Microwaves & RF articles from March 2007

Microwaves & RF archives from March 2007

Low-cost UWB source.(feedback)(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2007... WITH MUCH INTEREST I read Yeap Yean Wei's article, "Design A Simple, Low-Cost UWB Source," in the December 2006 issue of Microwaves & RF (p. 68). It reminded me of my old work with frequency multipliers using step-recovery diodes. I am...

Starting smartly with synthesizers.(from the editor)(EM Research Inc.)(Micro Lambda Wireless Inc.)(Synergy Microwave Corp.)
March 1, 2007... Frequency synthesizers are among the most complex of function modules in an RF design. While they once conjured up images of mammoth proportions--machined boxes with mazes of semirigid coax to keep things connected--the RF/microwave frequency...

Increased integration is key to development of RF components in mobile phones.(the front end)(future growth forecasted for radio frequency components industry)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... EL SEGUNDO, CA -- Continued integration of RF components is essential if mobile phones are to evolve to support next-generation features like data-oriented technologies and multiple frequency bands, according to a report by Jagdish Rebello,...

Iridium provided satellite tracking for snowmobile race.(the front end)
March 1, 2007... BETHESDA, MD -- Iridium provided real-time satellite data links to track the location and movement of teams participating in the 2007 Tesoro Iron Dog snowmobile race. Billed as the "World's Longest, Toughest Snowmobile Race," the Tesoro...

Kudos.(the front end)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... AUSTIN, TX -- Dr. James Truchard, CEO, president, and cofounder of National Instruments was elected to membership in the National Academy of Engineering, widely considered the highest honor given in the engineering profession. Truchard was...

Laird Technologies acquires two companies.(mergers and acquisitions)(M2sys Co. Ltd.)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... ST. LOUIS, MO -- Laird Technologies, a designer and manufacturer of antenna solutions, electromagnetic-interference (EMI) shielding products, telematics, thermal management solutions, wireless systems, and signal-integrity products, has...

Frequency synthesizers fit many modular formats: frequency synthesizers can be specified with a variety of different technologies and performance levels, depending on mechanical and electrical requirements.(News Report)
March 1, 2007... Frequency synthesizers are used throughout RF/microwave applications in measurement labs; in commercial communications systems; in military avionics, electronic-warfare (EW), satellites, and other systems; and throughout industrial, automotive,...

UWB welcomes flood of handset-centric applications: although next-generation mobile applications will rely on a blend of standards and technologies, the recent advances of UWB will help it spearhead this evolution.(News Report)
March 1, 2007... Mobile handsets now provide Internet applications like e-mail, web browsing, and Instant Messaging. Going forward, even more performance, memory, and functionality will be integrated into handsets. Because so many consumers carry a mobile...

CSR announces strong FY2006 results.(Cambridge Silicon Radio Ltd. financial report)(Financial report)
March 1, 2007... CSR plc has announced its 2006 financial with the company showing revenues for the year up 45 percent to $704.7M ($486.5M in 2005) and operating profits up 33 percent to $149.0M ($11.9M in 2005). CSR is already successfully executing on its...

W.L. Gore & Associates.(contracts)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... W.L. Gore & Associates -- Has been awarded the contract to provide GORE[TM] Umbilical Assemblies for the A-10 Precision Engagement (PE) Kit by Lockheed Martin. This is the second contract awarded to Gore for the A-10 program following the...

Herley Industries, Inc.(contracts)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Herley Industries, Inc. -- Announced that its Farmingdale, NY subsidiary has been awarded a $4.9 million contract for continued development and initial production of microwave phase shifters for an advanced phased-array radar. This seaborne...

WPCS International, Inc.(contracts)(WPCS International)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... WPCS International, Inc. -- Has recently been awarded a variety of new contracts totaling approximately $3.1 million. Some of the new contracts awarded to WPCS, through its subsidiaries, include projects to be completed for Glenn-Colusa...

Tundra Semiconductor Corp.(financial report)(Financial report)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Tundra Semiconductor Corp. -- Reported financial results for the third quarter of fiscal year 2007, which ended January 28, 2007: * Q3 Revenue: $21.7 million * Q3 Pro forma earnings: $3.0 million * Q3 Pro forma diluted earnings per...

