system consumes less than 400W while producing liquid oxygen at a steady pace. The beautiful blue liquid oxygen is verified to be paramagnetic and of course an aggressive oxidizer.

Many thanks to Ilya (https://xdevs.com/) and Ben (https://www.youtube.com/@AppliedScience) for their consulting and support.

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TSP #259 – HAROGIC SAE-20 Real-Time 20GHz Portable Spectrum Analyzer Review, Teardown & Experiments

March 16, 2025 No comments

In this episode Shahriar takes a detailed look at the “pocket-sized” HAROGIC real-time 20GHz spectrum analyzer. With its 100MHz of analysis bandwidth and FPGA based signal processing, it is both powered and operates from USB-C ports:

https://rf-instruments.eu/products/sa-series/sae-200/

This review is organized as follows:

00:00 – Introductions
00:36 – Instrument overview, ports and interfaces
02:09 – Performance metrics & data-sheet details
05:39 – Complete teardown with analysis of all RF & digital boards
18:23 – Overall instrument architecture, signal & data paths
19:14 – GUI overview, purity, phase noise measurement, front-end & dynamic range
25:17 – Spurious tone, spectral purity & harmonic rejection in sweep modes
28:18 – Third order intercept, input linearity, IM3 measurement & optimization
32:10 – Real-Time mode, frequency hopping detection, plot persistence & spectrogram
35:58 – AM modulation, pulse/power detection & triggering modes
39:25 – I/Q streaming mode, modulation analysis, power versus time & I/Q versus time
47:49 – Additional features & API interface benefits
48:31 – Concluding remarks

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TSP #258 – TEGAM AVM-2000 100nV – 1000V Null Detector / Nanovoltmeter Repair, Teardown & Experiments

March 8, 2025 No comments

In this episode Shahriar takes a look at a faulty PPM (TEGAM) Null Detector. With its massive dynamic range (10 orders of magnitude!) this instrument is capable of nano-Volt range measurements. Unfortunately the unit is faulty and does not display or measure anything at the input.

The unit requires a battery for operation (6V Lead-Acid) which can be bypassed by using a 7.4V LiPo battery. The unit powers on and the power supply section is fully functional. Detailed block diagrams and schematic analysis of the unit is discussed during the video.

The analog front-end is also verified to be functional through internal measurements and although there is digital communication between the various internal modules, the ADC only transmits a fixed (faulty) data sequence to the front-panel. The fault is traced to be a corrupted firmware which the manufacture does not agree to share.

Thanks to a helpful internet friend, firmware from a working unit is extracted and compared with the faulty instrument. It becomes clear that the corrupted FLASH memory is responsible. After transferring the calibration coefficients to the modified new firmware the unit comes back to life! Several measurements showcase the units capabilities and functionality.

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