ISSUE DATE: NOVEMBER 2008  OPTIONS
Microwave Software

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November 2008 - In This Issue

[Cover Story]
Tester Exercises MIMO Receivers
WWireless systems must often contend With limited range and interference. For that reason, multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) technology is being applied to many emerging wireless standards, including 802.11n WLAN, Mobile WiMAX Wave 2 and 3GPP Long-Term Evolution (LTE) systems. The improved performance of MIMO approaches brings with it increased complexity, and the challenge of testing the hardware using MIMO methods. Fortunately, the N5106A PXB MIMO Receiver Tester from...  — Wilkie Yu

[News]
Software Simulators Speed Design Cycle
Time-to-market pressures force designers to search for an edge. For many, that edge comes in the form of computer-aidedengineering (CAE) simulation tools. Such software is available to simulate devices as well as system components. It can perform both linear and nonlinear circuit and system simulations. In addition, a host of software companies offer platforms for time-domain and electromagnetic (EM) simulation. To keep up with design advances and...  — Nancy Friedrich

[News]
Mobile WiMAX Is Vetted For Video
Like every new wireless standard, mobile WiMAX has experienced some controversy. People in the wirelesscommunications industry have alternately doubted its viability and exaggerated its merits. With last month’s launch of the XOHM mobile fourth-generation (4G) service in Baltimore, MD, however, mobile WiMAX has shown that it will likely have a spot alongside 4G telecommunication standards like Long Term Evolution or LTE (...  — Nancy Friedrich

[Design Features]
Perform Fast Optimization Of Tapered WG Transformers
Waveguide tapers are often necessary when making a transition between two different types of waveguide transmission lines, such as singleridge waveguide and double-ridge waveguide. While three-dimensional electromagnetic (EM) analysis programs can help achieve good performance for such waveguide tapers, they also depend on a fairly close starting point in terms of the geometric dimensions for the transition. Fortunately, the author has developed a...  — Zelman Harbater

[Design Features]
UWB GPR Receiver Detects Waterpipe Leaks
Ground-penetrating-radar (GPR) systems based on ultrawideband (UWB) generation and reception of reflected signals are often associated with military applications such as land-mine detection. But because of aging waterpipe infrastructure in many major cities within the European Union (EU), a UWB-based GPR system also has application for detecting leaks in underground waterpipes. The cost of replacing these aging waterpipe systems, if left to deteriorate beyond a...  — Anastasios Garetsos , et al.

[Design Features]
Antenna Tuning Approach Aids Cellular Handsets
Shrinking wireless and mobile electronic devices are impacting antenna design and performance. Portable device designers must work with miniature antennas covering 824 to 2170 MHz or more, different modulation schemes, and high data rates. With shrinking handsets, the area for the antenna is limited, often with the antenna wrapped around peripheral functions in the handset. Such a solution often makes the antenna more susceptible to detuning by...  — Rodd Novak , et al.

[Product Technology]
High-Speed ADC Offers 16 b At 200 MSamples/s
Analog-to-digital conversion plays a major role in many electronics systems, especially when signal processing is performed in the digital realm. The audio world has been accustomed to 16-b resolution at the audio standard sampling rate of 44.1 kSamples/s. But for radio-frequency (RF) signals, the road to high-resolution sampling has represented a much longer journey because of the sampling speeds needed to achieve such high resolution for RF ...  — Jack Browne

[Product Technology]
RMS Detector Reads 40-dB Range to 6 GHz
Power control is vital to many modern wireless communications formats, including GSM/EDGE, CDMA, WiMAX, and Long Term Evolution (LTE) cellular systems. Of course, to control power, it is first necessary to detect it, and the LT5581 root-meansquare (RMS) power detector from Linear Technology (www.linear.com) is a fast-active integrated circuit (IC) with 40-dB dynamic range from 10 MHz to 6 GHz....  — Jack Browne

[Product Technology]
USB Power Sensor Checks 50-dB Range To 6 GHz
Precision power measurements at RF/microwave frequencies once required a standalone power meter and the proper diode or thermistor sensor. But with a personal computer (PC) equipped with a Universal Serial Bus (USB) and the model PWR-6G+ USB power sensor from Mini-Circuits (minicircuits.com), power measurements can be made quickly and accurately over a level range of -30 to +20 dBm and across...  — Jack Browne

