FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK

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  5G Breakthrough? Samsung Develops mmWave Adaptive Array Transceiver

  Even though true 4G cellular is yet to arrive, Samsung claims to have already taken a major step toward 5G with the development of a new millimeter-wave adaptive array transceiver. The device, which operates in the Ka band (28 GHz), achieves data transmission speeds of up to 1.056 Gbit/s over distances of up to 2 km.

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  The Sequester, DARPA, And A New Reality For U.S. Defense R&D

  Sequestration was the dominant theme at SPIE Defense, Security, and Sensing (DSS) 2013 in Baltimore last week. Talk of U.S. budget cuts and their impact on the defense industry was almost omnipresent during the event, starting with Monday’s plenary keynote address by DARPA Director Arati Prabhakar, who explained how the agency will approach the development of new military capabilities amidst both fiscal and threat uncertainties.

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  Microwave Ablation Devices Heating Up, But Competition Looms

  Over the past several years, microwave ablation has established itself as the medical procedure of choice for the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias and liver, prostate, kidney, lung, and other forms of cancer. However, it doesn’t appear as though the microwave ablation device market will rest on its laurels. If recent research reports and news coverage of novel applications are any indication, the technology is poised for significant future growth.

• Cosmic Microwave Background Anomalies Challenge Principles Of Big Bang Theory
• Power Amplifier ‘Heals’ Itself After Laser Blasts
• DARPA Wants Remote Control Pods To Hide UAVs On Seafloor

PRODUCTS TO SEE AT IMS2013

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).

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.

Low Phase Noise Reference Oscillator: XO5085

Low phase noise, high frequency reference oscillators improve signal-to-noise ratios in microwave radios, RF/EW/ATE,  radar systems, spectrum analyzers and more. The XO5085 covers the 50 MHz to 160 MHz range, has very low phase noise and comes in a 1” sq. package.

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

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.

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.

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%.

RECENT ARTICLES

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  How To Localize Interference In The High Frequency Range Using smartDF®

  Are you impacted by an illegal transmitter? …or a legal transmitter not operating within specifications? … or an industrial controller causing fizzle on an adjacent band? … or just crackle from a poor contact in the building’s wiring?

GUEST COLUMNS

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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.

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  Military Satellite Trends And Outlook: Part 1

  The use of space is increasing and becoming an essential component for infrastructure in communications, navigation and timing, agriculture and weather monitoring, and disaster relief efforts. From a military perspective, space assets provide necessary resources to support troops, including the provision of imagery, supporting communications, improving targeting, and conversely reducing collateral damage. As a force multiplier, space assets can provide advanced capabilities and compensate for reductions in other conventional assets. By Asif Anwar, Director, Advanced Defense Systems (ADS) Service, Strategy Analytics

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  Patterned Ground Shields For Silicon RFICs – Part I: What Happens In The Silicon?

  This is part of a series of guest columns by Dr. James C. Rautio of Sonnet Software, Inc.

RECENT NEWSLETTERS

• 05.21.13 -- How To Localize Interference In The High Frequency Range
• 05.16.13 -- What Disrupts Radio Waves? NASA To Find Out
• 05.14.13 -- What's The Worst That Could Happen? RF Communication Disasters
• 05.09.13 -- First Transistors Using GaN-On-Diamond Wafers Produced
• 05.07.13 -- Faint Sources Of Almost All Radio Waves From Distant Galaxies Identified

FEATURED PRODUCTS

38 GHz Packaged Chipset Solution For Point-to-Point Radio Market

M/A-COM Technology Solutions Inc. (M/A-COM Tech) introduces a 38 GHz surface mount technology (SMT) packaged GaAs MMIC chipset solution for the point-to-point (PtP) radio market. This 38 GHz chipset includes an integrated up converter and receiver, driver and power amplifiers, a VCO and a multiplier.

AR Multistar™ Radiated Immunity System

The AR AR Multistar™ Radiated Immunity System has all of the instruments needed to perform radiated immunity testing for IEC 61000-4-3 specifications. Included in the system is AR's MT06000 Multistar™ Radiated Immunity System. The multi-tone design of the MTO6000 systems allows for faster testing of RD radiated immunity.

Horn Antennas: K-Band, V-Band, And X-Band

These microwave antennas from Microsemi are designed for commercial applications as a low-cost method for transmitting microwave energy. These antennas utilize high-gain properties and shaped-beam patterns that are suitable for most applications.

EM.GRID™

EM.GRID™ is EM.CUBE's flexible data visualization and analysis module. GRID is an acronym for Graphical Representation of Input Data. You can call EM.GRID at the end of a simulation from any one of EM.CUBE's computational modules to plot output data graphs. EM.GRID can also be used as a stand-alone application to visualize any data files with acceptable formats. You can plot graphs of data, customize the graphs and print them or copy them to other applications such as word processors, spreadsheets or presentation software.

