Microwaves & RF articles from July 2007

Microwaves & RF archives from July 2007

PTS synthesizers.(feedback)
July 1, 2007... MICHAEL LOHRER is right on the money about Programmed Test Sources and their synthesizers ("Survey Omission," Feedback, May 2007, p. 13). We love them here at CEC and use them as essential components of many of our transmitters. They're about...

Antenna report.(feedback)
July 1, 2007... JUST A SHORT WORD regarding your news report ("Antennas Set Patterns For Wireless Growth," p. 48) in the May 2007 issue of Microwaves & RF. "So the antenna, so the radio station" was an old saying that proves still worthy applying.

Hawaii gets a thumbs up after all.(from the editor)
July 1, 2007... When the Honolulu, Hawaii location for this year's Microwave Theory and Techniques Symposium (MTT-S) was revealed some years ago, people reacted with both anticipation and disbelief. Among the folks with whom I spoke, there seemed to generally...

iSuppli predicts 6-percent semiconductor revenue growth in 2007.(the front end)(www.isuppli.com)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... EL SEGUNDO, CA -- While many researchers are cutting their forecasts for 2007 semiconductor revenue growth to the 2-percent range, iSuppli Corp. (www.isuppli.com) predicts a healthy 6-percent increase this year. Global semiconductor...

Wireless sensor networking enables next-generation parking solutions.(the front end)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... ROSEMONT, IL -- Dust Networks[TM], a provider of low-power wire-less sensor networking (WSN) systems and Streetline, Inc. announced that Dust Networks has been selected as the WSN provider for Streetline's City Infrastructure Technologies (CiT)...

QUALCOMM and MLB announce BREW agreement.(the front end)(MLB Advanced Media LP)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... SAN DIEGO, CA -- QUALCOMM, Inc., a developer of wireless technologies and mobile data solutions, and MLB Advanced Media, LP (MLBAM), the interactive media and Internet company of Major League Baseball, have announced an agreement to leverage...

Kudos.(the front end)(briefs)
July 1, 2007... PITTSBURGH, PA -- BusinessWeek ranked Ansoft Corp. 25th on its annual Hot Growth list of America's 100 fastest-growing small companies, improving upon last year's ranking of 46. After analyzing data from 10,000 pubic companies with revenues...

Software eases design pain at various stages: although simulation remains essential, many software platforms offer an increasing number of capabilities for specific RF design problems and challenges.(News Report)
July 1, 2007... Every spring, people in the US microwave industry eagerly anticipate the major product announcements that will be unveiled at the IEEE Microwave Theory & Techniques Symposium (MTT-S) International Microwave Symposium (IMS). This year's show in...

Waveguide components cut losses while passing power: these low-loss, high-power components serve a variety of applications in military, aerospace, satellite-communications, and industrial-heating systems.(News Report)
July 1, 2007... Waveguide components are among those unique structures developed to pass microwave energy from one point in a system to another with minimal losses. Although restricted to specific bandwidths by the relationship of their dimensions to...

ATC agrees to be acquired by AVX.(financialnews)(American Technical Ceramics Corp)(AVX Corp)
July 1, 2007... American Technical Ceramics Corp. (ATC), a manufacturer of electronic components, including capacitors and thin-film circuits for a range of commercial and military applications, announced that it has signed a definitive merger agreement with...

Harris Corp.(CONTRACTS)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Harris Corp. -- Has been awarded an Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract with a potential value of up to $2.7 billion to supply the US Department of Defense with its next-generation multiband Falcon III handheld tactical...

Anaren, Inc.(CONTRACTS)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Anaren, Inc. -- Has received a contract worth $4.9 million for Digital Radio Frequency Memory subsystems used in an integrated RF countermeasures systems systems, deployed on tactical aircraft. The contract calls for full production and...

The WiMAX Forum[C].(FRESH STARTS)(WiMAX Forum Japan )(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... The WiMAX Forum[C] -- Announced the establishment of the WiMAX Forum Japan Office. The WiMAX Forum Japan Office is the fourth office of the WiMAX Forum after its offices in the US, China, and India.

RFMW Ltd.(FRESH STARTS)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... RFMW Ltd. -- Announced the opening of a direct sales and distribution office in Israel. This direct sales office allows RFMW to quickly and effectively introduce products from RFMW's suppliers into the multitude of RF/microwave design centers...

