40 Years Later: Moon Communications Questioned in Blogsphere

In honor of the 40th anniversary of Neil Armstrong's first walk on the moon, I thought I would find a little microwave trivia from the Apollo 11 mission. My search produced the following exchange from an online forum (www.2012forum.com). I thought it was worth sharing with all of you. Enjoy!

"I have a MA in Communications/Computer Engineering.(IBM Veteran Engineer/Inventor) One thing that I have always questioned in the Moon landings was:In communications there is a thing called Attenuation, weakened signals even when used in radio waves. When an average radio wave travels here on earth, there are many even thousands of Transponders(Amplifiers) that take that signal and amplify it, otherwise the signal is lost.. When you make a call to say Europe, you will get that very same attenuation and delay of about 1-2 seconds, if you have a good connection there may be a one second lag. How was it possible to hear voice, data, and video and greater than 3GSpeed when that technology was not even present in Early 1969 - 1974. Microwave Communications was present but how is a signal amplified from the Moon in full duplex back to Earth without amplification? This is impossible without a Microwave Tower/ Transponder on the Moon! It is well known the the Moon Capsules had the basic computing/ and processing power of a modern day microwave oven. A Modern Automobile has more computing power than the lunar module itself (Google space capsule computing); so how was it possible to receive in Real Time, Voice, Data & Video from (221,600 miles) and greater than 3GSpeeds from a distant at perigee and 406,997 kilometers, WITHOUT AMPLICATION - IT IS IMPOSSIBLE! This from of Communication Technology Did not exsist in 1969-1974, Even if it did exsist, there would have to be an array of Towers on the Moon and Transponders in the line of the path to receive these signals. Per Every 1000 Mi a basic radio signal will need amplification by way of a Microwave, Transponder Tower and or Satellite Amplification. There are absolutely NO Satellites orbiting the Moon, as any modern Communications Engineers will tell you, unless they are gullible and want to believe just in the name of being a Patriot for a lie. Again it is impossible to have Voice, Video & Data at Real Time with less than 1 Second Delay as many NASA VIDEOS PORTRAY from a distance of 221,600 miles (what they claimed to use on ALL NASA MOON MISSIONS) these supposed Voice, Data & Video signals would not reach the Moon target for Weeks and even Months Without Proper Amplification. Lets get real here...My 2 Cents,"

by Artemeus

This conspiracy theory and explanation of microwave communication systems was countered with the following response:

"The attenuation might be a problem but it is vacuum between Earth & Moon - many of the reasons for attenuation on Earth don't exist. The Moon doesn't have a magnetic field so the siganl would leave there pretty much at original strength. It has only the can Allen belts & about 100kms of atmosphere to travel.

There's no reason the signal would take 'Weeks and even Months' or even days - there is no difference between a strong signal or a weak one in speed. The signal would take 221,600/186,282 (if I recall my school day SoL figure) seconds each way, no matter how strong it was.

The delay you experience in Earth transmission of phones has to do with the equipment processing going on - the signal gets picked up & resent several times on it's journey to the receiver & at several points the header has to be read to decide where it is going. There's also contention - it is a packet system so the receiver has to wait for packets to arrive to before being able to reassemble them into coherent speech.

Radio is not like that at all - it is an analogue system & travels across the line of sight in fractions of a second. It also bounces off layers in the atmosphere, which is one of the reasons amateur radio guys are so pissed about the Sun right now - no sunspots means some of their transmissions simply don't work. While signal strength might be a factor, I don't think the transmitter on the lander would have too much trouble boosting a signal to either the orbiter (does anyone know if we lost signal when the orbiter went behind the moon?) or Earth. Given the vacuum we're talking the equivalent of sending a signal about maybe 300 miles as far as signal loss goes."

by Acolyte


I read a statistic that 6% of the population believes the moon landing was a hoax. Anyone else want to shed light on the science at work here?

Oh and here's that story on the microwave transmission of the landing:

It was 1969, and a moment by which humanity would come to measure itself flickered from a wall of monitors before Bruce Ekert’s eyes.
As Neil Armstrong stepped from the lunar module Bruce, 23, prayed that the signal beaming the pictures to earth wouldn’t fail. It was his job, at the Honeysuckle Creek transmission station near Canberra, to make sure it didn’t.
“We were told not to touch anything,” he said, “unless it stopped working. Sort of an ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ approach. So we sat there drinking tea, just hoping nothing would go wrong.”
Now Bruce, his face filled with computer glare, is scrolling through a web page in his Forster flat.
“There he is,” he says, swivelling in his seat. On the screen is a black-and-white photo of a man in thick glasses glued to a monitor.
“That’s the moment the first person on Earth saw pictures of the landing. His name’s Ed von Renouard.”
Bruce, a couple of rooms across, absorbed the same vision a split-second later. Doesn’t it follow, then, that he was among the first dozen or so witnesses of the moon landing?
“Yeah, I would’ve been in about the first 20,” he says.
Monday is the 40th anniversary of the day Armstrong and Apollo 11 crewmates Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins became the most famous men on Earth.
NASA had decided at the last minute it would be worth the cost of sending cameras to capture it, and more than six hundred million huddled around TVs and radios to hear the first words crackle from another world.
Armstrong’s “One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind” was scripted. Aldrin’s description of “Magnificent desolation” was his own.
But, days earlier, NASA hit a snag.
“They realised that, at the time of the landing, the moon would be on our side of the Earth,” Bruce says.
“America would be out of communications. So they looked for tracking stations that could pick it up. There was one at Parkes, and one at Honeysuckle.”
It’s worth noting that the Parkes station, romanticised in Rob Sitch’s comedy The Dish, was never actually the sole link to the mission. There was always additional contact through Honeysuckle and Goldstone, California. But Parkes was in a position, at one point, to provide the best signal, thus briefly becoming the focal point of the broadcast.
Bruce and three other technicians had set up a microwave link between Honeysuckle, the Apollo 11 spacecraft and mission control.
It would be wrong to say a failure of Bruce’s monitors would’ve been a complete disaster. There was a backup connection. But it would have been one giant leap toward losing the telecast.
“When Honeysuckle was chosen as one of the transmission stations, it had pretty old infrastructure. Even for the time,” he says.
“It was old valve equipment, not the new transistors. It could fail anytime. It could get hot and” - Bruce clicks his fingers - “just die.”
As the pictures beamed through, neither Bruce nor his workmates spoke of making history, or watching it unfold.
“There was a cheer when it happened, but more of that feeling came later when we watched the news reports,” he says.
“We didn’t see the celebrations happening like everyone else. And we didn’t know all the children had been given time off school to watch the landing.”
With a 40th anniversary reunion – “I haven’t seen some of those people since 1969” – coming up, Bruce wants more credit for the Australians who brought the moment into living rooms and moved Walter Cronkite to tears.
“There were about 100 Australians behind the scenes, and we worked as hard as anyone for very little recognition,” he says, looking out at the traffic below.
The giant dish that loomed over Honeysuckle and skimmed history’s most famous pictures across the globe is now at Tidbinbilla Deep Space Tracking Station, ACT. It’s about to be decommissioned.
Asked if he hopes the dish will be preserved, Bruce chuckles.
“It’s 26 metres across. You’d need a big museum,” he says. But then he folds his arms over his grey woollen jumper, and smiles faintly.
“But I used to think it was quite a sight, that enormous dish turning across the sky.”

