AUTHORS: Mauro Marchetti – Anteverta Microwave B.V., Delft, The Netherlands
PUBLICATION HISTORY: First published in the September 2010 issue of Microwaves and RF magazine and republished in this form (with permission) in October 2010 by Maury Microwave Corporation.
ABSTRACT: The current trend towards increased data rates in mobile services has direct implications for the power amplifiers operating in these systems. One response to this has been seen in the application of mixed-signal techniques to extend the capabilities of traditional active load-pull setups. This article presents a novel system that provides an unprecedented measurement speed, high dynamic range and is currently the only system that can handle communication standard compliant signals that are truly wideband, such as multicarrier W-CDMA. The ability to eliminate losses and electrical delay, while being completely free in defining the source and load reflection coefficients versus frequency, allows perfect mimicking of in-circuit situations, making the system a tool of fundamental importance for the RF power amplifier developer.