2003 Meetings

The linked titles of some meetings are the presentations speakers provided.

March 11, 2003: "Microwave and Millimeter Wave Regulation and Measurement Techniques" by Chuck Oleson

Abstract: Manufacturers producing transmitting devices operating above 30 GHz must meet FCC dictated levels for the suppression of radiated spurious and harmonic emissions. Of specific interest are the suppression criteria encompassing the frequency range of 110 to 230 GHz. Ignoring the illogic of having regulations requiring measurement at frequencies where no reference standards exists, some data must be produced to secure the "certification" necessary to bring the product to market. Measurement techniques, that have been successfully used to obtain certification, are available and can be employed with reasonable effort and expense. Techniques for addressing the ISO requirement of testing the test system at these frequencies have also been developed. When approaching these measurement tasks some mental adjustment is required on the engineer's part. These techniques and mental adjustments are discussed. The impact of recent advances in millimeter wave measurement technology will also be explored.

Bio: Chuck Oleson is the owner of Oleson Microwave Labs, Morgan Hill, CA., a manufacturer of millimeter wave test equipment covering 18 to 325 GHz. He has been involved in millimeter wave technology for more than 19 years and in RF and microwave technology for 36 years. He has been previously employed for 11 years by Varian Associates in positions including sales and marketing management and engineering management. He has authored numerous papers covering microwave and millimeter wave technologies. He is a member of the IEEE and a graduate of Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo, CA.

February 11, 2003: "Vcc and Ground Bounce in planes and IC packages" by Lee Ritchey

Abstract: Mr. Ritchey will be speaking on the topic of Vcc and Ground Bounce in planes and IC packages and how it may be the cause of radiated and conducted emission problems from the enclosure and cables of your product. He will show us how using Hyperlynx will help to see what the emissions spectra looks like for these kinds of problems and what you may choose to do about it. He will also be sharing some of the most popular rules of thumb that we often hear about from our peers, such as right angle bends, vias, bypass capacitors, etc. Mr. Ritchey will be using a combination of PowerPoint and the application used in hardware design known as Hyperlynx.

Bio: Lee Ritchey, BSEE, is owner of Speeding Edge, a consulting firm specializing in high-speed design consulting and training. Prior to forming Speeding Edge, Mr. Ritchey spent five years as Director of Electronic Packaging Engineering at 3Com Corporation, a major manufacturer of high performance networking equipment. For ten years prior to that, he was a cofounder and Vice President of Engineering at Shared Resources, a company that specialized in the design of high performance printed circuit boards for the supercomputing industry. He has more than 30 years experience in the packaging of high performance equipment ranging from microwave satellites to super computers. He is currently working with major suppliers of gigabit and beyond internet products as well as a variety of wireless products. Mr. Ritchey has been on the editorial review board for Printed Circuit Design Magazine and is a regular contributor of design articles to a variety of publications. He has taught his High Speed Design course to more than 3000 engineers and designers in several countries. He is a regular lecturer at the Printed Circuit Design Conference, the IPC conferences and at UC Berkeley Engineering Extension.

January 14, 2003: "Electromagnetic Emission from 'Dielectric' Optical Fiber Cables" by Robert Dahlgren

Abstract: The conventional wisdom is that optical fiber is dielectric, and thus does not radiate RF emissions. In practice, optical fiber cable connectors have non-negligible amounts of conductive material, for example a ferrule, spring, and crimp ring. As data rates have increased beyond 1 gigabit/second (Gbps), equipment with supposedly "RF tight" enclosures exhibited high levels of RF emissions, failing to meet FCC/European electromagnetic compliance (EMC) requirements. It is hypothesized that these small metallic bits can re-radiate RF emissions due to capacitive coupling, and a model is proposed. Data is presented to support this mechanism for RF emission, and corrective measures are suggested to reduce these emissions.

Bio: Robert Dahlgren is President of Silicon Valley Photonics Ltd., a consultancy in advanced optical technology. He has been working in optical technology for more than 20 years. He has previously been employed at Honeywell, Control Data, Sperry Aerospace, the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Transcendata, and Fujikura Technology. He has worked on diverse areas of optical R&D and engineering, such as microlithography, metrology, passive fiber devices, sensors, avionics, communication transceivers, physics, nuclear testing, and data communications. He is the author of more than ten patents and numerous technical publications, and is a recipient of the IEEE "3rd Millennium" award. He is active in several optical professional societies, and is the chairman-emeritus of the award-winning Santa Clara Valley chapter of the IEEE Lasers & Electro-Optics Society. He received his MS degree from MIT in aeronautics/astronautics in 1993, his second MS degree from San Jose State University in physics in 2001, and his BSEE from the University of Minnesota in 1983.