Wireless Design & Development articles from December 2007

Wireless Design & Development archives from December 2007

Google keeps everyone guessing.(UP FRONT)
December 1, 2007... Keeping us all in suspense until the last minute, Google waited until just three days before the application deadline to announce that it plans to submit its formal application to participate in the FCC's upcoming auction of the new 700 MHz...

Internet radio to the mass market with a sub $15 BOM.(EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES & MARKETS)
December 1, 2007... CSR recently introduced to the market RadioPro, a WiFi Internet radio example design based on the company's UniFi single-chip WiFi platform. RadioPro provides wireless streaming of Internet radio via WiFi, without the need for a PC and supports...

Mining RFID's potential to track ore.(EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES & MARKETS)
December 1, 2007... Typically, mining companies such as CVRD Inco use a labor-intensive, inexact process to determine ore yields and grades. By improving the accuracy of such information, CVRD Inco believes it could optimize the mix of chemicals it uses to produce...

Mobile traffic map provides an alternative to gridlock.(EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES & MARKETS)
December 1, 2007... Help is on the way for commuters who get stuck in Chicago's traffic jams, the third worst in the nation. To recover some of those lost hours, the TrafficGauge Mobile Traffic map, which delivers real-lime traffic conditions anytime and anywhere,...

Iridium provides critical support for Harris Corporation's Falcon Watch.(EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES & MARKETS)
December 1, 2007... Iridium[R] Satellite has played o critical role in providing global monitoring and transmission capabilities to Harris Corporation's Falcon Watch RF-5408-RI Remote Imager, part of the Falcon Watch Remote Intrusion Detection and Surveillance...

Terminal-on-a-Chip for 3G, LTE and WiMAX deployments.(WHAT'S HOT: PRODUCT NEWS)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Provigent Inc. announces the availability of the PVG610 "Terminal-on-a-Chip" product for backhaul infrastructure. This mixed-signal CMOS device, with its high level of integration, is an advanced backhauling solution...

A/D converters for demanding low power requirements.(WHAT'S HOT: PRODUCT NEWS)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] austriamicrosystems has added the AS1528 10-bit, low power, single-channel, fully-differential A/D converter and the AS1529 dual-channel, single-ended, low power A/D converter to its micro-power A/D converter family....

4 x 4 MIMO RF test system.(WHAT'S HOT: PRODUCT NEWS)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Keithley Instruments' 4x4 MIMO (multiple-input, multiple-output) RF test system is designed for R&D and production testing of next generation RF communications equipment and devices. Forming the core of this test...

DAC features EEPROM and 12-bit resolution in miniature package.(WHAT'S HOT: PRODUCT NEWS)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Microchip Technology Inc. announces the MCP4725 Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC), which combines integrated EEPROM and 12-bit resolution in a 6-pin SOT-23 package. The low-power, single-channel DAC has a buffered...

Dual voltage power system designed for changing environments.(WHAT'S HOT: PRODUCT NEWS)
December 1, 2007... Tyco Electronics' Power Systems business announces the debut of the Infinity NE system. The Infinity NE is an advanced power system developed specifically to address the need to provide dual voltage power in a dynamic, changing environment. The...

Powerful handheld spectrum analyzer.(WHAT'S HOT: PRODUCT NEWS)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Boonton's 9103 handheld spectrum analyzer operates at frequencies up to 7.5 GHz. The instrument supports many microwave applications, featuring the typical measurements of standard desktop spectrum analyzers such as...

Receiver delivers 1.8 dB noise figure and 13 dB conversion gain.(WHAT'S HOT: PRODUCT NEWS)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The XR1011-QH from Mimix Broadband, Inc. is a fully-molded QFN packaged, GaAs monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) receiver that covers the 4.5 to 10.5 GHz frequency bands. The receiver integrates an image...

High-density connectors designed for backplane and orthogonal applications.(WHAT'S HOT: PRODUCT NEWS)
December 1, 2007... FCI announces the ZipLine[TM] connector system in response to customer demand for increased signal density. Designed for both backplane and orthogonal applications, the connectors can reach speeds of 12.5 Gb/s with up to 101 signal pairs per...

Key parameters for choosing mixers: what to look for when choosing a mixer for your requirements.(EYE ON MIXERS)
December 1, 2007... Mixer Products are the backbone of frequency conversion in communication and radar applications. As such, an understanding of relationship between mixer parameters, performance and cost is crucial to the designer of these applications. The...