Ethertronics.(FRESH STARTS)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Ethertronics -- Announced that its design center in Taipei, Taiwan is fully operational. Ethertronics' Taiwan Design Center, located in the Nei-Hu District Industrial Park, is equipped with a three-dimensional (3D) Active Test Chamber,...

Sierra Proto Express.(FRESH STARTS)(Teknicircuits)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Sierra Proto Express -- Acquired the assets and book of business of Teknicircuits of Danbury, CT. Sierra Proto Express will now be handling the fabrication of PCB's for Teknicircuits' customers.

FreeWave Technologies.(FRESH STARTS)(TA Associates)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... FreeWave Technologies -- Announced that TA Associates has led a $113 million investment in FreeWave.

Centrality Communications, Inc. and SiGe Semiconductor.(FRESH STARTS)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Centrality Communications, Inc. and SiGe Semiconductor -- Announced that Centrality has chosen SiGe Semiconductor as the preferred supplier of GPS RF front-end receiver ICs for its navigation systems. The first product to benefit from this...

Iridium Satellite.(FRESH STARTS)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Iridium Satellite -- Reported that its mobile satellite services business in the maritime sector continues to show steady growth with the number of subscribers up 17 percent over the same time last year. Maritime traffic through the satellite...

National Technical Systems, Inc.(FRESH STARTS)(TRA Certification)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... National Technical Systems, Inc. -- Announced the acquisition of TRA Certification, located in Elkhart, IN, by its joint venture company, National Quality Assurance, USA (NQA). Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Cascade Microtech.(FRESH STARTS)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Cascade Microtech -- Recently closed the single largest probestation order in its 23-year history--an order in excess of $4 million to a prominent Asian memory manufacturer for S300 wafer probe stations.

American Technical Ceramics Corp.(FRESH STARTS)(acquisitions)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... American Technical Ceramics Corp. -- Has signed a definitive merger agreement with AVX Corp. pursuant to which all of the outstanding equity interests of ATC will be acquired by AVX. Thomas Weisel Partners LLC acted as exclusive financial...

Artisan Laboratories Corp. and The Fiber Optic Marketplace, LLC (FiberOptic.com).(FRESH STARTS)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Artisan Laboratories Corp. and The Fiber Optic Marketplace, LLC (FiberOptic.com) -- Announced that FiberOptic.com will be the master distributor for the Artisan's Sidelighter[TM], a product that pairs with RF analyzers to measure distance to...

FCI.(FRESH STARTS)(Smartag)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... FCI -- Acquired Smartag, a specialized player in RFID tags manufacturing. Smartag develops RFID tags for focused applications such as library management and cosmetics.

iSLI names Michael Kay as new chairman.(people)(appointment of Michael Kay at Institute for System Level Integration)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... The Board at iSLI, Institute for System Level Integration, announced that MICHAEL KAY has accepted the role of chairman. Previously, Kay founded and was managing director of the Motorola Technology Centre in Scotland.

PCTEL.(people)(appointment of Bob Suastegui)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... PCTEL -- BOB SUASTEGUI to vice president and general manager of global sales and marketing; formerly managed sales in Asia, Latin America, and the US at Motorola.

ANADIGICS, Inc.(people)(appointment of David Fellows)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... ANADIGICS, Inc. -- DAVID FELLOWS to the board of directors; continues as executive vice president and executive fellow with Comcast Cable.

UT-Battelle.(people)(University of Tennessee and Battelle)(appointment of Thom Mason)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... UT-Battelle -- DR. THOM MASON to director of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory; formerly associate lab director for the Department of Energy's Spallation Neutron Source.

SiGe Semiconductor.(people)(appointment of Bill Byun and Jim McLean)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... SiGe Semiconductor -- BILL BYUN to the board of directors; continues as managing director with Samsung Ventures. Also, JIM MCLEAN to the board of directors; continues as a partner at 3i Venture Capital.

Telegenix, Inc.(people)(appointment of Joe Miller and Phill Scott)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Telegenix, Inc. -- JOE MILLER to president; formerly director of marketing. Also, PHIL SCOTT to director of marketing; formerly regional sales director for the Ultragraphix division of Telegenix.

