A Need for Control [Book/Software Reviews]

No matter what kind of system we build, we need control components. Switches, attenuators, phase shifters, and limiters are often realized with devices used as variable resistors or on/off switches. Inder Bahl has been a prolific writer of microwave books. This book on control components may be the author´s smallest in terms of number of pages, but it is packed with useful information on GaAs, Si, and GaN switches, attenuators, phase shifters, and limiters. PIN, Schottky, and varactor diodes are also discussed. And each chapter has a large set of references, ranging from about 50 to 160, in this well researched book. Readers will appreciate the history and overview perspectives the book offers, as well as the many practical details. [One appendix, for example, covers Cooke???s thermal analysis of a GaAs field effect transfer (FET) structure, which is very important for power handling decisions.] Control Components Using Si, CaAs, and GaN Technologies is arranged by chapters on each type of component. Individual chapters discuss the variety of technologies used to realize the component, along with the advantages and disadvantages of the technologies.