Corporate Information

RFDesign was formed in 2008 to support the growing number of high-tech electronic product developers in Australia and worldwide.

With over 19 years of experience in the electronics industry, ranging from small startups to multinationals, the team at RFDesign is well versed to tackle almost any electronic engineering task. In addition, links to academic institutions in Brisbane enable more fundamental work to be carried out.

A fair percentage of revenue is directed into internal R&D projects to develop and commercialise promising technologies. Areas of interest include RFID antennas, CNC based field mapping systems, Low power electronics and high speed cameras for UAV/UAS monitoring applications.

RFDesign was also an official sponsor of team “TGIF” for the UAV outback challenge 2012, and also has some engagement in the UAV/Drone sector, having recently been contracted to build and fly a substantial fleet of drones for Boeing’s R&D division.

Our Services

• Antenna design from HF to microwave
• RF circuit design including LNA’s, VCO/PLL and power amplifiers.
• Product design and support from concept, prototype through to production ramp.
• Product modernisation – redesign of dated products to fix component obsolesence, improve manufacturing and reduce cost.
• Software for embedded microcontrollers – in house development tools for msp430 and Atmel processors.
• General RF measurements, Spectrum analysis to 7GHz and 4-port vector network analysis to 8.5GHz

Capabilities

RFDesign has built up a complete set of product development capabilites.
Using the right tools makes rapid design and development possible.

• Remote client portal – This enables clients to log in to track the progress of their projects in real time. It also allows access to project files as well as bug tracking and feature requests.
• Interfacing with mechanical designers and external suppliers.
• Circuit simulation and modeling.
• 3D electromagnetic modeling with in house developed codes.
• Schematic entry and multilayer mixed signal PCB layout – specialising in SMT boards designed for mass production.
• Full service on prototyping, parts ordering, build coordination and testing.
• Pre-compliance and compliance testing coordination.
• Experience with production test fixtures and links with test fixture manufacturers.
• Production ramp with links to domestic and off-shore manufacturers.

Equipment

• R&S FSP7 Spectrum analysis to 7GHz (GSM, WCDMA, FM, PM, AM analysis)
• Agilent E5071B 4-port Vector Network Analysis to 8.5GHz (incl. time domain)
• HP ESG-D3000A Vector signal generation to 3GHz
• HP 8643A Analog signal generator to 1030MHz (low phasenoise)
• R&S SML02 Analog signal generation to 2GHz
• HP E6392B GSM Base station simulator / radio tester
• HP 85024 High impedance RF fet probe
• HP E4418A Power Meter / E4412A wide dynamic range power sensor to 18GHz
• Analog RF power meter measurements from 1MHz to 1GHz up to 30W
• HP66332A – Dynamic DC power supply
• HP34401A – 6.5 Digit multimeter
• Tektronix TCP202 Current probes to 50MHz
• HP 8901B Modulation analyser for transmitter testing
• HP 8903B Audio analysers for SINAD, S/N, Distortion measurements, C-message filters.
• TTC6000A BERT for digital bit error rate testing.
• Tektronix MSO3054 Digital storage oscilloscopes to 500MHz (4 Analog + 16 Digital Channel )
• Digital and analog function generators
• 50MHz – 1GHz log periodic (Cobham) and multiple test dipole antennas.
• 700MHz to 6GHz log periodic antennas for field surveys.
• 866MHz, 2.4GHz sleeve dipole antennas, sleeve baluns for decoupling mobile terminals.
• Hameg HM6050-2 LISN for conducted emissions precompliance testing.
• TestEquity 115 environmental chamber for extreme temperature testing (-73 to +180 deg C).

Embedded Development

• Atmel – JTAG mk2-ICE, AVR-ISP
• TI – msp430 JTAG FET
• Microchip – Pickit 3 ICE
• SiLabs – USB Debugger
• Xilinx – USB II JTAG
• Xilinx – ISE, Spartan 3AN, Virtex 6 development boards.
• Intronix Logicport, 34 Channel logic analyzer

Most of our equipment is GPIB capable and controlled which enables automated test systems to be developed.

Some current projects have extensive test requirements which are only possible with an automated setup.