ISSUE DATE: DECEMBER 2007  OPTIONS
Millimeter-Wave Technology

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December 2007 - In This Issue

[Cover Story]
Software Tool Brings EM Technology To Forefront
Jack Browne Technical Director Electromagnetic (EM) simulation software has evolved from a laboratory curiosity to a valuable modeling tool during the last decade. But many users still consider the technology as a "back-end" design tool, often applied as a way to check the results on "more trusted" S-parameter-based circuit simulators. To change that way of thinking, Applied Wave Research ...  — Jack Browne

[News]
MM-Wave Links Are Making Key Connections
Jack Browne Technical Director Millimeter-wave frequencies represent the next great frontier for broadband, albeit limited range, communications. Since the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and other global regulatory agencies have designated or freed bandwidth at millimeter-wave frequencies for point-to-point communications links (see Microwaves & RF, August 2007, p. 40), a number of...  — Jack Browne

[Design Features]
Optimizing MMICs For Encapsulated Packages
Traditionally, monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) have been designed for function and performance, but without much forethought for package options. Packages were often developed after the circuit, and this "second-thought" approach would result in loss of circuit performance. A more practical approach is to perform accurate design of high-frequency MMICs for the package itself, in particular, for fully encapsulated packages. By...  — Matthew R. Coutant , et al.

[Design Features]
Simulating WiMAX System Performance
Rapid growth of Wireless Interoperability Microwave Access (WiMAX) as a broadband wireless technology is expected due to increasing demand for convenient Internet access and highspeed data access. In order to construct wideband wireless systems such as WiMAX, however, effective modeling must be performed. In this report, wideband modeling was performed on key elements of a WiMAX system, notably the modulator, frequency upconverter, and...  — Kostas Stefanou , et al.

[Design Features]
Estimate Microstrip Substrate Relative Dielectric Constant
Firas Mohammed Ali Al-Raie Department Head The Polytechnic Higher Institute of Yefren, Libya, Department of Electronic Engineering, e-mail: firas@ieee.org Microstrip lines are commonly used in microwave circuits, although their performance is subject to the type of substrate material selected for a printed-circuit board (PCB). One of the more important material parameters for the substrate is the...  — Firas Mohammed Ali

[Product Technology]
Top Products Of 2007
Nancy Friedrich / Editor Every holiday season, it seems that "top product" lists are everywhere. They cover everything from the most popular toys to the most in-demand gadgets. Here at Microwaves & RF, we come out with our own list of "Top Products" every December. It is unlikely that the average consumer has heard of or will hear of any of these products. Yet they have impacted the microwave industry - be it through new performance heights, an...  — Nancy Friedrich

[Product Technology]
LDMOS Devices Push 1 kW Pulsed Power
Jack Browne Technical Director Power amplification is criticalX to a wide range of applicationsX in industrial, medical,X military, and scientificX applications at frequenciesX through 450 MHz. For peakX power levels to 1 kW, usually multipleX transistors and a power combiner areX required. But with recent additions to aX line of N-channel enhancement-mode laterallyX diffused metal-oxide-semiconductorX (LDMOS) transistors, FreescaleX ...  — Jack Browne

[Product Technology]
Fast Synthesizer Switches To 20 GHz In 100 µs
Jack Browne Technical Director Many test applications require fast-switching signal-generation capability. For example, measurements calling for a large number of data points, such as in antenna testing, automatic- test-equipment (ATE) systems, and radar-cross-section (RCS) measurements, can shave hours off the total test time with a fast-switching test-signal source. To fill those requirements, Anritsu Co. (Morgan Hill, CA) has ...  — Jack Browne

[Product Technology]
Tracking A Changing Industry
For many, the hustle and bustle of the holidays coincide with some enjoyable days at home as they take those last vacation days. Taking such time makes people prioritize what work needs to get done before the holidays and what new projects await their return. Here at Microwaves & RF, December is a time to reflect on the most significant happenings in the microwave industry over the past 12 months. To recognize some of this year's key innovations, for example, we...  — Nancy Friedrich

[Feedback]
No Apology Necessary
In the "FEEDBACK" column of October ("Breaking The Hatred Cycle," October 2007, p. 13), while referring to Jack Browne's article "The War Against IEDs" (improvised explosive devices) in Penton's Military Electronics, September 2007, John Evans expresses his opinion that social and cultural issues have nothing to do with the motives of Islamic terrorists. Indeed, he shows that these terrorists have been killing non-Muslims for...  — Alan Bensky

