Microwaves & RF articles from February 2009

Microwaves & RF archives from February 2009

Expanding bandwidth.(feedback)(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2009... I saw the January 2009 issue of Microwaves & RF and the first installment of the magazine's new section, RF Primer. We appreciate Tektronix being included in the inaugural article on spectrum analyzers and the use of the photograph for the...

Broadband stimulus raises eyebrows.(from the editor)
February 1, 2009... For the most part, the Microwaves & RF editorial staff believes that political analysis and commentary are best left to the editors and columnists featured in daily newspapers and news magazines. Yet we also realize that we are based in the US...

Hawaii Department of Agriculture and Farm Bureau use RFID to track produce.(the front end)
February 1, 2009... HAWAII -- The State of Hawaii Department of Agriculture and the Hawaii Farm Bureau have partnered to deploy a three-year pilot radio-frequency-identification (RFID) initiative. The Hawaii Produce Traceability initiative uses UPM Raflatac RFID...

Bluetooth Headsets will invade audio market.(the front end)
February 1, 2009... WELLINGBOROUGH, UK -- Bluetooth technology has largely replaced wired headsets in specific markets. Its initial success was to replace the wired headset for hands-free calling in an automotive setting. With this niche established,...

GPS market expects strong growth in 2009 despite poor semiconductor outlook.(the front end)
February 1, 2009... WELLINGBOROUGH, UK -- IMS Research projects that the Global Positioning System (GPS) market will be one of the few areas of growth in 2009. This conclusion was drawn in spite of the poor outlook for many semiconductor manufacturers and the fact...

Kudos.(the front end)(briefs)
February 1, 2009... NEWARK, DE -- W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc. has earned a position on FORTUNE magazine's annual list of the "100 Best Companies to Work For" for the twelfth consecutive year. Gore is ranked number 15. According to FORTUNE, a driving factor for...

The latest news, in e-mail form.
February 1, 2009... Some of the most important high-frequency news won't be found in Microwaves & RF magazine, but in the e-mail newsletter Microwaves & RF UPDATE. Sent directly to your computer desktop twice each month, this concisely written newsletter features...

Defense Electronics.(CHECK OUT THE NEW)
February 1, 2009... Penton has launched a monthly digital publication, Defense Electronics. Edited by our own Jack Browne, this publication covers a wide swath of engineering technologies and details their impact on defense developments. The sections covered range...

Tradeshow video coverage.
February 1, 2009... Whether you attended a conference or not, you can always learn more by watching our on-site videos from various trade shows. Go to www.mwrf.com and click on European Microwave Week 2008 to see our latest video interviews, which were conducted...

Link to the industry's most trusted directory.(Brief article)
February 1, 2009... The Microwaves & RF web site offers several instant links to the industry's only complete directory of products and suppliers: The Microwaves & RF Product Data Directory. With products from more than 2000 companies, thoughtfully classified into...

News and products.(WEB-EXCLUSIVE)(Microwaves & RF appointed Lisa Maliniak)(Brief article)
February 1, 2009... Please join us in welcoming Lisa Maliniak, Online Managing Editor, to the staff of Microwaves & RF. Lisa, who received a BSEE from Rutgers University, has been working as an editor for 20 years. Aside from stints as both a Technology Editor and...

Share your thoughts with quick polls.(Survey)(Brief article)
February 1, 2009... Quick polls allow you to regularly share your opinion on a wide range of topics. LATEST POLL RESULTS: Do you think the US economy will begin to recover this year? 40% Yes 60% No NEW POLL: Do you think the incentives...

Process technologies enable performance leaps: to meet the size, integration, and performance requirements of next-generation communications and defense applications, companies are leveraging unique and even proprietary process technologies.(News Report)
February 1, 2009... In microwave as well as more general areas of engineering, integration holds the key to meeting the simultaneous demands of smaller size, higher performance, and time to market. For semiconductor manufacturers, this means a continuous...

Know the nuances of SSB phase noise: understanding phase noise in oscillators and synthesizers makes it easier when comparing the performance of different sources at different frequencies.(RF Primer)(single side band)
February 1, 2009... Phase noise is one of the first performance parameters that oscillator specifiers review on a data sheet. Whether it is a low-frequency crystal reference oscillator or a higher-frequency tunable oscillator, such as a voltage-controlled...