RFID Positioned for Growth

There were a couple of significant RFID news items this week. The first was a report indicating that the global radio-frequency identification (RFID) market is growing despite the fact that the world’s largest RFID project - the $6-billion China National ID card scheme - was completed a year earlier. According to IDTechEx, the global RFID market is rising 5 percent this year to $5.56 billion. Most of the action has been in the US, where the largest orders continue to be placed, as well as in the UK, China, and Japan.

The second was a contract for Micronetics who announced that it has received an order in excess of $750K for initial beta testing with a major retailer for its forklift mounted radio frequency identification (RFID) antenna sensor system. The forklift sensor system has recently completed a successful pre-production test phase, and will now begin beta testing with deployments over the next several months. These beta test sites represent approximately 7 percent of the retailer’s total locations. This order is a portion of a purchase agreement containing an option for full scale production roll-out upon successful completion of this phase.

We plan to cover location based technologies in one of our issues later in the year. With the addition of other location technologies such as WiFi, GPS and local positioning systems, this segment should be well position for long term growth. I think the companies that can integrate these technologies seamlessly and offer complete solutions will have a leg up on the competition. What new developments have you seen in this market???

The Creative Mind: Engineers, Scientists and Music

I'm sitting in a meeting when, looking down at my notepad, I noticed that I had jotted the name of "Tesla" on it some time ago. I forgot why I had to remind myself about Tesla when I last used this pad of paper, but seeing the word made me think of this truly aweful song from the 1980's called "Tesla Girls", which got me thinking about songs with titles that would be relevent to engineers. Not able to let a good mind contest go unchallenged, I began to list any song that referred to engineering or science. This brief distraction gave me something to ponder as the meeting wound down and by the time I was ready to put away my pen and pad, I had produced 4 or 5 titles. Not wanting to keep this game to myself, I shared the challenge with my co-workers and now with you. My co-workers immediately doubled the size of my list.

Is there some connection between the musical arts and engineering?

A quick google search on "engineers and music" yielded an article from the University of Wisconsin "Engineering students find harmony between music and math". According to the article most of the students in the UW-Madison marching band are not music majors. "In fact, engineers constitute nearly one-fifth of the 330-member band, and the skills they display on the field carry over to the engineering campus, just beyond the stadium. "

There is at least one engineer in every instrument section. “The engineers I work with are always very bright, and they are often very athletic,” says Band Director Michael Leckrone. “These kids have a great work ethic, and they want what they do for recreation to be something meaningful.”

hmmmm...

harmony... harmonic balance? and music. what would this produce via an internet search. Well it's on youtube of course. Harmonic Balance, the song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWEnK12Yeis

Now engineers making music is quite different from songs with engineering themes in the title, but I thought tying the two together might ligitimize the odd journey my wandering mind had taken. Probably not. Anyway, if you find your mind adrift in a meeting, try taking this musical trivia challenge and let us know what you come up with.

Here's our list so far.

1. Tesla Girls by OMD http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaAr60zmyik

2. Make a Circuit with me by Polecats http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GA4foTap-WQ
(note: this one has the most references to actual electronics)

3. Electric Avenue by Eddie Grant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UA5MtAmT24g

4. Weird Scince by Oingo Boino http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_tVZFZ5PR4

5. She blinded me with science by Thomas Dolby http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V83JR2IoI8k&feature=fvst

6. What's the Frequency Kenneth by REM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wtxz4yV_-3g

7. Electric Boogie by Marcia Griffiths & Fatal Attraction http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3d48M8Njhnk

8. Radio Radio by Elvis Costello http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3j7JFP6ZOCI&feature=fvw

9. Mexican Radio by Wall of Voodoo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdpllAHo0ng

10. Radio Waves by Eli Young Band http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1_fawYy-48

11. The Microwave Song by The Softlightes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPNZkAgc2mQ


with Thanks to Pat Hindle and Barb Walsh

Skyworks Passes RFMD in Market Share

I was a little surprised by this report that has Skyworks surpassing RFMD in market share but Strategy Analytics announced that Skyworks has managed to gain the number one position for cellphone PAs according to their research. The rapid growth of handsets has pushed the PA market to $2 billion per year with Skyworks and RFMD relying on the majority of their revenues from this market despite diversification efforts. Both firms and their competitors have invested heavily in new PA products and technologies to meet the demands of the cellphone OEMs for ever more bands, higher data rates, higher efficiency and lower PA prices.


Christopher Taylor, Director of the RF and Wireless Components, commented, "The transition from the frenetic demand in the first half of 2008 to a severely depressed Q4 caught many PA suppliers off guard. PAs for mid-priced handsets took the brunt of the slump, and so suppliers with high share in PAs for low-cost handsets and PAs for higher-end 3G handsets fared better than suppliers with broad portfolios at all price and performance points. Both Skyworks and RFMD ended the year with close to one-third of the market, but Skyworks edged slightly ahead of RFMD."


Compound semiconductor-based PAs will continue as the enabling technology for the high-growth 3G and emerging 4G markets according to Strategy Analytics. However, silicon-based PAs have started to gain traction in low-cost handsets, as evidenced by the recent acquisition of CMOS PA supplier Axiom Micro Devices by Skyworks. This acquisition should help Skyworks compete in this market so they appear to be positioned well for the near future.

News from the Near Field Communication (NFC) Forum

The NFC Forum is a non-profit industry association just outside of Boston that advances the use of Near Field Communication (NFC) technology. In early June the association introduced its target mark, a stylized letter "N" that enables consumers to easily locate embedded NFC tags.

The N-Mark indicates the spot where an NFC device can read an NFC tag to establish a connection. By holding an NFC-enabled device close to the N-Mark, consumers can "pick up" information stored on NFC tags embedded in everyday objects such as posters, bus stop signs, parking permits, street signs, medicines, magazine pages and food packaging.

Applications for NFC tags span a wide range of industries, including public transit, retail and healthcare. Examples include: downloading transit schedules, maps, film trailers, retail coupons, and cooking recipes from smart posters; ordering taxi service or meals via embedded tags on signs and menus; signing up for SMS retail offers at store displays; obtaining detailed prescription information or verifying drug authenticity by reading tags on prescription bottles; and many more. Consumers can perform all of these actions simply by touching an NFC-enabled device, such as a mobile phone, to the N-Mark.

"The ability to read information stored on embedded tags is one of NFC's essential capabilities, which also include enabling contactless payments and file transfers between devices," said Koichi Tagawa, chairman of the NFC Forum. "Because it marks the opening of a new world of information to consumers, the launch of the NFC Forum N-Mark is a key milestone in the global commercialization and promotion of NFC technology."

NFC tags are small, inexpensive and already available for purchase from commercial tag manufacturers, many of which are NFC Forum members. The tags can be applied easily to many surfaces, including posters, signs, business cards, magazines and product labels. NFC tags can be applied, for example, by business owners, advertising agencies, tag makers or media developers.