[The Front End]
Aeroflex Wins Contribution To Safety Award At e-Legacy Awards 2007
BURNHAM, UNITED KINGDOM - Aeroflex announced that it has won the Contribution to Safety Award at the inaugural e-Legacy Awards, organized by the UK's Electronic Product Design magazine and held last month at the Tate Modern in London. Aeroflex (www.aeroflex.com) received this award for its A-GPS mobile handset test system (see figure) based on...  — Compiled by John Curley

[The Front End]
Mini-Circuits Receives Several Awards In 2007
BROOKLYN, NY - While 2007 has not ended yet, Mini-Circuits has already received numerous awards this year, as it has in previous years. Most recently, telecommunications company Huawei Technologies, which is located in the People's Republic of China, named Mini-Circuits "The Excellent Supplier." Rockwell Collins is also among the customers that have recognized Mini-Circuits during the past year. The avionics giant named Mini-Circuits a...  — Compiled by John Curley

[The Front End]
More Than 4000 Products Wi-Fi Certified By Wi-Fi Alliance
AUSTIN, TX - The Wi-Fi Alliance has announced that more than 4000 products have been Wi- Fi CERTIFIEDTM since the testing program began in March of 2000. Growth in the diversity of Wi-Fi-enabled product types, including consumer electronics and dual-modem mobile phones, as well as next-generation 802.11n draft 2.0 products, have led to the certification of more than 1000 Wi-Fi® products over the last 15 months. ...  — Compiled by John Curley

[The Front End]
Kudos
WARREN, NJ - The New Jersey Technology Council recently announced that it has selected ANADIGICS, Inc., a provider of semiconductor solutions in the broadband wireless and wire-line communications markets, as its recipient of their 2007 New Jersey Electronics Company of the Year award. ANADIGICS was cited for its leadership role in the semiconductor electronics market and its dedication to promoting the growth of third- and fourth-generation...  — Compiled by John Curley

[Financial News]
Harris Awarded Marine Corps Contract
Harris Corp., an international communications and information technology company, has been awarded a $7.7 million indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract to provide its RF-7800W Broadband Ethernet Radio system to the US Marine Corps to deliver high-bandwidth data networking capability closer to the battlefield. The RF-7800W provides wireless backbone connections between higher- level command posts and their forward- operating bases at...  — Compiled by John Curley

[Company News]
Company News
Contracts Communications & Power Industries, Inc. (CPI) - Has received an initial award for satellite-communications (satcom) amplifiers to support the General Dynamics SATCOM Technologies specialized satcom earth terminals for Increment One of the US Army's Warfighter Information Network-Tactical (WIN-T) program, formally known as the Joint Network Node-Network (JNN-N) program. The award is for the first phase of a base-plus-four-option years...  — Compiled by John Curley

[People]
People
The Software Defined Radio (SDR) Forum has retained Lee Pucker to provide CEO services in a newly created consultancy position. Pucker formerly served as CTO and vice president for corporate development at Spectrum Signal Processing. Alion Science and Technology - DR. Charles Massey to director of port and maritime security; formerly international borders and maritime security program manager at Sandia National ...  — Compiled by John Curley

[Educational Meetings]
Educational Meetings
MEETINGS The Software Defined Radio (SDR) Forum January 15, 2008 (Tampa, FL) Doubletree Westshore Held in comjunction with the Forum's general meeting, January 14-17, 2008 Internet: www.sdrforum.org 2008 IEEE Radio and Wireless Symposium (with WAMICON) January 22-24, 2008 (Orlando, FL) Rosen Centre Hotel Part...  — Compiled by John Curley

[R&D Roundup]
Luneberg Lens Offers Wide Scan With Multiple Pencil Beams
Recently, there has been a resurgence in research interest in spherical Luneberg and homogeneous lens antennas for launching multiple pencil beams. With these approaches, all of the generated beams are almost identical because of the inherent symmetry of the structure. The result is very wide scan coverage of up to 180 deg. To specifically target millimeter-wave multi-fan-beam applications, a two dimensional (2D) Luneberg lens was recently proposed by Xidong Wu of...  — Nancy Friedrich

