Wireless Design & Development articles from January 2005

Wireless Design & Development archives from January 2005

'05--the year unlicensed goes mainstream.(Editorial)
January 1, 2005... I'm on the spot now. This can be construed as making a prediction. OK, its January, I'm feeling good about the industry in '05 so let's go for it. Mind you, I'm not saying this just because I think I know everything. I try not to be that...

Millimeter wave switch.(What's Hot)
January 1, 2005... American Microwave announces an ultra high-speed millimeter wave switch. The AMC model SWCH1-DC40-SK is designed for DC to 40 GHz. However, it is useful up to 50 GHz. Across the DC to 40 GHz band the switch exhibits a typical insertion loss of...

Tunable oscillator.(What's Hot)
January 1, 2005... Discera announces prototypes of a 1.6 Gigahertz tunable oscillator powered by its micron-scale PureSilicon[TM] resonator, proprietary RF/analog circuitry, and packaging technologies. The oscillator is an example of a commercial grade...

SiGe transistor.(What's Hot)
January 1, 2005... NEC's SiGe HBT is designed tier VCO and LNA applications from 800 MHz to 6.0 GHz. The NESG2107 features improved frequency stability with low phase noise and low pushing/pulling performance. The 1/f noise corner frequency for this SiGe...

Bluetooth development platform.(What's Hot)
January 1, 2005... The BlueMagic Host API or BHAPI Bluetooth Development Platform (BDP) from OI partitions the Bluetooth implementation into a server that can be treated as a black box and a client that can be implemented m 100's of lines of code. Application...

Solid electrolyte capacitors.(What's Hot)
January 1, 2005... AVX's ultra-low ESR version of its OxiCap[TM] NbO solid electrolyte capacitors have been designed as lead- and halogen-free as well as non-burn up to rated voltage. NOS Series OxiCap[TM] devices offer reliability characteristics of 0.2% per...

Sub-harmonic receiver.(What's Hot)
January 1, 2005... Mimix Broadband introduces a GaAs MMIC sub-harmonic receiver, which includes a three-stage balanced LNA followed by an image reject sub-harmonic anti-parallel diode mixer and integrated LO buffer amplifier. Using 0.15 micron gate length GaAs...

Headset reference design.(What's Hot)
January 1, 2005... The Xemics' AudioBlue[TM]2 reference design is for the development of an ultra low power Bluetooth headset. The small form factor reference design targeting the cell-phone headset market is based on XEMICS' XE1431 Bluetooth application MCU and...

SMT MMIC mixers and amplifier.(What's Hot)(Hittite Microwave Corporation)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Hittite announces two SMT MMIC mixers and a medium power amplifier for applications in microwave radios, sensors, and test equipment from 6 to 31 GHz. Providing good wideband performance, the HMCI44LC4 is a high IP3 double-balanced MMIC passive...

ARC International announces licensing agreement with Broadcom.(News / Business / Contracts)(ARC's low-power, configurable microprocessors and MetaWare[R] tools usage)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... ARC International announces a multi-year licensing agreement that makes available the embedded industry's leading configurable technology to Broadcom Corporation. Under the terms of the agreement, Broadcom will use ARC's low-power, configurable...

Maxrad to acquire Andrew's GPS, On-Glass and Antenna Specialists[R] brand of products.(News / Business / Contracts)(PCTEL Inc. acquires Andrew Corp.'s units)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... PCTEL, Inc. announces that it has entered into an agreement to acquire selected assets associated with Andrew Corporations' mobile antenna business. The company has agreed to pay $10 million in cash for the selected assets. The acquisition is...

Richardson announces entrance into the RFID market.(Richardson Electronics Ltd.)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Richardson Electronics announces its entrance into the RFID market for wireless, security, and medical applications. Richardson's expertise in engineering design, strategic alliances, and technology infrastructure make RFID a natural extension...

Ansoft announces financial results.(News / Business / Contracts)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Revenue for the second quarter totaled $15.9 million, an increase of 30% compared to $12.3 million reported in the previous fiscal year's second quarter. Net income for the second quarter was $1.9 million or $0.14 per diluted share, as compared...

Radcom and Comarco partner.(News / Business / Contracts)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Radcom Ltd. and Comarco, Inc. announce a partnership agreement. The collaboration will allow development of a next-generation testing solution that integrates both companies' core technologies for service monitoring of 2.5G and 3G networks...

UbiNetics and Renesas announce joint solution.(News / Business / Contracts)(Renesas Technology Corp. )(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... UbiNetics and Renesas Technology Corp. have signed an agreement for the development of the first RF (Radio Frequency) solution capable of supporting WCDMA and HSDPA in the frequency bands used in Japan, Europe, and the USA. The new RF solution...

Motorola to acquire MeshNetworks.(News / Business / Contracts)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Motorola announces that they have signed a definitive agreement to acquire MeshNetworks, Inc. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The acquisition, which is subject to customary conditions and approvals, is expected to close in the...

