Wireless Design & Development articles from July 2008

Wireless Design & Development archives from July 2008

Move over Bluetooth--you've got some competition.(UP FRONT)
July 1, 2008... Get ready Bluetooth because another player has entered into the Personal Area Network (PAN) market. Challenging the future of Bluetooth, a new start-up called Ozmo Devices and an Intel Corporation program point to a future for Wi-Fi in a broad...

Boxes feature dual-channel gasket construction.(PRODUCT NEWS: WHAT'S HOT)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Bud Industries' ANS Series die-cast NEMA boxes feature a dual-channel gasket that is made with a one-piece molded outer silicone gasket and a wire-mesh with sponge rubber. The EMI/RFI-shielding devices meet NEMA 1,...

Analyzer shows live RF.(PRODUCT NEWS: WHAT'S HOT)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Tektronix's SA2600 real-time spectrum analyzer uses DPX waveform image processor technology to show a live RF view of a spectrum in analog and digital transmissions. The handheld device has a frequency coverage range...

Microwave amplifiers use RF technology.(PRODUCT NEWS: WHAT'S HOT)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Cree's CMPA0060005 and CMPA2560025 GaN monolithic microwave IC (MMIC) amplifiers use RF technology to form fully-integrated amplifier circuits that replicate on a single silicon carbide (SIC) substrate. The...

Sensor supports mobile display digital interface.(PRODUCT NEWS: WHAT'S HOT)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] OmniVision Technologies' OV3647 0.25" 3 MegaPixel image sensor supports the mobile display digital interface (MDDI) that operates at 15 fps in QXGA (2048 x 1536) resolution. The 1.75-micron OmniPixel3 device features...

Oscilloscopes operate from 1.5 to 6 GHz on four channels.(PRODUCT NEWS: WHAT'S HOT)(LeCroy Corp.)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] LeCroy's 700Zi Series WavePro digital oscilloscopes provide 1 M[ohm] and 50 [ohm] input capability in bandwidths from 1.5 to 6 GHz on four channels with 64 V offset capability and 63 V common mode control. The...

GPU delivers up to 1G pixels per second.(PRODUCT NEWS: WHAT'S HOT)(ARM Group)(graphics processing unit)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ARM's Mali-400 MP scalable multiprocessor graphics processing unit (GPU) delivers up to 1G pixels per second in from one to four processors. The device uses MPCore technology for system bandwidth, performance...

Fuses fit for electrical ballasts.(PRODUCT NEWS: WHAT'S HOT)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Littelfuse's 208/209 Series 350-V 2AG-size fuses are designed for electrical ballasts used in fluorescent lighting and other applications. The RoHS-compliant devices have an interrupting rating of 100 A at 350 V AC....

ICs provide four output voltages.(PRODUCT NEWS: WHAT'S HOT)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Micrel's MIC2811/21 power management ICs provide four output voltages for system core, I/O, SDRAM, NAND flash, and Secure Digital (SDIO) with LDO regulators and a DC/DC converter. The 3-[mm.sup.2] device can supply...

Adapting next-generation applications to universal radio environments: as the variety of user devices and applications increase, the need to predict end-user experience becomes even more critical.
July 1, 2008... Wireless access communications have changed dramatically over the past five years. As users demand more from their mobile devices, the interaction between the devices and the radio environment has become more complex. 4G wireless, including the...

Brainstorm.(POWER MANAGEMENT)
July 1, 2008... Welcome to Brainstorm! The topic for the July question is Power Management. Current wireless network power management can often times substantially degrade performance and may even increase overall energy usage. Representatives from Chip...

WiMAX Forum Certified ... why do we need to test protocol? Performing automated Procotol Conformance Testing (PCT) in-house is essential for vendors who are eager to minimize time-to-market.(PROTOCOL CONFORME TEST: DESIGN TALK)
July 1, 2008... Dropped calls, "network busy" messages and intermittent service--these are all potential symptoms of poor device interoperation. This type of behaviour is generally caused either because the testing for certification is not rigorous enough or,...

