Wireless Design & Development articles from February 2007

Wireless Design & Development archives from February 2007

Moving forward in 2007.(web site designing)(Editorial)(Column)
February 1, 2007... This month I decided to do a little something different in this space. In stead of sounding off about an opinion I have on a certain topic, I decided to use this forum to bring you up-to-date on some of the exciting things we have been working...

Reference Design Kit.(PRODUCT NEWS / WHAT'S HOT)
February 1, 2007... Sigma Designs announces the Mini-PCI Windeo[R] Reference Design Kit that enables consumer electronics OEM and ODM companies to develop digital entertainment products featuring wireless capability for in-home HD audio/video distribution. The...

Protyping family offers fast performance.(PRODUCT NEWS / WHAT'S HOT)
February 1, 2007... EVE introduces a large capacity addition to its ZeBu family that offers desirable aspects of traditional emulation and rapid prototyping systems for hardware debugging and embedded software validation. Architected with large field programmable...

Internal antenna solution.(PRODUCT NEWS / WHAT'S HOT)
February 1, 2007... Ethertronics announces its third generation quad-band WiFi/WLAN internal antenna solution. Designed to operate on 2.4, 4.9, 5.2 and 5.8 GHz spectrum bands, this robust antenna is suitable for integration into a variety of devices including...

RF CMOS 90-nanometer transceiver.(PRODUCT NEWS / WHAT'S HOT)
February 1, 2007... Expanding its RF offerings for Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) handset design, Freescale Semiconductor unveils its first RF CMOS 90-nanometer transceiver. The RFX275-30 is a transceiver subsystem that offers low transmit and...

High-efficiency DC/DC converters.(WHAT'S HOT / EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES)
February 1, 2007... Maxim Integrated Products introduces the MAX8640Y/ MAX8640Z, small 500 mA, high-efficiency step-down DC/DC converters in a SC70 package. These devices are suitable for applications where small size, high efficiency and low output ripple are...

Dual-band Modules.(WHAT'S HOT / EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES)
February 1, 2007... Telit Communications' UMTS/HSDPAUC864 module provides high-speed connectivity while maintaining physical compatibility to its GSM/GPRS complementary, the GC864. The UC864 provides an instant upgrade path for applications benefiting from higher...

Spectrum analyzer.(WHAT'S HOT / EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES)
February 1, 2007... Anritsu Company introduces the MS2724B, an ultra-portable spectrum analyzer featuring desirable performance and continuous frequency coverage from 9 kHz to 20 GHz, which gives wireless professionals the range necessary for the most demanding...

Smart antennas for MIMO devices.(WHAT'S HOT / EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES)
February 1, 2007... Airgain Inc. introduces its first smart antennas for MIMO devices, the Airgain MaxBeam65N and MaxBeam80N. Compatible with a variety of MIMO chipsets from leading manufacturers, these smart antennas double signal strength and receive...

Fujitsu ships a commercially available 5.8 GHz WiMAX.(NEWS / BUSINESS)
February 1, 2007... Fujitsu Microelectronics America, Inc. (FMA) ships its 5.8 GHz WiMAX baseband system-on-chip (SoC) to ODM partners and customers worldwide, including solutions provider Texas Instruments, WiMAX systems provider ORZA Networks and WiMAX customer...

Alereon and Stonestreet One announce mobile solutions.(NEWS / BUSINESS)
February 1, 2007... Alereon, Inc., an ultrawideband (UWB) technology leader for mobile WiMedia and solutions based on Certified Wireless USB, and Stonestreet One, Inc., a leading wireless software company focused on complete solutions for local and personal area...

Digi-key Corp. and Cree Inc. announce global distribution agreement.(NEWS / BUSINESS)
February 1, 2007... Digi-Key Corporation and Cree, Inc. announce the signing of a global distribution agreement for Cree's silicon carbide-based power devices. Cree, Inc. is a manufacturer of silicon carbide semiconductors that enhance the value of power,...

