Wireless Design & Development articles from April 2005

Wireless Design & Development archives from April 2005

Up front with Ern.(In This Corner ...)
April 1, 2005... I'm a fan of competition--make no mistake about it. Theoretically, competition is supposed to make things better and cheaper, among other things. Most of the time it does work that way--but not necessarily always. So, I've been keeping an...

Load switches.(PRODUCT NEWS: WHAT'S HOT)
April 1, 2005... Fairchild announces "IntelliMAX[TM] integrated low-power load switches targeting portable battery-powered applications. Offering a combination of protection, control, and fault monitoring features in a low-profile SC-70 package, the devices...

Digital Filter Design Toolkit.(PRODUCT NEWS: WHAT'S HOT)
April 1, 2005... NI announces the NI LabVIEW Digital Filter Design Toolkit Version 7.5, which includes tools for modeling and creating software-based digital filters as well as LabVIEW FPGA and C code generation capabilities for chip-level implementation. With...

RF connectivity products.(PRODUCT NEWS: WHAT'S HOT)
April 1, 2005... Aerocomm announces the ACE family of RF modems. ACE6490 and ACE6790 are housed in rugged NEMA-4x enclosures, designed to withstand extreme weather or other severe surroundings. Each product delivers variable output power up to 1 W at 900 MHz....

Two-chip radio solution.(PRODUCT NEWS: WHAT'S HOT)
April 1, 2005... Maxim introduces the MAX2392 and MAX2507, RF to baseband TD-SCDMA radio solution reference designs. Available as an analog or digital interface, each reference design encompasses the functionality of the radio--from antenna to baseband. A...

A/D converter.(PRODUCT NEWS: WHAT'S HOT)
April 1, 2005... Atmel[R] announces a 10-bit A/D converter with a clock frequency of 1.5 Gs/s. The AT84AS003TP breaks the 8.0 ENOB barrier at sampling rates over l Gs/s. At 1.5 Gs/s, performance such as 8.0 ENOB, 58 dB SFDR has been demonstrated in Nyquist...

Programmable DSP.(PRODUCT NEWS: WHAT'S HOT)
April 1, 2005... TI announces a programmable DSP capable of handling multiple 3G air interface standards and a range of basestation form factors on a single chip. The 1 GHz TMS320TCI6482 DSP consumes 3 W of power and provides infrastructure OEMs with a platform...

GPS receivers.(PRODUCT NEWS: WHAT'S HOT)
April 1, 2005... SiRF Technology announces a family of low-power GPS products based on the company's SiRFstarIII architecture. The SiRF GSC3f combines an A-GPS digital baseband processor, RF front end, and 4 Mb of flash memory in a 7 x 10 mm package, providing...

Quad-band GSM/GPRS PA module.(PRODUCT NEWS: WHAT'S HOT)
April 1, 2005... TriQuint introduces the TQM7M4006 quad-band GSM850/GSM900/DCS/PCS power amplifier module (PAM) in a 5 x 5 X 1.1 mm package. The 3 V device is designed for mobile handset applications and employs the company's InGaP HBT technology in combination...

Next generation digital tools for filter designs.(TECHNOLOGY FOCUS: TEST & MEASUREMENT)
April 1, 2005... The rapid growth of the wireless industry has led engineers to face seemingly contradictory design guidelines. Despite shorter design cycles, engineers often are called upon to push increasingly powerful and complex designs to market. One...

Compact simulator.(TECHNOLOGY FOCUS: TEST & MEASUREMENT)
April 1, 2005... AR introduces a new version of its CWSS00D compact simulator manufactured by EM Test for the AR Worldwide RF/Microwave Instrumentation division. The addition to the CWSS00D testing resume is the Avionics Specification DO-160 Conducted...

Extraction tool.(TECHNOLOGY FOCUS: TEST & MEASUREMENT)
April 1, 2005... Magma announces QuickCap[R] NX, an enhanced version of its gold-standard QuickCap parasitic capacitance extraction tool. Key capabilities have been added allow the tool to better address design challenges that occur in 90 nm and smaller process...

Mixed signal oscilloscopes.(TECHNOLOGY FOCUS: TEST & MEASUREMENT)
April 1, 2005... Agilent introduces 12 portable digital storage and mixed signal oscilloscopes (DSOs/MSOs) with bandwidths of 300 MHz and 500 MHz, and a portable 1 GHz offering. With a real-time display update, the Agilent 6000 series can show critical events...

