April 7, 2006 Newsletter

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Microwaves & RF UPDATE
MWRF - www.mwrf.com
April 7, 2006
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Greetings and welcome to your personal copy of 
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Today's Table of Contents:

1. It's Your Life In There                                                                    
2. Panasonic Acquires Tropian's Assets 
3. GPS Timing Receiver Aids Network Synchronization 
4. Seminars Offer Training On Design Tools 
5. Study Shows Strong RFID Growth in Government 
6. Front-End Module Aims At Embedded WLAN 
7. Amplifiers Give Assist to WiMAX Testing 
8. Happenings - Conferences 

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1.  Viewpoint 
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It's Your Life In There

During the week of the latest Cellular Telephone Industries 
Association (CTIA) annual gathering (CTIA Wireless 2006, Las 
Vegas, NV), it is appropriate to ponder the state of cellular 
communications and how the cellular telephone is shaping our lives. 
The cell phone has become like the car keys-one of those personal 
items that we check pockets or purse for before leaving the home or 
office. 

The cell phone has evolved from the early Motorola suitcase designs to 
the modern, pocket-sized multifunction device. One service provider 
has even taken up the slogan that "it is your life in there" to 
signify the importance of the device to daily life. But how much is 
too much?

At CTIA Wireless 2006, RF Micro Devices unveiled a module for embedded 
WLAN in cell phones. Many of the devices already have Bluetooth 
wireless capability not to mention cameras, display screens, and 
enough memory for games, audio files, and record of "your life in 
there." And many service providers want to make video an additional 
service charge. Isn't it supposed to be a phone? Where did we go 
wrong? Share your thoughts at mailto:[email protected].

JACK BROWNE
Technical Director

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2. News
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Panasonic Acquires Tropian's Assets

Panasonic strengthened its position in wireless communications by 
agreeing to acquire the assets of Cupertino, CA-based Tropian, Inc. 
Tropian is perhaps best known for its power-efficient polar modulation 
technology for wireless transmitters. According to the agreement, 
Panasonic Corporation of North America, the principal North American 
subsidiary of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., will acquire the 
assets of Tropian's business. The arrangement will allow Matsushita 
Electric to acquire Tropian's intellectual property and technologies. 
It will also allow Panasonic Corporation of North America to acquire 
Tropian's core engineering team and integrate this team into Panasonic 
Emerging Advanced RF Laboratory (PEARL), a new unit of Panasonic R&D 
Company of America, a division of Panasonic Corporation of North 
America. This new unit will be established with about 40 employees. 
According to Dr. Susumu Koike, Executive Vice President of Matsushita 
Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., "Tropian's unique Polar modulation 
technologies will be an important driver in the digitization of the 
conventional analog radio-frequency elements within wireless 
communications systems." Earl McCune, Tropian founder and new PEARL 
director, noted "The Tropian management team of Tim Unger, CEO, Adrian 
Woolley, VP Marketing and Sales, and I have been looking to become 
part of an organization with the skills and resources to make a huge 
impact with our technology. With Panasonic we have found and joined 
such an organization, and we look forward to contributing to the 
acceleration of Dr. Koike's vision."

Panasonic ---> http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=2656C:49027F

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3. News
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GPS Timing Receiver Aids Network Synchronization

Trimble announced its latest Global Positioning System (GPS) timing 
receiver at this week's CTIA Wireless 2006 Conference (Las Vegas, NV). 
Dubbed the Acutime Gold system, the timing receiver is slightly larger 
than a baseball and housed in an environmentally sealed enclosure. It 
provides a pulse-per-second (PPS) output synchronized to Coordinated 
Universal Time (UTC) within 15 ns (one sigma). Once power is applied, 
the receiver automatically tracks satellites and surveys its position 
to within meters. It then switches to overdetermined time mode and 
generates a PPS output. Ideal for precise timing and network 
synchronization, the Acutime Gold receiver provides an independent 
timing source, within the firewall, for any application such as 
network fault detection systems and synchronization of wireless 
networks. It enables easy GPS integration for applications including 
cellular and paging networks.