SkyCross secures $23 million in investment.(financial news)(Investor Growth Capital)
February 1, 2009... ANTENNA-MAKER SKYCROSS (www.skycross.com) has secured $23 million in financing led by Investor Growth Capital. This investment caps a successful year for the firm, which reported 65-percent year-over-year revenue growth. The company's...

Thermacore, Inc.(CONTRACTS)
February 1, 2009... Thermacore, Inc. -- Has been awarded a $9.5-million contract, if all options are exercised, by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for the development of Micro-technologies for Air-Cooled Exchangers (MACE). The successful...

Ericsson.(CONTRACTS)
February 1, 2009... Ericsson -- Has announced the signing of a commercial LTE network with TeliaSonera. This network will cover Sweden's capital, Stockholm. The contract is Ericsson's first for the commercial deployment of LTE. Ericsson and TeliaSonera have...

INSIDE Contactless.(CONTRACTS)(partnership with Sagem Wireless )(Brief article)
February 1, 2009... INSIDE Contactless -- Is partnering with Sagem Wireless to create handset platforms that will support enhanced NFC services. Expected to be available to major wireless operators and customers from the fourth quarter of 2009, the Sagem Wireless...

Xceive.(FRESH STARTS)(XC5000 silicon tuner)(Brief article)
February 1, 2009... Xceive -- Has selected the XC5000 silicon tuner for its new lines of high-end flat-panel TVs. Xceive's XC5000 is the first silicon TV tuner IC accepted into mainstream TV production for worldwide markets. The XC5000 will be embedded in LG's...

UPM Raflatac.(FRESH STARTS)
February 1, 2009... UPM Raflatac -- Has been invited to join the advisory board of the University of Arkansas RFID Research Center, an academic laboratory conducting seminal research on the use of RFID in inventory management. Working with Wal-Mart, the center has...

Leader Tech.(FRESH STARTS)(Leader Technologies Inc.)(Brief article)
February 1, 2009... Leader Tech -- Has completed its Phase II, Global EMI Shielding Technology Center expansion. Since the grand opening announcement in May of 2008, Leader Tech has benefited from a notable increase in demand for the company's board-level EMI...

The COMSOL Group.(FRESH STARTS)
February 1, 2009... The COMSOL Group -- Has opened a full-service office in Bangalore, India. The India office will market and sell the multiphysics simulation environment from COMSOL and provide technical support services to its customers.

Raytheon Co.(FRESH STARTS)
February 1, 2009... Raytheon Co. -- Has successfully completed two significant milestones for the US Air Force's next-generation Global Positioning System Control Segment, or GPS OCX, establishing a solid foundation and roadmap to keep the program on track and on...

PCTEL, Inc.(FRESH STARTS)(Wi-Sys Communications Inc.)(Brief article)
February 1, 2009... PCTEL, Inc. -- Has acquired Wi-Sys Communications, Inc., an Ottawa, Canada-based company that specializes in GPS antenna and receiver technology. In 2008, Wi-Sys' proprietary products and technology generated approximately $2.2 million in...

AWR.(FRESH STARTS)(acquisation of Simulation Technology and Applied Research Inc.)(Brief article)
February 1, 2009... AWR -- Has acquired Simulation Technology and Applied Research, Inc. (STAAR) of Mequon, WI--a developer of 3D parallelized FEM tools for the EM simulation of components and subsystems operating at RF and microwave frequencies. STAAR is now a...

VX Corp.(FRESH STARTS)
February 1, 2009... VX Corp. -- Has announced the launch of its new web site, www.vx.com. The web site provides easy access to in-depth information on solving engineering and manufacturing problems.

Azimuth Systems, Inc.(FRESH STARTS)
February 1, 2009... Azimuth Systems, Inc. -- Has been selected to join the Long Term Evolution/System Architecture Evolution Trial Initiative, a global, collaborative technology trial initiative focused on accelerating the availability of commercial and...

Nigel Toon named picoChip Chief Executive Officer.(people)
February 1, 2009... NIGEL TOON has been appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of picoChip as well as a member of its board, replacing Guillaume d'Eyssautier. Toon joins picoChip from Icera, which he co-founded. There, he was Vice President of Sales and...

LPKF Laser & Electronics AG.(people)
February 1, 2009... LPKF Laser & Electronics AG -- DR. INGO BRETTHAUER appointed Chief Executive Officer; formerly CEO and sole Managing Director of Joh. Heinr. Bornemann GmbH in Obernkirchen, Germany from 2001 to 2007.