Nextreme.(people)(appointment of Paul A. Magill)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Nextreme -- DR. PAUL A. MAGILL to vice president of marketing and business development; formerly chief technology officer (CTO) and vice president for business development at Avo Photonics.

Herley Industries, Inc.(people)(appointment of Jeffrey L. Markel)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Herley Industries, Inc. -- JEFFREY L. MARKEL to COO; formerly president of BAE Systems' Network Enabled Solutions (NES).

Fibre to the Home (FTTH) Council.(people)(appointment of Karel Helsen)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Fibre to the Home (FTTH) Council -- KAREL HELSEN to chairman of the Deployment and Operation committee; continues as director of marketing for Draka Comteq.

MI Technologies.(people)(appointment of James Rowland)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... MI Technologies -- JAMES (JIM) ROWLAND to director of customer service; formerly president of Ultra Electronics, EMS Development Corp.

Conexant Systems, Inc.(people)(appointment of Daniel Artusi )(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Conexant Systems, Inc. -- DANIEL ARTUSI to president and CEO; formerly chairman and CEO of ColdWatt, Inc.

LBA Technology, Inc.(people)(appointment of Glenn Tracy)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... LBA Technology, Inc. -- GLENN TRACY to vice president of production; formerly employed in other production roles at LBA.

Fresco Microchip, Inc.(people)(appointment of Michael Gittings)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Fresco Microchip, Inc. -- MICHAEL GITTINGS to vice president of marketing and business development; formerly director of marketing for AMD's global DTV receiver products.

Nitronex.(people)(appointment of Frank A. Palmieri)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Nitronex -- FRANK A. PALMIERI to quality manager of its Durham, NC manufacturing and R & D facility; formerly quality manager at AVX. Also, DORU ROLL to director of RF product development; formerly led BAE Systems' RF Power Amplifier...

Rohde & Schwarz.(people)(appointment of Jack Cowper)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Rohde & Schwarz -- JACK COWPER to president of Rohde & Schwarz Canada; continues as vice president of Rohde & Schwarz, Inc.

Precision Connector, Inc.(people)(appoinment of Michael J. Keating)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Precision Connector, Inc. -- MICHAEL J. KEATING to vice president-director of engineering; formerly connector engineering manager and RF interconnect technology leader at Micro-Coax, Inc.

Elcoteq SE.(people)(appointment of Suresh Babu)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Elcoteq SE -- SURESH BABU to Communications Networks product-development services director for Elcoteq Electronics (India) Pvt, Ltd.; formerly employed in management roles at Midas.

Education.
July 1, 2007... SHORT COURSES R.A. Wood Associates Short Courses Introductory RF and Microwaves September 10-11 (Syracuse, NY) November 5-6 (Philadelphia, PA) RF and Microwave Receiver Design September 12-14 (Syracuse, NY) ...

UWB LNA achieves maximum gain of 13.5 dB from 1.85 to 10.2 GHz.(R & D roundup)(ultra wideband low noise amplifier)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... MANY RESEARCHERS ARE EVALUATING Ultra Wideband's (UWB's) applicability for short-range, high-speed wireless communications. Yet these systems must first overcome a challenging building block: the low-noise amplifier (LNA). A UWB LNA was...

Microwaves determine pregnancy through urine analysis.(R & D roundup)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... SHORTLY AFTER CONCEPTION, the human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) glycoprotein hormone is secreted by the developing placenta. During early gestational growth, hCG rises in concentration. As a result, hCH is an excellent marker for the early...

Microstrip patch antenna populates CPW stub with MEMS capacitors.(R & D roundup)(coplanar waveguide)(microelectromechanical systems)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... USING RADIO-FREQUENCY microelectromechanical-systems (MEMS) technology, a tunable frequency microstrip patch antenna has been developed. It consists of a patch antenna loaded with a coplanar-waveguide (CPW) loading section, which is attached to...

Understanding P2D nonlinear models: power-dependent S-parameter models can be used in ADS and other high-frequency simulation tools to model the nonlinear behavior of RF power amplifiers.(Design Feature)(power-dependent S-parameter)(radio amplifier)
July 1, 2007... Measurement-based nonlinear amplifier models ideally predict the performance of a high-frequency amplifier as accurately as possible. A usable nonlinear behavioral model can project the performance of a design under different operating...

