March 24, 2005 Newsletter

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Microwaves & RF UPDATE
PlanetEE - www.planetee.com/
MWRF - www.mwrf.com/
March 24, 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. Taking A Step Back 
2. Vista RF Launches RF/Microwave Cable Assemblies 
3. Report Predicts Rapid Growth For BPL-Access 
4. Labtech Purchases Assets of Filtronics' Milton Keynes Facility 
5. HRL Labs To Sell CalTech MM-Wave MMICs 
6. Conexant Launches Embedded Wireless Solution 
7. Inphi Tackles Data Sampling at 25 GHz 
8. Agilent Accelerates EDA Simulation Software 
9. Happenings - Conferences 


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1.  Viewpoint 
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Taking A Step Back

Time is often hard to come by. Our modern lifestyles often demand 
much of our time, with pressures to meet deadlines and develop new 
products. Time to think is certainly important and, in the immortal 
words of the bard, Bob Dylan, "no time to think" leaves us with very 
few options. 

Sometimes, there is something one can do about the lack of time, and 
I have chosen to take action. For those readers who have read my 
columns over the years, this will be the last time you see the title 
of "Publisher/Editor" beneath my name. But I am not going away. I 
will stay with the magazine as Technical Director, a rather 
distinguished title for a man of my years. I will be working with a 
new Editor for Microwaves & RF, Nancy Friedrich, who comes over from 
Wireless Systems Design magazine. The new position allows me to 
continue to produce the best microwave magazine I know how to 
produce, but takes me away from the sales side of the business. In 
the process, it gives me time for different activities, side 
projects, and even time to think. 

I urge each reader, especially those with a few years under their 
belts, to consider how their own time is being spent. Step back for 
a moment and decide if personal and professional goals are being 
met, and if there is satisfaction in how your time is being spent. 
If not, it may be time to likewise consider a change.

JACK BROWNE
Publisher/Editor

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


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2. News
*************
Vista RF Launches RF/Microwave Cable Assemblies

Vista RF announced the launch of the company's new line of low-loss, 
high-performance RF/microwave cable assemblies designed for 
broadband applications in commercial and defense frequency bands. 
Designed for applications through 6 GHz, these cable assemblies are 
supplied in standard lengths of 6 and 12 in. Custom lengths are also 
available. The company's VCA-4000 series cables are constructed with 
RG-174 cable and either straight male SMA-M straight or right-angle 
male SMA gold-plated brass connectors. The VCA-4000 series cables, 
which can handl temperatures from -40 to +75 degrees Centrigrade, 
are priced starting at $16.95 each for quantities of nine or less. 
For higher-temperature applications, the firm's VCA-6000 series are 
constructed with RG-316 cable and SMA straight or right-angle 
connectors, and can handle temperatures from -70 to +200 degrees 
Centrigrade. They are prices from $17.15 each in quantities of nine 
or less. 
Vista RF, Inc. ---> http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=5E14:FFCBF

 
*********
3. News
*********
Report Predicts Rapid Growth For BPL-Access

Market research specialist Telecom Trends International is heralding 
the fast growth of broadband powerline communicaitons as an access 
technology. The firm's newley released report, "Broadband Powerline 
Communications: Ready for Take-Off," states that Broadband Powerline 
Communications for access applications (BPL-Access) is well 
positioned to compete head-on with DSL and cable modem technologies 
for a share of the broadband access market. BPL-Access uses the 
electricity power grid to bring broadband signals into buildings. 
The report estimates that the BPL-Access services market generated 
$57.1 million in revenue worldwide in 2004, and projects that by 
2011, BPL-Access will generate $4.4 billion in revenue worldwide. 
According to Naqi Jaffery, President, of Telecom Trends 
International, "there are no longer any serious technical 
limitations to the deployment of BPL for high-speed Internet 
access." The report adds that there is no global standard for 
BPL-Access, but theuseof the existing infrastructure translates into 
low cost of deployment and low cost for customers. Details on the 
report are available by e-mail at mailto:[email protected].
Telecom Trends International ---> http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=5E0F:FFCBF

 
*********
4. News
*********
Labtech Purchases Assets of Filtronics' Milton Keynes Facility

Labtech Limited has purchased the assets of Filtronics' microwave 
components design manufacturing facility in Milton Keynes, United 
Kingdom for one-half million pounds sterling. As part of the 
transaction, Labtech has also entered into a three-year supply 
agreement with Filtronic Components Ltd. Labtech will operate the 
Milton Keynes facility as Labtech Microwave, developing custom and 
standard microwave components for military and 
satellite-communications applications. Labtech will rename its 
existing facility in Presteigne, Wales as Labtech Circuits with main 
emphasis on microwave printed-circuit boards (PCBs), 
monolithic-microwave-integrated-circuit (MMIC) packaging solutions, 
and machining for RF assemblies.
Filtronic Components Ltd. ---> http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=5E12:FFCBF
Labtech Ltd. ---> http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=5E0D:FFCBF