[Editorial]
Don’t Rely Too Much On That CAE Software
Personal computers, and the software within them, have changed the world. Much can be said about the “wireless revolution,” and the tremendous convenience of being able to reach anyone with a cellular telephone. But in the last several decades, it has been the PC that has had the greatest impact of any electronic device on most lives. It is the operating system and application software that defines the functionality of the PC. And in this industry,...  — Jack Browne

[Feedback]
Feedback
Where Are The Antennas? To The Editor: There is a great deal to like about the coverage in your magazine, although one cannot help but notice the preponderance of articles on oscillators. Certainly, I applaud the depth of coverage on signal sources. But it would appear, just from a cursory review of recent issues, that the editors of Microwaves & RF have been negligent in covering one important system...  — Various Readers

[The Front End]
Body-Area Network Monitors Emotional Reactions
LEUVEN, BELGIUM—A new research concept uses a combination of body parameters to monitor a person’s arousal level. IMEC has developed an ambulatory arousal monitor in a compact form factor with a long battery lifetime. It consumes less power than a comparable Bluetooth device. In fact, the entire system allows several days of autonomy on a commercial prismatic Li-Ion battery. IMEC’s approach within its Human++ program at Holst Centre uses a body-area network...  — Dawn Hightower

[The Front End]
TriQuint-Powered Integrated Circuits Used In “Big Bang” Experiment
HILLSBORO, OR-TriQuint Semiconductor, Inc.’s technology was leveraged in the design of integrated circuits (ICs) that will be used in the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Billed by some as the “world’s biggest, most highly anticipated physics experiment,” the LHC is a 27-km (17-mile)-long particle accelerator. It was designed by the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN) to help physicists recreate the conditions that occurred just after the Big...  — Dawn Hightower

[The Front End]
Verizon And Nokia Siemens Networks Set Record For 100-Gb/s Optical Transmission
BASKING RIDGE, NJ—Verizon and Nokia Siemens Networks have taken a step closer to being able to transmit commercial traffic at a speed of 100 Gb/s. The two companies carried out a successful 100-Gb/s transmission on a single wavelength for more than 1040 km over field fiber. In doing so, they set a new distance record while demonstrating better performance than conventional transmission. The field trial was conducted on optical fiber on the Verizon network...  — Dawn Hightower

[The Front End]
Kudos
BEDFORD, OH—Wesgo Metals, a business of Morgan Technical Ceramics (MTC), has earned its ISO-14001 certifications. An international quality-management standard, ISO-14001 certification encourages businesses to implement, maintain, and improve environmental management systems (EMSs). By manufacturing its products at its Hayward, CA facilities, Wesgo Metals maintains high-quality standards and ensures the exclusion of contaminants like lead, cadmium, zinc,...  — Dawn Hightower

[Financial News]
Financial News
Microchip And ON Semi Propose To Acquire Atmel MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY and ON Semiconductor Corporation have sent a proposal to the board of directors of Atmel Corporation to acquire Atmel for $5.00 per share in cash. The proposal, led by Microchip, provides a premium of 52.4 percent to Atmel’s closing price of $3.28 on Oct. 1, 2008, and values Atmel at $2.3 billion. According to a letter to Atmel’s board of directors, the acquisition would be led by...  — Dawn Hightower

[Company News]
Company News
CONTRACTS Lockheed Martin—Has been awarded an $8.9 million contract by the US Navy to produce and support Low Cost Conformal Arrays (LCCAs) for use aboard submarines. Work will be performed at Lockheed Martin’s Syracuse, NY facility. The LCCA is a passive planar array mounted on the aft submarine sail structure and integrated with the Acoustic Rapid COTS Insertion (A-RCI) AN/BQQ-10 sonar system. It provides situational awareness...  — Dawn Hightower

[People]
People
De Souza Promoted To Endicott Senior Management JENNIFER DE SOUZA has been promoted to Vice President Supply Chain Management at Endicott Interconnect Technologies, Inc. (EI). Her appointment is part of the strategy to drive operation effectiveness. She reports to JAY MNAMARA, President and CEO. Under her leadership, EI is developing and executing direct and indirect material-procurement strategies using lean principles including JIT and...  — Dawn Hightower