All tags must be readable by NFC-enabled devices implementing NFC Forum Types 1-4 Tag Operation Specifications. All applications must be compliant with the NFC Data Exchange Format (NDEF) Technical Specification. To further support tag usage and deployment, the NFC Forum has created Record Type Definition (RTD) Technical Specifications for applications that include text, URI, and/or smart poster record types. These specifications are available for download free of charge from the NFC Forum website: http://www.nfc-forum.org/specs. Organizations may also create their own RTDs for other record types, as long as they conform to the RTD structure defined by the NFC RTD Technical Specification.

Remembering "The Dark Side"

Years ago, when I was starting my engineering career (at just about the same time as the HP8510 (automatic) Network Analyzer), I worked for M/A-Com's corporate research. My mentor would jot down some ideas he wanted me to pursue, provide a little scientific guidance and then send me to the lab to experiment. Around this time, a lot of research centered around Gallium Arsenide. Distributed circuit designs that had been applied to PCBs and alumina were being adopted for MMIC interconnects and on-chip passive components. Much of my time was spent using the available design software (SuperCompact or Touchstone) and 8510 to design and test matching, bias and coupling structures scaled for use on GaAs. The job was about science and discovery and it was fun. Who would want to do anything other than research? To do anything else was considered The Dark Side.


At a time when government funding supported the R&D efforts I was involved with, even the idea of working in production was considered moving over to the The Dark Side. High volume testing - where's the science in that? I was not alone in this thinking. Does such "purists" thinking still exist today?


As time went by, I was introduced to another specimen in the corporate food chain. This one talked much faster (and louder) and often dressed differently than the "pure" engineers I worked with. I soon found out that this individual was in product marketing. At one point this marketer had been an engineer, but was led astray, over to The Dark Side.


Eventually I made this journey myself. In product marketing, I was almost immediately surrounded by an even faster and louder talking group of individuals. These people were in sales and as I was informed by my colleagues - these were individuals that had truly crossed over to The Dark Side. Some had even been engineers at one point, if you can imagine that fall from grace !!!


I have not crossed the chasm into sales yet, but I have discovered that salespeople are not evil (for the most part) . Like the research or production engineer or the marketeer, they play a vital role in corporate life and the organization's struggle for survival. Our differences are not so great. In fact, I've heard some of them even bemoan another Dark Side - otherwise known as management.

So do we still live in an environment of mistrust over a Dark Side? Be warned, it may be your eventual career path. Like that hair style you had back in the early 90's, perceptions often become dated with time.

Computers Make Us Stupid?

I recently received this from our Jan 09 antenna expert Dr. Raines and thought it was a relevant subject these days:

"Computers Make Us Stupid"

That was a key point, and a direct quote from Prof. Pat Winston of the Electrical Engineering Dept., made to over a thousand returning alums at the MIT reunion on June 6. Looking back over recent events, it certainly seems that this was not an idle, abstract, or rhetorical observation.

On Monday, in Washington, DC, the worst Metro commuter train crash in its 33 year history claimed 9 lives and caused many more serious injuries. The most recent evidence suggests that the train was being driven by an errant computer. When the operator tried to apply the emergency brakes and override the computer, the computer prevailed.

A few weeks ago, an Air France plane disappeared over the Atlantic en route from Rio to Paris. The latest theory is that an airspeed sensor iced over and confused the computer that was flying the plane. As an amateur, instrument rated pilot, I know firsthand that the Airbus aircraft are the fly by wire type, that is, almost entirely operated by computers. From the time the airplane taxis to the takeoff position until after it lands and is on the ground, it is controlled by a computer. A pilot in the cockpit once told me, "We aren't really pilots. We’re just computer jockeys."

Almost two years ago, the entire world banking system approached a complete meltdown from which we are still suffering. The best explanation so far is that derivatives caused it. Warren Buffet calls them “weapons of economic mass destruction.” Well, it wasn't just those derivatives. It was the derivatives coupled with computer controlled trading so that billions of dollars were exchanged in less than a second with each trade.

The evidence suggests that computers are making us stupid as a society. Conversely, perhaps, a dumbed down society is complacently giving up thinking and control to computers. We are turning over major functions and decisions to computers. But who programs the computers? Perhaps, as Forest Gump astutely observed, stupid is as stupid does.

I feel like this has been an ongoing issue since the first electronic calculator was developed. Many people do not bother to perform easy math calculations in their head because they know they can use a calculator.

But on the other hand, computers have greatly advanced our knowledge and standard of living. New hardware and software have accelerated our technology at a fast rate. Our July cover story addresses how RF/microwave software has changed the industry over the years so look for that in mid-July.

What do you think???

Reader's Choice

With coverage of the IMS 2009 behind us, now is a good time to take a quick look at what visitors to the Microwave Journal web site have been most interested in (based on page views).

Why now?

Well, the IMS is a time of heavy activity for both company product releases and a curious industry that wants to know who is doing what. So here's the quick run down of the ten most visited web pages since the third week of May.

1. The IMS 2009 Multimedia section. About 1600 "readers" came to see our video interviews shot from the exhibition space. We interviewed representatives from about a dozen companies, covering topics from EM simulation (Ansoft, Agilent and AWR) to miniature passive components (Anaren) to high-voltage LDMOS transistors (Frrescale). We heard about the Narda strongest link contest and why AWR had 3D glasses at their demo stations.

2. Over 1,000 people came to our new products report, proving customers (or competitors) have inquiring minds.

3. Our third most popular feature this month was a news item entitled " Development Report of Power FETs for Solid-state Power Amplifiers from GaAs to GaN Devices". This is timely with all the GaN news coming from the show and our cover story for June - The New Power Brokers. 900 visitors

4. Many site visitors went directly to the news item of choice via our online show daily home page or through a link in our newsletter, but a number of you browsed the master listing of all show news, making it our fourth most visited page at 700 page views.

5 and 6. Our cover stories from the May issue: "IMS in Boston: Reflections from the Past" and June: "The New Power Brokers" were next in line. Our cover story usually takes the top spot each month, but with competition from Show product news and splitting the reporting period over two 2-week periods, these two items slipped in ranking but still had over 1200 page views combined.

7. News of Andrew's expansion of a production plant in China was a popular item among our readers with about 600 page views

8. The technical feature from our May issue: "Frequency Generation and Synthesis: Cost-effective and Power-efficient Solutions" was the only technical article (apart from white papers which were not part of the review) to make the top ten list. Despite appearing in the magazine and online for several weeks, readers were still interested in the subject and continued to click on this feature.

9. More news in the top ten, this time "Rohde & Schwarz at Femtocells World Summit 2009 in London" with well over 500 page views

10. And finally.... The Puzzler. Clearly, microwave engineers like to have fun too.


So while everyone was busy this past month traveling to Boston for IMS and then digging out from a back-log of action items or perhaps you were back in the office the whole time holding down the fort, some of you managed to find the time to stay informed via www.mwjournal.com. Do you think this top ten list accurately reflects the industry's interest?

Crystal Oscillators Threatened by Si Timing Devices?

I am having IMS2009 withdrawals but came across this ABI Research release that states the crystal oscillator is threatened by a new set of devices grouped under the label "silicon timing solutions." According to research director Lance Wilson, "There’s a growing battle for market share between silicon timing solutions and the traditional quartz oscillator and its derivatives. Right now, silicon timing solutions have about 20% of the market, but ABI Research forecasts that percentage to nearly double within five years."

