Aalto Electronics-ICT

The anechoic chamber contains instrumentation for 2 – 60 GHz far-field and 18 – 60 GHz spherical near-field antenna measurements. The measurement distance is 5.5 m and the enclosure is shielded up to 18 GHz. The measurement instrumentation includes a 67 GHz network analyzer (Keysight N5227A).

The near-field scanner is mainly used for high gain millimetre and sub-millimetre antenna characterization. Main instruments of the system are:

- 1.5 m x 1.5 m planar near-field scanner (Near-Field Systems NSI-200V-5X5)
- Antenna range controller (Near-Field Systems Series A Controller)
- 50 GHz four-port vector network analyzer (Keysight N5225A PNA)
- 50 GHz - 1.1 THz mm-wave modules (VDI VNAX extension modules WR15+ to WR1.0)

StarLab by Microwave Vision Group is a compact near-field antenna measurement system for fast characterization of low frequency antennas up to 45 cm in diameter. The StarLab system at Aalto Electronics-ICT includes:

- Spherical measurement geometry
- 650 MHz - 6 GHz frequency range
- Software suite for passive antenna measurements
- Two movable walls of absorbers
- Standard gain horn antennas
- 6 GHz vector network analyzer (Keysight E5071C ENA)

The workshop has metal working machines and hand tools for mechanical prototyping and antenna fabrication. The workshop serves the whole Aalto Electronics-ICT infra.

Millimetre Wave Laboratory of Finland MilliLab is joint laboratory between VTT Technical Research Center of Finland and Aalto University School of Electrical Engineering. MilliLab is also an European Space Agency (ESA) External Laboratory on Millimetre Wave Technology.

The key instruments of MilliLab facilities at Aalto Electronics-ICT are:

- Four-port PNA vector network analyser Keysight N5225A 10 MHz - 50 GHz with VDI extensions to 1100 GHz
- Backward wave oscillator signal sources to 1 THz
- 67 GHz vector network analyzer (Agilent E8361C PNA)
- 67 GHz – 1.1 THz mm-wave modules (Agilent, OML, VDI frequency extension modules)
- Probe station for on-wafer measurements (Cascade model 11000 probe station)
- Probe heads up to 325 GHz
- Semiconductor parameter analyzer (Agilent B1500A)
- Spectrum analyzer up to 325 GHz (Tektronix 2782 SA with external harmonic mixers)
- Power meters up to 170 GHz
- 110 GHz vector network analyzer (HP 85106C)

The IC lab includes test facilities for analog, mixed-mode, RF, and millimeter wave integrated circuits. It houses an EM-shielded room (Euroshield Series 81) for accurate RF measurements. The IC lab consists of five measurement positions – two for LF/digital and three for RF/uw. We use both MATLAB and LabView for measurement automation.

Key instruments include: 

- 70 GHz four-port vector network analyzer (Anritsu Vectorstar MS4647B)
- 110 GHz spectrum analyzer (Keysight UXA N9041B)
- 23 GHz oscilloscope (Tektronix  DPO72304DX)
- 26 GHz signal source analyzer (Agilent 5052B)
- Semiconductor parameter analyzer (Keysight B1500)
- A set of signal generators, spectrum analyzers, oscilloscopes, DC power sources etc.
- Probe station for on-wafer measurements
- Eight-IO vacuum chamber for MEMS testing
- Temperature cabin with vibrating plate (Vötsch VTM 7004)
- FPGA cards (Virtex-7) are extensively used for high-speed digital signal generation and detection

The Microwave lab is equipped with microwave device measurement equipment up to roughly 40 GHz. It includes five measurement positions which can be equipped as required by experiment at hand. One lab table houses a soldering station and a microscope. Main instruments of the Microwave lab include:

- 40 GHz vector network analyzer (Agilent E8363A PNA)
- 18 GHz vector network analyzer (Agilent E5063A ENA)
- 40 GHz spectrum analyzer (Agilent 8564EC)
- 60 GHz analog signal generator (Rohde & Schwarz SMR 60)
- 20 GHz analog signal generator (Rohde & Schwarz SMP 22)
- Antenna positioner for sounder measurements (Diamond DAMS)
- Power meters up to 50 GHz
- as well as several sub-10-GHz signal generators, spectrum analyzers and oscilloscopes

Modern mixed-mode IC design as well as design of multi-antenna structures and phased-arrays require very powerful computers to run CAD tools. Our dedicated server cluster consists of five 32-CPU servers with 512Gb of memory each, and over twenty desktop computers.

The Space lab has electrical prototyping equipment and microwave measurement instruments up to roughly 6 GHz. It includes three measurement positions which can be equipped as needed. The Space lab and the adjacent modular clean room has been used to build Aalto-1 and Aalto-2 satellite missions and is currently used to build the Suomi 100 and Aalto-3 satellite missions. The main instruments of the Space lab include:

- 6 GHz vector network analyzer (Agilent 8753ES)
- 4 GHz 4-channel digital oscilloscope (Rohde & Schwarz RTO1044)
- 500 MHz 4-channel digital oscilloscope (Rohde & Schwarz RTM1054)
- Temperature chamber (Espec BTZ-175E)
- Reflow oven (Eurocircuits eC-reflow-mate)
- Vacuum pump (HiCube 80 Eco DN63)
- Power meters up to 18 GHz
- A set of signal generators, DC power supplys, multimeters, etc.

The Cleanroom is used to build the flight models in Aalto nanosatellite missions. It consists of:

- A 3 m x 3.7 m ISO Class 7 modular cleanroom
- Two ESD controlled workstations

The Groundstation equipment is used to control Aalto satellite missions. It consists of a control room with communications equipment and UHF- and S-band antennas on the building rooftop.