FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK

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  The 5 Biggest Industry Trends From IMS2013

  One of the things I love about the IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium is the annual opportunity it affords us to reflect on the current state of the RF/microwave design industry. By attending a combination of keynote addresses, panel sessions, and technical presentations, and by speaking to as many exhibitors and attendees as possible, one can piece together a reasonably good mosaic of the major trends and issues shaping the industry.

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  7 Standout Technologies From IMS2013

  Never will you find more cutting-edge RF and microwave technology on display in one place than at the IMS Exhibition. Hundreds of component manufacturers, chipmakers, instrumentation suppliers, software developers, and other technology companies fill the IMS exhibit halls, showcasing tens of thousands of products, many of which are making their first public appearance. With all due respect to the dozens of compelling technologies that did not make the list, here are seven that really turned our heads at IMS2013.

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  5 Powerful Forces That Could Defeat Your Medical Electronics Design

  You’ve worked really hard on the design and development of your latest [insert your medical electronics technology here]. You’ve put in long hours. You’ve invested a ton of intellectual and emotional energy in it. You’ve obsessed over its every detail. You’ve neglected other important priorities: family, friends, pets, health, yard, etc. You’ve done everything in your power to ensure its performance and success.

• IMS2013: Tech Trends You Don’t Want To Miss (Even If You’re Not Going)
• 5G Breakthrough? Samsung Develops mmWave Adaptive Array Transceiver
• The Sequester, DARPA, And A New Reality For U.S. Defense R&D

PRODUCTS TO SEE AT IMS2013

Diplexers And Multiplexers

Diplexers are three port devices that are used to combine or split signals that are at different frequencies. A diplexer is designed with two fixed bandpass filters that are connected to a common port. Multiplexers are passive devices used to split or combine signals, usually of different frequencies. Once several frequencies are combined, a single transmission medium is used to send or receive the signals

RF Transistor: 2729GN-500V

Microsemi’s 2729GN-500V RF transistor is based on GaN on SiC technologies and targeted at high-power air traffic control airport surveillance radar applications. The 2729GN-500V delivers unparalleled performance of 500W of peak power with 12 dB of power gain and 53% drain efficiency over band 2.7 to 2.9 GHz band.

Broadband VNA: VectorStar ME7838A

Anritsu’s VectorStar ME7838A Broadband VNA is the first millimeter-wave system with stable real time leveling of power without the need for calibration software correction tables. The broadband system may be configured to include a full range of banded millimeter-wave modules extending the frequency range to 750 GHz and beyond.

Low Cost Attenuators With Ethernet/RS-232 And Manual Control

The 50BA-series from JFW Industries is an all-new line of variable attenuator systems. These plug-and-play modules come complete with Ethernet/RS-232 interfaces as well as manual control (via Momentary Lever Actuator Switches with 7-segment digital display).

AR’s Newly Redesigned “W” Series

Our newly redesigned “W” Series Class A solid state amplifiers have significantly increased their value to our customers.  We have superior gain flatness, better noise figure, improved linear power margins, better efficiency, and better harmonics measured at higher powers than in previous designs.  And if that wasn’t enough we reduced the size and weight by approximately  50%.

DC Thru 20 GHz Microwave Chip Resistor

MSI’s MSMW series, a thin film microwave chip resistor being manufactured using specialized Laser Trimming for Optimal Performance over Operating Frequency Ranges of DC to 20 Ghz. Standard case sizes starting at 0201.

Visit us at IMAPS Booth 613.

Low Loss Digitally Tuned Bandpass Filters

MtronPTI expands their RF & microwave filter line with the introduction of digitally tuned bandpass filters.  Software defined radios (SDR) and cognitive radios require flexible RF front ends, similar to frequency hopping front ends of military communication radios. MtronPTI’s low loss TF010x digitally tuned bandpass filters are designed for exactly that.

RECENT ARTICLES

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  Bringing The Flexibility Of Software Defined Radio To Narrowband And Industrial Wireless Applications

  A Software-Defined Radio (SDR) is one that implements some traditional hardware radio functions in software.

GUEST COLUMNS

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  Patterned Ground Shields For Silicon RFICs – Part II: What Universe Are We In?

  In Part I, we used Sonnet® to investigate the current in the surface of the silicon substrate that is induced by a spiral inductor. Since it is an inductor, we were expecting the substrate current to be induced magnetically. After all, inductors are just little magnets, and we would expect inductively induced current in any nearby conductor. The silicon substrate is a conductor, kind of, right? In addition, the magnetically induced current should flow parallel to (and in the opposite direction of) the current in the spiral inductor. This behavior obeys a special case of Clerk Maxwell’s equations known as Lenz’s Law. This is all, to use American slang, a “slam-dunk”¹, hardly even worth checking.

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  A Receiver Intermodulation Primer

  Here at Bird Site Optimization Services, searching for and resolving intermodulation problems is something we do on a regular basis. There is certainly enough of it out there to keep us, and probably a bunch of others, busy for a long time.

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  RF Switch Matrix/Signal Conditioning Challenge: Reverse Engineering And Updating Your Legacy Test System

  Almost every company has an old test system in the corner of their lab that provides a test capability that they require. Perhaps it is related to a government program or a commercial product line that has been around forever. Sometimes the system has been mothballed and they need to get it to run again. This is the third in a series of guest columns by Bob Alman of SenarioTek.