Evolution of true software defined radio: SDR provides a qualitative leap in frequency agility and protocol standard independence, and solves the problem of system incompatibility in a highly fragmented communication environment.(Cover Story)
April 1, 2005... Cognitive radio systems in general, and TSR products in particular, soon may revolutionize telecommunications. By providing all signal processing in software, TSR systems asymptotically approach the ultimate SDR systems goal of seamless system...

Architecture-driven design for complex electronic systems: architecture-driven design, using a virtual system prototype, allows the hardware and software portions of the design of next generation of mobile wireless to be developed concurrently, significant y reducing the overall design cycle and subsequently, costs.(SPECIAL SECTION: EMBEDDED SYSTEMS)
April 1, 2005... In spite of the bumpy road high technology has been on of late, the wireless industry is still at the forefront of electronics systems development. Complex and sophisticated engineering processes yield its products. Acute competition in the...

Mobile IP--the new wave in networking capability: mobile IP is set to be one of the great enablers of the 21st century. This ubiquitous deployment of Mobile IP means today's designers and engineers must be up to speed on its basics.(SPECIAL SECTION: EMBEDDED SYSTEMS)
April 1, 2005... The explosion of handheld embedded devices with Internet capabilities has heightened the demand for user mobility. Examples of mobility required by users of Internet-connected devices (communicating via IP) include: mobility in the home, in the...

An innovative approach to faster RFIC transmitter design: transmitter designs continue to evolve at a blazing pace, in both complexity and integration. In today's competitive wireless environment, accurate and efficient transmitter design isn't an option--it's a must.(FEATURED TECHNOLOGY)
April 1, 2005... RFIC transceiver design requires many simulation technologies and capabilities. This article presents a number of simulation techniques, including frequency-domain (harmonic balance); mixed frequency- and time-domain (circuit envelope);...

New 4921 RF Shield.(Advertisement)
April 1, 2005... Willtek's 4921 RF Shield is a new shielding solution for testing 3G mobile phones, as well as data cards and WLAN equipment in large service centers and production lines. The 4921 is the optimum solution for service centers and manufacturers...

4400 mobile phone testers.(Willtek 4400)(Brief Article)(Advertisement)
April 1, 2005... Unlike other mobile phone testers designed for R&D, the Willtek 4400 was developed specifically for manufacturing and service operations. The 4400 is built for speed, accuracy, reliability and ease of use. It covers every test needed in...

Swatch Group: electronic systems.(Swatch Group Electronic Systems)(Advertisement)
April 1, 2005... An integrated group of specialized companies, able to provide complete technology solutions. A key strength of the Swatch Group Electronic Systems (SGES) is its synergistic approach to supporting leading-edge customer design requirements with...

JFW Industries, Inc.: company profile.(Advertisement)
April 1, 2005... GENERAL JFW Industries, Inc. was founded in 1979 in Beech Grove, Indiana by Fred and Joetta Walker. JFW is a leader in the design and manufacturing of RF components and application specific test systems. These components include...

Anritsu Company: leading the way in HSDPA test.(High Speed Downlink Packet Access)(Advertisement)
April 1, 2005... A Century of Leadership For more than 100 years, Anritsu Company has had a corporate mission of forging the development of emerging technologies. That mission is evident by Anritsu's broad product line of innovative test solutions that...

Manufacturer and designer of broadband, microwave and wirelsss components.(Advertisement)
April 1, 2005... Aeroflex/Inmet is an ISO 9001-2000 Certified manufacturer of a broad line of RF& microwave components for the military, wireless, optical and test & measurement markets. Both standard and custom designed products, from DC to 65 GHz and from 1...

Biometric fingerprint sensor.(EntrePad 1510 )
April 1, 2005... AuthenTec introduces the EntrePad 1510--a small, powerful, and versatile biometric fingerprint sensor, which combines high-level security with a host of touch-powered features and functions for cell phones. The sensor features the company's...

Mouser electronics: customer-focused distribution.(Brief Article)(Advertisement)
April 1, 2005... Mouser Electronics, Inc., a privately-held company and subsidiary of TTI, is one of the fastest growing electronics distributors in North America. Dedicated to supplying its customers with the latest new products and newest technologies, Mouser...