Wireless
Moving money by cellphone: US-backed effort that bypasses banks starts slowly in Haiti
June 11, 2012 1:35 pm | by Trenton Daniel | News | CommentsIn further attempts to rebuild Haiti, the U.S. government and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are giving aid to make money transfers available via cell phone in Haiti. Haitian reception, however, has been lukewarm towards the costly enterprise.
RF transceiver module sends and receives digital data in 902 to 928 MHz band
June 11, 2012 11:55 am | Product Releases | CommentsThe new NT Series RF transceiver module from Linx makes it simple to send and receive digital data in the 902 to 928MHz band. Its True Transparency interface lets the user create a wireless wire for use with nonstandard data rates, custom protocols, or encodings such as PWM and Manchester.
LNA is well-suited for commercial digital radios
June 11, 2012 9:41 am | Product Releases | CommentsRichardson RFPD, Inc. today introduces a new 80-105 GHz balanced low noise amplifier (LNA) from United Monolithic Semiconductors S.A.S. (UMS). The CHA1008-99F is a broadband, four-stage monolithic LNA designed for millimeter-wave imaging applications and is also well-suited for commercial digital radios and wireless local area networks (LANs).
New app allows sharing of mobile Internet access
June 11, 2012 9:10 am | by Natasha Baker, Reuters | News | CommentsTraveling and looking for Internet access? A new smartphone app allows users to share mobile Web access for free with other people nearby who have the same app.
5 reasons every subway needs Wi-Fi
June 8, 2012 9:38 am | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Articles | CommentsIt’s tough to imagine in the 21st century: a musty, dimly-lit, underground tunnel — crammed full of people — that’s essentially a black hole of wireless signals. Behold the glory of the NYC subway system.
LNA MMIC offers a noise figure of 1.5 dB from 6 GHz to 18 GHz
June 7, 2012 3:17 pm | Product Releases | CommentsCustom MMIC announced its CMD157 (die) and CMD157P3 (packaged) are GaAs MMIC low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) for applications from 6 GHz to 18 GHz. These broadband devices each offer a low noise figure of 1.5 dB, deliver >25 dB of flat gain, and have
RF design is easy – Just let someone else do it
June 4, 2012 6:36 pm | by Andy Ross, Director of wireless applications for B&B Electronics, www.bb-elec.com | Articles | CommentsIf you’re not designing Wi-Fi (802.11) into your systems already, you’ll be doing so very soon. Wi-Fi is rapidly establishing itself as the standard wireless connection for industrial devices. It’s a big change, but it needn’t be intimidating. There are plenty of vendors out there who have all of the necessary expertise.
Deutsche Telekom launches M2M marketplace
June 4, 2012 3:32 pm | News | CommentsDeutsche Telekom launched its M2M Marketplace. It is a platform for manufacturers and dealers from around the world to offer their hardware, software, apps and full-package solutions relating to M2M communication. In future, Deutsche Telekom will also offer the requisite SIM cards and SIM chips via the M2M Marketplace. The Marketplace provides
Serial/parallel module driver features low power dissipation, CMOS/LVCMOS control logic
June 4, 2012 10:22 am | Product Releases | CommentsM/A-COM Technology Solutions Inc. announced a new transmit/receive module driver IC which provides 6-Bit serial/parallel logic control and T/R switch control for multifunction T/R modules. The MADR-010410 CMOS driver for
Switch performs in GSM quad-band receive and diversity-antenna applications
June 4, 2012 9:55 am | Product Releases | CommentsSkyworks introduced a 0.1 – 2.7 GHz SP4T switch with integrated logic decoder for GSM quad-band receive and diversity-antenna applications. The small form factor (2 mm x 2 mm) SKY13388-465LF is controlled with 1.8-V logic and is appropriate for 3G handsets and data cards. The switch delivers
An app that lets you text like the Queen
June 4, 2012 9:13 am | by Natasha Baker, Rueters | News | CommentsIn celebration of Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee, a mobile app is adding a royal touch to emails, texts and tweets by suggesting words that the British monarch would be most likely to use.
Elimination of handset subsidies would represent tectonic shift
June 1, 2012 4:36 pm | by Jason Lomberg, Technical Editor | Articles | CommentsMobile-phone subsidies may go the way of the rotary dial if an audacious plan by Telefonica and Vodafone bears fruit. The telecom giants are using Spain as the testing grounds for an experiment that could irrevocably change the relationship between consumers and mobile-service providers.
Sandia National Laboratories' unique approach to materials allows temperature-stable circuits
June 1, 2012 12:25 pm | by Eurekalert! | News | CommentsSandia has developed a unique materials approach to multilayered, ceramic-based, 3-D microelectronics circuits, such as those used in cell phones.