Iridium Satellite LLC.(FRESH STARTS)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Iridium Satellite LLC -- Announced plans to open a new telemetry, tracking, and command/control (TTAC) earth station in Norway. The TTAC opening is part of a continuous improvement plan to enhance Iridium's constellation relaibility and global...

Agilent Technologies, Inc.(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Agilent Technologies, Inc. -- Announced plans to expand the company's investment in its Integrated Circuit Characterization and Analysis Program (IC-CAP) device modeling software. The company will establish a new research and development...

Silicon Laboratories, Inc.(contracts)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Silicon Laboratories, Inc. -- Announced a definitive agreement with NXP, formerly Philips Semiconductor. NXP will purchase the Aero transceiver, Aero ONE[TM] single-chip phone and power-amplifier product lines, for $285 million in cash, with...

PrecisionWave Corp.(contracts)(Global Instrument Dynamics G.I.D.I.Y.)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... precisionWave Corp.--Announced its selection of Global Instrument Dynamics G.I.D.I.Y. as its exclusive sales representative in Israel. G.I.D.I.Y. specializes in the distribution, technical support, and service of measurement, test...

TRAK Microwave Corp.(contracts)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... TRAK Microwave Corp. -- Appointed Broadband Technical Sales as their exclusive sales representative in Northern California. Broadband will represent TRAK Microwave Corp.'s microwave products, including integrated microwave assemblies, frequency...

Mercury Computer Systems.(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Mercury Computer Systems -- Has joined the Software Defined Radio Forum (SDRF) Board of Directors. Murat Bicer, product marketing manager for Mercury's Software Defined Radio Group, was elected to the SDRF board as the medium company...

Newport Media.(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Newport Media -- Opened the Newport Media Egypt Design Center in Cairo, Egypt. The facility adds additional systems-design and software-development resources to meet customer demand and product development. The Cairo facility is the first...

Anadigics, Inc.(financial report)(Financial report)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... ANADIGICS, Inc.--Reported fourth-quarter 2006 net sales of $49.1 million, an increase of 10 percent compared with net sales of $44.8 million in the prior quarter, and an increase of 48 percent compared to net sales of $33.3 million in the year...

IntelliCoat Technologies names Lupone as president.(appointment of Joseph Lupone)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... IntelliCoat Technologies has appointed JOSEPH ("JOE") LUPONE as president and CEO. Most recently, Lupone served as president of Reflexite Display Optics, a division of Reflexite Co., a maker of optical films for the LCD flat-panel-display...

Zebra Technologies Corp.(appointment of Juliann Larimer and Mike Lowey)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Zebra Technologies Corp. -- JULIANN LARIMER to vice president for North America channel sales and marketing; formerly director of marketing operations for the Americas. Also, MIKE LOWEY to vice president for national accounts; formerly director...

ZK Celltest, Inc.(appointments)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... ZK Celltest, Inc. -- JOHN SLEET to vice president of business development; formerly director of professional services at Marconi Wireless. Also, BRUCE MORLEY to vice president of manufacturing and operations; formerly director of manufacturing...

Vantrix Corp.(appointment of Manish Jha)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Vantrix Corp. -- MANISH JHA to CEO; formerly senior vice president and general manager of ESPN Mobile.

IPC.(appointments)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... IPC -- DON SCHROEDER to chairman of IPC's Executive Market and Technology Forum Steering Committee; continues as president of CTS Electronics Manufacturing Solutions. Also, MARIA LABRIOLA to account executive; formerly trade analyst for the...

VeriChip Corp.(appointment of Michael Barbe)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... VeriChip Corp. -- MICHAEL BARBE to vice president of sales and distribution for the VeriMed Patent Identification System; formerly director of sales for the spinal implant and image-guided surgery businesses in the international sector at...

QUALCOMM, Inc.(appointment of Carol C. Lam)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... QUALCOMM, Inc. -- CAROL C. LAM to senior vice president and legal counsel; formerly United States attorney for the Southern District of California.

Q Microwave, Inc.(appointment of Dan Czagany)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Q Microwave, Inc. -- DAN CZAGANY to the position of sales manager; formerly employed at REMEC Defense & Space, Inc.