U-Chip partners with Ansoft.(News / Business / Contracts)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... U-Chip and Ansoft Corporation jointly announce their partnership for IC design and simulation. The power of Ansoft's Nexxim circuit simulator is essential for U-Chip to predict transient behavior and power consumption of their embedded read...

China RITT/CTTL and Spirent collaborate.(News / Business / Contracts)(Spirent Communications)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Spirent Communications[TM] and China RITT announce that China RITT/CTTL will utilize the Spirent UMTS Location Test System (ULTS) and UMTS Automatic Test System (U-ATS) to verify the performance of GSM and W-CDMA handsets.

Xpedion signs distribution agreement with Crescendo.(News / Business / Contracts)(Xpedion Design Systems)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... In response to increasing demand for its simulation and model compiler products, Xpedion Design Systems has signed an agreement with Crescendo Technologies to be its distributor in mainland China. Crescendo is led by EDA professionals with...

C-MAC MicroTechnology secures support.(News / Business / Contracts)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... An investor group led by Francisco Partners and Shah Capital Partners announce the completion of the acquisition of the business of C-MAC MicroTechnology from Solectron Corp.

Richardson extends partnership with Tyco.(News / Business / Contracts)(Richardson Electronics Ltd.)(Tyco Electronics Corp.)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Richardson Electronics announces the signing of an extended worldwide distribution partnership with Tyco Electronics. Under the terms of the agreement, Richardson will have global distribution rights for Tyco's latest A 1029-A and A1029-B GPS...

WJ Communications announces production order.(News / Business / Contracts)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... WJ Communications, Inc. announces that the company has received a volume production order for its ECM168 12 V power amplifier module from one of China's largest telecommunications equipment providers.

RFID tag design: multi-dimensional technique enables fast, direct tuning of the antenna's match to the tag IC.(Technology Focus / Software)
January 1, 2005... The interaction of the RFID reader and tag is of great interest to the RFID system designer. The environment is likely to include many reflective and absorptive surfaces as well as other tags. In addition, the increasing use of other RF systems...

Electric field solver software.(Technology Focus / Software)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... IES announces the release of ELECTRO 6.2, the latest version of their 2D electric field solver software. Used for applications such as high voltage shielding, cables, transformers, insulators and bushings, transmission lines, and lightning...

Bluetooth software.(Technology Focus / Software)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Cambridge Consultants launches its Bluetooth v 1.2-compliant Mezoe software, comprising a protocol stack and extensive library of application profiles. The profiles and protocol stack--Interface Express and BlueStack--are optimized for...

Simulation software.(Technology Focus / Software)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Ansoft introduces SIMPLORER SV v7, the latest release in its line of SV (student version) software. SIMPLORER SV is a free, downloadable version of SIMPLORER. Ansoft's multi-domain simulation tool for the design of systems typically found in...

Circuit design software.(Technology Focus / Software)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Electronics Workbench launches Multisim 8, a circuit design and simulation system. Repetitive capture tasks are optimized, so the designer is free to create, test and ultimately perfect their designs. Multisim 8 includes real Virtual...

The next generation of 802.11 wireless LAN: as next generation wireless applications emerge, higher WLAN data throughput will be required to meet expectations of performance.(Cover Story)
January 1, 2005... In response to growing market demand for higher-performance WLANs, the IEEE-SA approved the creation of 802.11 TGn in 2003. The scope of TGn's objective is to define modifications to the PHY and MAC layers that deliver a minimum of l00 Mb/s...

A novel RFDAC design: the RFDAC breaks the Nyquist frequency barrier with improved SFDR, IMD, and noise performance.(Featured Technology)
January 1, 2005... In conventional RF synthesizer and modulator systems, DACs are used as baseband sources to convert digitally processed signals to analog signals, which are then filtered and applied to the inputs of analog mixers for RF upconversion, DAC...

Compact 3G receiver design: advancements in component miniaturization and integration are paving the way for compact high-end communications receivers that do not sacrifice performance for cost or size.(Featured Technology)
January 1, 2005... RF component technology is getting better, smaller, and more efficient. This makes it possible to make communications receivers smaller than ever. In the analog portion of a communications receiver, four crucial and critical components can be...

Managing RFIC test challenges for WLAN services: cost-effective, high-performance, reconfigurable test systems are the mantra for next generation WLAN RF components.(Featured Technology)
January 1, 2005... The rapid growth of WLAN systems has created extraordinary challenges for RFIC testing. The emergence of WLAN standards is driving key performance characteristics such as channel bandwidths and data rates to unprecedented levels. To meet...

Low pass filters.(Signal Processing)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... With their low profile and small size (0.15" x 0.15" x 0.028") Mini-Circuits' LFTC series of low pass filters can handle more than 10 W and cover cut off frequencies up to 6 GHz. These filters are suitable for applications dealing with...

