Abstract: Various illustrative embodiments pertain to a signal quality evaluation system having a decision feedback equalizer (DFE) and a signal quality evaluator. The DFE receives an input signal containing symbols that represent digital data and uses the symbols to generate multiple detection thresholds. Each detection threshold is one of several detection thresholds that can be generated by the DFE by processing one or more symbols present in the input signal prior to a current clock cycle of a clock that is recovered from the input signal. The signal quality evaluator uses the detection thresholds provided by the DFE to detect transitions in the input signal. The signal quality evaluator may execute jitter measurements and/or time interval error (TIE) measurements by evaluating the transitions in the input signal.

Abstract: A method for controlling a screen in a data processing system to generate displays that include portions of an underlying scene is disclosed. The method includes displaying on the screen a first displayed scene, detecting a long touch gesture, and displaying a second scene on the screen. The first displayed scene is characterized by a first magnification and a first offset relative to the underlying scene. The second displayed scene includes a different portion of the underlying scene and is characterized by a second magnification that is different from the first magnification. In one aspect of the invention, the second displayed scene is characterized by a second offset that is determined by the long touch gesture, and the second offset depends on the first displayed scene and the long touch gesture.

Abstract: Radio frequency (RF) receivers and methods to spread spectral energy of spurious responses of mixers over a frequency band are disclosed. For example, a receiver includes first and second mixers, and first and second variable frequency oscillators (VFOs). The first mixer is configured to receive an RF signal and provide an intermediate frequency (IF) signal. The second mixer is coupled with the first mixer and configured to receive the IF signal and provide a baseband signal. The first VFO is coupled with the first mixer and configured to provide a first angle modulated LO signal. The second VFO is coupled with the second mixer and configured to provide a second angle modulated LO signal. The first and second mixers provide a stable frequency downconversion.

Abstract: A switching digital-to-analog converter (DAC) includes a logic gate for receiving a digital input signal having rising and falling edges defining an input pulse width, and outputting an offset input signal having rising and falling edges defining a mismatched pulse width different from the input pulse width due to relative movement of the rising and falling edges in response to a voltage offset introduced by the logic gate. A DC voltage source provides a direct current (DC) calibration signal, and a summer adds the DC calibration signal and the offset input signal to compensate for the voltage offset introduced by the logic gate, and to provide a corrected input signal. A unit DAC receives the corrected input signal, and selectively switches current to an output of the switching DAC in response to voltage values of the corrected input signal to provide an analog output.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for measuring the properties of a DUT characterized by a signal gain applied to an input signal to that DUT and a DUT noise spectrum introduced by that DUT is disclosed. An apparatus includes first and second measurement channels and a controller. The first and second measurement channels are characterized by gains and noise spectrums that are different for the different channels and generate first and second measurement signals. The controller measures an average value of a product of the first and second measurement signals when an input signal is applied to the input of the DUT, the controller providing a measure of the signal to noise ratio of the output of the DUT, independent of the noise spectrums in the first and second measurement channels. Four channel embodiments reduce the amount of calibration needed to measure the gain and noise spectrum of the DUT.

Abstract: An MPAC OTA test system and method are provided that can be used to perform radiated testing of 5G BSs and 5G UEs. The arrangement and number of active probe antennas in the anechoic chamber can be selected based at least in part on a simulation of the channel model of the RC emulator to improve testing while also reducing the overall number of probe antennas that are needed and reducing the channel resources of the RC emulator of the MPAC OTA test system, thereby allowing the overall complexity and cost of the MPAC OTA test system to be reduced.

Abstract: A coaxial transmission line, e.g. a coaxial cable, includes an inner electrical conductor, an outer electrical conductor, a dielectric region between the inner electrical conductor and the outer electrical conductor, and an electrically thin resistive layer within the dielectric region and concentric with the inner electrical conductor and the outer electrical conductor. The electrically thin resistive layer is a resistive layer configured to be transparent to a subtantially transverse-electromagnetic (TEM) mode of transmission, while absorbing higher order modes of transmission.