Virtually every device that contains an IC or generates a radio signal needs these devices. The incentives for equipment manufacturers to switch to silicon timing solutions? They are generally less expensive, more robust, and can integrate other functions onto the chip. But although great strides have been and will be made, they do not yet equal crystal oscillators in accuracy and stability.

In order to maximize their long-term chances of holding market share, many crystal oscillator vendors are focusing on military, aerospace and industrial markets where accuracy is at a premium and buyers are somewhat less price-obsessed. Silicon timing solution vendors, on the other hand, see fertile territories in mainstream computing and consumer electronics with MIDs and netbooks two particularly active new segments.

What do you think???

An Obsession with Size

How Big was this year's IMS? That seems to be the metric that everyone measures the show by. For me, this annual event is almost more than I can handle. Really. Fortunately our staff editors were able to stay on top of all the press releases and keep the online show coverage up to date. As for me, by the last day my head was spinning from all the input and brainstorming and information overload and piling up action items. Not that I'm complaining. I just don't see how bigger could possibly be any better. I already have regrets for the many people I was unable to see or spend quality time with. If you're on that list, please accept my apologies.

Of the meetings I did have and the press conferences I did attend, I was very impressed by Bob Van Buskirk and the entire team at RFMD as they rolled out their new GaN foundry. Bob gave a great talk about what he believed RFMD could bring to the market and specific benefits to future customers. I was also impressed by the quality of questions asked by attendees. And then... I missed my one-on-one meeting with Bob at the RFMD booth due to other meetings running late. See what I mean - it can be over whelming. There is never enough time at IMS.

Responding to the RFMD GaN foundry news, I did hear from the folks at TriQuint who sent a friendly reminder that they have been in the GaN foundry business for a few years and are therefore in a very strong position to offer many benefits to GaN designers. While I did get to exchange personal hellos with the Triquint foundry VP, Glen Riley. My colleague, Pat Hindle took the longer meeting and will be filing the report on their specific activity. I know they had a productive year, so I'm sure there will be lots of news there. The competition between foundries can only mean good things for driving innovation forward.

The RFMD conference presented me with a scheduling conflict. As I was with RFMD, our editors P. Hindle and R. Mumford and publisher C. Sheffres attended a special VIP session with Agilent. While I missed their CTO - Darlene Solomon discuss the many technologies Agilent was pursuing, I was able to later catch up with one of our past Expert Advice columnist , Agilent senior technologist - Joel Dunsmore. Joel did walk me through the latest developments with their nonlinear network vector analyzer (NVNA), the PNA-X and what has been happening with the industry adoption of X-parameters. This is a developing story that the Journal will be paying close attention to.

Nonlinear characterization was also being featured at the Tektronix/Mesuro booth with their active load-pull system and design by "waveform engineering". Rohde & Schwarz also has some activity in this arena as well. stay tuned.

We had a number of meetings with exhibitors who talked about the entire microwave supply chain, what these companies were doing to improve the supply chain and how the industry itself is evolving. Without giving too much away, this is a topic that will be giving special editorial coverage in the not too distant future. Also on this topic - Cobham is thinking outside the box and is evolving the way they do business with prime contractors that could actually transform the industry. Think efficiency on a global scale.

All my friends in the software market have been busy and were on hand to show their latest and greatest. Ansoft was showing off the beta version of HFSS12 (almost a teenager, imagine that!!), Agilent had demos of the latest features in ADS and a very impressive EMPro demo. Sonnet, AWR, CST, Remcom and others were also "in the house" with their latest releases. We ended up shooting a few videos with the folks at AWR as well as Agilent and Ansoft. Please check them out on our online show daily.

The high power transistor guys were in full effect, with Freescale pushing their LDMOS technology higher in frequency, Integra manning a very busy booth, Eudyna with a large central presence, HVVi and Microsemi all making noteworthy news.

My final thoughts on the show? The BCEC is a wonderful convention center and all exhibitors did a great job showing off their stuff; the weather was lousy (bad news for all those chartered harbor cruises) , but could have been worse; the parties were a blast and I enjoyed catching up with so many people while meeting new friends. With that, my hat's off to Fred Schindler and everyone on the steering commitee. I had a front row seat to what goes into organizing such an event. It is time consuming and it ain't easy. You folks did a great job. Thank you.

IMS 2009 Post Show Impressions

According to IMS2009, the annual conference and exhibition attracted thousands of designers, researchers, developers, academics and executives in the microwave and RF industry to the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center in Boston. Based on preliminary attendance numbers, more than 9,000 participants attended and 559 companies were represented.

“This past week in Boston has been an enormous success in every respect,” said Fred Schindler, General Chair, IMS2009 and Director, RF Micro Devices Boston Design Center. “Our attendance results would be great any year, but given these difficult economic times they are outstanding.” Microwave Journal interviewed Fred on the first day of the show and you can see his interview below:




Based on initial registration data, technical registration was 2,676, an 11 percent increase over 2008 registration and exhibit-only registration numbers indicate 2,131 participants, an 83 percent increase over 2008. IMS2009 attracted 559 exhibiting companies, also an 11 percent increase over the number of exhibitors in 2008. According to preliminary results, the total number of IMS2009 participants, including exhibitor booth staff and guests, was 9,316 attendees, an 11 percent increase over 2008 participation.

Pretty good results and proves that Boston is a great location and venue (of course I am biased living here). Look for our show wrap up in a few days on our Online Show Daily and continued coverage of news and products from the show for the next couple of weeks. See you at IMS2010 which will be held May 23-28 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA.

IMS 2009 Demos

I did numerous formal sponsored video interviews on Tues morning which are now live on our Online Show Daily. But I came across a couple of other interesting demos during the show and took a video of a couple of them with my cheap but convenient Flip video. Below is a Keithley demo showing their new Vector Network Signal analyzer (just turn the volume up).

Another interesting product that is very cool is the laser etching machine from LPKF which can in seconds etch a metal pattern into a substrate like a PCB or ceramic board. It etches the pattern by scoring the surface and then heats the surface to peel away the metal which is removed by an air knife. It can do both prototypes and low volume production so it is versatile.

Old Friends at IMS/MTT-S

IMS/MTT-S is where you run into a lot of old friends and associates. You never know who you might find on the show floor. MWJ editor David Vye and myself ran into retired tech editor, Frank Bashore, who taught me well. We did a quick interview with Frank who gave his approval to the way we doing things so far. Who did you run into at the show?

Exhibition Seminars and Talks

In addition to the conference sessions, workshops and tutorials, there are many short practical and application specific seminars and talks happening this year on the exhibition floor. The largest is the MicroApps which will have its own forum area at the front of the exhibition hall and will be presenting the technology behind commercial products and their capabilities. It is being run by Agilent and has a good number of test and measurement talks along with others being presented by participating companies.

M/A-COM Technology Solutions is running 10 minute Tech Talks in their booth (2214) covering various subjects such as PIN diodes and switches, Frac-N synthesizers, amplifiers and other design tips.