RFID SMT Antenna offers protection features for automotive applications
June 1, 2012 12:09 pm | Product Releases | CommentsPREMO launched a new family of its TP0702 standard, universally adopted by industry, according to the company. This format provides up to 50 mV/Apk-pk/m (for 7.2 mH) sensitivity. The new TP0702U and TP0702UCAP is an SMD antenna for low frequency 20 kHz to 150 kHz receiver applications.
RJ45 IP-67 rated connectors offer a flange-mount option
May 31, 2012 4:52 pm | Product Releases | CommentsCONEC has advanced its water-resistant series of connectors to include Ethernet I/O ports with a special flange-mount. These die-cast, nickel-plated IP67-rated connectors allow designers to incorporate popular data ports in applications exposed to harsh environmental conditions.
Call for freelancers
May 31, 2012 2:32 pm | by the Editors | Articles | CommentsElectronic Component News is looking for a few good writers...some talented wordsmiths to excite the imagination, gin up controversy, and illuminate the masses. Interested? Our award-winning website boasts some of the most dynamic, thought-provoking content in the industry. We’re looking to supplement that content with a stable of freelancers.
Fifteen-Watt DC/DC DIP24 DC/DC converters accommodate either 2:1 or 4:1 inputs
May 30, 2012 11:42 am | Product Releases | CommentsXP Power announced two new families of ultra compact metal cased 15 Watt DC/DC converters. Available in an industry standard 24 pin DIP measuring 1.25 x 0.8 x 0.4 inches (31.75 mm x 20.32 mm x 10.16 mm), the JCG15 and JTF15 Series offer a power density of up to 37.5 Watts per cubic inch with an efficiency of up to
Direct conversion receiver operates over an RF range of 50MHz to 940MHz
May 29, 2012 9:54 am | Product Releases | CommentsCML Microcircuits (www.cmlmicro.com) has increased the operating range of its CMX994 Direct Conversion Receiver. Through an on-going research and development programme, CML has extended the operating range of the CMX994 Direct Conversion Receiver (DCRx) IC.
BLE and energy harvesting enable low-cost, maintenance-free active RFID systems
May 24, 2012 11:37 am | by Joe Keating, Infinite Power Solutions, Inc., www.infinitepowersolutions.com | Articles | CommentsRadio frequency identification (RFID) has long been a valuable tool for asset management, allowing objects to be identified, tracked and/or located. Limitations in the accuracy of passive tag systems along with high tag and battery maintenance costs in active systems have limited the adoption of RFID in broader applications.
CEVA, Inc joins Wi-Fi Alliance to further advocate for a software-based Wi-Fi strategy
May 22, 2012 11:39 am | News | CommentsCEVA, Inc. today announced that it has joined the Wi-Fi Alliance to further advocate for a software-based Wi-Fi® strategy. This follows on from the company’s recent announcement of a new software-based, reference architecture targeting multi-mode Wi-Fi 802.11 mobile stations (STA) and access points (AP) together with partner Antcor, S.A. CEVA’s Wi-Fi reference architecture is based on the new CEVA-XC4000 DSP architecture framework and is ideal for cost-efficient, ultra-low power applications.
Mindspeed and China Mobile collaborate for TD-SCDMA/TD-LTE small cell solutions
May 22, 2012 9:49 am | News | CommentsMindspeed Technologies, Inc. announced that it will form a joint development lab with China Mobile Communications Corporation to support the operator's recent deployment of Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA) femtocells.
RF transmitter improves performance while reducing system cost and extending battery lifetime
May 17, 2012 9:02 am | Product Releases | CommentsSemtech Corporation today expanded its RFIC platform with the new SX1243, a fully integrated, low cost FSK / OOK radio transmitter designed to replace a surface acoustic wave (SAW)-based resonator transmitters in garage door openers, remote keyless entry (RKE) and other consumer remote control systems.
Wideband I/Q demodulator improves zero-IF receiver performance
May 14, 2012 2:37 pm | News | CommentsLinear Technology announces the LTC5584, an ultrawide bandwidth direct conversion I/Q demodulator with outstanding linearity of 31dBm IIP3 and 70dBm IIP2. The device offersbest-in-class demodulation bandwidth of over 530MHz...
Wireless transceiver promises double operation lifetime in smart meters
May 14, 2012 10:05 am | Stmicroelectronics | Product Releases | CommentsSTMicroelectronics introduced a high-performance, ultra-low-power wireless transceiver for Automatic Meter Infrastructure and other wireless sensor node applications, such as alarm and security systems, home and building automation, and industrial monitoring and control. ST’s SPIRIT1 transceiver combines...
Implement low-frequency radio in active RFID systems
May 10, 2012 4:02 pm | by Ruggero Leoncavallo, Product Manager, ams AG, www.ams.com | Articles | CommentsRFID (Radio Frequency Identification) is pervasive in asset tracking and logistics applications. Most applications use passive tags, which are low cost and have no power source, so they generate their energy from the electromagnetic radiation emitted by the reader. Thus the range of passive tags is limited.