Abstract: A coaxial connector locking bracket supports a connection between a coaxial connector and a corresponding mating connector. The locking bracket includes a locking member at one end configured to engage a coupling nut of the coaxial connector and an attachment at an opposite end configured to fix a location of the locking bracket relative to the coaxial connector. The fixed location of the locking bracket is to prevent the coupling nut from rotating about an axis of the coaxial connector. The locking bracket further includes a body connected between the locking member and the attachment.

Abstract: A test system is provided that for testing base stations (BSs) and user equipment (UE) that includes a radio channel (RC) emulator having a dynamically-variable channel model that is configured to be dynamically varied in accordance with beam indices received in the RC emulator from the BS and/or the UE, depending on implementation scenario and on whether the BS or the UE is the DUT. The beam indices are used by the BS or US to obtain antenna element weights that are used by analog beam former circuits of the BS or UE, respectively, to weight their antenna elements to cause time-variant antenna beam patterns to be formed by their antenna arrays, which are modelled by the dynamically-variable channel model to generate time-variant signals. The RC emulator performs emulation operations and outputs faded time-variant signals for use by the BS or UE in evaluating characteristics of the DUT.

Abstract: Generally, in accordance with the various illustrative embodiments disclosed herein, a homodyne optical interferometer can include a multi-phase beam combining system that receives a composite beam from an optical beam guidance system and uses a diffraction grating to produce a diffracted plurality of light beam members. Each of the diffracted plurality of light beam members is propagated through a birefringent optical element that imposes a differential phase shift on each member based on polarization and differing optical path lengths. In one example implementation, the birefringent optical element can be a parallel plate optical element arranged at an angle with respect to a light-propagation axis of the multi-phase beam combining system and in a second example implementation, the birefringent optical element can be a multifaceted optical element having a first planar external surface that is sloped with respect to an opposing external planar surface.

Abstract: A circuit for digital-to-analog conversion includes a first digital-to-analog converter (DAC), a second DAC, and an output node. The first DAC provides charges from multiple first charge sources segmented into a first group for most significant bits of a digital input to the first DAC and a second group for least significant bits of the digital input. Dither is both added to the digital input to the first DAC and used as sole digital input to the second DAC. Analog output from the second DAC is subtracted from analog output of the first DAC at the output node so as to cancel the dither added to the first DAC.

Abstract: A method for operating a display in a data processing system to provide a view of a portion of a data array on a display screen is disclosed. The method includes providing a first display window characterized by a first offset, a first horizontal gain, and a first vertical gain and receiving a feature input from a user indicating a selected feature in the first display window. The data processing system automatically provides a second display window characterized by a second offset and a second horizontal gain and a second vertical gain. The second offset, the second horizontal gain and the second vertical gain are chosen such that the feature is at a predetermined location in the second display window and the second horizontal gain and second vertical gain are chosen such that the selected feature occupies a predetermined portion of the second display window.

Abstract: A method is provided for controlling an FM-AFM including a cantilever having a resonant frequency and an excitation system configured to oscillate the cantilever in response to a drive signal. The method includes determining latency of the excitation system; receiving a deflection signal indicating a deflection of a cantilever tip; mixing the deflection signal with a first sine signal output by a PLL indicating a frequency shift of a frequency response of the cantilever; measuring the frequency shift in response to the drive signal; determining spurious phase of the cantilever based on the determined latency, the resonant frequency of the cantilever, and the measured frequency shift; providing a second sine signal having a phase that is advanced by the determined spurious phase to preemptively compensate for subsequent spurious phase of the cantilever; and driving the excitation system using the second sine signal with an adjusted amplitude as the drive signal.

