Artech House author Terry Edwards, who wrote Technologies for RF Systems, explains what professionals need to know about radio frequency technologies:
Todays (and tomorrow’s) RF systems – communications networks and radars – embody a complex combination of radio and digital technologies. Most of the radio technology operates at frequencies up to around 6 GHz for communications or approaching 18 GHz for radar systems. Current and near-future 5G networks utilize frequencies up to 6 GHz but signal bit rates for RF connections between base stations now approach tens of Gbps which means technology options are either fiber optics or millimeter-wave (mmWave). mmWave represents the next stage upwards from microwave in terms of frequencies and channels, in practical terms from approximately 20 to above 100 GHz. A range of specific bands are designated between these frequencies. Millimeter-wave systems require special technology such as novel (miniature) flat-panel antennas. Multiple-input/multiple-output (MIMO) is also particularly important. A frequency of 77 GHz has been allocated and adopted for vehicle head-up radars.
For modern radio systems digital modulation techniques have also largely overtaken the earlier analog approaches such as amplitude or frequency modulation (AM and FM). Examples of such digital modulation include nQAM (where ‘n’ can be as high as 1024 i.e. 1024QAM). CDMA (spread-spectrum) modulation is used in several cell-phone networks and some defense systems. Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) is also important in current and proposed systems.
Written for students and engineers new to the subject, “Technologies for RF Systems” explains what modern RF technologies are all about, in design detail. The book was exciting to write and it is very much hoped this text will be informative and indeed exciting to read and use.
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