M/A-COM joins Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA[R]).(NEWS / BUSINESS)
February 1, 2007... M/A-COM, a business unit of Tyco Electronics and a leading provider of wireless radio frequency, microwave and millimeter wave components, announces that the company has joined the Multimedia over Coax Alliance, a non-profit mutual benefit...

Richardson Electronics distributes Avago Technologies' RFICs, transistors and diodes.(NEWS / BUSINESS)
February 1, 2007... Richardson Electronics announces a North American distribution partnership with Avago Technologies, of San Jose, California, to distribute its complete line of RFIC, Transistor, Schottky and PIN Diode, and millimeter wave (mmW) products....

Open Interface North America signs MOU with Murata Manufacturing.(NEWS / BUSINESS)
February 1, 2007... Open Interface North America, a leading provider of Bluetooth[R] wireless applications, and Murata Manufacturing Corp., headquartered in Kyoto, Japan, and a global leader in the design, manufacture and sale of ceramic-based passive electronic...

Cswitch and SoftJin establish Off-Shore Development Center India.(NEWS / BUSINESS)
February 1, 2007... SoftJin, a customized EDA (Electronic Design Automation) tool development company, and Cswitch Corporation, a semiconductor company developing next generation of configurable solutions, announces the companies are setting up of an Off-Shore...

New Scale creates $1M automated manufacturing facility.(New Scale Technologies Inc.)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... New Scale Technologies, Inc. announces plans to create a $1M manufacturing center for automated, high-precision manufacturing of its patented SQUIGGLE motors. The 15,000 square foot facility will allow New Scale to increase its production...

Agilent Tech. announces Automated X-ray Inspection capabilities.(NEWS / BUSINESS)
February 1, 2007... Agilent Technologies Inc. announces that it has shipped its 8.4 software release with enhanced capabilities for the Medalist 5DX Automated X-ray Inspection system. Agilent's 8.4 software release demonstrates the company's continued commitment...

The vector signal generator and wireless technology: the ever advancing technology and the market demands for wireless communications devices have kept test equipment manufacturers on their toes.(TECHNOLOGY FOCUS: SIGNAL SOURCES)
February 1, 2007... It's no secret that wireless communications has evolved greatly over the past 10 years. Mobile phones and wireless LANs with increasingly complex physical interfaces pose formidable challenges for both design and manufacturing engineers....

Test and burn-in sockets.(TECHNOLOGY FOCUS: SIGNAL SOURCES)
February 1, 2007... Aries Electronics announces that all sizes of its CSP/Micro BGA test and burn-in sockets can be used with devices requiring pitches of 0.40 mm and higher. These sockets can also be used for manual testing of DSP, LGA, SRAM, DRAM and flash...

Mobile communication test system.(TECHNOLOGY FOCUS: SIGNAL SOURCES)
February 1, 2007... Anritsu announces the ME7876A Mobile Communication Test System. The system enables automatic testing of the transmission/reception characteristics of W-CDMA/GSM/GPRS/ EGPRS and cdma2000 1x and 1xEV-DO mobile equipments conforming to 3GPP and...

Pattern generators.(TECHNOLOGY FOCUS: SIGNAL SOURCES)
February 1, 2007... Agilent Technologies Inc. introduces the J-BERT N4903A 7 Gb/s and 12.5 Gb/s pattern generators with complete jitter injection capabilities. Design and test engineers can quickly and accurately stimulate serial high-speed ports with all types of...

Blocking and inter-modulation test capabilities.(TECHNOLOGY FOCUS: SIGNAL SOURCES)
February 1, 2007... Aeroflex announces its addition of blocking and inter-modulation test capabilities to its 6413A UMTS base station test system. These capabilities will help optimize the receiver performance of both newly commissioned and in-service base...

Using a wireless network analyzer to debug a ZigBee protocol system: messages and beacons that appear when a device joins a ZigBee protocol network can reveal some interesting facts.(Cover story)
February 1, 2007... The short range wireless networking market is set for explosive growth. In-Stat says that the market for IEEE 802.15.4[TM] wireless Personal Area Networking (PAN), via the ZigBee[TM] protocol specification and other proprietary protocols, could...

