TABLE OF CONTENTS Prof. Joy Laskar
Georgia Institute of Technology
Prof. Emmanouil M. Tentzeris
Georgia Institute of Technology
Prof. Jos E. Schutt-Ain
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Prof. Rao R. Tummala
Georgia Institute of Technology
Define and describe RF technology
Describe the anatomy of an RF system
Describe how an RF system, such as a cellular phone, works
Explain the fundamentals of RF
Describe RF packaging requirements and measurements
Summarize and indicate the future
RF is the second technology wave behind the microsystem revolution that is underway. While copper wiring, that formed the backbone of the 20th Century s megabit telecommunications is leading the way to gigabit fiberoptic communications, in the 21st Century it is the RF that, if perfected, can be considered the ultimate communication technology. This is not a trivial task. This chapter introduces the RF technology and its fundamentals.
RF stands for radio frequency. The frequencies falling between 3 kHz and 300 GHz are called radio frequencies, since they are commonly used in radio communication. Table 13.1 shows how the RF spectrum is divided into 8 frequency bands, each of which is 10 times higher in frequency than the one immediately below it. This arrangement makes it easy to remember.
| Band No. | Designation | Frequency | Wavelength | Applications |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | HF (high frequency) | 3 30 MHz | 100 10 m | Telephone, telegraph |
| 8 | VHF (very high frequency) | 30 300 MHz | 10 1 m | TV, FM... |
