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 Newsletter
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May 2003 edition of the Amphenol RF Connection v 2.1
In this issue:
Amphenol RF expands its product offering to include the new FAKRA II
Complete WLAN solutions from Amphenol
Amphenol RF continues its quality focus
Dave’s Q & A: How do you test for PIM?
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Amphenol RF expands its product offering to include the new FAKRA II
The Amphenol RF Group introduces our new FAKRA II Connector Series. Focusing on our customer demands from the Telematics marketplace, Amphenol offers an extension of our current FAKRA I Connector Series, that not only continues the highest of product integrity and product performance, but now includes several cost saving benefits for our customers as well as further enhanced product design offerings.
FAKRA II meets and exceeds USCAR 17 and 18 specifications, in addition to exceeding FAKRA specification criteria. This connector series utilizes an SMB contact interface, enclosed in a plastic housing with multiple keyway configurations in accordance with USCAR 17 and 18, as well as FAKRA specification callouts. The
FAKRA II Series has a frequency range of DC - 4Ghz, with an insertion loss of less than .2db at 2 Ghz.
The FAKRA II accommodates several cable groups including RG 316, 174, 58, 188, 178 and the most recent addition of cable group RG 62. There are 12 different color coded keyways in accordance to USCAR specifications, for both mechanical and visual keyway indicators.
NEW additions to the FAKRA II series include SMT PCB, 360-degree R/A Jacks, Dual R/A PCB, Die-Cast R/A PCB and the accommodation of RG 62 cable sizes. The
FAKRA II also has a smaller connector profile vs FAKRA connectors now offered in the marketplace, enabling greater ease for routing of completed cable assemblies thru those small areas in a vehicle during cable installation.
While the FAKRA II continues to meet and exceed all USCAR and FAKRA electrical and mechanical specification requirements, the FAKRA II has also been designed to reflect LOWER PRODUCT COST and LOWER INSTALLED COST SAVINGS for our customers. This has been achieved thru coordination with our very large customer base and their input, reflecting elimination of internal connector componentry and material updates...all leading to LOWER SYSTEM COST.
Amphenol RF has global connector and cable assembly capabilities in China, Mexico, Europe as well as the United States. All of our RF divisional manufacturing sites are in process for completing or have already received QS 9000 certification. This global positioning offers our customers the flexibility to have an Amphenol site nearby for short product lead-times.
For further information regarding our FAKRA II Series or any other automotive RF connector products, please visit the FAKRA SMB product page or contact our Amphenol RF Automotive Team.
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Complete WLAN solutions from Amphenol
Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) are growing rapidly at both the consumer and enterprise level and come in a number of flavors. The majority of the equipment on the WLAN market today is 802.11b. 802.11b operates in the unlicensed 2.4 GHz band and has a maximum data rate of 11 Mbps. A competing technology is that of 802.11a. 802.11a offers 54 Mbps operating in the unlicensed 5GHz bands, but has reduced range. 802.11g is the future of the market. It offers the same data rates as 802.11a, but the increased distance of 802.11b. 802.11g also operates in the 2.4 GHz band and is backwards compatible with 802.11b equipment. Dual and tri-band equipment is available that provides interoperability with more than one of the standards.
Amphenol's AMC product line is a family of connectors designed to meet the needs of the WLAN marketplace. AMC connectors are low profile (2.5mm off the board), offer an extremely small board footprint (3mm x 3mm) and have easy snap-on/snap-off mating. With performance up to 6GHz, the AMC line is intended for use with the entire group of 802.11a/b/g equipment. AMC plugs are available only as cable assemblies, with the option of a double-ended jumper, a single-ended pigtail, or an AMC plug to an alternate connector (MMCX, SMA, etc.). AMC adapters are available to reverse polarity TNC, BNC and SMA.
The AMC line combines with the rest of the Amphenol portfolio to support the entire WLAN infrastructure, including routers, switches, access points, PCMCIA cards, PCIA cards, antennas, mini-PCI, laptop manufacturers and much more.
For more information on our entire AMC product line, please check out our AMC product page and brochure or browse our other product families.
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Amphenol RF continues its quality focus
In April Amphenol RF's Danbury headquarters received their ISO:9001:2000 upgrade. This better reflects the Amphenol RF process approach to all aspects of our business.
At the same time, our Nogales Mexico facility completed their upgrade to a QS-9000 registration. This complements our existing Shenzhen, China and Tainan, Taiwan facility QS-9000 registrations. During the next year all QS-9000 registered locations will pursue the new TS-16949 upgrade as required by the automotive industry.
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Q: How do you test for PIM?
A: In previous issues I introduced you to Passive Intermodulation Distortion (PIM). I discussed basic concepts, its causes in connectors and cable assemblies, and how to prevent it from becoming a problem in your system. In this issue, I will discuss how we test for PIM.
As you will recall, PIM is only generated when there are 2 or more signals present on a transmission line, so obviously, we need 2 signal generators. The power levels present in a typical base station are much higher than those that are at the output of a signal generator, so we must amplify these signals to the proper levels. High power (20 watts or more) amplifiers are very expensive and at Amphenol RF we have 4 amplifiers. Two for the 900 Mhz range and two for the 1700-1900 range. In order to combine the two amplified signals, we feed them into a device called a diplexer which is basically a signal combiner. The single, combined output of the diplexer is then fed into a duplexer which is a device that is similar to a power divider with very narrow band filters. The cable assembly or connector under test is then attached to the output of the duplexer and terminated with a low PIM load. At Amphenol RF we manufactured or own termination consisting of a very low PIM Amphenol RF connector attached to a 100 meter long reel of .141 conformable cable. This provides a load that can handle the power level required and generates PIM at levels below -135 dBm
At this point, there are 2 alternative ways of measuring the actual PIM signal. Reflected and transmitted. The PIM that is generated in the Device Under Test (DUT) is propagated in both the forward and reverse direction. The advantage of the transmitted method is that the measured value will be relatively flat over the frequency range so sweeping is not necessary as compared to the reflected method which will phase in and out if you are measuring a relatively long cable assembly. This necessitates sweeping in order to confirm you are seeing the maximum PIM in the test frequency range. The disadvantage of the transmitted method is that it requires a second duplexer (more expensive) and is prone to reflecting harmonics of the incident signal since it is not matched at the higher frequencies at which the harmonics are generated. The PIM signal is then fed through a bandpass filter into a low noise amplifier (LNA) and measured on a spectrum analyzer.
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