Check e-mail without connecting.(EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES & MARKETS)
February 1, 2007... Novatel Wireless, Inc. announces product availability for Microsoft's new Active Notifications software on WWAN modules equipped with HSDPA and EV-DO technologies. Novatel Wireless' modules will enable real-time email and calendar connections...

Broadband-enabled televisions.(EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES & MARKETS)
February 1, 2007... A surge in the availability of high-quality Web-based video content and the proliferation of solutions that network-enabled TVs will usher in a new wave of television viewing, one defined less by walled garden PayTV operators and more by open...

GPS navigation service with traffic routing.(TeleNav's TeleNav GPS Navigator)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... TeleNav unveiled the first mobile phone-based GPS navigation service with intelligent traffic notification and rerouting functionality at the 2007 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Sprint customers using TeleNav GPS Navigator,...

Wavelink announces enhancements to wireless infrastructure solution.(Avalanche Mobility Center 4.1.1)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Wavelink Corporation announces enhancements to Avalanche[TM[ Mobility Center (Avalanche MC). The latest version, Avalanche MC 4.1.1, includes significant feature upgrades that enable Wavelink's broad base of major retail, manufacturing and...

Optimizing wireless communication designs: a multi-domain executable model provides a practical method of global optimization of signal processing and communications systems.(SIGNAL PROCESSING)
February 1, 2007... Global optimization of the design of a wireless communication system requires exploration of a multi-domain design space encompassing signal processing and communications algorithms and RF subsystem design. An example of a single domain task is...

Unlicensed communications products and the FCC: deploy carefully--the network you save could be your own.(COMPLIANCE UPDATE)
February 1, 2007... During the past two decades, the Federal Communications Commission has made substantial strides in encouraging the deployment of unlicensed communications networks, that is, low-power radio frequency (RF) services that are operated without FCC...

Low-voltage clock buffers.(PRODUCT FOCUS / OCSILLATORS)
February 1, 2007... Pericom Semiconductor Corporation announces its set of low voltage 1.2 to 2.5 V clock buffers with low-skew (70 ps) controlled duty cycle and low phase noise integrated crystal oscillator options. These clock devices enable inexpensive clock...

Low-jitter oscillators.
February 1, 2007... Fox Electronics launches its XpressO family of oscillators that was designed for users in need of high-quality, low-cost oscillators in a short time frame. The HCMOS version is well suited for use in high-volume consumer products such as...

Crystal Clock Oscillators.(PRODUCT FOCUS / OCSILLATORS)
February 1, 2007... NDK announces its NZ2520S ultra-small Crystal Clock Oscillator Series that achieves low frequency from 1.5 MHz up. These C-MOS products are lead-free, and they can meet the requirements of re-flow profiling using lead-free solder. They are...

High frequency oscillators.(PRODUCT FOCUS / OCSILLATORS)
February 1, 2007... Raltron Electronics Corporation announces its family of high frequency clock oscillators that consists of types CS9 (3.3V, LVPECL), CLD (3.3V, LVDS), CSP (2.5V, LVEPCL) and CLP (2.5V LVDS). These lead-free RoHS compliant products are designed...

Series of OCXOs.(PRODUCT FOCUS / OCSILLATORS)
February 1, 2007... MMD Components introduces a series of rad-hardened oven-controlled crystal oscillators (OCXOs) with a radiation tolerance of up to IG for use in a variety of industrial and military applications. Using proprietary compensation and stabilization...

Clock/voltage oscillators.(PRODUCT FOCUS / OCSILLATORS)
February 1, 2007... The SO-720 clock oscillator and VS-720 voltage controlled oscillator from Vectron are designed for use in Wireless, Military and Test Equipment applications. They enable system designers to realize clocking performance levels typically offered...

MMIC VCO amplifier.(PRODUCT FOCUS / OCSILLATORS)
February 1, 2007... Hittite Microwave Corporation introduces its model HMC532LP4 (E) MMIC VCO that provides low phase noise and high output power for point-to-point, point-to-multipoint, VSAT, military and test equipment applications from 7.1 to 7.9 GHz. This VCO...

