==============================
Microwaves & RF UPDATE
MWRF -
www.mwrf.com
December 21, 2006
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Greetings and welcome to your personal copy of PlanetEE's Microwaves
and RF UPDATE e-newsletter. Please see below for address-change or
subscribe/unsubscribe instructions.
Today's Table of Contents:
1. Ham Radio Reaches End Of An Era
2. No More Morse Code In Ham Radio Tests
3. Focus Enhancements Receives FCC Approval For DS-OFDM UWB
4. Silicon/Crystal Timing Market To Expand
5. MEMS To Move In 2008
6. InGaP LNA Boosts Satellite Radio Receivers
7. Maury Hosts Load-Pull Seminar
8. Happenings - Conferences
************************ ADVERTISEMENT****************************
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Agilent cleared the way for fixed/mobile WiMAX and WiBro with the
industry's first design tools like our Advanced Design System (ADS)
suite of software tools, ESG signal generator with Signal Studio
software, and VSA modulation analysis software. Now you can
anticipate potential roadblocks with fast and efficient test using
Agilent WiMAX MXG signal generation and MXA signal analysis - see how
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http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=44714:49027F . It's WiMAX testing at the
edge of possibility.
For more information, click on the link below:
http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=44724:49027F
******************************************************************
***************
1. Viewpoint
***************
Ham Radio Reaches End Of An Era
Amateur radio operators hold an important and noble place in this
country. Not only are they people dedicated to maintaining skills in
radio communications, they represent this country's "safety net" for
emergency communications should some disaster or terrorist activity
render all normal communications networks useless. Those who
remember the movie classic On The Beach may recall the main
characters' hope of finding survivors following a nuclear holocaust
after receiving a Morse Code message on a ham radio.
That scene has suddenly become severely dated, with the FCC's
willingness to grant higher-level Amateur Radio operator's licenses
without knowledge of Morse Code. Obviously, this has opened the door
to many more people becoming ham operators, who may have hesitated
previously when considering the Morse Code requirement. But this
relaxation of the requirements also "cheapens" the license somewhat,
in the manner of granting a driver's license in a large city without
requiring the skill of parallel parking.
With newer radios and communications technologies available, the
FCC's move away from Morse Code is understandable. But, as that
scene in On The Beach showed, that Morse Code may come in handy
one day.
JACK BROWNE
Technical Director
*************
2. News
*************
No More Morse Code In Ham Radio Tests
Morse code will no longer be a requirement for earning any Amateur
Radio (ham) license in the US. The United States Federal
Communications Commission announced last week that it had eliminated
testing for proficiency in Morse code for all Amateur Radio license
classes. Although many ham operators are well versed in Morse Code,
it will no longer be required for a license as per FCC Report &
Order in WT Docket 05-235. Since 1991 it has been possible to earn a
"Technician" class Amateur Radio license without passing a Morse
examination. The higher class licenses, "General" and "Amateur
Extra," required at least five words per minute code proficiency.
The Amateur Radio Relay League (ARRL) reported that requests for
study materials for new licenses had doubled within 72 hours of the
FCC announcement that Morse Code had been dropped from the testing.
For more information, contact the ARRL.
ARRL --->
http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=44722:49027F
*********
3. News
*********
Focus Enhancements Receives FCC Approval For DS-OFDM UWB
Focus Enhancements, a pioneer of sending wireless video with
ultrawideband (UWB) technology, has received US Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) approval for its direct-sequence,
orthogonal-frequency-division-multiplex modulation
technique. The approval allows full use of the UWB spectrum without
waiver, providing 880-Mb/s rates to UWB product designers and users.
Focus is also the only wireless chip manufacturer to receive
approval without waiver. As a result, DS-OFDM UWB radios will be
able to use all or any part of the bandwidth allocated by the FCC
for UWB applications (3.1 to 16.6 GHz). According to Tom Hamilton,
executive vice president and general manger of Focus Enhancements'
semiconductor group, "While several WiMedia companies have received
FCC approval for UWB technology, none have done so without waiver -
until now." The firm's flavor of UWB technology allows wireless
high-definition (HD) and standard-definition (SD) video transmission
at data rates from 37 to 880 Mb/s with distances sufficient for
whole house wireless video coverage.
