April 21, 2005 Newsletter

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Microwaves & RF UPDATE
PlanetEE - www.planetee.com/
MWRF - www.mwrf.com/
April 21, 2005
==============================

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. A Few More Words on Software 
2. Fujitsu Microelectronics Debuts WiMAX SoC 
3. Aeroflex Acquires JcAIR Test Systems 
4. StratEdge Recertified To ISO 9001:2000 
5. Modelithics and Johanson Team on LC Models 
6. Harmonic Receivers Pull In 94 GHz 
7. Peregrine Unleashes GSM Antenna Switch 
8. Book Review 
9. Happenings - Conferences 


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1.  Viewpoint 
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A Few More Words on Software

Our last newsletter covered the growing importance of 
computer-aided-engineering (CAE) software in the RF/microwave 
industry. It also mentioned how the upcoming Microwave Theory & 
Techniques Symposium (MTT-S) in Long Beach, CA (June 12-17, 2005) 
offered a wonderful opportunity to find most of the key software 
vendors in one place for a quick technology update. But what it 
failed to mention is the emergence of new kinds of CAE software 
tools for high-frequency engineers.

At least one supplier will be offering functionality that hasn't 
been seen before in microwave modeling software, and several 
suppliers will be pushing capability that has been used in the 
digital realm but is fairly new for microwave designers: 
signal-integrity analysis.

It is inevitable that digital signal waveforms would achieve 
microwave speeds and is subject to microwave design rules. At these 
higher clock/data speeds, digital signals are also affected by 
parasitic circuit elements that are traditionally ignored at lower 
clock/data rates. But at microwave speeds, the modeling tools must 
also account for all higher-order effects, and it will be 
interesting to see how signal-integrity tools fare at these smaller 
wavelengths.

JACK BROWNE
Technical Director

Please share your thoughts by contacting me at: mailto:[email protected]


*************
2. News
*************
Fujitsu Microelectronics Debuts WiMAX SoC

Fujitsu Microelectronics America (FMA), Inc. has launched the most 
complete WiMAX system-on-chip (SOC) solution to date, its model 
MS87M3400. The SoC complies with the IEEE802.16-2004 standard and 
supports designers of base station and subscriber units for 
broadband wireless access (BWA) applications. The SoC incorporates 
dual processors (RISC and RISC/DSP), DMA, memory, and Ethernet 
controllers, orthogonal frequency division multiple (OFDM) PHY, 
automatic gain control (ACG), radio control, and peripheral control 
circuits. It provides a complete PHY-to-MAC wireless metropolitan 
area network (MAN) solution. Keith Horn, senior vice president of 
sales and marketing for FMA, notes, "This new WiMAX-compliant SoC is 
the industry's most integrated, modular, scalable, and 
cost-efficient solution." The SoC can operate in 
time-division-duplex (TDD) or frequency-division-duplex (FDD) modes 
and supports channels from 1.75 to 20 MHz and raw data speeds to 100 
Mb/s on licensed or unlicensed bands from 2 to 11 GHz. The SoC is 
priced at $45 each in 1000 quantities. A complete reference design, 
including all required software and hardware for a cost-effective 
system solution, is also available.
Fujitsu Microelectronics America ---> 
http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=81A9:FFCBF


*********
3. News
*********
Aeroflex Acquires JcAIR Test Systems

Test-equipment supplier Aeroflex, Inc. (Plainview, NY) has acquired 
JcAIR Test Systems from Fortune 500 Company Goodrich Corp. for $35 
million in cash. JcAIR Test Systems, which provides custom manual 
and automatic avionics test solutions, had 2004 revenues of 
approximately $24 million. According to Len Borow, Vice-Chairman and 
Chief Operating Officer of Aeroflex, "The addition of JcAIR Test 
Systems will enhance Aeroflex's Avionics product portfolio and will 
provide more complete testing solutions for the avionics system test 
market." 
Aeroflex ---> http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=81B2:FFCBF
Goodrich Corp. ---> http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=81B3:FFCBF