AK-285R Shielding Effectiveness Antenna Kit -- 1 KHz - 18 GHz

These Shielding Effectivness Kits are a portable and economical approach to having all the antennas required for most shielding effectiveness testing.

Multichannel Low-Power Transmitter: R&S®MLx

The R&S^®MLx Multichannel Low-Power Transmitter optimizes DVB-T/DVB-T2 network coverage and integrates up to six transmit channels in one system. A flexible transmitter configuration makes it an ideal transmitter for areas without specific broadcasting infrastructure, or for installation in the smallest of outdoor enclosures. Its 250 mm depth makes it the most compact transmitter on the market today.

High-Performance Passive Intermodulation Analyzer: MW8219A PIM Master™

The MW8219A PIM Master High-Performance Passive Intermodulation Analyzer is the industry’s first field test solution that can accurately and quickly locate the source of passive intermodulation (PIM), whether it is at the base station or in the surrounding environment. Covering the PCS and AWS cellular frequency ranges, the MW8219A provides field personnel with a test system that can help ensure optimum network performance and also locate PIM faults before intermodulation distortion adversely affects signal transmission.

3D Signal Integrity Analysis of Complex Cable Structures

CST CABLE STUDIO® is dedicated to the three-dimensional analysis of signal integrity (SI), conducted emission (CE), radiated emission (RE), and electromagnetic susceptibility (EMS) of complex cable structures in electrically large systems.

FEATURED SUPPLIERS

Anaren Microwave, Inc.

Based in Syracuse, NY with five facilities and approximately 1,200 employees worldwide, Anaren, Inc. is a 40+-year worldwide supplier of custom and standard high-frequency technology for the space, defense, commercial wireless infrastructure, consumer electronics, and medical device sectors.

X-COM Systems

Headquartered near Washington D.C. in Reston, Virginia, X-COM Systems designs, manufactures, and sells advanced products and solutions to all branches of the Department of Defense (DoD) and to commercial technology companies worldwide.

Skyworks Solutions, Inc.

Skyworks is the industry’s leading wireless semiconductor company focused on RF and complete semiconductor systems for mobile communications applications...

RLC Electronics, Inc.

Since its inception in 1959, RLC has been the leading designer and manufacturer of high quality, state-of-the-art coaxial switches, band-pass filters, precision attenuators and other transmission line components for the microwave industry.

CURRENT HEADLINES

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  Centennial Airport To Install New Surveillance System That Combines Liteye And Blighter Systems To Enhance Facility Security

  Centennial Airport, (Centennial, Colorado, USA), announced today that it will be deploying a new facility security system that combines the Aquila thermal pan & tilt camera system, from Liteye Systems Inc., (Centennial, Colorado, USA), and the Blighter B400 series electronic -scanning ground radar system from Blighter Surveillance Systems, (Cambridge, UK), to deliver a fortress-like ring of security over their facility.

• US Air Force Selects Raytheon's Transportable Air Traffic Radar System

  The U.S. Air Force has awarded Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) a contract to build rapidly deployable air traffic control (ATC) systems that can be delivered anywhere in the world and then be fully operational controlling flights within six hours.

• Sonnet Announces Blink, The New Simulation Tool For The Modern IC And PCB Designer

  Leading High Frequency Electromagnetic (EM) Software provider, Sonnet Software, Inc. announces a new product, Blink, which is an easy-to-use EDA environment for the analysis of on chip passive devices such as spiral inductors and MIM capacitors.

• Sequans Introduces EZLinkLTE Family Of Modules For All-In-One LTE Connectivity

  4G chipmaker Sequans Communications S.A. has introduced a new line of LTE modules called EZLinkLTE.  The modules are based on Sequans’ LTE baseband chip and include a complete RF front end and key interfaces in a single, compact package.

• Aeroflex Releases The TETRA Enhanced Data Service Option For The 3920 Radio Test Set

  Aeroflex Incorporated, a wholly owned subsidiary of Aeroflex Holding Corp., announced recently the release of the TETRA Enhanced Data Service (TEDS) option for the 3920 Digital and Analog Radio Test Set.

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  API Technologies To Showcase ION Networks Remote Services Solutions At IAUG CONVERGE2013

  API Technologies Corp. (“API” or the “Company”), a trusted provider of RF/microwave, microelectronics, and security solutions for critical and high-reliability applications, announced recently that it will be exhibiting the IONSA5600-SAL: Avaya SAL Edition, along with its full line of ION enterprise products, at the annual International Avaya Users Group (IAUG) Conference (Booth #333). IAUG CONVERGE2013 takes place June 4-6 at the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center in Orlando.