Low-power crystal oscillator.
February 1, 2007... EM Microelectronic introduces its EM7604, an advanced low-power CMOS circuit intended for use with a 32.768 kHz tuning fork crystal as a low frequency clock oscillator. Except for the crystal, no other external components are required. In order...

Low-dropout regulator.
February 1, 2007... Maxim Integrated Products introduces the MAX5092 low-quiescent-current, low-dropout (LDO) regulator with a boost pre-regulator. The device provides a regulated 3.3 V (MAX5092A), 5 V (MAX5092B) or adjustable output voltage from a 3.5 to 72 V...

USB power meters.(POWER)
February 1, 2007... Boonton announces the launch of two members of theie USB power meter series, the 52012 and 52018. Extending its product portfolio with the 52000 series family, Boonton is now providing desirable entry level USB controlled CW power meters. The...

Power amplifier module.(POWER)
February 1, 2007... Anadigics, Inc. introduces its AWT6277 HELP[TM] WCDMA power amplifier (PA) module. Designed to meet the needs of mobile handsets, the device includes High-Efficiency-at-Low-Power technology that reduces WCDMA average power consumption by 50%....

CCFL controllers.(POWER)
February 1, 2007... Dallas Semiconductor introduces its DS3992/ DS3994, 2-/4-channel controllers for cold-cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFLs) that are used to backlight liquid-crystal displays (LCDs) in TV and PC monitor applications. The DS3992 supports a...

Frequency multiplier modules.(POWER)
February 1, 2007... Link Microtek introduces its HMC-C031, HMCC032, HMC-C033 and HMC-C034 active x2 frequency multiplier modules that provide output frequency coverage from 6 to 46 GHz. These devices feature low phase noise and high output power, as well as...

Traveling Wave Tube amplifiers.(AMPLIFIERS)
February 1, 2007... AR Worldwide RF/Microwave Instrumentation announces another model to its family of Traveling Wave Tube Amplifiers (TWTs). The Model 40T4G18 (40 W CW / 4.2 to 18 GHz) provides more power choices to fill in the power gaps between the 20 and 200 W...

Gain block MMIC amplifier.(AMPLIFIERS)
February 1, 2007... Hittite Microwave Corporation introduces a high linearity InGaP HBT Gain Block MMIC amplifier, which is suitable for IF and RF applications from DC to 4.5 GHz, including Cellular/PCS/3G, Broadband, WiBro and WiMAX. The HMC475ST89(E) is an InGaP...

High-gain IF amplifier.(AMPLIFIERS)
February 1, 2007... NEC introduces its model UPC3232TB SiGe amplifier IC that delivers 33.5 dB of gain flat to 3 GHz, making it suitable for use as an IF amplifier in DBS low noise block down converters or as a basic gain block. It features low current operation,...

GaN power amplifiers.(AMPLIFIERS)
February 1, 2007... RF Micro Devices, Inc. announces its Gallium Nitride (GaN) wideband power amplifier ICs for Tier 1 WiMAX cellular base station and Public Mobile Radio (PMR) customers. The family achieves exceptional performance in gain, output power and...

Fully integrated GPS sensor modules.(SENSORS & TRANSDUCERS)
February 1, 2007... NavSync announces its CW45A and CW46 GPS sensors, fully integrated modules that include a NavSync CW25 GPS receiver, a DC/DC converter, RS232, RS422 and USB interface options and an active GPS antenna that are all housed in a small weatherproof...

Transceivers with line-of-sight range.(INTEGRATED SUBSYSTEMS)
February 1, 2007... AeroComm Inc. announces its ZB2430 transceiver line that features high output power, receive sensitivity and a line-of-sight range of up to three miles. It is targeted at high volume, cost-sensitive, short-range applications where reliable...

GPS receiver.(INTEGRATED SUBSYSTEMS)
February 1, 2007... Infineon Technologies AG and Global Locate, Inc. announces the development of their small Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver chip for mobile telephones, smart phones and personal navigation devices. The Hammerhead II chip is optimized for...

Narrowband RF modules.(INTEGRATED SUBSYSTEMS)
February 1, 2007... Radiocrafts AS expands their product line with a high power narrowband RF module for the European market. The RC1280HP offers up to 500 mW output power for increased range and is based on the RC1280 RF transceiver module for FSK operation with...

