June 22, 2006 Newsletter

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Microwaves & RF UPDATE
MWRF - www.mwrf.com/
June 22, 2006
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Greetings and welcome to your personal copy of PlanetEE's Microwaves 
and RF UPDATE e-newsletter. Please see below for address-change or 
subscribe/unsubscribe instructions.

Today's Table of Contents:
1. What Did You Hear At MTT-S?                                                                         
2. Micro-Mode Launches Online Connector Store 
3. SWTW Honors Cascade's Strid and Gleason 
4. RFMD Introduces GaN HEMT Devices
5. Smaller TWTAs Deliver 1 kW Power
6. Freescale Packs Power in 2-GHz Plastic 
7. Rogers Unveils New Bondply Material At MTT-S 
8. Happenings - Conferences 

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*******************************************************************

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1.  Viewpoint 
***************
What Did You Hear At MTT-S?

Last week marked the annual social gathering for the RF/microwave 
industry known as the Microwave Theory & Techniques Symposium (MTT-S), 
held in San Francisco's Moscone Center. The week-long series of 
technical presentations, workshops, and exhibition-booth displays gave 
more than 10,000 members of this industry a chance to fill holes in 
their professional educations, meet new people, and catch up with old 
acquaintances. 

The show, also known as the International Microwave Symposium (IMS), 
serves as a "launching pad" for companies with new product lines. For 
a member of the press, there is the inevitable question concerning 
"what is new and exciting at this year's MTT-S?" During down economic 
times, new product introductions are usually sparse and lackluster. 
But, when times are good, product introductions are plentiful. In 
terms of exciting new products, this show was a "blockbuster," 
especially in those areas that require considerable capital 
investments: semiconductors and test equipment.

A few of the new products related to power (as a way of tweaking 
interest for the high-power special report in the upcoming July issue 
of Microwaves & RF) are mentioned here, with more exciting new 
products to appear in this newsletter as well as in the parent 
magazine. And if you feel we have missed yours, please let us know.

JACK BROWNE
Technical Director


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2. News
*************
Micro-Mode Launches Online Connector Store

Connector specialist Micro-Mode has launched an online store for its 
extensive lines of blind-mate and threaded connectors. The company 
features SMP, SMPM, and MSSS blind-mate connectors as well as 
traditional threaded connectors, such as SMA, SSMA, and TNC 
connectors. The company's SMPM connectors are usable from DC to 65 GHz 
while the firm's MSSS connectors are suitable for applications from DC 
to 75 GHz. Blind-mate connectors can be ordered in a wide range of 
configurations, including as cable connectors, printed-circuit-board 
(PCB) mount connectors, edge-mount types, bullets, hermetic shrouds, 
and surface-mount connectors. Adapters, terminations, and cable 
assemblies are also available.
Micro-Mode ---> http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=2F764:49027F


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3. News
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SWTW Honors Cascade's Strid and Gleason

The co-founders of microwave wafer probe supplier Cascade Microtech 
have received the prestigious Southwest Test Workshop (SWTW) Lifetime 
Achievement Award for more than 25 years of technical contributions to 
RF wafer measurements. Eric Strid and Reed Gleason were recognized at 
the recent SWTW 2006 (June 11-14, 2006, San Diego, CA), a research 
forum sponsored by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics 
Engineers (IEEE) Computer Society that focuses on all the aspects 
associated with microelectronic wafer and die level testing. Strid, 
the company's CEO, said "I'm honored that we have been selected for 
this lifetime achievement award, though I feel like we still have 
another lifetime worth of ideas to implement." Gleason noted, "Eric 
and I will often brainstorm and build on each other's ideas, testing and 
challenging each other until we come up with a winner." Strid and 
Gleason invented the first 18-GHz wafer probe in 1984. The partners 
also created the Pyramid probe card technology, a high-performance 
on-wafer solution for testing high-speed, high-density integrated circuits. 
Cascade Microtech ---> http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=2F761:49027F
Southwest Test Workshop (SWTW) ---> http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=2F767:49027F


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4. News
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RFMD Introduces GaN HEMT Devices 

