Evaluation Engineering - 5

Air Force. "With the SmartCan,
IAF can replace several obsolete test sets with a single test
solution that is smaller, easier
to use, and still provides more
test capabilities than all the
obsolete test sets it replaces."
Incorporating advanced
measurement capabilities to
support new and Smart munitions and armament, the
MTS-3060A has the capacity to
grow as new and more complex
weapon systems are added to
the inventory. The SmartCan
is currently deployed in over
12 countries on multiple aircraft and utilized by the U.S.
Air Force Test Pilot School as
a Smart weapons simulator for
JDAM and AMRAAM.

Electronics manufacturers
report slowing growth
According to responses to IPC's
2019 Pulse of the Electronics
Industry survey, growth of the
electronics industry is slowing,
though the industry's outlook
is still generally positive, IPC
reports.
More than 80 companies
responded to the survey, and
reported global third-quarter
sales growth that averaged
3.0%, the lowest level since
IPC began its quarterly survey
in 2017.
Q4 2019's composite score
for the direction of the business
environment fell to its lowest
level since 2017, barely on a
positive note. Present scores
for Europe and the Americas
turned negative this quarter.
Although sales, orders, and
profit margins were positive,
labor, material costs, recruiting

inventory, and order backlogs
moved in a negative direction.
The industry's expected direction in the next six months
remained generally optimistic,
with all business indicators
looking positive. Among the
industry segments, PCB fabricators are the most optimistic
about the next six months.
Overall, however, the sixmonth-outlook score continued to weaken compared to
the first three quarters of this
year. This indicates that the
industry expects its health to
remain generally good through
the first quarter of 2020 despite
some slowing.
The respondents' outlook
for the next 12 months remains positive but is down
substantially from previous
quarters. While a majority of
respondents in all segments described the 12-month business
outlook as very or somewhat
positive, only PCB fabricators
were unanimous in reporting a
positive outlook. The composite scores on the business outlook for the next 12 months are
positive in all regions except
Asia, where the score declined
to neutral (0 on the index). The
uncertainty of trade relations
between the U.S. And China
is a contributing factor to the
lackluster 12-month outlook
for respondents in Asia.
A ranking of opportunities that will drive the industry's future business growth
showed that the Internet of
Things (IoT) and smart systems is seen as the number
one driver, followed closely
by growing markets and 5G/
high-speed communications.
Defense and aerospace topped

the list of growing vertical markets cited by the respondents.
Medical device and LED lighting markets were also cited.
Respondents also ranked a
list of major concerns about
conditions in the business
environment in terms of their
impact on future business
growth. Economic uncertainty
is the leading concern. Asked
about conditions or trends that
are significantly increasing
their costs, respondents predominantly cited the tight labor market and trade conflicts.
Pulse of the Electronics
Industry is a global surveybased data service from IPC
that provides a quarterly report on the health of the industry and its outlook for the
coming year. The quarterly
report shows what factors are
driving or limiting growth,
and how the outlook differs in
various regions and segments
of the industry. The confidential surveys are open to all in
management positions in the
electronics industry. Survey
participants receive the report
on the quarter's results.

Sierra Wireless
selects R&S ATS1800C
test chamber for 5G
NR FR2 testing
Rohde & Schwarz has announced that IoT solutions
provider Sierra Wireless has
selected the compact antenna
test range (CATR)-based R&S
ATS1800C for mmWave frequencies (FR2) testing.
The transportable solution
from Rohde & Schwarz features a state-of-the-art golden CATR reflector with rolled
edges and a smooth surface
to minimize scattering and to
provide precise measurement
results as required for operation at high frequencies. Test
and measurement is moving

from conducted testing to
over-the-air (OTA) testing,
especially in 5G NR due to the
increased frequency range.
One challenge of OTA testing
is to maintain a compact test
chamber size while providing
a large quiet zone (QZ), or useable measurement area, in a
wide frequency range. Rohde
& Schwarz developed the R&S
ATS1800C to combine all this,
meeting current and upcoming
requirements for 5G NR OTA

testing. The R&S ATS1800C
is a turnkey, high-end chamber with a small footprint
of only 1.3 m2. Thanks to its
movable design, it is highly
f lexible and transportable.
The solution provides a large
quiet zone of 30 cm, fulfilling
3GPP 5G NR conformance test
requirements.
With its high shielding efficiency, the R&S ATS1800C
is designed to provide a
trouble-free environment for
uninterrupted measurements
of 5G antennas, modules and
devices. A unique characteristic of the R&S ATS1800C is
its gold CATR reflector, transforming the incoming spherical wave front to a plane wave.
Manufacturing the reflector
requires processes that are
accurate in the micrometer
range.
The R&S ATS1800C supports
the testing of devices weighing
up to 8 kg, which makes it well
suited for testing a variety of
active or passive DUTs.

FEBRUARY 2020 EVALUATIONENGINEERING.COM

5
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Evaluation Engineering

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