Design Talk - Communications Technology
July 21, 2009 6:57 am | Product Releases | CommentsCommunications are a keystone of our information-based econonomy and society. The next-gen world of ubiquitous computing and cloud data services will rely on high-quality comms in the user interface, RF, and hard wire, to truly exist. Here are some design articles to help you in your communications design tasks.
LISTED UNDER: RF & Microwave/CommunicationsRugged RF Tester Offers Interference Analyzer Option
July 20, 2009 7:02 am | Agilent Technologies | Product Releases | CommentsThe FieldFox RF Analyzer from Agilent is now available with an interference analyzer option. Key measurements include: cable and antenna test; spectrum, interference and vector network analysis; true average power measurements; and a vector voltmeter.
LISTED UNDER: RF & Microwave/Communications | Test & MeasurementImproved RFIC For Millimeter-Wave Imaging
June 29, 2009 7:50 am | On Semiconductor | Product Releases | CommentsElectrical engineers from the University of California, San Diego invented radio frequency integrated circuits that could lead to significantly less expensive imaging systems for identifying concealed weapons, for helping helicopters to land during dust storms, and for high frequency data communications. UC San Diego engineers presented this circuit at the 2009 IEEE Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits (RFIC) Symposium on June 9, where it won one of the best three-student-paper awards.
LISTED UNDER: RF & Microwave/CommunicationsWireless Power Harvesting for Cell Phones
June 11, 2009 6:01 am | Product Releases | CommentsA cell phone that never needs recharging might sound too good to be true, but Nokia says it's developing technology that could draw enough power from ambient radio waves to keep a cell-phone handset topped up.
LISTED UNDER: RF & Microwave/CommunicationsSpectrum Analyzer Provides Improved Broad Sweep Capability
May 26, 2009 6:51 am | Tektronix | Product Releases | CommentsTargeting a variety of demanding RF applications, Tektronix’s RSA6000 Series of spectrum analyzers now includes advanced time, amplitude, and DPX trigger functions as well as with a swept DPX engine that collects more than 292,000 spectrums/second (transients as brief as 10.3 µs) over a 110-MHz bandwidth up to 14 GHz.
LISTED UNDER: RF & Microwave/Communications | Test & MeasurementHitachi Creates Mote-Sized RFID Chips
May 19, 2009 4:30 am | Product Releases | CommentsThe Mu-chip (µ-chip) is Hitachi's pioneering contribution to smart tag technology. It is a radio frequency identification (RFID) microchip that is small enough to be embedded in paper.
LISTED UNDER: ICs | RF & Microwave/CommunicationsLNA Die covers E-Band Applications from 71 to 86 GHz
May 11, 2009 5:37 am | Product Releases | CommentsWell-suited for automotive radar, MIL/Aero, and wireless LAN, the HMC-ALH508 GaAs HEMT MMIC Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) die from Hittite Microwave serves E-band applications from 71 to 86 GHz. The amplifier provides 13 dB of small-signal gain, a 4.5 dB noise figure and an output power of +7 dBm at 1 dB compression.
LISTED UNDER: RF & Microwave/CommunicationsAmplifier MMIC Comes in a Small Package
May 6, 2009 7:29 am | Product Releases | CommentsProviding an integrated GaAs LNA for use in the 1.5 to 8 GHz band, the GaAs MGA-21108 low-noise amplifier MMIC from Avago is provided in a 2.5 x 2.5 x 0.55-mm 8-pin STSLP package. Featues include an input voltage from 1.4 V to 3.3 V, a gain of 18.7 to 10.7 dB at 1.5 to 8 GHz, noise of 1.5 to 2.8 dB at 1.5 to 8 GHz, and a CMOS-compatible variable bias control and shutdown pin.
LISTED UNDER: ICs | RF & Microwave/CommunicationsSelf-Powered 3G System Provides WiFi HotSpot In A Box
May 4, 2009 4:49 am | Renesas | Product Releases | CommentsDesigned to provide mission-critical wireless communications, the Proxicast’s new Cell-PAK 3G + Wi-Fi HotSpot in a box is a wireless "grab & go" solution that provides mobile wide-area cellular Internet connectivity (WWAN) and local 802.11 a/b/g Wi-Fi access (WLAN) in an easy-to-deploy portable form-factor. The Cell-Pak features Proxicast’s commercial-grade LAN-Cell 2 mobile 3G cellular router.
LISTED UNDER: RF & Microwave/CommunicationsExternal LNA Improves Sensitivity in GPS Receivers
April 20, 2009 6:03 am | Product Releases | CommentsDeployable near the antenna to reduce trace losses, NEC’s UPC8240T6N external LNA can use distributed filtering to improve noise performance in GPS receiver ICs.
LISTED UNDER: Passive & Discrete Devices | RF & Microwave/CommunicationsWireless Interface Lets Encoders Communicate
April 13, 2009 9:29 am | Product Releases | CommentsWorking with any of the company’s sensors, encoders, or magnetostrictive devices, the SwiftComm Wireless Interface from BEI Industrial Encoders attaches directly to the SSI port in the controller, just like a conventional wired system.
LISTED UNDER: Computer Peripherals & Networking Devices | RF & Microwave/CommunicationsUSB-IF Announces Plan to Receive UWB Specifications
March 17, 2009 6:09 am | Product Releases | CommentsAs announced by the WiMedia Alliance today, the organization will transfer its UWB specifications to Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) and Wireless USB Promoter Group as they apply to each entity’s expertise for standardization and certification or both.
LISTED UNDER: RF & Microwave/CommunicationsGaN HEMTs Target WiMAX Applications
June 5, 2008 8:48 am | Product Releases | CommentsPresented as the first such devices of their type, the 15- and 30-W CGH55015F and CGH55030F gallium nitride (GaN) HEMT transistors from Cree are intended for use in WiMAX applications covering the 4.9 to 5.8 GHz frequency band. Providing a four-fold increase in efficiency
LISTED UNDER: Passive & Discrete Devices | RF & Microwave/CommunicationsRF Amplifier Presented as World's Smallest
June 2, 2008 6:43 am | Product Releases | CommentsOptimized for operation from 500 MHz to 12 GHz, the 0402-packaged VMMK-2x03 family of RF amplifiers is presented as the smallest such devices of their type. The 1.0 x 0.5 x 0.25-mm devices use 10% of the board area of a standard SOT-343 package and have no internal wirebonds with all I/Os routed to the backside of the device wafer to significantly reduce signal loss and minimize parasitics. The family includes the 0.5 to 6.0 GHz VMMK-2103, the 15 dB (at 5 GHz) 1.0 to 10.0 GHz VMMK-2203
LISTED UNDER: ICs | RF & Microwave/CommunicationsLamp-Mounted Wireless Module Creates Municipal Networks
May 30, 2008 10:48 am | Product Releases | CommentsTaking advantage of existing streetlight infrastructure, the BrownBetty family of lamp-mounted RF modules from Sunrise Technologies creates a mesh network for communications between ground-based devices and the Internet. The ZigBee-enabled device is used Ember’s EM250 SoC transceiver and EmberZNet PRO
LISTED UNDER: Boards & Modules | RF & Microwave/Communications
