A low cost implementation of automated RF test of a LNA

A low cost, automated, high volume RF test setup for a low-noise amplifier (LNA) was realized. A standard production DC test system and handler were modified with the addition of a standard vector network analyzer to measure sparameters at 1.9 GHz. Motivation for a low cost RF test methodology came from the need to minimize production costs of the high volume MBC13916 LNA. The solution achieved accurate and reliable low cost RF testing. An in-depth analysis of the test data was performed to correlate the data to the existing RF test setup and to verify the impact on the final cost per part of performing RF test.