**********
5. News
**********
HRL Labs To Sell CalTech MM-Wave MMICs

HRL Laboratories, LLC (Malibu, CA) has obtained a license from 
California Institute of Technology (CalTech) to sell millimeter-wave 
low noise and power monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) 
designed by Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) personnel. Using HRL's 
indium-phosphide (InP) high-electron-mobility-transistor (HEMT) MMIC 
process, the firm will offer 15 unique designs ranging from Ka-band 
frequencies to D-band frequencies. A sampling of the designs 
includes the models LSPA1, LSPA2, and LSPA165 power amplifiers, with 
as much as +12 dBm output power over selected bands from 70 to 170 
GHz, and three low-noise amplifiers (LNAs), models 40LN5, 118LN3, 
and 200LN2, with noise figures as low as 3 dB at 90 GHz and covering 
a frequency range from 25 to 205 GHz. 
HRL Laboratories ---> http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=5E19:FFCBF
 

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*********
6. News
*********
Conexant Launches Embedded Wireless Solution

Conexant Systems has teamed with Internet protocol/security 
specialist Interpeak to develop a wireless solution for embedded 
developers. The solution integrates Conexant's PRISM GT IEEE 802.11g
and PRISM WorldRadio IEEE 802.11a/g wireless local area network (WLAN)
chipsets and Interpeak's IPNET and IPLITE dual-mode IPv4/IPv6 TCP/IP
networking protocol stacks. It allows commercial and consumer 
electronics manufacturers to add wireless capability to a wide range 
of products, including cellular phones, printers, and digital cameras.
According to Urban Lindegren, vice-president of sales for Interpeak,
"There is a growing need for embedded systems to wirelessly access
the Internet or a wireless LAN." The flexible platform is interoperable
with many major real-time operating systems including INTEGRITY, OSE, and Linux.
Conexant Systems ---> http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=5E13:FFCBF
Interpeak ---> http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=5E11:FFCBF


*********
7. News
*********
Inphi Tackles Data Sampling at 25 GHz

Inphi Corporation (Westlake Village, CA) announced the availability 
of two 25-GHz latched comparators for data sampling at 25 GHz. The 
firm's models 25706CP and 25707CP enable broadband and 
high-frequency sampling of analog signals, notably for ultrawideband 
(UWB) communications. Already employed in the BertScope high-speed 
communications test equipment from SyntheSys Research, the 
comparators feature less than 4 mV hysteresis. According to Tom 
Waschura, Chief Technology Officer of SyntheSys Research, 
"partnering with Inphi to incorporate their technology gives us 
direct access to phenomenal jitter and noise-reducing performance 
that directly impacts our key performance specifications." The 
comparators have 3-dB analog input bandwidth of 18 GHz and low 
offset of 1.5 mV. They support clock rates to 25 GHz and exhibit 
propagation delays of only 100 ps from input to output. The 
comparators achieve rise/fall times of 15 ps and support 
single-ended and differential operation. Random jitter is a mere 0.2 
ps root mean square (RMS). 
Inphi Corp. ---> http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=5E10:FFCBF
SyntheSys Research ---> http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=5E1A:FFCBF		 
		  
 

*********
8. News
*********
Agilent Accelerates EDA Simulation Software

Agilent Technologies has announced a dramatic breakthrough in 
simulation speed for the core electronic design automation (EDA) 
frequency-domain simulation technologies found in its Advanced 
Design System (ADS) and RF Design Environment (RFDE) suites of 
software tools. As much as 50 times improvements in simulation speed 
have been achieved for large circuits for wireless communications 
and defense applications. These advanced simulation technologies 
will be included in the next releases of ADS and the RFDE software 
packages. ADS is a collection of circuit- and system-level 
simulation tools and RF/microwave instrument links while RFDE 
supports integration of the company's RF simulation tools into the 
Cadence Design System industry-standard analog and mixed-signal 
design flow. The new simulators are expected to be available 
beginning in June 2005. More information on beta code evaluation is 
available at the link below.
Agilent Technologies ---> http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=5E0A:FFCBF
 

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9.  Happenings - Conferences
*******************************
E-Seminar on Jitter Analysis
"What Works, What Doesn't, and Why"
March 30, 2005, 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM Pacific Time
Register at: http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=5E08:FFCBF

ARMMS RF & Microwave Society Conference
April 18-19, 2005
Milton Hill House Hotel, Milton Hill, Oxfordshire, UK
http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=5E17:FFCBF

2005 International Reliability Physics Symposium
April 17-21, 2005
San Jose Marriott Hotel, San Jose, CA
http://nls.planetee.com/t?ctl=5E18: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=5E16:FFCBF


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