[Educational Meetings]
Educational Meetings
Short Courses Besser Associates Short Courses RF Transceiver Architecture, Design and Evaluation Nov.17-21, 2008 (Dallas, TX) Applied RF Techniques for Modern Radio Design Nov. 17-21, 2008 (Dallas, TX ) Wireless System Design and Simulation Dec. 8-12, 2008 (San Jose, CA) Short Range Coexistence RF Transceiver Design Techniques Dec. 9-12, 2008 (San Jose,...  — Dawn Hightower

[R&D Roundup]
1-V Transceiver SoC Serves Biotelemetry Applications
Wireless technology has enabled biotelemetry applications that monitor vital signs like temperature and heart rate. At the heart of these applications are wireless body sensor networks, which comprise human-body-worn sensor nodes. These networks rely on modules that gather, store, and process the patient’s vital data before sending it to a central base station. For miniaturization, increased functionality, and a reduction in power consumption, however, the industry...  — Nancy Friedrich

[R&D Roundup]
UWB Antenna Minimizes Size And Return Loss
Before the expected performance levels of Ultrawideband (UWB) communications can be reached, some challenges have to be overcome. It is therefore essential to study a suitable radiating structure— especially for pulsed devices that need minimum signal distortion. For example, the antenna should faithfully replicate the transmitted pulse on reception. In practice, however, the change of radiation characteristics with frequency alters the antenna response. Aside from...  — Nancy Friedrich

[Application Notes]
Adaptive Beamforming Raises WiMAX Capacity
Compared to third-generation (3G) networks, mobile WiMAX has garnered attention for being a more affordable technology for transferring large amounts of data with high throughput. This advantage can be further magnified by adaptive beamforming. This technology vows to improve both the range and capacity of a WiMAX network. At the same time, it reduces capital and operating expenses by minimizing the number of base stations that are needed in a network. The...  — Nancy Friedrich

[Application Notes]
ADC Mysteries Are Finally Explained
Analog-to-digital Converters (ADCs) have both analog and digital functions. Most simply, an ADC can be considered a device that provides an output that digitally represents the input voltage or current level. The analog input is compared to the ADC’s analog reference voltage or current. The digital output word denotes what fraction of the reference voltage or current is the input voltage or current. In essence, the ADC is a divider. These definitions hail from the...  — Nancy Friedrich

[Editor's Choice]
RF Subsystem Supports Variety Of Cellular Femtocells
A FULLY INTEGRATED RF SUBSYSTEM has been created for GSM, GPRS, and EDGE femtocell base stations and cellular repeaters. By combining analog and mixed-signal semiconductors on a compact assembly, the subsystem can be used in femtocell base station and cellular repeaters in the GSM850, EGSM900, DCS1800, and PCS1900 frequency bands. The dual-chip RF subsystem solution consists of the SKY74219-21 RF transceiver with analog in-phase/quadrature (I/Q) interface for...  — Nancy Friedrich

[Editor's Choice]
Transceiver SoC Satisifes ZigBee Applications
Like other wireless-communications specifications, ZigBee is driving increasingly higher levels of integration. A recent example is a line of ZigBee transceiver integrated circuits (ICs) that combines a ZigBee-compliant RF transceiver with an 8051-based, 8-b microprocessor. Known as the ZIC2410 series, these systems-on-a-chip (SoCs) have a transmit/receive frequency range of 2.400 to 2.4835 GHz. They deliver +8 dBm output power. Receiver sensitivity is –98 dBm. The...  — Nancy Friedrich

[Editor's Choice]
USB Power Meter-Sensor Covers 10 MHz To 12.5 GHz
THE MODEL LB559A PowerSensor+ power meter-sensor is a compact Universal-Serial-Bus (USB) powered solution for power measurements at frequencies from 10 MHz to 12.5 GHz. The measurement tool boasts a dynamic range of –55 to +20 dBm with total measurement error of only 1.95 percent. The instrument features “No Cal, No Zero” operation that eliminates the need for calibrating or zeroing the power meter-sensor before use for faster measurement ...  — Nancy Friedrich