Volterra Semiconductor Corp.(appointment of Hamza Yilmaz)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Volterra Semiconductor Corp. -- DR. HAMZA YILMAZ to senior vice president for product development, engineering, and manufacturing operations; formerly employed at Fairchild Semiconductor, GEM Services, PowerSemi-conductor Solutions, Vishay...

iSuppli Corp.(appointment of Francis Sideco)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... iSuppli Corp. -- FRANCIS SIDECO to senior analyst; formerly product marketing manager at Comarco, Inc.

picoChip.(appointment of Wenbo Wang)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... picoChip -- PROFESSOR WENBO WANG to picoChip's advisory board; continues as Professor and Dean of School of Telecommunication Engineering at the Beijing University of Posts & Telecommunications (BUPT).

Nextreme Thermal Solutions.(appointment of Seri Lee)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Nextreme Thermal Solutions -- DR. SERI LEE to CTO; formerly senior thermal scientist for the Silicon and Platform Solutions Group at Intel Corp.

RFMW Ltd.(appointments)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... RFMW Ltd. -- JOHN HAMILTON to director of product marketing; formerly field sales engineer in the Silicon Valley. Also, RICH ERMOLOVICH to regional sales engineer for Southern California; formerly regional sales manager at Johanson Technology....

Education.(Calendar)
March 1, 2007... SHORT COURSES R.A. Wood Associates Short Courses Introductory RF and Microwaves April 16-17 (El Segundo, CA) June 4-5 (Boston, MA) RF and Microwave Receiver Design April 18-20 (El Segundo, CA) June 6-8 (Boston,...

Noise-canceling LNA delivers 4.5-to-5.1-dB noise figure over UWB band.(National Taiwan University faculty develop wideband low-noise amplifier)(Ultra wideband technology)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... ULTRA-WIDEBAND (UWB) TECHNOLOGY promises to transmit data at a high data rate while keeping power low. The industry is therefore counting on it to provide seamless connectivity between consumer-electronics devices for the transmission of...

Radio-wave propagation measurement system targets MIMO at 5.3 GHz.(R & D roundup)(Multilple-Input Multiple-Output technology)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... MULTIPLE-INPUT MULTIPLE-OUTPUT (MIMO) technology is expected to form the root of many wireless networks. MIMO measurement systems will therefore be needed to provide knowledge about MIMO channels. A radio-wave propagation measurement system for...

Adaptive down-converter swaps RF performance for current consumption.(R & D roundup)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... IN ORDER TO MEET INCREASING functional and operational requirements, the current consumption of circuitry in multi-standard and multifunctional handhelds must be reduced. This goal can be achieved by using adaptive circuits, which trade RF...

Design coupled microstrip resonators for MRI: these numerical methods provide the means for determining the primary inductive and capacitive matrices for a high-Q coupled-microstrip-line TEM resonator suitable for MRI applications.(Design Feature)
March 1, 2007... Magnetic-resonance-imaging (MRI) systems for medical and scientific applications require a high-performance, high-power inductor capable of establishing a uniformly strong magnetic field. The transverse-electromagnetic (TEM) resonator (1) has...

PCTF approach saves MW/RF component/module costs: this advanced ceramic SMT packaging approach offers high performance and reliability but with impressive cost benefits in small-to-medium-volume production.(Design Feature)(Plated Copper on Thick Film)
March 1, 2007... Packaging is a critical part of RF/microwave component and module design. The package provides protection but, at higher frequencies, is also part of the circuitry. For that reason, the package must provide excellent electrical performance,...

Designing wideband RF impedance transformers: this simplified design approach can lead to low-cost, low-insertion-loss 1:4 impedance transformers capable of operating over bandwidths as wide as three octaves.(Design Feature)(radio frequency)
March 1, 2007... Impedance matching devices are often used in high-frequency circuits, typically to match the impedance of a device or component to the characteristic impedance of a circuit or system. In some circuits, it is desirable for the impedance matching...

Arbitrary/function generator simplifies FM Radio Test.(application notes)(frequency modulation)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... TESTING, ALIGNING, AND TROUBLESHOOTING a conventional amplitude-modulation (AM)/frequency-modulation (FM) radio requires a good grasp of DC and AC electronic basics and RF behavior. A thorough knowledge of signal generators and oscilloscopes...

