Microwaves & RF articles from March 2006

Microwaves & RF archives from March 2006

Software library speeds mobile WiMAX designs: designers who can't wait for the WiMAX IEEE 802.16e standard to stabilize can take a lead in WiMAX product development with this flexible and comprehensive tool.(Broadband wireless access)
March 1, 2006... Broadband wireless access (BWA) via WiMAX technology has been projected by many research studies to be a market with the growth potential of cellular communications. As that market heats up, the race to deliver products to market will...

EM software suite models IC coupling: this software tool suite is based on patent-pending EM coupling simulation technology to analyze the effects of coupling among components on an IC.(electromagnetic)
March 1, 2006... Coupling effects are often overlooked until their unwanted effects are quite noticeable. At the system level, coupling can be defeated by means of additional shielding and metal enclosures. But at the integrated-circuit (IC) level, unwanted...

Peak power meters offer 65-MHz bandwidth: these peak power meters and sensors provide the fast rise times and wide measurement bandwidth needed to evaluate modulated signals in 3G/4G cellular and WiMAX systems.(Anritsu Co. offers signal power meters)
March 1, 2006... Power measurements are among the most important methods of characterizing a wireless system's transmitted signal quality. Whether that system is a military radar or a third-generation (3G) cellular or wideband WiMAX network, the new ML2490A...

Looking back.(Product introduction of Agilent Technologies Inc)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... OVER 15 YEARS AGO, Hewlett-Packard Co. (now Agilent Technologies) broke the mold for RF measurements--again--with their HP 53310A modulation-domain analyzer. The second generation of a frequency and time-interval analyzer introduced in 1987,...

Military electronics.(feedback)(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2006... I JUST BROWSED through the premier issue of Penton's Military Electronics and it looks very good, especially the way the articles are structured for easy online reading. I'm looking forward to more articles on FCS since that's my primary...

Dreaming about Hawaii in 2007.(International Microwave Symposium)
March 1, 2006... FOR MANY OF US in the RF and microwave industry, the International Microwave Symposium (IMS) is the "place to be" every year. Boasting roughly 10,000 attendees, the show--known by many as the Microwave Theory & Techniques Symposium...

Mobile-phone revenue is set to decline this year.(sales and revenue of Telecommunications industry)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... EL SEGUNDO, CA -- Due to slowing growth and falling prices, worldwide mobile-phone market revenue is expected to decline in 2006, and will not recover the peak level of 2005 until 2009, according to a prediction from iSuppli Corp. ...

WiMAX Forum announces first WiMAX Forum certified products.(Technical and Business Symposium)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... SAN JOSE, CA -- The WiMAX Forum, an industry-led, non-profit corporation formed to promote and certify compatibility and interoperability of broadband wireless products, has announced the first wireless broadband network products to achieve the...

Amphenol RF signs QLF license agreement for QMA and QN products.(to provide highest quality product to customers)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... DANBURY, CT -- Amphenol RF announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to join the Quick Lock Formula[R] Alliance. Amphenol has signed a QMA and QN licensing agreement with Huber + Suhner AG and Radiall SA and soon will join the...

IEEE task group advances standards process for higher-speed 802.11[TM] WLANs.(Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... PISCATAWAY, NJ -- The task group responsible for developing the IEEE 802.11n project has voted to accept, as a baseline, a joint proposal to amend the IEEE 802.11[TM] wireless-local-area-network (WLAN) standard by adding specifications for new...

RF Micro Devices.(Shipments data of RF Micro Devices Inc)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... GREENSBORO, NC -- RF Micro Devices announced that it has shipped its 20 millionth POLARIS[TM] TOTAL RADIO[TM] cellular transceiver.

Jersey City, NJ--The Cookson Electronics Assembly Materials' (CEAM) Singapore facility was recommended for certification to the Environmental Management System (EMS) standard ISO 14001:2004 on January 25, 2006.(The Cookson Electronics Assembly Materials)(Environmental Management System )(International Standards Organization)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... JERSEY CITY, NJ -- The Cookson Electronics Assembly Materials' (CEAM) Singapore facility was recommended for certification to the Environmental Management System (EMS) standard ISO 14001:2004 on January 25, 2006, through BSI (British Standards...

San Diego, CA--Qualcomm, Inc. has been named one of FORTUNE magazine's "100 Best Companies to Work for in America".(100 Best Companies to Work for in America)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... SAN DIEGO, CA -- QUALCOMM, Inc. has been named one of FORTUNE magazine's "100 Best Companies to Work for in America" for the eighth consecutive year.

Allentown, Pa--Agere Systems.(Global System )(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... ALLENTOWN, PA -- Agere Systems announced that it has shipped in excess of 100 million Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM)-based wireless chip sets for mobile phones operating on more than 70 networks worldwide.

