Wireless Design & Development articles from August 2005

Wireless Design & Development archives from August 2005

Light metal is pretty cool, but is it for us?(design and development of microprocessors)(Column)
August 1, 2005... Moore's Law, the infamous knell of death for the unprepared, which states microprocessor complexity will grow exponentially without an increase in price, has held for four decades. But I wonder if Gordon Moore saw the issues about power when he...

Wireless sensor module.(PRODUCT NEWS / WHAT'S HOT)
August 1, 2005... EnOcean introduces the STM100, a solar-powered wireless sensor module. Within its custom two-stage solar cell, one stage provides quick startup energy while the other charges an onboard energy reservoir. Designed to operate indoors, the device...

Power Analyzer.(PRODUCT NEWS / WHAT'S HOT)
August 1, 2005... Boonton Electronics announces a 4500B Peak Power Analyzer. This instrument captures, displays and analyzes RF power in both time and statistical domains. The 4500B can be used in many applications including pulsed RF such as radar, TDMA and...

Cellular subsystem.(PRODUCT NEWS / WHAT'S HOT)
August 1, 2005... Freescale announces its fourth-generation dual-mode RF cellular subsystem for 3G WCDMA/EDGE handsets. The subsystem is comprised of the following: MMM6007: Tri-band WCDMA transceiver with digital interface; MMM6032: WCDMA integrated power...

TWT amplifiers.(PRODUCT NEWS / WHAT'S HOT)
August 1, 2005... AR Worldwide has added to its family of traveling wave tube (TWT) amplifiers with three 1500 W CW models. 1500T1G3A covers the frequency range of 1 to 2.5 GHz, 1500T2G8A is designed for the 2.5 to 7.5 GHz range, and 1500T8G18 spans the 7.5 to...

Broadband PA modules.(PRODUCT NEWS: WHAT'S HOT)
August 1, 2005... OPHIR RF power amplifier models 5303039D (20 to 1000 MHz) and 5303068A (800 to 2000 MHz) together cover the 20 to 2000 MHz frequency range at greater than 50 W RF output power at Psat, and can quickly be switched off to enhance system...

Low power demultiplexer.(PRODUCT NEWS: WHAT'S HOT)
August 1, 2005... Atmel[R] Corporation aonounces a 10-bit demultiplexer (DMUX) with a maximum clock frequency of 2.2 GHz directly interfacing to LVDS (Low Voltage Differential Signaling) compatible FPGAs, DSPs and ASICs. The AT84CS001VTP is a low power DMUX with...

MMIC distributed amplifier.(PRODUCT NEWS: WHAT'S HOT)
August 1, 2005... Mimix Broadband introduces a GaAs MMIC distributed amplifier that can be used as an ultra wideband amplifier or a fiber optic modulator driver. Using 0.15[micro] gate length GaAs pHEMT device model technology, this distributed amplifier covers...

BAW filters and duplexers.(PRODUCT NEWS: WHAT'S HOT)
August 1, 2005... Royal Philips Electronics announces a family of advanced bulk acoustic wave (BAW) filters and duplexers that enhance the performance of multimedia mobile phones. The filters feature patented reduced form factor chip-scale packaging...

Atmel and Tower announce agreement.(NEWS / BUSINESS / CONTRACTS)(Tower Semiconductor Ltd.)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... Atmel[R] Corporation and Tower Semiconductor Ltd. announce that they have agreed on a CMOS image sensor technology development partnership. Under the agreement, both companies have rights to use the jointly developed technology. Tower revenue...

Ansoft announces financial results.(NEWS / BUSINESS / CONTRACTS)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... Revenue for the fourth quarter totaled $21.7 million, an increase of 22% compared to $17.8 million reported in the previous fiscal year's fourth quarter. On a non-GAAP basis, net income for the fourth quarter was $4.9 million, or $0.38 per...

Cushcraft acquires Pacific Wireless.(NEWS / BUSINESS / CONTRACTS)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... Cushcraft Corporation announces the acquisition of Pacific Wireless Incorporated. Pacific Wireless will continue to be operated by the founder and current management team under their existing brand as a division of Cushcraft Corporation....

Fairchild's module selected by Broadcom[R] for Wi-Fi[R] reference designs.(NEWS / BUSINESS / CONTRACTS)(Fairchild Semiconductor International Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... Fairchild Semiconductor's RMPA5255 WLAN RF power amplifier has been selected for use in Broadcom's latest single-chip and PCI Express-enabled Wi-Fi reference designs. The selection is based on Fairchild's ability to optimize its product to meet...