RECENT NEWSLETTERS

• 06.18.13 -- 7 Standout Technologies From IMS2013
• 06.13.13 -- Earth-Observing Microwave Radiometer Could Solve Climate Mystery
• 06.12.13 -- Powerful Forces That Threaten Your Electronics Design
• 06.11.13 -- Understanding RF Instrument Specifications
• 06.07.13 -- Live From IMS 2013 - Day 3

FEATURED PRODUCTS

Remcom Video Center

This collection of videos showcases interesting applications and features of Remcom’s 3D electromagnetic simulation software and wireless propagation tools. Included are short clips that briefly show a feature, as well as longer tutorial "how-to" videos.

GC4800 Planar Beam Lead PIN Diodes

Hybrid microwave integrated circuit applications utilizing stripline or microstrip substrates generally require that the active components be of appropriate size and integrity so that the physical constraints imposed by handling and bonding and electrical performance demands can be met...

Cable & Antenna Analyzer + Spectrum Analyzer: Site Master™ S332E

To keep up in today's rapidly evolving wireless communications market, you need tools that enable you to efficiently maintain legacy networks in addition to the new 3G and 4G networks now being installed. And as the market continues to expand, you're being required to service more base stations than ever before. This means completing sweeps quickly, performing calibrations instantly, and implementing fast trace naming while in the field.

Tx/Rx Front End Module

The SKY77523 is a transmit/receive FEM designed for Skyworks Helios™ II-Plus EDGE RF Subsystem when combined with the SKY74138 direct down-conversion RF Transceiver. The SKY77523 is intended for quad-band GSM, GPRS, and EDGE handsets and modules. The device supports GSM850, EGSM900, DCS1800, and PCS1900 applications

Wideband RF Splitters / Combiners

These HyperGain Wideband Signal Splitters/Signal Combiners are ideal for applications involving 1.9 GHz PCS cellular systems, 800/900 MHz cellular and ISM band operation, the WCS, CDMA, 2.4 GHz 802.11b, 802.11g and 802.11n & 2.6 GHz WiMAX, MMDS Bands, and WiFi wideband design. Three models are available to cover the 750 MHz to 2700 MHz frequency range and are available in 2-way, 3-way, and 4-way configurations.

SAW (Surface Acoustic Wave) Oscillators

SAW (Surface Acoustic Wave) Oscillators by Phonon are essentially specialty microcircuits that process analog signals in radar, communications, electronic warfare (EW), and other defense and space applications. SAW Oscillators are different from other oscillator types in that they use acoustic waves on a material's surface for signal processing.

26.5 GHz Phase Noise Analyzer: NXA-26

This phase noise analyzer measures Absolute and Residual phase noise and offers Amplitude noise options. It can also measure phase and amplitude noise on pulsed signals.

FEATURED SUPPLIERS

Phonon Corporation

Arlon Materials for Electronics

Arlon Materials for Electronics Division develops and manufactures copper clad laminates and prepreg bonding materials for the fabrication of high performance and frequency dependent printed circuit boards.

GPS Networking

GPS Networking, Inc. is the Worldwide Leader in GPS Networking for over 13 years. We specialize in providing global positioning products that allow you to network the signal throughout your site or facility. Our products are designed with building-block simplicity so that you can design the system for your individual needs...

Ducommun LaBarge Technologies Inc.

Ducommun RF Products is a leading designer and manufacturer of RF Coaxial Switch, Switch Matrices and Millimeter Wave components, Millimeter Wave Sub-Assemblies and Millimeter Wave Systems.

Ducommun RF Products Coaxial Switches are used on a variety of commercial and military aircraft, communications equipment, and defense, industrial, medical, Satcom and Test & Measurement applications.

CURRENT HEADLINES

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  UT Arlington Researchers Provide First-Ever Academic Study Of Journalists And Private Citizens' Use Of Drones

  Newly published research from a University of Texas at Arlington communication team offers a groundbreaking perspective on the controversial use of unmanned aerial vehicles in journalism and mass communication, or “drone journalism.”

• X-FAB Optimizes 180nm Process For Portable Analog Applications

  X-FAB Silicon Foundries recently announced it has enhanced the XP018 process with multiple options to lower chip costs for high-performance analog applications such as audio, sensor interface and 5V-environment power management applications. 

• Harris Corporation Receives $55M In Orders From International Customer For Falcon Tactical Radios

  Harris Corporation, an international communications and information technology company, has received $55M in orders from an international customer to deliver both line-of-sight and beyond-line-of-sight tactical communications capabilities from the Falcon line of tactical radios. 

• LS Research Announces The Opening Of The Antenna Shop, Providing Dedicated Specialists To Ensure An Optimized Antenna Design For Wireless RF Devices

  One of the most important – and overlooked – components of any RF device is the Antenna. An improperly designed antenna can greatly impact radio performance and be very costly to a device manufacturer as Apple discovered shortly after releasing the iPhone 4. Its improperly designed antenna ultimately cost the company $53 million.

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  National Science Foundation Participates In White House Initiatives In Wireless Broadband And Technological Innovation

  In conjunction with the recently-released Presidential Memorandum on Expanding America's Leadership in Wireless Innovation, the White House has announced that the National Science Foundation (NSF), along with other federal agencies, will make strategic investments in research and development to make more efficient use of the nation's airwaves.

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  imec And Renesas Electronics Pioneer High-Performance RF Solutions In 28nm CMOS Technology

  imec and Renesas Electronics Corporation, a premier supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions unveiled the world’s first multi-standard radio frequency (RF) receiver in 28nm CMOS technology, and a 28nm analog-to-digital converter (ADC) targeting wide-bandwidth standards such as LTE-advanced and next-generation WiFi.