Wireless HD Interface Kit.(DEVELOPMENT KITS)
February 1, 2007... AMIMON Inc. announces its Wireless High-Definition Interface (WHDI[TM]) Development Kit that enables the development of wireless TVs and wireless projectors using the company's WHDI technology to provide a universal wireless uncompressed HDTV...

Platform IP.(DEVELOPMENT KITS)
February 1, 2007... eASIC Corporation, a provider of Structured ASIC devices and Configurable Logic IP, announces the availability of ARM AMBA Platform IP (PIPAMBA) from CAST for eASIC's 90 nm Nextreme Structured ASIC product family. CAST, who joined the company's...

Intellectual property blocks.(SOFTWARE)
February 1, 2007... Bluespec[TM], Inc. introduces its AzureIP[TM] Foundation Library, a family of pre-packaged and verified intellectual property (IP) building blocks and design reuse capabilities to accelerate ESL design and verification. This library gives...

Platform management software.(PRODUCT NEWS)
February 1, 2007... Emerson Network Power announces the availability of the SpiderWareM3 platform management software for MicroTCA systems. The management software, which can be integrated with existing HA middleware software, makes it easy to Monitor, Manage and...

ESD protection diode arrays.(SEMICONDUCTORS)
February 1, 2007... ON Semiconductor introduces its series of low-capacitance electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection arrays in a small SOT-953 package. Measuring 1.0 x 1.0 with a 0.5 mm profile, these devices are suitable for applications where board space is at...

Microprocessor supervisory ICs.(SEMICONDUCTORS)
February 1, 2007... Austriamicrosystems expands its supervisory portfolio with the AS1907-09 family of microprocessor supervisory ICs. The addition to this family is suitable for monitoring the supply voltages of 1.8 to 3.3 V systems. Highly reliable, the...

Sub-harmonically pumped receiver.(SEMICONDUCTORS)
February 1, 2007... Mimix Broadband, Inc. introduces its surface mount technology (SMT) packaged, gallium arsenide (GaAs) monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC), sub-harmonically pumped receiver and transmitter devices. These chips integrate an image...

Dual full-bridge PWM motor driver.(PRODUCT NEWS)
February 1, 2007... Allegro MicroSystems, Inc. announces a dual full-bridge pulse-width modulated (PWM) motor driver that is designed to drive both windings of a two-phase bipolar stepper motor. The device includes two H-bridges capable of continuous output...

GaAs MMIC for C-band applications.(PRODUCT NEWS)
February 1, 2007... Mimix Broadband, Inc. introduces a 3.5 to 8 GHz gallium arsenide (GaAs) monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) low noise amplifier, packaged in an RoHS-compliant QFN package. This device is processed in a highly repeatable, 0.25 micron...

Clock fan-out buffers.(PRODUCT NEWS)
February 1, 2007... ON Semiconductor introduces three highly accurate, low skew, clock fan-out buffers with CMOS outputs. The NB3N551, NB3L553 and NB3N2304NZ are used to create multiple copies of clocks at full system frequencies. These devices are suitable for...

Microprocessor intellectual property core.(PRODUCT NEWS)
February 1, 2007... Lattice Semiconductor Corporation announces the availability of an 8-bit 65xx microprocessor intellectual property (IP) core from the Western Design Center (WDC), an additional member of the ispLeverCORE[TM] Connection IP partners program....

USB 2.0 switch.(PRODUCT NEWS)
February 1, 2007... Fairchild Semiconductor introduces a USB 2.0 switch that maximizes board real estate and downloading performance in today's increasingly compact and sophisticated electronics. The FSUSB30 combines industry-leading bandwidth (720 MHz), low...

Plastic handheld enclosures.(MATERIALS)
February 1, 2007... Polycase announces its VM hand-held product line. These enclosures are 1.00" in height, and the base fits in the palm of the hand. They are available with a battery compartment, including nickel-plated steel contacts, as well as a removable...