Focus Enhancements --->
http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=4471C:49027F
*********
4. News
*********
Silicon/Crystal Timing Market To Expand
The market for silicon-based and crystal-based timing devices will
grow from $4.2 billion in 2006 to exceed $5.7 billion in 2011
according to a new study from ABI Research. While silicon-based
timing devices are still not as capable of sophisticated tasks as
crystal oscillators, they are getting better, and will eventually
replace crystals in many contexts. The report, "The Timing Solution
Market: Quartz Crystal, Crystal and SAW Oscillators, and Silicon
Timing Devices," notes that the strongest growth will occur in the
Asia-Pacific region.
ABI Research --->
http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=4471A:49027F
**********
5. News
**********
MEMS To Move In 2008
The latest ABI Research study on microelectromechanical systems
(MEMS) technology projects that 2008 will be a banner year for the
MEMS in mobile phones. The report, "Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems
(MEMS) in Mobile Phones," predicts five major application areas for
MEMS in the mobile phone: in RF filters, adaptive tuning circuits,
resonators and oscillators, audio microphones, accelerometers, and
motion sensors. Cost is still a concern, although it should drop
with the expected volumes for mobile phones.
ABI Research --->
http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=4471B:49027F
************************ ADVERTISEMENT****************************
You take WiMAX forward. See how Agilent clears the way.
Agilent cleared the way for fixed/mobile WiMAX and WiBro with the
industry's first design tools like our Advanced Design System (ADS)
suite of software tools, ESG signal generator with Signal Studio
software, and VSA modulation analysis software. Now you can
anticipate potential roadblocks with fast and efficient test using
Agilent WiMAX MXG signal generation and MXA signal analysis - see how
at
http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=44714:49027F . It's WiMAX testing at the
edge of possibility.
For more information, click on the link below:
http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=44724:49027F
******************************************************************
*********
6. News
*********
InGaP LNA Boosts Satellite Radio Receivers
Model UPG2310TK is a low-noise amplifier (LNA) fabricated with an
InGaP monlithic-microwave-integrated-circuit (MMIC) process. Ideal
for Industrial-Scientific-Medical (ISM) applications in the
2.3-to-2.5-GHz band as well as for SDARS satellite radio receivers,
the LNA features 27 dB gain and 1.8 dB noise figure at 2.3 GHz. The
third-order intercept point is +28.5 dBm at that frequency. The LNA
is supplied in a compact TK package measuring 1.5 x 1.3 x 0.55 mm.
California Eastern Labs --->
http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=44723:49027F
*********
7. News
*********
Maury Hosts Load-Pull Seminar
Maury Microwave is hosting a three-hour seminar on load-pull testing
using the company's high-reflection impedance tuner with a
commercial vector network analyzer. The seminar, which is scheduled
from 1 to 4 PM on January 10, 2007 at the 2007 IEEE Radio and
Wireless Symposium in the Long Beach Convention Center (Long Beach,
CA), uses the optimization of a GSM/EDGE power-amplifier (PA) module
as an example. Attendees can register to win a 4-GB iPOD nano. For
more information, contact John Sevic at e-mail:
jsevic@maurymw.com
or visit the company's web site.
Maury Microwave Corp. --->
http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=44720:49027F
*******************************
8. Happenings - Conferences
*******************************
2007 IEEE Radio and Wireless Symposium (RWS)
January 7-12, 2007
Long Beach Convention Center
Long Beach, CA
http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=44719:49027F
Software Defined Radio (SDR) Forum Meeting
January 15-18, 2007
Sheraton San Diego Hotel, Mission Valley
San Diego, CA
http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=4471E:49027F
2007 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC)
February 11-15, 2007
San Francisco Marriot Hotel
San Francisco, CA
http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=44721:49027F
IEEE Sarnoff Symposium 2007
April 30-May 2, 2007
Sarnoff Labs
Princeton, NJ
http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=44716:49027F
2007 IEEE/MTT-S International Microwave Symposium
June 3-8, 2007
Hawaii Convention Center
Honolulu, HI
http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=4471F:49027F
************************ ADVERTISEMENT****************************
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Visit Microwaves & RF's RF Test Blog to learn about the latest
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by M/A-COM for the latest component news, at:
http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=4471D:49027F
******************************************************************
======================================================
MICROWAVES AND RF (MWRF) UPDATE e-NEWSLETTER CONTACTS
======================================================
Technical Director: Jack Browne
mailto:jbrowne@penton.com
Managing Editor: John Curley
mailto:jcurley@penton.com
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mailto:pbarkman@penton.com
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