Qualcomm—Is establishing an integrated-circuit (IC) design and engineering R&D center in Singapore. The new facility will focus on chip-set design and development including analog and power, mixed-signal, and digital design.
Underwriters Laboratories (UL)—Has been accredited as a Bluetooth 4.0 testing laboratory by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS). UL is now able to test and certify products equipped with the latest Bluetooth standard in the UK.
National Instruments (NI)—Is collaborating with the Technical University of Dresden (Dresden, Germany) on new technologies for fifth-generation (5G) wireless systems. NI’s LabVIEW system design software is being utilized in the effort.
xG —Has been granted six new patents related to its cognitive-radio (CR) work. The technologies covered by the new patents include spectrum sharing, media-access control (MAC), mobile voice-over-Internet-protocol (VoIP) signaling, and interference detection/mitigation.
IF Engineering (IFE)—Has signed a distribution agreement with East Coast Microwave Distributors (ECM). Per the arrangement, ECM will stock and distribute IFE’s line of power dividers, couplers, transformers, and switches.
LadyBug Technologies—Has named Bangalore-based VigVen Tech Mark Pvt. as its authorized distributor in India. VigVen will carry LadyBug’s entire range of Universal-Serial-Bus (USB) power sensors.
Federal Communications Commission (FCC)—Has proposed expanding eligibility in the 4.9-GHz band to include utilities and other critical-infrastructure industries (CII) on a primary basis. This band would provide utilities with access to 50 MHz of spectrum, supporting high-capacity and short-range communications for a variety of applications.
RFMW—Has announced a distribution agreement with Aeroflex/Metelics covering Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), and the Americas. Per the agreement, RFMW will distribute Aeroflex/Metelics’ full product portfolio. In addition, RFMW has announced immediate delivery of selected cable assemblies from Florida RF Labs.
Modelithics—Has signed a comprehensive representative and reseller agreement with Medeos SRL. Medeos will sell all Modelithics products and services throughout Italy.
Indium Corp.—Has acquired a new manufacturing facility in Rome, NY. The plant is currently being outfitted to expand production capacities of various compounds including indium-, gallium-, germanium-, and tin-based materials.
Mindspring Technologies—Is forming a joint development lab with China Mobile Communications Corp. The collaboration will support China Mobile’s recent deployment of Time-Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA) femtocells.
Silicon Labs—Has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Ember Corp. Based out of Boston, MA, Ember is a provider of silicon, software, and development tools for 2.4-GHz wireless-mesh-networking solutions.