Malaga, Spain--Centro de Tecnologia de las Communicaciones S.A. (CETECOM).(PCS Type Certification Review Board)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... MALAGA, SPAIN -- Centro de Tecnologia de las Communicaciones S.A. (CETECOM), in Spain, was approved by the PCS Type Certification Review Board as a PTCRB GERAN laboratory as of November 28, 2005.

Frequency synthesizers tune communications systems: the requirements of modern communications systems and their exotic modulation formats place greater demands on the performance of microwave frequency synthesizers.
March 1, 2006... Bandwidth is everything in communications. It is vital to the spread of wireless multimedia, instant data, high voice quality, and other key services. But it is also a limited resource, requiring the use of advanced amplitude- and phase-based...

Preparation is key to the future of circuit design.(THE BIG picture)
March 1, 2006... What if we could go back 10 years and predict what the next decade of electronic design would bring? In the late 1990s, one of the crystal-ball forecasts of the electronics industry (from the ITRS SIA roadmap) looked out over the next 10 to 15...

ICs have steady influence on microwave market.(microwave integrated circuits)
March 1, 2006... Over the last 30 years, significant changes have taken place in the microwave industry. Perhaps the biggest shift was the emergence of a commercial market driven by the evolution of highly customized, low-volume products. Up until the '90s, the...

Satcom amplifiers offer up to 25 dB gain.(advantage of turnkey amplifiers)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... SATELLITE-COMMUNICATION (satcom) bands from L to Ku can now take advantage of turnkey amplifiers for fast installation and hookup. The amplifiers boast typical gain in the 20-to-25-dB range. The amplifiers' output power is +20 dBm at 1-dB gain...

Variable attenuator boasts 60-dB range.(editor's choice)
March 1, 2006... ATTENUATORS ARE a widely used staple of the RF and microwave industry. A new attenuator option recently emerged in a high-speed, band-variable attenuator. The AGHN-8018-60DD-SF flaunts a 60-dB attenuation range. Binary 8-b logic digitally...

High-power coupler covers 1000 to 2500 MHz.(editor's choice)
March 1, 2006... A 3-dB, 90-deg. hybrid coupler is now available for applications requiring high power levels. The IPP-2005 covers the 1000-to-2500-MHz frequency range. It will combine two signals with up to 200 W CW of total output power. Insertion loss is...

VCO phase noise drops to -111 dBc/Hz.(voltage controlled oscillator)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... A VOLTAGE-CONTROLLED OSCILLATOR (VCO) serves mobile-communications systems with single-sideband (SSB) phase noise of -111 dBc/Hz at 10 kHz away from the carrier. The RoHS-compliant CLV1630A-LF flaunts a second-harmonic suppression that is...

Joint bid wins WiMAX contract.(Aeroflex Inc. and CETECOM Spain signs a deal with WiMAX Forum )
March 1, 2006... AEROFLEX HAS ANNOUNCED that its joint bid with Centro de Tecnologia de las Communicaciones (CETECOM Spain) has been successful in winning the contract from the WiMAX Forum to develop the protocol conformance test solution for the new WiMAX...

TECOM Industries, Inc.(production contract)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... TECOM Industries, Inc.--Announced the award of an initial production contract for 50,000 endpoint antennas by a fixed network provider. This new contract award follows the completion of successful field trials of pre-production units delivered...

Lockheed Martin.(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Lockheed Martin--Has been awarded a $491 million contract by the US Air Force to build a third spacecraft for the Advanced Extremely High Frequency (Advanced EHF) program constellation. Advanced EHF satellites will provide global, highly...

Endwave Defense Systems.(Endwave Defense Systems)(Blackhart Sales )(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Endwave Defense Systems--Announced the signing of Blackhart Sales of Phoenix, AZ to service the states of Arizona and New Mexico. Tim Martinelli will handle outside sales responsibilities while Kathy Martinelli will be responsible for inside...

Applied Wave Research, Inc.(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Applied Wave Research, Inc. (AWR)--Announced the completion of Series C preferred stock financing totaling $6.4 million. The company's existing investors, including Synopsys, Inc. and CMEA Ventures, were joined in this funding round by new...

Digi-Key Corp.(FRESH STARTS)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Digi-Key Corp.--Has signed a worldwide distribution agreement with Power Integrations, a supplier of high-voltage analog integrated circuits (ICs) used in power conversion. Digi-Key currently ships product to more than 140 countries. Power...

Xceive Corp.(Xceive Corp received certification)(Imaging Science Foundation (ISF) Research Labs certification)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Xceive Corp.--Has received Imaging Science Foundation (ISF) Research Labs certification for the XC3028. This certification recognizes top performance and superior quality for high-end consumer products. Based on patented tunable wideband...

