RF Wireless System Design Fundamentals

Course 063

Summary:

This three-day course combines theory with real-life examples to provide participants with a complete foundation in digital communication techniques and their effects on RF circuit parameters, to help them close the gap between traditional RF engineering design and the needs of modern communication systems.

Learning Objectives:

Upon completing the course, the participant will be able to:

• State digital wireless communication system concepts and performance limitations.
• Analyze system degradation due to RF components.
• Develop wireless communication system budget profiles.
• Calculate propagation lossess and link budgets.
• Assess cost vs. performance issues.
• Evaluate the performance of differing RF wireless system architectures.

Target Audience:

Professionals required to work in high frequency domains for the first time, as well as seasoned veterans, will benefit from this comprehensive overview of practical design techniques. An electrical engineering background (BSEE or equivalent practical experience) is recommended, as well as a familiarity with complex numbers.

Outline:

Day One

RF Wireless Services
• Cellular telephone • Personal communications systems • Market overview
System Design Fundamentals
• Historical development of radio receiver architectures • Digital wireless communication requirements : methodologies, Eb/No vs. SNR, BER vs. noise, bandwidth limitations
RF System Design Considerations
• Noise figure • Receiver sensitivity, desensitization and blocking • Dynamic range • Intermodulation distortion (third order intercept point IP3) • Power output and spectral efficiency • System limitations
Day Two
RF Components Requirements for Wireless Systems
• PLL noise (dBc/Hz, RMS) • Fractional dividers (phase noise improvement) • Loop bandwidth for optimum noise performance • Effect of phase noise in RF communications
Modulators
• Digital modulation techniques : BPSK, QPSk, OQPSK, power efficiency vs. spectral efficiency, linear amplification requirements
Mixers
• Properties and characteristics : conversion gain/loss, noise figure, RF/IF isolation, LO/IF isolation, distortion, power consumption • Mixer comparison table
Amplifiers
• Large signal : power output vs. efficiency, gain and phase requirements, nonlinearity issues (EVM), intermodulation distortion (IMD), spectral regrowth • True dynamic range

Day Three

Filters
• Terminology • Types • Responses • Amplitude/Phase distortion (group delay) • Design fundamentals • Effect of distortion and drift in RF communication systems
Antenna Types
Systematic Analysis of Transceiver Design
• Specifications • Block diagrams • Small signal analysis (budget profile)
Propagation Losses
• Free space path loss • Reflection and scattering loss • Multipath • Rayleigh fading models

Subject Areas Covered

RF Systems Integration/Transceiver Architecture

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