Trimble ---> http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=2656E:49027F

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4. News
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Seminars Offer Training On Design Tools 

Agilent Technologies is hosting a series of seminars entitled 
"Power-of-Two: ADS and GENESYS. The seminars, which provide details on 
two of company's high-frequency software design tools, are scheduled 
for April 10th through May 31st, from 11 AM through 2 PM. The 
seminars, which include a complementary lunch, cover the new release 
of Agilent Technologies' Advanced Design System (ADS) 2005A. They also 
address the firm's Eagleware GENESYS 2005 for RF System Architecture 
Design, and how ADS and GENESYS can work together. Attendees will 
learn how GENESYS SPECTRASYS, the industry's first and only continuous 
spectrum simulator can be used to speed RF system architecture design 
and pinpoint problems early when they are quick and easy to fix. For 
more information, visit the link below.

http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=26562:49027F

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5. News
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Study Shows Strong RFID Growth in Government

Research firm Venture Development Corp. projects strong 
radio-frequency identification (RFID) growth in the government sector 
over the next five years. The firm's recently released Government 
Vertical Market volume of its annual RFID Business Planning Service 
notes that RFID systems in the government vertical reached an 
estimated $269 million in 2005, with hardware accounting for nearly 53 
percent of the market. The study projects a compounded annual growth 
rate (CAGR) of roughly 34 percent through 2010, with revenue shipments 
projected to exceed $1.155 billion within five years. Governments 
throughout the world are increasingly citing the implementation of 
RFID as a top automatic identification and tracking priority, with 
agencies at both the national and local level playing a major role in 
facilitating RFID adoption.

Venture Development Corp. ---> http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=2656A:49027F

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6. News
*********
Front-End Module Aims At Embedded WLAN

Rolling the dice on embedded wireless-local-area-network (WLAN) 
applications for cellular telephones, RF Micro Devices (RFMD) 
announced at this week's CTIA Wireless 2006 (Las Vegas, NV) the 
availability of the model RF5924 front-end module. Designed 
specifically for embedded WLAN in cellular handsets, the module 
integrates an 802.11b/g WLAN power amplifier, switch, and receive 
balun. According to Rohan Houlden, Director of RFMD's Network 
Components Product Line, "The RF5924 is the first offering in a 
dedicated line of mobile WLAN components that address all bands and 
standards and continues RFMD's heritage of delivering industry-leading 
technology to emerging, high-growth markets."

RF Micro Devices ---> http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=26570:49027F

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7. News
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Amplifiers Give Assist to WiMAX Testing

WiMAX device testing calls for robust test signals, often requiring 
additional amplification between a signal generator and the device 
under test (DUT). Recent tests involving two S Series amplifiers from 
AR Worldwide and a WiMAX test system from Rohde & Schwarz showed that 
the 50-W model 50S1G4A (0.8 to 4.2 GHz) and the 10-W model 10S4G11 (4 
to 10.6 GHz) amplifiers provided good signal fidelity at the required 
output levels for WiMAX testing. The tests showed that the amplifier's 
output signal was almost indistinguishable from the signal generator's 
output. The amplifier's ability to provide more 1-dB compression power 
and higher third-order intercepts allow the test engineer to get more 
useable power than competitive units. More information is available in 
Application Note 39A from AR Worldwide.

Rohde & Schwarz ---> http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=26568:49027F
AR Worldwide---> 
http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=26563:49027F

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8.  Happenings - Conferences
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Del Mar Electronics Show 
April 26-27, 2006
Del Mar Fairgrounds
Del Mar, CA
http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=26571:49027F

Broadband Wireless World
April 26-28, 2006
Caesar's Palace Event Center
Las Vegas, NV
http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=26564:49027F

IMAPS International Conference on 
High-Temperature Electronics (HiTEC 2006)
May 15-18, 2006
Hilton of Santa Fe
Santa Fe, NM
http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=26565:49027F

International Microwave Theory & Techniques 
Symposium (MTT-S)
June 11-16, 2006
Moscone Convention Center
San Francisco, CA
http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=2656D:49027F

************************ ADVERTISEMENT ****************************
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August issue, the magazine is spotlighting the top 45 people, places, 
and things that have impacted this industry. Nominate your choices 
for the Microwave Legends. Simply visit MWRF.com at the link below
before April 15th to submit your nominations. On-line voting for all 
nominations will commence May 1st and conclude on May 31st. 

http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=26572:49027F

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MICROWAVES AND RF (MWRF) UPDATE e-NEWSLETTER CONTACTS
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Technical Director: Jack Browne
mailto:[email protected]

Managing Editor: John Curley
mailto:[email protected]

Advertising/Sponsorship Opportunities:
Paul Barkman at 1-908-704-2460 or
mailto:[email protected]

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