Bluetooth Secure Simple Pairing: the Bluetooth Secure Simple Pairing feature in the 2.1+EDR Specification will help Bluetooth be adopted in newer domains, which require more security than the legacy Bluetooth could have provided.(Cover story)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The existing method of pairing Bluetooth devices generally consists of several steps, such as searching for the device, connecting to it and authenticating the device to make sure it is the correct device. In the...

Boosting Bluetooth to 250 Mb/s with ultra-wideband: to achieve maximum throughput for high-speed Bluetooth, engineers will need to look closer at the internal bus performance and data storage.(HIGH-SPEED BLUETOOTH AND UWB)
December 1, 2007... After significant analysis of high-speed technologies, last year the Bluetooth SIG selected WiMedia-based ultra-wideband (UWB) for a new, fast wireless Originally conceived as a short-range, low-power, low data rate cable replacement for audio...

Setting the foundation--standard sRIO feature use in baseband, Part 1 of 3: by taking advantage of sRIO's switched architecture, OEMs can save cost and support multiple wireless standards.(SERIAL RAPIDIO STANDARD)(Serial RapidIO )
December 1, 2007... Today, serial RapidIO (sRIO) has become the embedded interconnect of choice for designers everywhere. At the forefront of driving this adoption is the wireless telecommunications infrastructure, particularly the baseband. Evidence of this fact...

Integrated EMI filters and the need for more bandwidth: a filter using a "Quasi-Elliptical" filter topology achieves both desirable bandwidth and more than sufficient EMI filtering.(EMI FILTERING)
December 1, 2007... In previous generations of cell phones, when the design called for more data to be moved around, the solution was to add more data lines. Only a handful of data lines were sufficient at first, since there was only basic numeric data to be...

Analyzers feature 1x/EV-DO testing capabilities.(PRODUCT FOCUS: TEST & MEASUREMENT)(Anritsu Company to introduce radio communication analyzers)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Anritsu Company introduces CDMA2000 1xEV-DO analysis capability for its MT8820B/MT8815B radio communication analyzers that allows for faster and more efficient testing of Rev. 0 and Rev. A terminals. The...

Base station tester.(PRODUCT FOCUS: TEST & MEASUREMENT)
December 1, 2007... Aeroflex announces that it has added an additional option to its 6113 base station tester for GSM base stations with an A5/3 encryption capability. The Aeroflex 6113's support for the latest A5/3 GSM encryption algorithm provides a field...

Frequency standard features 20 MHz synthesizer.(PRODUCT FOCUS: TEST & MEASUREMENT)(Novatech Instruments to introduce quartz frequency)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Novatech Instruments, Inc. introduces its model 2975AX disciplined quartz frequency, which provides sinewave outputs of 10 MHz and 5 MHz, along with a 20 MHz synthesized output in a small bench-top case. 1pps IN and...

Wireless handset test system.(PRODUCT FOCUS: TEST & MEASUREMENT)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Agilent Technologies Inc. introduces its enhanced Agilent GS-8210 wireless handset test system, now with a CDMA2000 option in addition to its GSM and WCDMA compatibility. The test system is designed for the low-cost...

Vector signal generator.(PRODUCT FOCUS: TEST & MEASUREMENT)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Keithley Instruments, Inc. announces a series of enhancements to its Model 2910 RF vector signal generator. The capabilities offered in the Model 2910 V2.0 include additional wireless signal generation waveforms, a...

Software upgrade.(PRODUCT FOCUS: TEST & MEASUREMENT)
December 1, 2007... Tektronix, Inc. announces that its TDSHT3 software has been upgraded to support the HDMI compliance test specification version 1.3b. The Tektronix TDSHT3 software now supports all of the HDMI compliance test procedures as per the latest CTS...

M-type oscilloscopes.(PRODUCT FOCUS: TEST & MEASUREMENT)(LeCroy Corp. to introduce oscilloscopes)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... LeCroy[R] Corporation introduces two M-Type 1 GHz oscilloscopes that provide high signal fidelity, complete measurement capability and good raw performance in the 1 GHz bandwidth class. Available in the popular WaveRunner[R] and WaveSurfer[R]...

Digitizer/oscilloscope.(PRODUCT FOCUS: TEST & MEASUREMENT)(Strategic Test Corp. to introduce digitizer/oscilloscope PCI Express card)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... Strategic Test Corp. announces the UF2e-3027 digitizer/oscilloscope PCI Express card. The card has two 100 MS/s 12-bit ADCs for simultaneous sampling and up to 2 GigaSamples of on-board memory so that signal lengths of up to 10 seconds can be...