Linear Technology launches Phoenix design center.(NEWS / BUSINESS / CONTRACTS)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... Linear Technology Corporation announces the opening of its newest design center in Phoenix, Arizona. This marks the company's tenth design center as it continues to expand its resources for design of high-performance analog integrated circuits....

MicroMetrics acquires Knox Semiconductor.(NEWS / BUSINESS / CONTRACTS)
August 1, 2005... MicroMetrics, Inc. announces the acquisition of Knox Semiconductor. The acquisition adds new products and customers to the MicroMetrics portfolio. It also allows MicroMetrics to expand its capabilities in ion implanted tuning varactors.

Freescale and Virtio partner.(NEWS / BUSINESS / CONTRACTS)(Freescale Semiconductor Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. and Virtio Corporation, the creator of Virtual Platforms for embedded software development, have partnered to reduce handset development time by providing handset manufacturers with the ability to develop and test...

Micron Technology reports financial results.(NEWS / BUSINESS / CONTRACTS)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... Micron Technology, Inc. announces results of operations for its third quarter of fiscal 2005, which ended June 2, 2005. The company had a net loss of $128 million, or $0.20 per diluted share, on net sales of $1,054 million. These results...

WJ strengthens sales channel and technical support in Asia.(NEWS / BUSINESS / CONTRACTS)(WJ Communications Inc., marketing)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... WJ Communications, Inc. announces that the company is expanding its global presence in strategic locations such as China to provide high-quality local support to meet increased customer demand around the globe. In order to better serve WJ's...

Richardson enters partnership with ATC.(NEWS / BUSINESS / CONTRACTS)(American Technical Ceramics Corp., Richardson Electronics Ltd.)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... Richardson Electronics announces that it has reached a global agreement with American Technical Ceramics Corp. Under the terms of the agreement, Richardson Electronics has secured global distribution rights to ATC's current portfolio of EIA...

Quadros Systems supports latest ColdFire[R] processors.(NEWS / BUSINESS / CONTRACTS)
August 1, 2005... Quadros Systems, Inc., announces support for the Freescale MCF521 x family of microcontrollers, the most recent addition to the ColdFire product line. The RTXC Quadros RTOS and integrated middleware enable developers to take full advantage of...

Hittite announces pricing of initial public offering.(NEWS / BUSINESS / CONTRACTS)(Hittite Microwave Corp.)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... Hittite Microwave Corp. announces the pricing of its initial public offering of 4,500,000 shares of its common stock at $17.00 per share. Hittite is offering 2,700,000 shares of common stock and the selling stockholders are offering 1,800,000...

MESH networks bridge the gap for seamless roaming across cities, sites and venues.(TECHNOLOGY FOCUS / WIRELESS INTERNET)
August 1, 2005... First generation WLANs were traditionally designed for cable replacement--quite simply, to clean up some of the rat's nest of wires commonly found in home offices or entertainment systems. However, with the rapid evolution of wireless...

Wi-Fi security software.(TECHNOLOGY FOCUS / WIRELESS INTERNET)
August 1, 2005... Senforce Wi-Fi Security (SWIS) safeguards and enforces security policies on desktops, notebooks and tablet computers within any type of Wi-Fi network. The technology has been architected so that it will enforce Wi-Fi security on legacy and the...

Isolators/circulators.(TECHNOLOGY FOCUS / WIRELESS INTERNET)
August 1, 2005... Designed for Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11a WLAN applications from 5.15 to 5.35 GHz, the 2W6NB surface-mount microstrip isolator provides a good match between an antenna and the WEAN receiver circuitry. Occupying a footprint of 12 x 12 mm for use in PCMCIA...

SPDT switch.(TECHNOLOGY FOCUS / WIRELESS INTERNET)
August 1, 2005... NEC introduces the UPG2163T5N GaAs MMIC SPDT switch measuring 1.5 [mm.sup.2] X 0.37 mm high. The device is suitable for dual-band 802.11 a/b/g and 3.5 GHz WiMAX applications. Specifications include: insertion loss of 0.4 dB typical at 2.5 GHz...

Power amplifiers.(TECHNOLOGY FOCUS / WIRELESS INTERNET)
August 1, 2005... Epicom announces three linearized PAs for WiFi applications. The PA2418 is a two-stage, 2.4 GHz PA delivering up to +16 dBm output power with an EVM of less than 3% at an operating current of 55 mA when biased at 3.3 V. The PA2420 is a...

Meeting the wireless multimedia challenge: real-time convergent solutions package signal processing and control together.(Cover Story)
August 1, 2005... Today's consumer devices--cell phones, PDAs and personal entertainment devices-integrate audio, video and still images with multi-mode communications. Each of these applications must deliver small form factors and long battery life, and must be...