*********
4. News
*********
StratEdge Recertified To ISO 9001:2000

High-frequency packaging specialist StratEdge (San Diego, CA) has 
been recertified to ISO 9001:2000 by Det Norske Veritas (DNV) with 
no nonconformance. This latest ISO 9000 standard, as defined by the 
International Standards Organization (ISO), outlines specific 
requirements for a quality management system. In addition to 
stripline filters, StratEdge offers ceramic, low-cost hermetic SMT, 
and metal packages, which are all lead-free and meet RoHS and WEEE 
standards.
StratEdge ---> http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=81B0:FFCBF


**********
5. News
**********
Modelithics and Johanson Team on LC Models

Modelithics (Tampa, FL) and Johanson Technology (Camarillo, CA) have 
developed new computer models for Johanson's L-series 0201-packaged 
capacitors (Cs) and inductors (Ls). The new models will be included 
in the new release of the Modelithics CLR Library of scalable Global 
Models for RF/microwave surface-mount components. The component 
library is available for a long list of leading Electronic Design 
Automation (EDA) software tools, including Agilent EEsof ADS, 
Applied Wave Research Microwave Office, Eagleware-Elanix GENESYS, 
and Ansoft Designer. Demonstration models are available at the first 
link below:
Modelithics ---> http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=81AA:FFCBF
Johanson Technology ---> http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=81AB:FFCBF


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*********
6. News
*********
Harmonic Receivers Pull In 94 GHz

Helping to bring millimeter-wave technology to the masses, WiseWave 
Technologies has developed a line of W-band harmonic receivers. 
Operating at 94 GHz, these receivers operate with a local oscillator 
(LO) that is only one-sixth the frequency of the RF input signal 
(15.7 GHz, +7 dBm), helping to reduce system costs. The company's 
model SCD-94016000-01 harmonic receiver consists of a 23-dBi 
standard gain horn, 30-dB low-noise amplifier (LNA), and 
sixth-harmonic mixer. The receiver has a 3-dB beamwidth of 9 
degrees, 6-dB noise figure, and 0-dB conversion gain/loss. 
WiseWave Technologies, Inc. ---> http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=81AF:FFCBF


*********
7. News
*********
Peregrine Unleashes GSM Antenna Switch

Leveraging its unique UltraCMOS technology, Peregrine Semiconductor 
(San Diego, CA) has launched its model PE4269 single-pole, six-throw 
(SP6T) RF antenna switch die for use in quad-band GSM antenna switch 
modules. The chip is based o the company's earlier model PE4263 
antenna switch. The new device includes a control logic decoder and 
driver. According to Jussi Salminen, wireless sector marketing and 
business development director at Peregrine Semiconductor, "The 
PE4269 offers board layout flexibility for RF designers, eliminating 
any need to re-route and thus ensuring peak performance." The RF 
switch chip operates from 100 to 3000 MHz with 45-dB isolation and 
0.55 dB insertion loss at 915 MHz. It measures 1.24 by 1.20 mm and 
is priced at $0.60 each in 10,000 quantities. 
Peregrine Semiconductor ---> http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=81B5:FFCBF


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8. Book Review
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Next Generation Wireless Applications

Wireless applications continue to expand well beyond the realm of 
the cellular telephone, and Next Generation Wireless Applications by 
Paul Golding hints at the awesome possibilities of growth for 
wireless applications. Although written at a marketing rather than 
an engineering level, the text nonetheless covers a great deal of 
ground on next-generation wireless technologies and services. It 
addresses methods for mobile service delivery (such as wireless 
e-mail, what technologies are needed for efficient delivery, 
content-sharing protocols, types of devices that will be used, the 
anticipated network architectures to serve the masses. Published by 
John Wiley & Sons, the book covers both hardware and software, such 
as the Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) as a platform for building 
mobile applications, and is an important source of information for 
marketing professionals seeking an edge in selling next-generation 
wireless hardware and software. 
Wiley ---> http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=81B6:FFCBF


*******************************
9.  Happenings - Conferences
*******************************
Microwave Theory & Techniques Symposium (MTT-S)
June 12-17, 2005
Long Beach Convention Center
Long Beach, CA 
http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=81B7:FFCBF

Lead-Free QuickStart Seminar
Sponsored by Indium Corporation of America
May 17-18, 2005
Libertyville, IL
http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=81AC:FFCBF

IEEE Compound Semiconductor IC Symposium (formerly the GaAs IC 
Symposium)
October 30 - November 2, 2005
Palm Springs, CA
http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=81B4:FFCBF

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