Peregrine (booth 1822) is also doing a daily series of seminars about their unique products and technologies that come out of their UltraCMOS RFIC process. Their antenna tuning technology using digitally tunable capacitors looks very interesting.

Join Sonnet Software’s experts at Booth #1002 for free 20 minute in-booth, hands-on classes to learn about Sonnet Suites Version 12, including Sonnet Lite and Sonnet’s seamless integration to AWR’s Microwave Office, Agilent’s ADS and Cadence Virtuoso. All participants will receive a free copy of Sonnet LitePlus (a $495 value).

I am sure there are more we have not heard about yet. Let us know if your company is doing any seminars or talks at the exhibition this year.

Getting Hyped Up for IMS 2009

As we get ready for IMS 2009 and plan our schedules, let's take a look at the best promos, contests or giveaways being advertised by exhibitors that you don't want to miss out on.

IMS 2009 is giving away a chance to win Red Sox/Yankees tickets if you use the promotional code from the insert in the April issue of the Microwave Journal for your exhibition registration. Reactel is giving away Red Sox/Yankees tickets each day in a drawing by stopping by their booth (1504). And Skyworks (1818) is also having a drawing for Red Sox/Yankee Club Seat tickets or alternatively you can select to receive an iPod.

Hittite (booth 1007) is giving away one of their new signal generators which is probably the highest value item being given away at nearly $8,000.

Mimix (booth 1114) is giving away a Kindle 2 wireless reading device in their World Traveler giveaway where you visit other participating companies. They put some good thought into this raffle.

Narda (booth 1537/1637) is doing a very interesting give away for a Sony laptop which will go to the one who can show a picture of the oldest Narda component still in use and all entries will receive a 4 GB flash drive in their Strongest Link contest.

If you attend one of M/A-COM Tech's in-booth seminars (booth 2214), you can be entered into a drawing for a Nintendo Wii which is a nice prize for a 10 minute session.

The exhibitors seem to be going all out for the show this year and have created some very interesting giveaways to attract you to their booth. Red Sox/Yankees tickets seem to be the hot item, but I also like the idea of the Kindle 2 being given away by Mimix. Let me know what you have come across or what your company is doing for giveaways.

In Search of Economic Indicators

There seems to be a direct (and perhaps obvious) connection between the length of my driving commute to work and the state of the economy. I have a pretty lengthy drive to the office, right along the famed Route 128 that surrounds greater Boston. This highway once known as America's Technology Highway can be more of a parking lot than a freeway. However, as the economy began its slide last November, the traffic became noticeably lighter. While I am grateful for the absence of traffic jams, there have been times that I felt uncomfortable knowing why there were so few cars on the road. The traffic never got to the level you would expect in an episode of the twilight zone, where the central character is alone in the world, but it did occasionally feel … eerie.

Well, I never thought I would say it, but I am a little relieved to see traffic starting to pick up again. The past few weeks have most certainly shown an uptick in cars on the road. I could only attribute this to some change in the economy as we have not entered the summer driving months yet. Couple this personal observation with what I hear in the news and I am started to believe we may have indeed turned a corner.

Now - if traffic is to return to former levels, I will attribute it to a recovered economy and be glad. Although, I will probably get cranky over the return of longer commutes. If it happens to you as well, might I recommend you download one of our pre-IMS podcasts to listen to in your car as you sit in your respective traffic jam. Happy commuting.

Listen/download MWJ Podcasts >>

Expanded Blog Coverage for IMS

Our IMS 2009 blogs take a look at the conference from the perspective of exhibitors Freescale and AWR

Follow RFLeonard Blog (Freescale)

Guest Blog: Sherry Hess (AWR)

In addition, our May Expert Advice is given by Gayle Collins of Freescale who writes a perspective on upcoming IMS Power Amplifier papers and the potential impact of different papers on the field.

Read and Comment

IMS 2009 MTT-S Coverage

As we approach IMS 2009 MTT-S June 7-12, most of our entries will be related to the conference and exhibition in Boston (our home town). Microwave Journal's May issue is dedicated to show coverage and has various exclusive articles including the cover story that takes a look at the past conferences in Boston as told by the past chairs and a preview of the upcoming show.

We have a dedicated web site that is live now, the Online Show Daily, that covers the show news, new products, articles from the May issue, messages from the chairs, videos, photos, special blogs, and informational podcasts. We also will be the landing page for the Cyber Cafe at the show. We hope everyone will find useful information and the latest news about the show.

Stimulus Funds for Wireless

We have covered the potential benefits of the stimulus funding to the wireless industry and now ABI has released a report covering this subject. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA, also known simply as the Stimulus Bill) will provide funding for a massive $6.8 billion worth of wireless communications upgrades and new deployments over 2009-2010. The Act offers a significant one-off opportunity for wireless equipment vendors.

In healthcare, the scope for adding wireless to the technology mix encompasses Wi-Fi-enabled mobile devices and sensors, communications systems linking health networks, telepresence, wireless LAN equipment, and Wi-Fi-enabled video surveillance systems.

In education, already a leading adopter of Wi-Fi solutions, equipment vendors are developing templated solutions in such areas as WLANs for "learning anywhere," voice-over-Wi-Fi, and WLAN equipment and software to track students’ progress for "No Child Left Behind" record keeping.

The Department of Homeland Security and US Customs and Border Protection are potential goldmines for wireless vendors because of the many agencies within them that will use ARRA funds for tactical communications equipment, infrastructure equipment, and security equipment. Even critical infrastructure construction projects such as bridges and tunnels often require wireless video surveillance systems.

Hopefully these funds will find their way into the hands of companies soon.

Thoughts after Memorial Day Movie Madness

My youngest child loves those old war movies, which (I confess) I don't mind watching either. Last weekend, AMC ran a full day of the classics and we sat down and watched some of them before heading out to enjoy the breaking New England weather. The two of us watched the classic George C. Scott movie "Patton" and "The Battle of the Bulge". While we only caught parts of each, the two major scenes we did see involved the Army's and Air Force's inability to function during bad weather. Somewhat like me and my son waiting for the sun to come out.

The lack of air support due to winter weather for Patton was so bad, that he ordered his chaplain to write a prayer for good weather (one of the movie's more memorable moments). Remember that scene? The situation in the Battle of the Bulge was equally dire, although it was not portrayed with the same humor. At the time, it got me thinking about how fortunate we are to have developed radar that would allow pilots to see through inclement weather. Its "awesome" that engineering can be applied to remove almost any obstacle. With this in mind, this little news item from Wednesday May 27th grabbed my attention.

EADS Defence & Security (DS) will equip the German Armed Forces with a new kind of ground surveillance radar – Bodenüberwachungsradar (BÜR) – for detecting movements on the ground and at low altitudes with unmatched precision. Initially Defence Electronics (DE), an integrated activity of DS, has handed over the first of two system demonstrators to the German Federal Office of Defence Technology and Procurement (BWB) for evaluation by the Bundeswehr’s Technical Centers.

The delivery of approximately 80 BÜR systems is scheduled to start in 2012. They are intended to close the gap in capabilities of the German Armed Forces in the area of intelligence gathering and reconnaissance. A modified version of this radar destined for civil applications such as surveillance of border regions or industrial facilities is currently under development.

