Harsh Environmental Testing of RF and Microwave Circuits for Future Communications Technologies
A FutureCom training course “Harsh Environmental Testing of RF and Microwave Circuits for Future Communications Technologies” is to be held on 29th November 2023 at PTB, Braunschweig. It will be possible for attendees to join the course either in person or remotely.
The course will explore testing methods to assess the performance of RF and microwave circuits in real-world and harsh environments such as above and below ambient temperatures (including at cryogenic temperatures) and at different relative humidity levels. This assessment will aid future communication technology design by offering a better understanding of where the limit of operation is when using certain materials, thus leading to better optimisation in cost and time to produce.
The course begins with an overview of the different types of environmental testing that are commonly performed for the evaluation of electrical circuits including printed circuit boards (PCBs). Following this will be a look at the design of the evaluation PCBs used for environmental testing in the FutureCom project. There then follows a discussion on the importance of end‑launch RF connectors for use with high-frequency PCBs. Moving onto on-wafer electrical circuits, a comparison of measurements before and after thermal cycling of an impedance substrate standard (ISS) is examined for any degradation resulting from the environmental conditioning. Finally, the course concludes with a discussion of proposed EM modelling for wafers and Si-based components that will be subject to cryogenic temperatures to investigate how these conditions will impact their RF performance.
Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB)
Bundesallee 100
38116 Braunschweig
Germany
Save the date
November 29, 2023 14:00-17:05 CET
How to getting here
ARRIVING BY CAR
Braunschweig is conveniently located for the federal motorways: the A 2 running from east to west (Berlin-Ruhr Area) and the A 39 going from north to south (Braunschweig-Salzgitter).
- Coming from Dortmund (A 2): Exit the motorway at “Braunschweig-Watenbüttel”. Turn right, following the signs towards Braunschweig. In Watenbüttel, turn right at the second set of traffic lights. Look out for the Rewe and Penny car parks in front of you on the right. After approx. one kilometer, you will see PTB’s entrance area on your left.
- Coming from Berlin (A 2): At the “Braunschweig-Nord” interchange, take the A 391 towards Kassel. At the “Ölper” interchange, take the A 392 towards Celle/BS-Watenbüttel. Follow the B 214 (signposted: A2/Hannover/Celle/BS-Watenbüttel). At the traffic lights, turn left onto Hans-Jürgen-Straße. Look out for the Rewe and Penny car parks on your left. After approx. one kilometer, you will see PTB’s entrance area on your left.
- Coming from Kassel (A 7) and Salzgitter (A 39): Coming from Kassel, take the A 39 towards Berlin/Braunschweig at the “Salzgitter” interchange. Change onto the A 391 at the “Braunschweig-Südwest” interchange. Exit the motorway at “Braunschweig-Lehndorf”. Turn left towards Lehndorf and follow this road for approx. 3 km. When you reach the edge of the district of Braunschweig-Kanzlerfeld, turn right onto Bundesallee. After approx. 2 km, you will see PTB on your right.
ARRIVING BY TRAIN/LONG-DISTANCE BUS
The long-distance bus station is located right next to 
Braunschweig Main Station (with an ICE train stop).
To reach the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) from Braunschweig Main Station, you can take a taxi (approx. 15 minutes) or use public transportation (approx. 30 minutes).
Bus schedules of Braunschweiger Verkehrs-AG.
PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION IN BRAUNSCHWEIG
Braunschweig Main Station, local bus stop A:
Bus number 461 to “Lehndorf, PTB”. Leave the bus at the “PTB” bus stop. The bus stop is located right in front of the main entrance to PTB. Since the PTB site is very large, you will want to plan enough time for walking to your final destination.
Bus schedules of Braunschweiger Verkehrs-AG.
ARRIVING BY PLANE
- From Hanover Airport to Hanover Main Station. Continue your journey by train to Braunschweig (ICE, IC and RE train connections).
Continue to PTB as described in “Public transportation in Braunschweig”.
- From Berlin-Airport (BER) to Berlin Main Station. Continue to Braunschweig by train or by long-distance bus (ICE, IC- und RE connections).
Continue to PTB as described in “Public transportation in Braunschweig”.