Kulicke & Soffa Industries, Inc.(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Kulicke & Soffa Industries, Inc. (K&S)--Announced a plan to tighten its focus on semiconductor assembly equipment and materials and create value for its shareholders. * K&S has signed a definitive agreement to sell its wafer test assets to...

NEC Electronics Corp.(merge its wholly owned subsidiary back into parent company)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... NEC Electronics Corp.--Announced that it will merge its wholly owned subsidiary, NEC Compound Semiconductor Devices Ltd., back into the parent company, effective April 1, 2006. NEC Compound Semiconductor Devices designs and manufactures RF and...

Amalfi Semiconductor.(Amalfi Semiconductor)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Amalfi Semiconductor--Announced the closing of a $20 million Series B equity funding. The oversubscribed round was led by Globespan Capital Partners. Existing venture investors, DCM--Doll Capital Management and Trinity Ventures, also...

Anritsu Co.(Anritsu Co)(East Coast Microwave)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Anritsu Co.--Announced the appointment of East Coast Microwave (ECM) as an authorized distributor for Anritsu's connector and component product lines. The appointment of ECM, which has offices in Massachusetts and Florida, will allow Anritsu to...

Agere Systems.(FRESH STARTS)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Agere Systems--Reported that revenues for the first quarter of fiscal 2006, ended December 31, 2005, were $403 million, within the guidance range provided in October, driven by strong demand in the company's storage business. By comparison,...

QUALCOMM, Inc.(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... QUALCOMM, Inc.--Has announced that the company has expanded the terms of Casio Computer Co. Ltd.'s existing subscriber unit license agreement to include all 3G CDMA standards (i.e., CDMA2000[R], WCDMA/UMTS, TDSCDMA). Under the terms of the...

Janos technology names Clough as new president.(appoiment of Harvey Clough)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Janos Technology has appointed HARVEY CLOUGH as its new president. Prior to joining Janos Technology, Clough was the president and COO of Energy Sciences, Inc. of Wimington, MA. He formerly held several positions at GE Lighting.

Richardson Electronics Ltd.(appointment of Arthur Buckland)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Richardson Electronics Ltd.--ARTHUR BUCKLAND to president, COO, and board member; formerly chairman, CEO, and president of Clare, Inc.

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI).(appointment of James H. Nixon)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Southwest Research Institute (SwRI)--JAMES H. NIXON to director of the Strategic Systems Dept. in the Signal Exploitation and Geolocation Division; previously assistant director.

Micron Technology, Inc.(appointment of Teruaki Aoki)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Micron Technology, Inc.--DR. TERUAKI AOKI to the board of directors; continues as advisor to Sony Corp. Also, ROBERT SWITZ to the board of directors; remains as president and CEO of ADC Telecommunications, Inc.

Renaissance Electronics Corp.(appoitment of Alex Sierra)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Renaissance Electronics Corp.--ALEX SIERRA to international sales manager for the Ferrite Product Group; formerly sales and operations manager for Soft Servo Systems.

Flomerics.(appointment of Marta Rencz)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Flomerics--PROF. MARTA RENCZ to the board of management of the EU-funded Network of Excellence, PATENT-DfMM; continues as head of department of electron devices at the Technical University of Budapest and the CEO of MicReD Ltd., which was...

Synopsys, Inc.(appointment of Brian Beattie)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Synopsys, Inc.--BRIAN BEATTIE to CFO; formerly CFO and executive vice president of finance and administration at SupportSoft.

Hittite Microwave Corp.(appointment of Brian Jablonski)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Hittite Microwave Corp.--BRIAN JABLONSKI to vice president of operations; formerly director of operations.

Iridium.(appointment of Jim Hamant)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Iridium--JIM HAMANT to vice president of product production and distribution; formerly engineering manager at Orbital Sciences. Also, DAVID SCHOEN to vice president of technology development; formerly vice president of technology development at...

ABI Research.(appointment of Stuart Carlaw)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... ABI Research--STUART CARLAW to principal analyst for wireless connectivity; formerly director of wireless research at IMS Research.

Lucent Technologies.(appointment of Frank D'Amelio)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Lucent Technologies--FRANK D'AMELIO to COO; will also continue as CFO until a successor is named.

Sirenza Microdevices, Inc.(appointment of Christopher Crespi)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Sirenza Microdevices, Inc.-CHRISTOPHER CRESPI to the board of directors; continues as president of Pacific Realm, LLC.

C&D Technologies, Inc.(appointment of Deb Castle)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... C&D Technologies, Inc.--DEB CASTLE to vice president of human resources; formerly director of global talent development at VWR International.

AR Worldwide Modular RF.(appointment of Jim Wilcox to regional sales manager)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... AR Worldwide Modular RF--JIM WILCOX to regional sales manager; formerly director for Eastern area sales at Temic Semiconductors (now Atmel Corp.).