L-Band amplifiers.(Amplifiers)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Richardson Electronics announces two L-Band (1450 to 1500 MHz) power amplifiers designed and manufactured by RF Engineered Solutions, Ltd. (RES). The AL50-D provides 70 Wrms for DAB applications and 200W CW. The AL100-D is rated at 140 Wrms and...

Triplers and amplifiers.(Amplifiers)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... M/A-COM announces a family of Ka-band triplers, X-band variable gain amplifiers, and Ka-band power amplifiers. The family uses a design that utilizes advances in housing materials for the military and avionics market. MAAMML0016 and MAAMML0017...

GaAs MMIC amplifier.(Amplifiers)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Mimix Broadband introduces a gallium arsenide (GaAs) monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) three-stage, single ended, X-band high power amplifier, which integrates an on-chip gate bias circuit to simplify biasing. Using 0.5 micron gate...

High gain amplifier.(Amplifiers)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Hittite announces a high gain linear power amplifier for 802.16 WiMAX and other broadband fixed wireless applications from 3.3 to 3.8 GHz. The HMC409LP4 is a high efficiency GaAs InGaP HBT MMIC power amplifier operating between 3.3 and 3.8 GHz....

Power amplifier.(Amplifiers)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Aethercomm's part number SSPA 0.3-2.6-1.0 is a medium power, broadband, solid-state power amplifier that operates from 300 MHz to 2.6 GHz. The PldB at 25[degrees] C is 1.0 W minimum. Typical small signal gain is 25 dB with [+ or -] 3.0 dB...

Turnkey system.(Test & Measurement)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... The RF Test System R&S TS7810 is designed for the market of tire pressure sensors in the automotive field. For use in production, development, and quality assurance, Rohde & Schwarz provides both the turnkey system and individual system...

SOC test solution.(Test & Measurement)(System on Chip)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Agilent introduces an automated test solution for functional, at-speed test for testing high-speed, SoC devices. Part of the Agilent 93000 SOC Series, this high-speed I/O solution enables functional testing of high-pin-count devices, such as...

Conformance testing.(Test & Measurement)(VeriWave, Inc.)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... VeriWave announces automated conformance tests for IEEE 802.11 APs (Access Points) and clients. The test suites execute on VeriWave's WaveTest[TM] Traffic Generator/Performance Analyzer. The two conformance test suites address the complexity...

Switch filter bank.(Frequency Translation)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Lorch Microwave announces the 5IFA-3620/10860-SR, a five-channel switch filter bank covering the frequency range of 3620 to 10860 MHz. This unit utilizes narrow band cavity filters featuring a tight shape factor. The bank utilizes a +5 V power...

Hybrid coupler.(Frequency Translation)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Microlab/FXR offers a 4.8 dB hybrid coupler for wireless systems, which when combined with a 3 dB hybrid of similar bandwidth, forms a 3 way hybrid combining network with 4.8 dB of loss. The CA-73D provides high isolation and low loss over the...

High power switch IC.(Semis/ICs)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Engineers seeking a T/R switch that can operate at high power levels without distortion will be interested in NEC's UPG2027TQ. Designed for GSM triple and quad-band ASM applications, this GaAs SPDT switch IC operates at 500 MHz to above 2 GHz...

Baseband processor.(Semis/ICs)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Atmel[R] announces its DAB baseband processor ATR2740 for DAB applications. Due to the 0.18-micron CMOS process used and the device's advanced architecture, this baseband IC provides flexibility and a low current consumption. The baseband...

Bluetooth chips.(Unlicensed Technologies)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Brainboxes and Ingenico have developed a Bluetooth solution which will make it easier for more retailers to benefit from the additional safety and convenience offered by Bluetooth chip and PIN terminals. Brainboxes' BL-521 Bluetooth solution is...

Directional couplers.(Tx/Rx)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... RLC's miniature air dielectric directional couplers offer low insertion loss. The simplified construction allows for flexibility in creating customized configurations. Any port can be used as the input with these symmetrical devices. The...

UHF duplexers.(Tx/Rx)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... K&L Microwave announces the WSD-00383 and WSD-00384 UHF duplexers, offering medium & high levels of isolation respectively for macro, micro, repeater tetra, tetrapol, or NMT-450 communication systems in the 380 MHz to 512 MHz frequency range....

Real time operating system.(Embedded Systems)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Quadros announces RTXC/dm, an RTOS that combines a traditional task-based kernel architecture for real-time control processing with a specialized executive for DSP and dataflow operations using a common API. This unified RTOS solution enables...

Technology award: all-in-one SoC solution.(Editors' Choice)(System-on-Chip)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Chipcon unveils the CC2430 as part of its low-power, low-data-rate RF IC offerings. This device offers the wireless market a leading-edge System-on-Chip (SoC) solution, combining the unique features of the CC2420 with the technology of the 8051...