Low and high pass filters.(SIGNAL PROCESSING)
February 1, 2007... Mini-Circuits announces the LFCN low pass filters and HFCN high pass filters, which deliver high rejection outside the pass-band and virtually eliminate PC board space demand. There is a broad range of models with plenty of desirable features,...

Connectorized double-balanced mixer.(SIGNAL PROCESSING)
February 1, 2007... Hittite Microwave Corporation introduces its Model HMC-C035 connectorized GaAs MMIC double-balanced mixer module, which is suitable for use as an upconverter or downconverter in military EW/ECM, radar, microwave radio, space and test equipment...

Dual 14-Bit A/D Converter.(DIGITAL HARDWARE COMPONENTS)
February 1, 2007... Analog Devices Inc. introduces its Model AD9640 dual 14-bit analog-to-digital converter (ADC) to achieve sampling rates of 150 mega samples per second. Supporting all third-generation (3G) base station wireless standards including W-CDMA,...

Adaptenuators.(TRANSMISSION COMPONENTS)
February 1, 2007... Mini Circuits introduces their additional line of adaptenuators, which is simply an attenuator with different types of input and output connectors. The benefits of these adaptenuators are improved interface matching and eliminating the hassle...

RMG dual-band antenna.(TRANSMISSION COMPONENTS)
February 1, 2007... Antenna Factor announces its RMG dual-band antenna base that combines a high performance internal GPS antenna with an RP-SMA connector. A range of connectorized antennas can be attached to the connector, enabling the coverage of all popular...

Phase locked loop devices.(SIGNAL SOURCES)
February 1, 2007... Semtech Corp. announces the ACS8946 and ACS8944 jitter attenuating and multiplying (JAM) phase locked loop (PLL) devices for generating low jitter output clocks for low-cost SONET/SDH and Gigabit Ethernet line cards. These devices are part of...

High-stability TCXO enhances tracking of GPS signals.(SIGNAL SOURCES)
February 1, 2007... C-MAC MicroTechnology launches a range of miniature, RoHS compliant TCXOs that offer frequency stability of [+ or -] 0.5 parts per million over the -40[degrees] to +85[degrees]C temperature range. Packaged as a standard 5 x 3.2 mm SMD, the...

Extended Reach DDR Cable Assemblies.(INTERFACE/INTERCONHECT)
February 1, 2007... W. L. Gore & Associates introduces its Extended Reach DDR Cable Assemblies that more than triple the reach of Double Data Rate (DDR) InfiniBand[TM] cables as well as reduce the size and weight for enhanced flexibility and ease of routing. These...

PC-connected smart cards.(INTEGRATED COMPONENTS)
February 1, 2007... OMNIKEY offers the advanced technology of its contact and contactless PC-connected smart card readers as reader boards. These PC/SC compliant boards are the inner part of OMNIKEY's state-of-the-art housed readers, including the connector cable...

AM/FM receiver.(INTEGRATED COMPONENTS)
February 1, 2007... Silicon Laboratories Inc. announces the extension of its broadcast audio product portfolio to include the Si473x AM/FM receiver family. The Si473x enables an AM/FM receiver to be easily added to consumer devices such as clock and portable...

Next generation embedded non-volatile memory.(TECHNOLOGY AWARD)
February 1, 2007... To support the low cost and high performance requirements of today's consumer and secure applications, Virage Logic, a pioneer in Silicon Aware IP[TM] and a provider of semiconductor intellectual property (IP) platforms, introduced its...

The latest news in batteries for cutting edge wireless devices mobile computing.(FOCUS ON TECHNOLOGY: POWER SUPPLIES)
February 1, 2007... Mobile computing, whether for the consumer or for industrial applications, has two fundamental requirements--wireless communication and portable power. But device manufacturers continue to add more power-hungry features to their portable...

Keys to vehicle accessory overload prevention.(FOCUS ON TECHNOLOGY: POWER SOURCES)
February 1, 2007... As technological innovations for automotive improve, driving around in your father's Oldsmobile, complete with AM/FM radio, tape deck and air conditioning, no longer marks the height of automotive luxury. Today's standards of technological...