Modules feature bandwidth of 40 to 1000 MHz.(PRODUCT NEWS)(California Eastern Laboratories to announce addition of two multi chip modules of hybrid amplifiers)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] California Eastern Laboratories (CEL) announces the addition of two multi-chip modules to its growing family of NEC GaAs CATV hybrid amplifiers. Both feature bandwidths of 40 to 1000 MHz for high output capacity, and...

Single channel and diversity down converters.(PRODUCT NEWS)
December 1, 2007... Skyworks Solutions announces that several of its single channel and diversity down-converters, including the SKY73032 and the SKY73021, have reached volume production with the infrastructure OEMs. Skyworks' integrated solutions, which are a...

[I.sup.2]C interfaced ADC for battery powered and industrial use.(PRODUCT NEWS)(Austriamicrosystems AG to introduce interfaced ADC with power consumption )(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] austriamicrosystems introduces the AS 1538--an [I.sup.2]C interfaced ADC with power consumption in the [micro]A range. The AS 1538 combines low-power operation, maximum possible conversion speed for [I.sup.2]C and...

Driver amplifiers with IP3 linearity.(PRODUCT NEWS)
December 1, 2007... Tyco Electronics introduces a family of M/A-COM driver amplifiers for point-to-point (P2P) radios. The family covers allocated point-to-point bands from 4.9 to 15.4 GHz: the M/A-COM MAAM007523 amplifier covering 4.9 to 8.5 GHz, and the...

LED driver can drive 16 LEDs in parallel.(PRODUCT NEWS)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Catalyst Semiconductor, Inc. expands its line of bus products with the CAT9532, a 16-bit LED driver with dimmer and blinker control functions, which can also be used as a general purpose I/O expander. A drop-in...

Electromechanical relays for industrial applications.(PRODUCT NEWS)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Durakool announces the introduction of a comprehensive range of electromechanical relays. The range includes industry standard relays for both industrial and printed circuit board applications with switching ranges...

Accelerator boosts silicon yield.(PRODUCT NEWS)
December 1, 2007... Virage Logic Corporation's Self-Test and Repair (STAR) Memory System now includes capabilities to address the challenges of advanced design and process technologies. The memory system also features the STAR[TM] Yield Accelerator, created to...

Fast-switching microwave signal generator.(PRODUCT NEWS)(Anritsu Co. to introduce fast switching microwave signal generator)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Anritsu Company introduces the MG37020A fast-switching microwave signal generator that utilizes an advanced VCO-based hardware architecture to achieve best-in-class frequency switching speed of 100 [micro]sec per...

Wound delay lines.(PRODUCT NEWS)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Link Microtek has added a selection of wound delay lines to the range of products designed and manufactured by the company's engineering division. Covering applications over a broad frequency range of 30 kHz to 2...

Reflective object sensor.(PRODUCT NEWS)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] OPTEK Technology develops a reflective object sensor with three different lead options. Designated the OPB609 series, the sensor consists of an infrared LED and NPN silicon phototransistor mounted side-by-side on...

Multi-standard serial Switch[TM].(PRODUCT NEWS)
December 1, 2007... Tundra Semiconductor Corporation introduces the Tsi620[TM], a multi-standard serial rapidIO switch that lowers 3 G baseband costs by bridging rapidIO-based DSP clusters to low cost embedded processors and FPGAs. The Tundra Tsi620 lowers 3 G...

Low dropout regulator.(PRODUCT NEWS)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Catalyst Semiconductor, Inc. announces its low dropout (LDO) regulator--the CAT6221 300mA, dual-output LDO. Announced just weeks after its CAT6217 and CAT6218 single-output LDO regulators, the CAT6221 integrates two...

Voltage-controlled oscillator.(PRODUCT NEWS)(Mini-Circuits to inttroduce voltage controlled oscillator)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Mini-Circuits announces the ROS-6030C-219+ voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) for wireless and point-to-point communications applications centered at 6 GHz. The VCO employs internal frequency doubling to cover a...

Digital signage.(PRODUCT NEWS)
December 1, 2007... Apollo Display Technologies introduces the Vitrine, the latest plug-and-play digital signage. It is an standalone or wall-mounted multi-display unit with up to six TFT LCDs for indoor advertising or customer information. Vitrine provides a slim...