The BÜR system is based on Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) electronic scan control technology, which opens up new possibilities for detection and surveillance. Thanks to delay-free electronic beam control, the radar can perform multiple reconnaissance tasks at the same time, thus achieving a much greater level of efficiency and reliability in comparison to mechanically scanned radars. Each BÜR system can therefore assume the tasks of several conventional radars.

With old war movies fresh in my mind, I can only say - good thing this technology was not available when Messerschmitts and Stukas dominated the skies of Europe.

ZigBee to Propose ZigBee Smart Energy

The ZigBee® Alliance announced it is proposing use of the ZigBee Smart Energy public application profile to the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) as a basis for an IEC standard. ZigBee Smart Energy is the only standardized home area network solution in the market today meeting the tough requirements of leading utilities worldwide according to the alliance. The deployment of an estimated 30 million ZigBee equipped smart meters is underway in North America. Working with the IEC on an even broader global standardization will benefit the energy sector and public by placing more emphasis on energy management and smart grid development.

The ZigBee Alliance and its members are already working with a variety of organizations focused on smart grid technologies. Those organizations include the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), Digital Addressable Lighting Initiative (Dali), HomePlug Powerline Alliance, International Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), European Smart Metering Industry Group (ESMIG), National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA), Open Smart Grid, other industry organizations and various governmental authorities worldwide.

It seems like ZigBee is finally starting to take hold with some wide use commercial applications and could automate and optimize our energy use. I still think it will take a while for it to be wide spread but it looks like a promising sector for growth.

Huawei Tops Alcatel-Lucent Optical Networking Market in Q1

Huawei beats Alcatel-Lucent in 1Q09 to top optical networking market for the first time as Asia-Pacific led by strength in China and India, shows remarkable resilience despite the global downturn.

The global optical networking (ON) market was $3.6 billion, down 15% sequentially and down 8% compared with 1Q08. “This marks the second time in two quarters that the ON market has shrunk compared with the year-ago quarter, but given the global financial meltdown the situation could have been much worse.” remarks Ovum’s Vice President, Optical Networking, Dana Cooperson.

“Spending in Asia-Pacific was surprisingly strong. We did not see the seasonal decline we normally expect in China, for example, as the race to build 3G mobile networks and support them with transport capacity obliterated any seasonality or macroeconomic downturn factors. Huawei, posting a remarkable $790 million in revenue to lead the market for the quarter, benefited from China’s 3G race, along with teledensity growth in India, a strong and stable currency, and comparatively little exposure to the cool North American market, while Alcatel-Lucent suffered from much of the opposite.”

Want to know more about the Optical Networking Market from an engineer's perspective? Join our special TriQuint webinar on 10, 40 and 100 Gb/s Optical (GaAs) Driver power amps, next week (Tuesday, May 26th at 11:00 am ET). Register for Webinar

10G and 40G Market Segments to Grow at CAAGR of 28 Percent

A study last July by Strategy Analytics, "Fiber-optic Analog IC Market Forecast: 2007-2012," predicts that GaAs and InP (Gallium Arsenide and Indium Phosphide) technologies will be the drivers for 10G and 40G growth. Collectively, the 10G and 40G capacity market segments will grow at a CAAGR (compound annual average growth rate) of 28% with demand for GaAs and InP transimpedance amplifiers (TIAs), post amplifiers and optical laser drivers representing over 25% of the total fiber-optic analog IC market in 2012.

The total market for fiber-optic analog ICs will grow at a respectable CAAGR of 9% through 2012. Driven by increasing broadband connectivity and bandwidth requirements across both fixed and mobile platforms, 10G and 40G network infrastructure rollout will be the fastest growing end markets for fiber-optic analog ICs, with compound semiconductors serving as the primary enabling technologies.

"The overall market for TIAs, post amplifiers and laser drivers will be worth almost $500 million by 2012," predicts Asif Anwar. "While the overall market will be dominated by CMOS and SiGe technologies, GaAs and InP technologies will be the drivers for 10G and 40G growth, especially for the optical laser driver function."

"Content delivery to the home over fiber and 3G and 4G wireless platforms will drive bandwidth requirements upwards," notes Stephen Entwistle, VP Strategic Technologies Practice. "10G and 40G rollout will be key in supporting the rollout of future wireless and fixed broadband platforms. The market is already looking to 100G in the future."

In March, TriQuint announced the release of two new driver amplifiers including the optical communications market's first surface-mount technology (SMT) device for next-generation 40Gb/s (Gigabits per second) networks. This new high-performance device will ease assembly and significantly reduce power consumption as designers address the need for faster, more economical networks.

"The new TGA4943-SL represents significant advances on many levels. Its power consumption is appreciably better. It consumes only 2.1 Watts – about 50% of comparable optical network solutions. It's a greener product that should provide real-world savings for network operators," said TriQuint Optical Networks Product Marketing Manager Mike Tessaro.

Mr. Tessaro will be one of the presenters of our webinar May 26th on the topic of these new GaAs 10 and 40 GB/s optical drivers. Given TriQuint's strong earnings of late, it should be worth the time to find out what has them pushing hard into the fiber long-haul market.

TriQuint and Win Lead GaAs Foundry Market

The latest Strategy Analytics report says that TriQuint and Win Semiconductors continue to control the market, increasing their collective share of the GaAs (gallium arsenide) foundry market from 67% in 2007 to 77% in 2008.

TriQuint held onto the top spot in 2008, benefiting from commercial opportunities as well as engagements in the US defense and aerospace industries. Win Semiconductors is by far the largest pure-play GaAs foundry, pushing TriQuint hard for the number one spot in 2008, with only one percentage point separating the two companies in overall market share.

"Strategy Analytics estimates that the total market for GaAs foundry grew 27% year-on-year in 2008 and was worth $311 million," noted Asif Anwar at Strategy Analytics. "The market for GaAs foundry services will continue to grow as dual-sourcing and fabless strategies become more prominent in the GaAs industry."

"Start-up companies and research institutes targeting niche and emerging markets may be finding that the tapeout costs of "cheap silicon" are too expensive in the current downturn," observed Stephen Entwistle, VP of the Strategic Technologies Practice. "This offers an additional opportunity for GaAs foundries to leverage the lower costs and higher performance capabilities offered by GaAs processes."

A Market With Projected Growth This Year - RFID

Despite the weakened state of the world economy RFID markets are not contracting, according to the latest data from ABI Research. At worst they are growing at a slower rate. Positive signs are beginning to appear and forecasts suggest that even with the ailing automotive vertical included, the RFID market should see 11% growth between 2009 and 2010. Remove the deeply depressed automotive immobilizer numbers which are directly tied to vehicle production, and the growth rate jumps to almost 16%.

"Transponders, readers, software, and services are all showing healthy growth,"says practice director Michael Liard. "he most robust applications include contactless ticketing, contactless payments (particularly in North America and Europe), item-level tracking in fashion apparel and footwear, asset management (not only corporate assets, but also returnable transport items, tools/parts, and work-in-process), baggage handling, real-time location systems (RTLS), and electronic identification documents."

