Low-loss SMA coaxial cables in wireless applications

With the continuous development of the Internet era, wireless networks will gradually replace wired networks because of their convenience and security. However, cables are still needed in wireless networks. This may sound unbelievable, but it is true.

Wireless network components such as access points, amplifiers, and antennas all need to communicate with each other through cables. The antenna cables used in the antenna systems at both ends of the transceiver will cause signal loss. In order to reduce this type of signal loss, unless the cable length can be shortened, the access point and amplifier can only be connected to the antenna through a low-loss or ultra-low-loss coaxial cable.

Although SMA coaxial cable assembly is one of the most common types of signal cables on the market, it has been used until now because of its robust performance and great suitability for long-distance signal transmission. Among them, the term "coaxial" originates from the physical structure of the inner conductor of the cable and the outer shielding layer being coaxial, and the term "low loss" refers to the degree of signal attenuation (loss ) This phenomenon is relatively low. The general rule is that the thicker the cable, the smaller the signal loss under the same cable length.

RG coaxial cable is the earliest standard coaxial cable, but this type of cable has the problem of greater signal attenuation when the transmission distance is long. Although this problem is not obvious for short-distance transmission applications, in contrast, a key requirement of wireless applications is that the signal can always maintain the same strength in the transmission cable before being transmitted by the antenna. Therefore, people have developed a low-loss coaxial cable with lower attenuation and better shielding performance to replace the original RG coaxial cable. In addition, another point that low-loss coaxial cable is superior to RG coaxial cable is that low-loss SMA coaxial cable uses a solid center conductor that helps reduce attenuation, while certain types of RG coaxial cable Use multiple stranded center conductors.

The low-loss SMA coaxial cable is extremely suitable for a variety of wireless communication applications such as WLAN, cellular, PCS, and ISM. These cables have different sizes and are marked with a three-digit "serial" number to indicate the thickness and low-loss characteristics of the cable. For example, 400 series low-loss SMA coaxial cables are thicker and have lower loss than 200 series low-loss SMA coaxial cables, and 200 series low-loss SMA coaxial cables are more expensive than 100 series low-loss SMA coaxial cables. Rough and lower loss. Although the thicker the cable, the lower the loss, but at the same time it has the disadvantages of heavier weight and lower flexibility (although the thicker series of cables also have several highly flexible models).