Pulse width modulator.(PRODUCT NEWS)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Microchip Technology Inc. announces the MCP1631 2.0 MHz, high-speed pulse width modulator. The highly integrated device contains a 1 Ampere (A) integrated MOSFET driver, high-speed comparator for over-voltage...

Flip-type connector.(PRODUCT NEWS)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] FCI develops a 0.4 mm pitch flip-type ZIF connector suitable for optical disc drives and flat-panel display applications. Designated the GLH series; the connector is available in pick-to-board, panel-to-board and...

Isolated gate driver opto-couplers.(PRODUCT NEWS)(California Eastern Laboratories to introduce series of isolated gate driver opto-couplers )(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] California Eastern Laboratories introduces a series of isolated gate driver opto-couplers from NEC. Employing a BiCMOS process, the PS9552 series of opto-couplers delivers up to 2.5A output current with high common...

RF control.(PRODUCT NEWS)(Radio Frequency Systems to inroduce RF control )(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Radio Frequency Systems (RFS) unveils UMTS-on-AWS RF control. An end-to-end set that allows precise remote control and monitoring of tower-top RF components unveiled by the wireless technology group, RFS. Fully...

Electrostatic discharge protection family.(PRODUCT NEWS)(ON Semiconductor to introduce ultra low capacitance electrostatic discharge)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ON Semiconductor introduces a member of its ultra-low capacitance, electrostatic discharge protection family of devices. The ESD9L is a single-line ESD protection device that offers 0.5 pico farad (pF) capacitance...

Linear power amplifier.(PRODUCT NEWS)
December 1, 2007... Stealth Microwave introduces the SM1822-44 which is a 1.80 to 2.2 GHz solid state GaAs amplifier designed for the various wireless markets. Its compact size and high linearity make it suited for systems using CDMA, OFDM, TD-CDMA, WCDMA and...

Controlled variable gain amplifiers.(PRODUCT NEWS)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Hittite Microwave Corporation announces a family of dual mode digitally-controlled variable gain amplifiers (DVGA) for microwave radio and military applications that operate in the frequency band of DC to 6 GHz....

Lightweight cables.(PRODUCT NEWS)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Tyco Electronics announces that it has extended the M/A-COM family of high-performance, lightweight cables to include five cable types covering a variety of outer diameter sizes and constructions. The M/ACOM...

Quartz crystal features maximum profile of 0.55 mm.(PRODUCT NEWS)(MMD Components to introduce ultra miniature quartz crystal )(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] MMD Components introduces an ultra-miniature quartz crystal that has a wide frequency range of 16 to 60 MHz and can operate in temperatures as low as -40[degrees]C and as high as +85[degrees]C. Measuring 2 x 2.5 mm,...

Coaxial isolator.(PRODUCT NEWS)(Raditek to introduce coaxial isolator )(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... Raditek introduces the RADI-14.5-15.5-N2-100WR, a 14.5 to 15.5 GHz coaxial isolator, comprised of a circulator with a connectorized load capable of handling 100 W of power forward and reverse. Isolator dimensions 35 x 37 x 22.3 mm, load...

Addition to analog power-management family.(PRODUCT NEWS)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Microchip Technology Inc. announces the latest addition to its analog power-management product family--the MCP1602 switching regulator. The 2.0 MHz, 500 mA switcher has a power-good feature that indicates when true...

Broadband Doherty power amplifier.(PRODUCT NEWS)
December 1, 2007... Nitronex and Prescient Wireless introduce a GaN-on-Si broadband Doherty power amplifier for WiMAX applications. Based On the proprietary NPT25015 power transistor, the design provides 6 W of linear output power from 2.5 to 2.7 GHz, while...

Under-floor air mover.(PRODUCT NEWS)(Degree Controls Inc. to introduce HotSpotr)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... Degree Controls, Inc. announces the HotSpotr[TM] HT-500 under-floor air mover for effective thermal management in data centers. The HotSpotr HT-500 offers true "localized thermal intelligence" by automatically adjusting airflow in front of a...

Microwave receiver.(PRODUCT NEWS)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Tyco Electronics today announces the 2000th M/A-COM SIGINT (signal intelligence) SMR-5550i microwave receiver. The M/A-COM SMR-5550i has all the necessary features for reception of complex order, high data rate...

Integrated C-V module.(PRODUCT NEWS)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Keithley Instruments, Inc. announces its C-V measurement instrument for its Model 4200-SCS semiconductor characterization system. The 4200-CVU instrument comes as a module that plugs into any available instrument...