While the last-mentioned application, e-ID documents, showed some decline in 2008-2009 as a result of the winding down of China’s national ID card program, the sector is expected to rebound in 2010 due to increased numbers of passports being issued by dozens of national governments. Other high-profile government e-ID initiatives include border crossing cards, RFID-enabled driver’s licenses, and electronic vehicle registration (EVR).

Retail is looking forward to a boom in contactless payment cards in the US, to be followed soon afterwards by Europe. Meanwhile asset tagging will show strong uptake particularly in corporate finance and banking, healthcare, and manufacturing environments, as well as in new areas such as energy, utilities and gaming, and with continuing expansion in traditional rental asset management (library books, media, laundry, for example.)

It is nice to see something with immediate projected growth. Do you see any other growing markets in our sector?

Tales from the Past

A friend of mine shared this story with me and I thought it was worth passing along. During the space race back in the 1960's, NASA had to address the problem of how astronauts would write in the vacuum of space. At the cost of $1.5 million dollars they developed an "astronaut pen", which went on to enjoy success in the commercial market. Proving that ingenuity can solve almost any problem. The Soviets, faced with the same problem used pencils.

Its a funny story and worth pointing out to our community that applies considerable brain-power to solving problems. Be wary of the complex solution to a given problem, Nature loves simplicity. Always consider the possibility of a good, cheap and simple solution, right?

Apparently the rest of the story validates the pen development. Initially, NASA used pencils just like the Soviets did, but the leads sometimes broke and became a hazard floating in the zero-gravity environment of the capsule. Also, the lead and wood could burn rapidly in the pure oxygen atmosphere.

Paul Fisher realized NASA needed a safer writing instrument and so in 1965 he spent a million dollars of his own money (applause for the free market entrepeneur) developing an all metal pen with sealed pressurized ink cartridge. The ink has a flash point of 200 degrees c, satisfying the need for a writing tool that wouldn't burn in pure oxygen. Fisher sold 400 pens to NASA in 1967 for $2.95 before they went on to great commercial success. By 1968, the Soviets were using them as well.

So keep on innovating

Component Makers Hit Hardest in Q1

A preliminary look at the first quarter financial results for the telecom industry reveals poor but not surprising results, reflecting the impact of the recession. Service provider revenues are down versus the same quarter last year, but only a few percentage points, while capital spending and attendant equipment vendor revenues are down 15–25%. Component makers and contract manufacturers are also reporting revenue declines averaging 20–30% versus the year-ago quarter.

Among equipment vendors, revenues declined 15% on average, with Alcatel-Lucent down 6.9%, NSN down 12.1%, and Cisco down 21.5% (with exchange rate effects factored out for Alcatel-Lucent and NSN). Further down the supply chain, component revenues were down almost 20% among sampled companies, and contract manufacturing revenues were down nearly 28%, due to a ‘bullwhip effect’.

A couple of bright spots are also starting to appear. Wireless backhaul leader Ceragon reported a revenue decline of only 7%.

New Tools on the Blog!

You might have noticed that we have added some cool new tools to the blog. In the right column, we now have a link at the top to get all of our entries as audio files. You can listen to them as you do something else or download them to your mp3 player. There is also a feed on the page to subscribe to for updates.

Also in the right column is a Twitter Search feed. You can enter any term and it will provide real time updates for that keyword. Enter IMS2009 to follow everyone for Tweats about the upcoming IMS 2009 MTT-S Symposium. Pass the word around to use the hashtag #IMS2009 so everyone can monitor the action and participate. Just begin each Tweat with #IMS2009 and everyone can track that term.

Hotel Reservations for IMS 2009

The IEEE MTT-S steering committee for the IMS 2009 in Boston has extended the deadline for reserving a hotel room from among their block of rooms. The new date, May 8 is this Friday - just around the corner!!! Hopefully, the extension will help all you last minute planners. If you have been on the fence about attending, I recommend you consider the long term benefits of industry networking and the year-in year-out high quality of attendees that go to this one show.

While the economy has certainly been rough this year, the IMS is our industry's biggest single event and should not be missed. Even if it requires tightening the budget in some other areas. The cost of a few days in Boston is considerably less than a series of road trips to visit the same number of customers. From an editor's perspective, I could easily fill up more than half of my editorial requirements for yearly content at this one show, just by meeting with clients.

Reserving your hotel room through the MTT-S allows them to negotiate room rate reductions in following years and provides additional savings to the society, which gets passed on to attendees and exhibitors by lowering operating costs. And bus service from the hotel to the convention center is provided for those who book through the MTT-S. One final note - think about all those potential contacts socializing down at the hotel bar. Are you sure its worth being out at the Budget Inn in Revere?

Agilent Introduces Real-time RF Geolocation Technique

Agilent Technologies recently introduced an integrated real-time radio frequency (RF) emitter geolocation technique using a network of RF Sensors. The Geolocation server software estimates position of a non-cooperative intermittent or short-duration RF signal using measurements from the sensor network and calculations with time-difference-of-arrival (TDOA) techniques.


"Traditional direction-finding systems are ideal for obtaining the line of bearing on higher power and narrowband signals. However, modern signals with complex modulations, wider bandwidths and short durations are driving a need for complementary geolocation techniques such as TDOA," said Tom Burrell, vice president and general manager of Agilent's Signal Networks Division. "Tightly synchronized receivers provide the foundation for transmitter geolocation techniques in commercial, radio regulatory, security and defense applications."


The geolocation system can be operated manually by the user or "tipped" automatically from a signal search/monitoring system. Then, three to five sensors at separate locations provide precisely time-stamped spectrum data to the server software. The software's visual displays show two-dimensional signal correlation and propagation characteristics in addition to the estimated position. Raster maps in most standard formats, e.g., jpg, gif, tiff and geotiff, can be imported and combined with the estimated position from the geolocation software.


The Agilent N6854A depends on low-cost receivers for accurate and timely geolocation of emitters. The small low-profile form factor receiver - about the size of a laptop PC - offers many discreet deployment and mounting options including pole-top or wall-mount. Co-locating the sensor with the antenna reduces antenna size and complexity plus helps to minimize signal loss due to coaxial cable attenuation. Announced on April 1, the N6841A RF Sensor monitors signals over a frequency range of 20 MHz to 6 GHz using a 14-bit ADC to accurately digitize signals with a 20 MHz information bandwidth. The network interface allows the sensors to be distributed within a building, throughout a city or across the world.

Where Have All of the M/A-COM Pieces Landed?

Over the past year, one of the RF and microwave industry icons has been diced into 5 pieces and sold to various companies. If we go back a few years, M/A-COM was purchased by the connector giant AMP back in 1995 as they wanted expand into the growing wireless markets. AMP was then acquired by the even larger Tyco International in 1999 as they were buying companies in many industries. In 2007, Tyco International split up into 3 companies (after the Dennis Koslowski years), one of which was Tyco Electronics (the medical companies formed a new company called Covidien and the security companies stayed with Tyco International). Tyco Electronics contained the former AMP and M/A-COM companies along with many other brands. Shortly after that time, Tyco Electronics decided most of the M/A-COM product portfolio was not part of their future strategy and put the defense and commercial components businesses up for sale.