Matching an ADC to a transformer: this five-step process helps design an optimum ADC front end for narrowband applications based on a high intermediate frequency.(Design Feature)(analog-to-digital converter)
July 1, 2007... Analog signals are often digitized as quickly as possible in modern communications systems and test equipment in order to perform signal processing in the digital domain. But designing the transformer front-end circuitry for an...

Predict resonances of shielded PCBs: the equations presented here make it possible to predict and analyze the resonant behavior of microwave circuits enclosed in rectangular shields.(Design Feature)(printed circuit boards)
July 1, 2007... Microwave circuits are generally enclosed in rectangular shields before integration into a larger system. Unfortunately, when the shield cover goes on, it can cause unexpected results, such as the oscillation of "unconditionally stable"...

Sliced coaxial cables form compact couplers: these analytical expressions calculate the dimensions of coupled sliced coaxial cables used to form compact microwave couplers at characteristic impedances of 50 and 75 [OMEGA].(Design Feature)
July 1, 2007... Coupled sliced coaxial cables can provide signal coupling in a compact form factor for 50- and 75-[OMEGA] systems. With the ready availability of accurate computer-aided-engineering (CAE) tools, it is possible to apply some basic formulas for...

RF immunity testing helps to maintain quality performance.(application notes)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... UNWANTED RF SIGNALS are proliferating in part because of the popularity of GSM cell phones. Such RF signals can disrupt the operation of electronic circuits without adequate RF noise-rejection capabilities. To guarantee the satisfactory...

VNA options enhance amplifier measurements.(application notes)(vector network analyzer)
July 1, 2007... CHARACTERIZING A HIGH-FREQUENCY amplifier can be rather tricky. In fact, just configuring a network analyzer for the right set of measurements can be challenging. To ease this process, Rohde & Schwarz (Hants, United Kingdom) offers a...

Mirror symmetry makes high-performance hybrids: this unique circuit-design approach can achieve high levels of performance for a wide range of components even with limited manufacturing tolerances and misalignments.
July 1, 2007... Dimensional tolerances are critical to both electrical performance and manufacturing yield of high-frequency circuits. Since every deviation in a printed-circuit-board (PCB) trace represents a significant portion of a wavelength and RF and...

LDMOS FETs reach 1-kW Peak output power: this robust RF power transistor combines high efficiency and gain to reduce the manufacturing cost of MRI and other industrial and medical systems.(Product Technology)
July 1, 2007... Solid-state RF power for industrial-scientific-medical (ISM) applications usually requires multiple transistors to reach levels of 1 kW and more. Magnetic-resonance-imaging (MRI) systems, for example, employ power amplifiers that can deliver in...

Spread-spectrum module fits 3.4-GHz military radios: this board-level radio provides secure, long-range communications from 3.3 to 3.5 GHz using advanced error detection for reliability and data encryption for security.(Product Technology)
July 1, 2007... Secure communications is critical in battleplace as well as in public-safety and other government-agency applications. Frequency-hopping spread-spectrum techniques can ensure voice and data security over long-range communications links, and...

Vector and spectrum analyzers merge.(editor's choice)
July 1, 2007... TO PERFORM THEIR JOBS, RF engineers often rely on both spectrum analyzers and vector network analyzers (VNAs). To make it easier for designers to leverage these instruments, the ZVL series merges a full-featured VNA with a spectrum analyzer in...

WiMAX circulators manage 0.20 dB insertion loss.(editor's choice)
July 1, 2007... WIMAX IS ON THE RISE with networks set to deploy in cities across the globe. To support this buildup, a family of single-junction surface-mount circulators is well suited for various WiMAX applications. The MAFR-000229-000001,...

Portable handheld analyzers span 2 to 1600 MHz.(editor's choice)
July 1, 2007... INTEROPERABILITY continues to be a problem for homeland-security, public-safety, and other agencies. To assuage this problem, the S311D/S312D Site Master cable and antenna analyzers combine a frequency of 2 to 1600 MHz in a portable, rugged...

X-band GaN HEMT boasts 50 W output power.(editor's choice)
July 1, 2007... MANY RF MANUFACTURERS are turning to gallium-nitride (GaN) for its promise of higher power. GaN high-electron-mobility-transistor (HEMT) amplifiers, for example, may be capable of attaining significantly higher gain and output power than GaAs...