RF Micro Devices (RFMD), a company synonymous with semiconductors for 
cellular and other wireless applications, announced a line of gallium 
nitride (GaN) high-electron-mobility-transistor (HEMT) power 
transistors at last week's MTT-S in San Francisco, CA. Suitable for 
both UMTS and WiMAX base stations, the lineup includes models RF3916 
with 50 W output power at 2.5 GHz, RF3917 with 75 W output power at 
2.5 GHz, RF3918 with 100 W output power at 2.5 GHz, RF3919 with 8 W 
output power at 3.5 GHz, and RF3921 with 50 W output power at 3.5 GHz. 
According to RFMD co-founder and Chief Technical Officer Bill Pratt, 
"For cellular infrastructure and WiMAX base station OEMs dependent on 
maximizing power and efficiency, RFMD's GaN transistors provide higher 
at-package matching impedance, higher power density, and wide 
bandwidth performance when compared with silicon LDMOS devices." The 
devices exhibit peak drain efficiencies as high as 67 percent at UMTS 
frequencies and 60 percent at WiMAX frequencies.
RF Micro Devices ---> http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=2F769:49027F

**********
5. News
**********
Smaller TWTAs Deliver 1 kW Power 

AR Worldwide RF/Microwave Instrumentation has made a strong statement 
that electron tubes are not dead. The firm's latest line of 19-in. 
rack-mount traveling-wave-tube amplifiers (TWTAs) are smaller than 
standard TWTAs, yet deliver as much as 1000 W output power. The new 
line includes the model 511 with 1000 W output power from 2.5 to 7.5 
GHz, model 512 with 500 W output power from 7.5 to 18.0 GHz, and model 
513 with 1000 W output power from 1.0 to 2.5 GHz. 
AR Worldwide ---> http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=2F766:49027F


************************ ADVERTISEMENT ****************************   
 

         Keithley's Powerful New RF Vector Signal Generator

Keithley's Model 2910 RF Vector Signal Generator features exceptional 
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change, reducing test time with fast amplitude settling and waveform 
switching. Units are ideal for production testing of mobile 
communications equipment.   

For more information, go to http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=2F762:49027F 

		      		         		 		 
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*********
6. News
*********
Freescale Packs Power in 2-GHz Plastic

Freescale Semiconductor introduced 2-GHz high-power RF transistors in 
over-molded plastic packages at last week's MTT-S in San Francisco, 
CA. Based on the company's seventh-generation LDMOS technology, the 
flagship transistor of the new line is the model MRF7S19120N, which is 
supplied in a TO-270 WBL-4 package. It provides 120 W peak output 
power at 1-dB compression with 36 W average output power at 2.1 GHz. 
Typical single-carrier WCDMA performance includes 18 dB gain, 32 
percent efficiency, and -37.5 dBc linearity. According to Gavin Woods, 
Vice-President and General Manager of Freescale's RF Division, 
"Freescale is committed to complementing our air-cavity packaged 
devices with cost-effective over-molded plastic models that deliver 
exceptional performance." The firm has supplied plastic-packaged power 
devices to 1 GHz for several years, now pushing the performance 
envelope beyond 2 GHz. 
Freescale Semiconductor ---> http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=2F765:49027F


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7. News
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Rogers Unveils New Bondply Material At MTT-S

Material supplier Rogers Corporation introduced its new RO4450B-dx 
Bondply high-frequency circuit material at last week's MTT-S in San 
Francisco, CA. The high-fill/flow version of its successful RO4450B 
circuit material is a glass-reinforced hydrocarbon/ceramic thermoset 
bondply material designed for multilayer high-frequency circuits. It 
is well suited for high-density circuits with thin dielectric spacing. 
Rogers Corporation ---> http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=2F75F:49027F


*******************************
8.  Happenings - Conferences
*******************************
Signal Integrity From The Ground Up
August 14-16, 2006
San Jose, CA
http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=2F760:49027F

International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM)
December 11-13, 2006
Hilton San Francisco and Towers
San Francisco, CA
http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=2F75D:49027F


************************ ADVERTISEMENT ****************************   
 

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information, visit the link below: 

http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=2F75C:49027F 


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MICROWAVES AND RF (MWRF) UPDATE e-NEWSLETTER CONTACTS
====================================================
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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