[R&D Roundup]
BiCMOS VCO Competes For W-Band Applications
Typically, millimeter-wave applications in the 75-to-100-GHz W-band requiring active devices have been considered the territory of III-V compound semiconductor technology. With fT/fMAX frequencies above 150 GHz, however, newer silicon- germanium (SiGe) processes can compete for those applications. W-band radar and radio transceivers require a phase-locked loop (PLL) in which the most critical components are the voltage- controlled oscillator (VCO) and frequency ...  — Nancy Friedrich

[R&D Roundup]
Reflector System Could Satisfy Antennas On Spinning Platforms
Current spacecraft antenna design must confront the problem of how to mount and deploy large reflector antennas on spinning platforms. The reflector spins at approximately 10 to 40 rpm to cover the desired scanned area on Earth. One solution - a back-to-back reflector antenna with a reduced moment of inertia - has been proposed by Keyvan Bahadori and Yahya Rahmat-Samii from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).When both back-to-back reflectors are ...  — Nancy Friedrich

[Application Notes]
Broadband Access Will Mix Wireless With Wire-Line Technologies
By 2015, five billion people will be "connected" - with the majority of them always on and enjoying broadband access. This estimate comes from Nokia Siemens Networks (Espoo, Finland). The company expects those broadband customers to be served by a mix of wireless and wire-line technologies. It explains this thinking while delving into those specific technologies in "Broadband Access for All - A Brief Technology Guide." This 21-page...  — Nancy Friedrich

[Application Notes]
Digital Phosphor Oscilloscopes Tackle Video Measurements
Video measurements pose a tough challenge because of the complexity of video waveforms. Such waveforms often combine the signals that represent the video picture with the timing information that is needed to display the picture. Although some video measurements demand specialized instruments, others can be easily made with a general-purpose oscilloscope. In the 20- page application note, "Introduction to Video Measurements Using a 4000 Series Digital...  — Nancy Friedrich

[Editor's Choice]
2.4- And 5-GHz Pas Form IEEE 802.11n Building Blocks
With the growing popularity of Wi-Fi, IEEE 802.11n wireless-localarea- networking (WLAN) capability is being designed into many next-generation products. To simplify this process, two new power amplifiers (PAs) promise to simplify design while reducing the system bill of materials cost by 30 percent compared to current solutions. The SE2537L is a 5-GHz PA while the SE2581L is a 2.4-GHz PA. Systems based on the SE2537L and SE2581L are capable of +20 dBm...  — Nancy Friedrich

[Editor's Choice]
Squat OCXOs Deliver 1-ppb Stability
Communication systems that are based on precise synchronization, such as Global Positioning System (GPS) infrastructure, demand ultra-stable frequency in small sizes. In hopes of satisfying such applications, an oven-controlled crystal oscillator (OCXO) is promising stability as low as 1.0 ppb at a height of less than 0.5 in. The NV47AG OCXO is available in frequencies from 5 to 13 MHz. It offers very low phase-noise options for both ...  — Nancy Friedrich

[Editor's Choice]
MMIC Receiver Covers 4.5 To 10.5 GHz
A fully integrated gallium-arsenide (GaAs), monolithic-microwave-integrated- circuit (MMIC) receiver has been spawned for wirelesscommunications applications like millimeter-wave point-to-point radio, local multipoint distribution services (LMDS), satcom, and very small aperture terminal (VSAT). The XR1011-QH covers the 4.5- to-10.5-GHz frequency bands. It flaunts a noise figure of 1.8 dB and 13 dB conversion gain across the band. The receiver integrates an...  — Nancy Friedrich

[Editor's Choice]
PA Delivers 50 W Over 1500 To 2500 MHz
At just 6.4 X 2.5 X 1.5 in., a Class AB linear amplifier vows to deliver 50 W of output power over the full 1500-to-2500-MHz frequency range. The Model BME158258-50 offers gain of 40 dB ± 1.5 dB. RF input overdrive is +10 dB. The amplifier's input voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) is 2:1 maximum. Harmonic rejection is -25 dBc while spurious signals are specified at -60 dBc. The Model BME158258-50 operates with supplies of +23 to +32 VDC and 7.5 A current. The power...  — Nancy Friedrich