STMicroelectronics.(vice president and general manager)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... STMicroelectronics--JEFFREY SEE to corporate vice president and general manager of ST's worldwide back-end operations; formerly general manager of ST's manufacturing complex in Ang Mo Ko, Singapore.

Palomar Technologies.(bruce w. hueners is a president of Palomar Technologies)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Palomar Technologies--BRUCE W. HUENERS to president; formerly COO.

Wide Band Systems, Inc.(Red Rock Technologies, Inc)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Wide Band Systems, Inc.--MASON F. FEIN to director of sales; formerly director of sales at Red Rock Technologies, Inc.

RF Code, Inc.(robert hart vice president of operations)
March 1, 2006... RF Code, Inc.--ROBERT HART to vice president of operations; formerly senior vice president of operations at Matrics, Inc.

Short courses.(calendar)(Calendar)
March 1, 2006... Besser Associates Short Courses Advanced RF Power Amplifier Techniques May 15-19 (Braintree, MA) Applied RF Techniques I May 15-19 (Braintree, MA) August 14-18 (San Jose, CA) RF and High-Speed PC Board Design...

Meetings.(education)(Calendar)
March 1, 2006... RFID Smart Labels USA 2006 March 27-30 (Boston, MA) The Westin Hotel Internet: http://idtechex.com/smartlabelsusa06/en/index.asp ENTELEC 2006 Conference and Expo April 19-21 (Houston, TX) Hilton Americas For...

Adaptive beamformer aids mobile reception of ATSC DTV.(advanced-television-system-committee)(digital television)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... MOBILE RECEPTION OF TELEVISION signals is expected to play a major part in the expansion of mobile multimedia services. To enable the mobile reception of advanced-television-system-committee (ATSC) digital television (DTV) in a mobile...

Silicon CMOS receiver front end operates at 60 GHz.(product information)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... UNLICENSED COMMUNICATIONS AT 60 GHZ provides enormous potential for broadband, high-date-rate applications, although the technology to fabricate components at that frequency has traditionally been low yield and expensive. To overcome the cost...

Rectifier circuit powers sensor network tags at 950 MHz.(product information)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORKS rely on low-cost RF-identification (RFID) tags for reliable operation. Researcher Toshiyuki Umeda and associates from the Mobile Communications Laboratory of the Corporate Research and Development Center of Toshiba...

Filtering compromises from co-located systems: the cocktail of co-located spectrum and cell-based wireless services is leading to interference issues that can severely impact network performance, although custom co-location RF filters offer a practical solution.
March 1, 2006... Co-location of different wireless-communications base stations often makes economic sense, but poses a variety of technical challenges. The approach allows carriers to still use existing infrastructure while deploying new wireless networks. The...

Simulation spices RFID read rates: electromagnetic simulation tools can improve RFID read rates by analyzing potential problems from different installation configuations, without disrupting the production line.(radio frequency identification)
March 1, 2006... Implementers of RF-indentification (RFID) readers have sometimes struggled with meeting read-rate requirements due to the difficulty of isolating different factors that can affect performance. These include the material to which the tags are...

Microwave connector choices determine system performance: with an understanding of connector types and attributes like size, pin gap, return loss, and conductor thickness, engineers can make the right trade-offs and achieve optimal design results.(radio frequency connector choice)
March 1, 2006... Few components have the paradoxical attributes of the microwave connector. These precision-crafted devices play a vastly greater role in determining system performance than their diminutive size would suggest. For as long as there have been...

Analyzing EM parameters for shielded bandline: by applying several analysis techniques, it was possible to develop a set of closed-form expressions to describe the electrical behavior of shielded symmetrical bandline.(usage of finite-element method )
March 1, 2006... Shielded symmetrical bandline transmission lines offer some noteworthy characteristics for high-frequency designs, including low signal loss. In order to better understand the nature of these transmission lines, they were examined using the...

Using statistical methods to analyze modulated carriers.(application notes)
March 1, 2006... THANKS TO NEWER DIGITAL TECHNIQUES, peak and average power can now be measured accurately with only two limiting conditions: total dynamic range and modulation bandwidth. To perform these measurements, the engineer does not even need to have...

Measuring third-order intermodulation products.(product information)
March 1, 2006... THIRD-ORDER INTERCEPT POINTS for low-distortion IC products can be accurately measured if certain test-setup and testing-procedure precautions are taken. This topic is tackled in an eight-page white paper, "Accurate Measurement of LT5514 Third...

Single chip houses analog/digital TV receiver: based on patented wideband active RF filtering technology, this single IC can receive all analog and digital television signals with fast channel tuning that settles in less than 10 ms.(product information)
March 1, 2006... television technology will undergo a dramatic makeover in the next several years, as terrestrial, satellite, and cable broadcasters make the transition from analog to digital. Manufacturers of consumer televisions, however, have already gotten...