ANADIGICS, Inc.(people)
February 1, 2009... ANADIGICS, Inc. -- MARIO RIVAS appointed President and Chief Executive Officer; formerly CEO of Quartics. GILLES DELFASSY, former Interim CEO, will stay on as Chairman of the Board.

Renaissance Electronics Corp.(people)
February 1, 2009... Renaissance Electronics Corp. -- MICHAEL DONAGHEY appointed Vice President of Sales and Marketing for HXI products, a wholly owned subsidiary of Renaissance Electronics; formerly Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Renaissance product...

Northrop Grumman.(people)(appointments of )(Brief article)
February 1, 2009... Northrop Grumman -- GARY W. ERVIN, currently Corporate Vice President and President of the Integrated Systems sector, leads Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems. LINDA A. MILLS, currently Corporate Vice President and President of the Information...

Entropic Communications.(people)
February 1, 2009... Entropic Communications -- VINAY GOKHALE joined the company as Senior Vice President of Marketing and Business Development; formerly Vice President of Wireless at SiRF Technology, Inc.

FreeWave Technologies.(people)
February 1, 2009... FreeWave Technologies -- KEN GRANADER appointed Vice President of Sales; formerly with Polycom.

Vitec Group's RF Systems.(people)
February 1, 2009... Vitec Group's RF Systems -- NATHAN LADER appointed Vice President of Military, Aerospace, and Government Programs; formerly Regional Business Development Manager for L3 Communications in the Telemetry and RF Products division. DONALD HOELER...

Rockwell Collins.(people)
February 1, 2009... Rockwell Collins -- SCOTT WHITE named Vice President of Business Development of Government Systems. He formerly served a combined 33 years with Rockwell International and the Boeing Company.

QUALCOMM, Inc.(people)
February 1, 2009... QUALCOMM, Inc. -- BILL STONE appointed Senior Vice President and President of FLO TV; formerly Chief Executive Officer for Handango. Prior to his role at Handango, Stone was President of Amp'd Mobile. Stone replaces Gina Lombardi, who led FLO...

Meetings.(education)(Calendar)
February 1, 2009... ISQED 2009 10th Anniversary of International Symposium & Exhibits on Quality Electronic Design March 16-18, 2009 (San Jose, CA) For more information, visit: www.isqed.org WCNC 2009 IEEE Wireless Communications &...

Short Courses.(education)(Calendar)
February 1, 2009... R. A. Wood Associates Courses For your convenience, R.A. Wood can hold courses at your facility. For more details and registration information, visit www.rawood.com or call (315) 735-4217 Introductory RF and Microwaves May...

Adaptive smart-antenna system covers 60-GHz band.(R & D roundup)
February 1, 2009... WITH THE WORLDWIDE application of unlicensed spectrum around 60 GHz, it has become feasible to develop communication systems with data rates in the gigabit/second range. Yet this frequency range poses challenges like high propagation loss,...

CMOS charges 52-GHz phased-array receiver.(R & D roundup)
February 1, 2009... THE RELEASE OF A LICENSE-FREE 7-GHz band around 60 GHz has prompted researchers around the globe to focus on millimeter-wave circuit and system design for this frequency band. Although such frequencies suggest the use of semiconductor processes...

Linearization technique suppresses third-order intermodulation.(R & D roundup)(Brief article)
February 1, 2009... TO SATISFY THE NEEDS of low-cost wireless terminals, many single-chip RF receivers have been developed with CMOS technology. In the presence of strong interferers, however, the third-order nonlinearity of an RF receiver front end generates...

Tracking advances in high-power GaN HEMTs: by accurately modeling these high-power GaN HEMT devices, it is possible to develop numerous amplifier designs for CW, pulsed, and highly modulated broadband applications.(Design Feature)
February 1, 2009... Improvements in solid-state power amplifiers depend on advances in transistors. Fortunately, evolving gallium nitride (GaN) high-electron-mobility-transistor (HEMT) technology is bringing many benefits to high-frequency amplifier designers. A...

Making manufacturing choices for X-band BPFs: understanding the properties of the materials for fabricating high-frequency filters, such as substrates and conductors, can improve the simulation accuracy and hardware performance.(Design Feature)
February 1, 2009... Bandpass filters help extract desired signals from a portion of frequency spectrum while rejecting unwanted signals. In addition, they can symmetrically or asymmetrically modify the amplitude and/or phase of a signal. They are essential to a...

