Signal Generation and Analysis of Millimeter-Wave Frequency
Application Notes
The aerospace and defense industry is increasingly turning to millimeter-wave (mmWave) frequencies for use in applications ranging from imaging Radar to wideband communications. A key reason for this transition is that few people use these frequencies, making spectrum widely available. And, since there is more spectrum at mmWave frequencies, there is also more capacity. Other attributes making these frequencies appealing are atmospheric windowing and reduced aperture size. The mmWave frequencies also enable smaller arrays to be built with enough radiated power to be used in applications like small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) platforms, satellite communication and ground Moving Target Indicator (MTI) Radar. While the use of these frequencies clearly offers a number of critical advantages, those benefits can only be realized with careful planning and system engineering.
This application note presents some of the general system analysis challenges engineers face when testing a mmWave system, along with relevant upconversion and downcoversion procedures that can be used to help overcome these challenges. Additionally, it presents a real-world mmWave test system that can be used for the generation and analysis of mmWave signals. It also details some of the key considerations today’s engineers need to be aware of to ensure the best possible performance from their wide bandwidth test systems in the mmWave frequency range.