Low-noise amplifier modules.(PRODUCT NEWS)(Narda Microwave - East to introduce low noise amplifier)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Narda Microwave-East introduces a line of low-noise amplifier modules that cover up to 18 GHz in bands, with low noise figures of 1.8 dB, high gain of 28 dB ([+ or -] 2 dB or less) and P1 dB output power up to 20...

Axial optical isolators.(PRODUCT NEWS)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] TT electronics OPTEK Technology introduces a series of axial optical isolators using plastic optical fiber. The OPI1270 series axial fiber optic isolators are constructed using a visible red LED emitter and a...

RF MEMS switch responds to the call.(DECEMBER 2007 WDD EDITOR'S CHOICE: TECHNOLOGY AWARD)
December 1, 2007... Omron Electronic Components LLC is responding to the demand to incorporate an increasing number of advanced functions in mobile phones that are becoming more and more compact in design. In the future, the demand for more rapid transmission of...

From the WDD board: what it takes today to stay ahead of the curve: WD&D Editorial Advisory Board members comment on today's challenges to meet consumer demands, the best techniques to remaining competitive and what really motivates the design engineer to remain creative.(A YEAR IN WIRELESS)(Company overview)
December 1, 2007... Once again the Wireless Design & Development Editorial Advisory Board members have allowed time in their busy schedules to respond to three questions that I think are on everyone's mind today: How do designers continue to meet consumer and...

Test & measurement lights the path to success.(TEST & MEASUREMENT)
December 1, 2007... Staying connected from any point on the globe has become a reality. This is apparent by the proliferation of mobile phones with advanced features, the diffusion of broadband Internet and the convergence of digital broadcasting and...

Wireless sensors take in and take on energy and the industrial environment.(SENSORS)
December 1, 2007... From harvesting energy from the environment to controlling lighting, HVAC, security and safety systems in industrial plants, wireless sensors are cropping up in an increasing number of applications. The fact that they are also replacing wired...

Telecom/datacom changing communication forever.(TELECOM/DATACOM)
December 1, 2007... Telecommunication and data communication equipment is responsible for changing the way people worldwide share, learn and communicate. In a sense, it has enriched people's fives by transforming the way the world communicates. In a world where...

Power management techniques for portable software defined radios.(MIL/AERO)
December 1, 2007... When designing a portable Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) that must support a wide variety of waveforms, the designer must pay attention to processing performance and power utilization in this type of power-limited system. The designer must...

Staying connected in a wireless world.(COMMUNICATION HARDWARE)
December 1, 2007... While it's easy and understandable to get distracted with the wide breadth of opportunities that implementing wireless technology can bring to new and existing product offerings, these applications still depend upon some very basic building...

More power leads to greater opportunity.(CONSUMER PRODUCTS)
December 1, 2007... Regardless of wireless implementation or not, designers in the consumer product marketplace face numerous challenges that call for embracing shorter product lifecycles, cost challenges and a customer base that not only demands innovation, but...

Thermoelectric solutions and battery power lead the charge in wireless.(POWER)
December 1, 2007... Power is an essential part of any electronic device, yet it is often one of the last aspects considered in design. As such, solutions must be made flexible to accommodate many different types of devices, from the high reliability demands of...

Challenges & opportunities for wireless healthcare.(MEDICAL ELECTRONICS)
December 1, 2007... Healthcare is moving closer to a fully wireless platform more with each new innovation. From the surgical operatories to at-home monitoring for patients, the demand for wireless solutions has never been greater. With these demands brings new...

Distribution: keeping pace in the wireless race.(A YEAR IN WIRELESS)
December 1, 2007... New applications and technological developments are continually pushing wireless implementation to new heights. To get an inside look at some of these developments, the editors of Product Design & Development, Medical Design Technology,...

MIMO's challenges when evaluating WiMAX equipment.(FOCUS ON TECHNOLOGY: TEST & MEASURMENT)
December 1, 2007... WiMAX employs Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) technology system performance by either increasing signal-to-noise ratio or data throughput or both. Implementation of MIMO requires an unprecedented collaboration of RF and high-speed digital...

Test lab automation simplifies testing of increasingly complex wireless systems.(FOCUS ON TECHNOLOGY: TEST & MEASURMENT)
December 1, 2007... Building a test lab for a wireless networking environment isn't for the faint of heart. Most obviously, the complexity of testing new wireless technologies, products, systems and services for performance, functionality, compliance and...