Gauge phase noise impact on WiMAX APs: this analysis examines the system performance impact for the phase noise contributions of the various PLLs within the transmitter frequency chain of a WiMAX access point.(Design Feature)
February 1, 2009... Phase locked loops (PLLs) are common to many communications systems, including in WiMAX Access Points (AP). By performing an analysis of the phase-noise contributions of the PLLs within a WiMAX AP frequency chain, which is essentially the...

Form bandpass filters on glass substrates: glass offers great potential as an alternative to traditional high-frequency substrate materials, allowing the design of high-performance circuits using standard integrated-circuit processes.(Design Feature)
February 1, 2009... Glass is good for more than just windows: in recent years, the material has attracted attention for its dielectric properties and cost-effectiveness as a high-frequency-circuit substrate. It features low circuit losses over wide frequency and...

Specify filters right the first time.(application notes)
February 1, 2009... IN HANDHELD WIRELESS DEVICES, inaccuracies in specifying the correct filter ultimately translate into frequency conflicts that result in crosstalk, dropped calls, loss of data, and interrupted network connections. The wireless product may then...

Master mobile WiMAX PHY measurements.(application notes)
February 1, 2009... MOBILE WIMAX, the broadband-wireless-access (BWA) technology, is based on the IEEE 802.16-2004 and IEEE 802.16e-2005 specifications. Those specifications are currently being compiled into one document, which combines fixed and mobile services...

Pulsed test systems characterize power FETs: test systems with precision fundamental- and harmonic-frequency impedance tuners and pulsed DC and RF capabilities can provide the data needed for accurate large-signal device models.(Cover Story)
February 1, 2009... Power levels are increasing in RF/microwave transistors, presenting new opportunities for amplifier designers, and new challenges for those who must characterize these devices. Newer wide-bandgap (WBG) semiconductor devices are achieving...

Amplifiers gain power and minimize noise: improving solid-state device technologies are providing designers with more options for low-noise and high-power amplifiers, although tube amplifiers are far from forgotten.(Product Technology)
February 1, 2009... Amplifiers come in many shapes and sizes, from audio through optical wavelengths. For RF/microwave communications amplifiers, the two main duties have to do with strengthening low-level signals for receivers and boosting high-level output...

Services build on 65-nm CMOS: these 65-nm CMOS foundry and manufacturing services have been buttressed by the availability of a robust process design kit loaded with new SPICE models and parameterized cells.(Product Technology)
February 1, 2009... Once associated with low-speed digital and analog circuits, silicon CMOS is gaining ground in the world of RF/microwave design as device features continue to shrink. The latest CMOS foundry process from Fujitsu Microelectronics America features...

Wideband transistors are efficient to 3 GHz: these high-power transistors are designed for pulsed and CW signals, with little compromise in performance when used in narrowband or broadband applications.(Product Technology)
February 1, 2009... Power transistors have typically traded performance for instantaneous bandwidth. Most devices show a huge drop in output power, gain, and efficiency when switching from relatively narrowband applications to circuits with wide instantaneous...

PA satisfies WiMAX from 2500 to 2700 MHz.(editor's choice)
February 1, 2009... A SELF-CONTAINED POWER AMPLIFIER (PA) dubbed the MPT2527PA30 was designed to be dropped into a WiMAX, BRS, multichannel multipoint distribution service (MMDS), or other system operating in the 2500-to-2700-MHz band. The PA typically exhibits 10...

75-[ohm] power splitters serve CATV systems.(editor's choice)
February 1, 2009... TO MEET THE UNIQUE NEEDS OF THE CATV and broadcast industry, new 1-W, two-way resistive power splitters are available with either 50- or 75-[ohm] impedances. The 75-[ohm] IPS series two-way splitters operate from DC to 20 GHz. They flaunt...

Modulator driver targets 40-Gb/s lightwave systems.(editor's choice)
February 1, 2009... DESPITE THE CURRENT EMPHASIS ON WIRELESS NETWORKS, fiber optics still provide greater bandwidth for point-to-point communications services. These lightwave systems rely on products like the FO-MDA-40-25G-1 lithium niobate modulator driver,...

Signal generator covers 1 To 2 GHz with 100-kHz resolution.(editor's choice)
February 1, 2009... A PORTABLE SIGNAL GENERATOR has debuted for a variety of applications over the 1-to-2-GHz range. Dubbed the LMPL-SG-2000, it offers 100 kHz resolution. The signal generator delivers +7 dBm of output power ([+ or -]3 dB). Harmonic and spurious...