Energy conservation and sustainable design: for a US company intending to launch a worldwide product, compliance with EuP regulations will ensure entry to that market of almost 500 million people.(TREND REPORT)
July 1, 2008... One of the most interesting trends in the electronics industry at the moment is the movement towards designing products in an environmentally friendly way. Buzzwords such as Carbon Neutral, Sustainable Design and Eco-design have recently...

VCO operates from 787 to 805 MHz.(PRODUCT FOCUS: RF COMPONENTS)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Crystek Crystals introduces its Model CVCO55CC-0787-0805 VCO that operates from 787 to 805 MHz with a control voltage range of 0.3 V to 4.7 V. This VCO features a typical phase noise of-122 dBc/Hz at 10 kHz offset...

Solid state relays feature high speed switching.(PRODUCT FOCUS: RF COMPONENTS)(OPTEK Technology Inc.)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] OPTEK Technology's OSSR Series of solid state relays are offered in hockey puck (panel rhount), SIPI and SIP2 packages. They incorporate a zero crossing circuit that minimizes current and noise surges due to...

Vibration sensors displace piezoresitive technology.(PRODUCT FOCUS: RF COMPONENTS)
July 1, 2008... The Colibrys wide-bandwidth capacitive accelerometers set new performance standards on vibration sensing, and they are expected to displace piezoresistive sensors in health and usage monitoring systems (HUMS), aeronautics, railway technologies...

MMIC mixers provide broad frequency coverage.(PRODUCT FOCUS: RF COMPONENTS)
July 1, 2008... Hittite Microwave Corporation announces its family of GaAs MMIC fundamental mixers, I/Q mixers and sub-harmonic IRM mixers in chip form which provide broad frequency coverage from 19 to 90 GHz. These Velocium GaAs MMIC mixer products are...

Micropower hall-effect switch conserves board space.(PRODUCT FOCUS: RF COMPONENTS)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Allegro MicroSystems, Inc. introduces its Model A1172 ultra-sensitive, Hall-effect switch with latched digital outputs and omni-polar magnetic actuation. It features operation at low supply currents and voltages,...

Analyzer features NVNA capability.(PRODUCT NEWS)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Agilent Technologies' PNA-X microwave network analyzer now has nonlinear vector network analyzer (NVNA) capability along with linear measurement capability. The device comes with new nonlinear scattering parameters...

RFID Reader Patch Antenna minimizes attenuation.(PRODUCT NEWS)
July 1, 2008... Astron Wireless Technologies offers its Model H91CDPSFPM RFID Reader Patch Antenna that is available in the 902 to 928 MHz frequency range. Its polarization is left or right hand circular, helping to minimize attenuation caused by cross...

T/R module for short-range indoor communications.(PRODUCT NEWS)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Endwave Corporation releases its 60 GHz T/R module that targets short-range indoor communications that must transport data traffic at multi-gigabit speeds. The design allows full-duplex operation with flexible...

Buck regulator includes an integrated dual power monitor.(PRODUCT NEWS)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Austriamicrosystems expands its DC/DC converter portfolio with the AS7620 hysteretic, high efficiency 32V step-down regulator in a small 4 [mm.sup.2] MLPQ 12-pin package. Well suited to maximize up-time of utility...

Wideband switches offer high isolation and high frequency.(PRODUCT NEWS)(Spectrum Microwave)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Spectrum Microwave introduces its expanded line of switches that offer SPDT to SP5T designs with a bandwidth from 100 MHz to 22 GHz. These switches feature an integral TTL driver and are available with switching speeds higher than 100 nsec,...

BAW filters enable WiMax and WLAN co-existance.(WDD: PRODUCT NEWS)
July 1, 2008... Skyworks Solutions, Inc. announces its bulk acoustic wave (BAW) filters for customer premise equipment (CPE) to allow co-existence between wireless local area networks (WLAN) in the home and enterprise, and WiMAX networks which cover wider...

GPS receiver IC features dual antenna.(TECHNOLOGY AWARD)
July 1, 2008... SiGe Semiconductor, Inc.'s 4-[mm.sup.2] SE4150L GPS radio receiver features dual-antenna input capability and a multi-bit output to help with sensivity and interference resistance for next-generation GPS systems. Sige Semiconductor specifically...