Test procedure tackles HSDPA user-equipment Rx diversity.(application notes)(high-speed downlink packet access)
March 1, 2007... RECEIVE (RX) DIVERSITY AND advanced receiver technologies are used in mobile radios in both 3GPPUMTS and GERAN. Their job is to increase downlink performance in terms of capacity and coverage. In "Testing HSDPA UE Receiver Diversity," Rohde &...

Multilayer baluns break size barrier: these new baluns not only do away with the ferrite core and size of wire-wound components, they also shave the manufacturing, design, and performance trade-offs associated with traditional transformers.
March 1, 2007... Impedance transformers are one of the necessities of high-frequency design. Unfortunately, when miniaturization is an issue, the wire-wound ferrite components that represent traditional impedance transformers pose three major design challenges....

Vermont firm forges precision wafer probes: the quiet country backdrop belies the high-quality yet practical wafer-probing technology being created at this innovative new company.(Product Technology)(SemiProbe LLC)
March 1, 2007... Tucked away in the Northern reaches of Vermont lies one of the best-kept secrets in the RF/microwave industry: SemiProbe LLC. Not far from the University of Vermont, and a mere 100 miles from Montreal, Canada, SemiProbe, and their partner...

GPAs extend linear gain to 6 GHz: these broadband amplifiers run on a single +5-VDC supply and combine high intercept points with low noise figures to excel in applications requiring good linearity.(Product Technology)(general-purpose amplifiers)(volts direct current)
March 1, 2007... General-purpose amplifiers (GPAs) are among the most versatile of active components. They can be used wherever gain is needed and signal losses must be overcome. These devices can be used as buffer amplifiers to create isolation between...

LNA and distributed filtering maintain 1.5-dB GPS noise figure: for engineers working to integrate GPS in handsets, an LNA is at the heart of an approach that conquers out-of-band signals without sacrificing real estate or power consumption.(Product Technology)(low noise amplifiers)
March 1, 2007... Cell phones must now integrate Global Positioning System (GPS) functionality to satisfy the E911 mandate. Although many GPS receiver/processor integrated circuits (ICs) incorporate on-board low-noise-amplifier (LNA) front ends, the noise...

Generators create arbitrary waveforms at 1.2 GSamples/s: ideal for mixed-signal testing, this family of arbitrary waveform generators features 14-b vertical resolution at sampling rates from 10 MSamples/s to 1.2 GSamples/s.(Product Technology)
March 1, 2007... Electronic products are more becoming a mixture of digital and analog circuits than one or the other. For that reason, creating test waveforms requires a new level of complexity involving stable carriers, advanced modulation, and multiple...

I/Q demodulator spans 800 MHz to 2.7 GHz.(editor's choice)
March 1, 2007... A HIGH-LINEARITY direct-conversion in-phase/quadrature (I/Q) demodulator is striving to reduce the cost of third-generation (3G) and WiMAX base-station receivers. Dubbed the LT5575, it boasts an operating-frequency range from 800 MHz to 2.7...

VCO modules exhibit -95-dBc/Hz phase noise.(editor's choice)
March 1, 2007... TO SATISFY test and measurement, military, microwave-radio, and other applications from 4 to 12.5 GHz, three wideband voltage-controlled-oscillator (VCO) modules have been spawned. The HMCC028, HMC-C029, and HMCC030 modules offer output...

PIN diodes handle 100 W CW RF power.(MicroMetrics Inc. introduces MELF-packaged PIN diodes)(metal-electrode-leadless-faced)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... A NEW FAMILY of non-magnetic, metal-electrode-leadless-faced (MELF)-packaged PIN diodes features high power handling and low distortion. At 100 mA, the product family has a resistance specification at 100 MHz from 0.3 to 1.0 [OMEGA]. Its...

Handheld spectrum analyzer hits 7.5 GHz.(editor's choice)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... ASIDE FROM OFFERING CONVENIENCE, hand-portable spectrum analyzers are increasingly providing higher performance and an impressive feature set. The 9102 handheld spectrum analyzer, for example, can now operate at frequencies up to 7.5 GHz. The...