Abstract: In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a master oscilloscope propagates a slave signal to one or more slave oscilloscopes. The slave signal includes a synchronized trigger pulse that is used in the master oscilloscope to provide a display of a first signal and also includes a timing interpolation parameter which indicates a timing delay applied in the master oscilloscope with respect to the synchronized trigger pulse when providing the display. A slave oscilloscope can use the synchronized trigger pulse and the timing interpolation parameter to provide a display of a second signal on the slave oscilloscope, thereby ensuring that a triggered edge of the second signal is time-aligned with a triggered edge of the first signal. This arrangement reduces/eliminates absolute as well as relative timing uncertainties when an observer observes the first signal displayed on the master oscilloscope and/or the second signal displayed on the slave oscilloscope.

Abstract: Measurement systems and methods are provided for performing preselection to remove images and spurs from a signal being measured that automatically determines a threshold value that is used in the preselection algorithm. Using the automatically-determined threshold value in the preselection algorithm improves image and spur removal from the final trace that is displayed on the display device of the measurement system by trading off the risk of images or spurs being contained in the final trace against the average level of noise bias.

Abstract: A method for controlling a screen in a data processing system to generate displays that include portions of an underlying scene is disclosed. The method includes displaying on the screen a first displayed scene, detecting a long touch gesture, and displaying a second scene on the screen. The first displayed scene is characterized by a first magnification and a first offset relative to the underlying scene. The second displayed scene includes a different portion of the underlying scene and is characterized by a second magnification that is different from the first magnification. In one aspect of the invention, the second displayed scene is characterized by a second offset that is determined by the long touch gesture, and the second offset depends on the first displayed scene and the long touch gesture.

Abstract: A system and method for operating a cellular network is disclosed. The system includes a cellular network, a transport plane software defined switch (SDS), and a controller. The transport plane SDS is inserted in the transport plane and forwards user data packets between nodes of the cellular network based on forwarding attributes of the data packets. The controller includes a control plane database that stores a correspondence between the forwarding attributes and the cellular attributes of the plurality of nodes. The controller is configured to receive user input specifying a forwarding change in the transport plane SDS in terms of one of the cellular attributes. The controller uses the control plane database to determine a forwarding attribute corresponding to the one of the cellular attributes and downloads a forwarding rule to the transport plane SDS.

Abstract: A method of calibrating a test instrument comprises determining a first response of a calibration device on the test instrument over a first set of operating ranges, determining a derived second response of the calibration device on the test instrument over a second set of operating ranges based on the first response, measuring the second response of the calibration device on the test instrument over the second set of operating ranges, and determining correction factors of the test instrument for the second set of operating ranges based on a comparison between the measured second response and the derived second response.

Abstract: A measurement instrument and associated method: receive at a first input an aggressor signal (e.g., a supply voltage) from a device under test (DUT); capture samples of the received supply voltage; receive at a second input a victim signal from the DUT, wherein the received victim signal includes a crosstalk voltage induced thereon from the supply voltage; capturing samples of the received victim signal; applying the captured samples of the received supply voltage and the received victim signal to a predetermined model which represents crosstalk voltage induced onto the received victim signal from the supply voltage waveform, to produce a system of equations, wherein the model includes a plurality of unknown parameters; ascertain the plurality of unknown parameters in the predetermined model from the system of equations; and apply the predetermined model with the ascertained parameters to the captured samples of the received supply voltage to estimate the crosstalk voltage.

Abstract: A testing system includes a vacuum pump, testing equipment and a vibration device. A vacuum tray is configured to provide relative movement between a DUT and the vacuum pump, testing equipment and the vibration device. The vacuum tray includes a vacuum chamber configured to define a sealed vacuum environment around the DUT, and a DUT support carried by the vacuum chamber and configured to support the DUT within the chamber during testing thereof. The DUT support includes a pedestal configured to hold the DUT within the chamber during vibration testing, and an extension that extends outside the vacuum chamber and is configured to connect to the vibration device. An electrical test interface unit is carried by the vacuum chamber and configured to connect between the DUST and the test equipment, and a vacuum interface is carried by the vacuum chamber and configured to connect to the vacuum pump.