A unified approach to portable power IC verification: designers now require a design methology that can supply a unified approach to system and circuit design. Verilog-AMS is one solution that gets the job done.(FEATURED TECHNOLOGY)
August 1, 2005... Portable power integrated circuits commonly have been placed into two categories: analog dominated products such as battery chargers or buck/boost converters, and digital dominated products such as battery gas gauges. Dividing products this way...

CMOS-based RF integration in 3G: CMOS now offers compelling advantages as a development platform for highly integrated next generation multi mode, multifunction transceivers.(FEATURED TECHNOLOGY)(third generation technology, complementary metal-oxide semiconductor)
August 1, 2005... Consumer demand for high-speed services and more functionality in smaller and more affordable handsets and handhelds is driving the industry to creatively step up to the challenge. The pressure to keep costs down and time to market as short as...

Improving wireless voice quality with ADM: Part II continues the discussion on improving voice quality with ADM with a presentation of the reference design and the conclusion.(FEATURED TECHNOLOGY / PART II)(Adaptive Delta Modulation)
August 1, 2005... This design was implemented on a 2.5 cm x 3.3 cm four-layer PCB. The use of smaller components and tighter spacing can allow an even smaller form factor. The block diagram for this ADM reference design is shown in Figure 1. [FIGURE 1...

ADC family.(DIGITAL HARDWARE)
August 1, 2005... Linear Technology introduces the LTC2480 series of delta-sigma A/D converters, featuring a front-end design that is able to directly digitize a range of sensors. The LTC2480's Easy Drive[TM] technology results in zero average differential input...

Network processor.(DIGITAL HARDWARE)
August 1, 2005... The Ember EM260[TM] network processor provides all of the advanced ZigBee wireless networking features and functionality as the company's EM250[TM] ZigBee-on-a-chip, but in conjunction with application microcontrollers from Atmel, Texas...

PCB plotters.(MATERIALS)
August 1, 2005... LPKF Laser & Electronics introduces the ProtoMat[R]- S100 circuit board plotter, a compact system delivering PCB prototyping capabilities. Combining its maximum milling speed of 6" (150 mm) per second with a system resolution of 0.01 mils...

pHEMT transistors.(SEMICONDUCTORS/ICs)
August 1, 2005... TriQuint announces ten discrete power pHEMT transistor devices for a variety of amplifier applications including aerospace, digital radio or wireless basestations. These devices, utilizing the company's 0.35[mu] power pHEMT production process,...

SPDT RFIC switches.(SEMICONDUCTORS/ICs)
August 1, 2005... CEL announces that NEC has released three SPDT (Single Pole Double Throw) GaAs IC switches in a 6-pin TQFN package that measures 1.0 [mm.sup.2] x 0.37 mm high. The switches operate from UHF to 3 GHz and include: the uPG2158T5K, uPG2159T5K and...

RF/IF ICs.(SEMICONDUCTORS/ICs)
August 1, 2005... Lansdale Semiconductor announces the acquisition of 77 RF/IF ICs built with bipolar, CMOS and BiCMOS technologies. Phase-locked loop functions, frequency synthesizers, prescalers, VCOs and mixers account for 31 of the 77 parts, with the balance...

Battery management and protection ICs.(SEMICONDUCTORS/ICs)
August 1, 2005... National Semiconductor announces two battery-charging products for portable electronics: a single-cell USB/AC charger and a charge control and protection circuit for embedded Lithium-Ion and Lithium-polymer batteries. These devices support up...

Digital filter.(SEMICONDUCTORS/Ics)
August 1, 2005... AccelChip and Photron Technologies announce the FPGA implementation of a patented digital filter designed for wireless data transmission rates of 100 b/s/Hz. The device will be the core of a new technology known as Ultra Spectral Modulation...

Design kit for CMOS.(DEVELOPMENT KIT)
August 1, 2005... SMIC announces an Advanced Design System (ADS) design kit for its 0.18[mu] CMOS process for microwave, RF, mixed-RF, analog and digital IC design. The kit contains sets of both passive and active elements for simulation using ADS. It is...

Low dropout linear regulators.(SEMICONDUCTORS/ICs)
August 1, 2005... TI announces a series of 200 mA LDOs in a 1.5 x 1 mm chip scale package. The low-noise LDOs meet the power management requirements of 3G handsets that feature Bluetooth, RF and high-resolution camera circuitry. The TPS799xx LDOs deliver...

ESD protection diodes.(SEMICONDUCTORS/ICs)
August 1, 2005... Vishay announces two low-capacitance ESD protection diode arrays. The VESD05A8-HN2, packaged in the 2.0 x 2.0 mm LLP70-9A, features nine contact pads and a monolithic die with eight protection diodes. The array provides bi-directional...

