Here at Flann, we believe that as time progresses the trend is consistently for Frequency to increase. An increase in frequency supports higher rates of data transfer, and much wider bandwidth than one would see in the traditional telecommunication bands. This is especially true in space without the atmospheric and water vapour absorption that is present at ground level. As wavelength is inversely proportional to frequency, over time the challenge increasingly becomes being able to design a manufacturable product.
At IMS this year we are showcasing some of our range of solutions in WG32/WR3, including our industry standard programmable rotary vane attenuator, our brand-new programmable linear vane attenuator, high-power terminations, and a selection of horn antennas. To connect everything we have our popular formable waveguide along with examples of the traditional fixed approach. To switch between the waveguide paths, in our demonstration, we have two of the highest frequency waveguide switches in the world, capable of up to 330 GHz.
To compliment the tiny waveguide size of WR3 we have also included our FSM-45 flange interface on a selection of our components. At approximately half the diameter of the current 1785.2a flange it allows for greater compactness which is especially important at these frequency ranges where path length has such an effect on performance. The FSM-45 flange is currently being considered for inclusion in the next iteration of the IEEE 1785.2 standard.
The UK National Physical Laboratory has verified the performance of the FSM-45, when compared with the current IEEE 1785.2a flange; the former demonstrating consistently better performance during the assessment. James Skinner from NPL will be presenting a paper at ARFTG on this subject on Friday 12th June.
Finally, we also have a surprise at our stand which includes an inventive way to use our programmable attenuators with the Keysight VNA and VDI frequency extenders. Be sure to stop by to see the Skyline!