Schottky diode.(SEMICONDUCTORS/ICs)
August 1, 2005... With typical and maximum reverse current ratings at 30 V of 1[micro]A respectively, the ZLLS350 Schottky barrier diode from Zetex helps extend battery life in a range of applications. This characteristic is combined with a low forward voltage...

Design tools.(SOFTWARE)
August 1, 2005... Arithmatica introduces its CellMath[TM] tools line with two standard cell-based design tools that can improve silicon efficiency. These tools, which deliver the company's silicon math know-how to datapath-intensive modules, include: CellMath...

Algorithm design tool.(SOFTWARE)
August 1, 2005... Catalytic announces Catalytic RMS (Rapid MATLAB[R] Simulator) software for streamlining the algorithm design of signal processing systems eventually implemented in register transfer level (RTL) code. Catalytic RMS is tailored for algorithms...

Technical computing software.(SOFTWARE)
August 1, 2005... The MathWorks has released the Communications Blockset 3, which provides engineers with enhanced features for designing and simulating the physical layer of communication systems and components using Model-based Design. The product also...

Simulation software.(SOFTWARE)
August 1, 2005... Xpedion Design Systems announces its GoldenGate[TM] Simulator, version 3.5. GoldenGate 3.5 uses 50% less memory while doubling the speed over the previous version. Design for yield analysis, such as Monte Carlo and sweeping process corners,...

Grid antenna.(TRANSMISSION COMPONENTS)
August 1, 2005... mWAVE announces the GS2-54-N, a high gain 24.8" x 16.5" two piece grid antenna for use in the licensed Public Safety communications frequency band of 4.94 to 4.99 GHz as well as the unlicensed frequency bands from 5.25 to 5.85 GHz. The main...

Switch matrix.(TRANSMISSION COMPONENTS)
August 1, 2005... Dow-Key announces a CANBUS-based solid state switch matrix with RS-422 control interface that performs from 3.4 to 4.2 GHz and is available in full fan-out configurations from 32 x 32 to 32 x 64. The matrix consists of two input modules (housed...

Dual processor blade.(POWER)
August 1, 2005... Diversified Technology announces the ATC5232 ATCA[R] Dual Processor Blade. The ATC5232 is based on the Intel[R] E7520 chipset and utilizes the Low Voltage Intel[R] Xeon[TM] Processor with 800 MHz system bus in single or dual configurations at...

Switching power supply.(POWER)
August 1, 2005... Phihong USA announces a 500 W 1U switching power supply with 1500 VAC output isolation and SELV output for applications such as Power-over-Ethernet, telecommunications, servers and network redundant power sources. The PSM500-210, available with...

DC/DC converters.(POWER)
August 1, 2005... Wall Industries announces the DOSA Alliance-Compatible POL series of DC/DC converters. The POL series converters have two input ranges available of 2.4 to 5.5 VDC and 8.3 to 14 VDC. The output ranges are adjustable from 0.75 [V.sub.out] to 5...

Ultra wideband chip.(SUBSYSTEMS)
August 1, 2005... Focus Enhancements announces an 880 Mb/s wireless Ultra Wideband (UWB) chip. The initial tape-out of its analog/RF chip is the first of its two-part chipset solution. The analog chip will operate between 3.2 and 7.2 GHz and is expected to...

CMOS-based RF tuner.(SUBSYSTEMS)
August 1, 2005... Athena Semiconductors introduces low-power, dual-band, RF tuner chip, built using the CMOS process, to enable mobile TV applications in cellular phones and other devices. The ATS7000 is compliant with the DVB-H standard. ATS7000 supports mobile...

Antenna system.(MILITARY/SECURITY)
August 1, 2005... Micro-Ant's Micro 1600-M Dome is an antenna system that is designed for mobile tracking voice communication applications and can be used over the MSAT/MSV networks. The device provides a secure two-way push talk voice communication system that...

RF connector series.(INTERCONNECT/INTERFACE)
August 1, 2005... W. L. Gore announces the GORE[TM] 100 Series Connectors, the newest addition to the GORE[TM] Blindmate/Push-on Connector family. The connectors are a high-density blindmate, microwave interconnect system offering performance through 100 GHz....

Technology award: HPA for satellite/radio.(TriQuint Semiconductor TGA4509-SM)(high power amplifier)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... TriQuint Semiconductor introduces a high power amplifier for millimeter wave digital radio and satellite ground terminal applications. This packaged device allows subsystem integrators to simplify assembly and alignment, thereby decreasing...