Cobham Defense came along in 2008 and purchased the commercial and defense components businesses with the intent to re-sell the commercial business as soon as they found a buyer. At about the same time, the automotive products (antennas and radar sensors) were sold to Autoliv. Cobham recently found a buyer as John Ocampo purchased the commercial components business (John Ocampo is the owner of GaAs Labs which is a large investor in Mimix Broadband) which retains its name developed under Cobham as M/A-COM Technology Solutions. In between all of this, Micronetics scooped up the RFID product lines from the commercial business in a separate transaction which should nicely complement their existing product lines.

And then last week, the private radio group (Wireless Systems) was purchased from Tyco Electronics by Harris Corporation. This should bring strength to both groups as Harris has a strong foot hold in the military radio market and M/A-COM Wireless Systems was growing in the public safety market where Motorola is a dominate player. It may have been sparked by the potential loss of the $2B New York State contract or maybe Harris just saw a good opportunity to grow their radio business.

It will be interesting (and challenging) to follow the pieces as they continue forward in these new companies. So now M/A-COM is part of Cobham, Harris, Micronetics, M/A-COM Technology Solutions (John Ocampo) and Autoliv. What do you think of their future prospects?

Microwaves Could Enable Solar Energy Harvesting in Space

Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) has announced they're expanding their solar interest far beyond California and into outer space. The San Francisco based utility plans on purchasing 200 MW of electricity from Solaren Corp., a start-up that is trying to produce solar power in space. Solaren plans to deploy solar panels in space that would collect the sun's energy and transfer it via microwaves back to a collecting station on Earth. Then the energy would be converted to electricity and feed into the grid.

The microwave frequency would be one that is least absorbed by the Earth's atmosphere. People have expressed concern that the beam might damage anything that gets in its path but they claim it would be 1/6 the intensity of noon sunlight. I am not sure how they are comparing light energy to microwave energy. The plan would have the system operating in 2016.

Solaren says that unlike ground-based solar arrays, space satellites could generate power 24 hours a day, unaffected by cloudy weather or Earth's day-night cycle. The capacity factor for a ground-based solar is typically less than 25 percent. In contrast, the capacity factor for a power-generating satellite is expected to be 97 percent.

The agreement calls for 800 gigawatt-hours of electricity to be provided during the first year of operation, and 1,700 gigawatt-hours for subsequent years. The larger figure is roughly equal to the annual consumption of 250,000 average homes.

Very interesting stuff and this year there is really a big emphasis on the "Greening of Wireless" to reduce our dependence on fossil based fuels. Microwave Journal is hosting a webinar and featuring a technical article by Mesuro and Tektronix to introduce a new open loop active load pull technique for the design of complex, highly efficient power amplifiers, necessary for reducing the power consumption of tomorrow’s mobile infrastructure. The method utilizing microwave sampling scope technology to simultaneously capture waveform data ranging from DC to several tens of GHz is demonstrated.

Touchy Cellphone Users Spur Sales

According to Wirefly, sales of touchscreen devices have grown 56% from the fourth quarter of 2008 to the first quarter of 2009 and currently account for 38% of its cell phone sales. Two factors are driving the sharp increase in popularity of touchscreen phones: The increased choice of touchscreen devices from virtually every wireless manufacturer and its affordability for even the most budget-conscious consumer.

“The mobile industry has embraced the touchscreen,” said Andy Zeinfeld, CEO of Simplexity, parent company of Wirefly. “Consumers are in love with the fluid interface. Many find the touchscreen cell phone easier to learn and easier to navigate than its push-button counterpart. With a simple flick, tap or swipe of a finger, users can quickly glide, zoom and flip through web pages, documents, emails and photo albums.”

Grim Week for Agilent Employees

This past Wednesday, Agilent Technologies laid off 300 employees at its Santa Rosa division or more than 20 percent of its work force. Agilent employees had been awaiting the grim news for the past three weeks. In March, the Santa Clara-based company announced plans to eliminate 14 percent of its global work force. The layoffs at the high-tech test & measurement equipment manufacturer occurred over the full range of Agilent jobs in Santa Rosa, including managers, engineers, marketing, human resources, finance, manufacturing and support, said Ron Nersesian, who heads Agilent’s Santa Rosa-based Electronic Measurement Group.

Wednesday’s layoffs were the largest at Agilent in Santa Rosa since 2005, when more than 300 employees were let go. Over the past eight years, the company has eliminated 5 out of 6 jobs at its Sonoma County operations as it slashed costs and moved manufacturing jobs to cheaper facilities overseas. The layoffs will leave Agilent with 1,050 employees in Sonoma County, down from a peak of 6,000 regular and temporary workers in 2001.

Unlike past layoffs that involved the shifting of manufacturing jobs overseas, these recent job cuts were not for the sake of offshoring, Nersesian said. The company’s Asian manufacturing facilities also face “significant” cut-backs because of falling orders for Agilent’s products, he said.

Agilent and other technology companies are losing business as consumers cut back on spending for the latest electronic devices. This year’s revenue for the test and measurement business will be down 30 percent from 2008, the company said in March.
Overall, the company is cutting 2,700 jobs worldwide under the restructuring plan implemented Wednesday. The staffing cuts and other cost-cutting measures are expected to save the company $300 million over the next four quarters.

Handset Market Not Hit As Hard As Expected

According to ABI Research, consumers did not cut back too much in purchasing handsets during the first quarter of 2009 which is good news. Handset vendors shipped 258 million handsets by the end of the quarter which represents an 11% year-over-year decline. This significantly exceeded the previous forecast of 253.5 million.

ABI has introduced a note of mild optimism in its handset forecasts for YE-2009, revising them from -8.4% to -8%. Samsung and LG demonstrated healthy gains to take their market shares to 17.8% and 8.8%, respectively. Another star performer was RIM which raised its share to 3.0% due largely to the success of its Blackberry Bold. It is a little curious that Apple’s market share is just 1.5% given the success of its AppStore. As popular as the iPhone3G has been, increased competition in the touchscreen segment and a lack of product differentiation may be dampening demand. ABI Research expects that by 2H-2009 the iPhone3G will have one or more siblings. That will allow Apple to accelerate growth.

Nokia was beaten out by SonyEricsson for showing the largest contractions (their shares now stand at 36.2% and 5.6%). Nokia will breathe a sigh of relief once its latest smartphone, the N97, enters the market. Nokia has had a fair amount of success with the E71 but needs to beef up its touchscreen product lines. While Sony-Ericsson has the Experia smartphone line-up, the firm’s exposure to the feature phone segment was squeezed more than other handset sectors. While feature phones serve many needs in the market, operators have been especially keen to snap up smartphone stock and were cooler on the Ultra-Low Cost and feature phone orders.

ABI says that despite the positive signs, the industry should be cautious. The IMF has issued another sharp downgrade to its global outlook. Unemployment figures are also likely to continue creeping up. Buyers in the developed world are still concerned about debt and job security. Developing economies are expected to take a hit on the credit side which could have knock-on consequences on credit lines for purchases and stock levels.

Skyworks Revenue Down for Q2

RF/microwave integrated device manufacturer, Skyworks Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ: SWKS) announced their second fiscal quarter 2009 results on Thursday. Revenue for the quarter was $173.0 million, a 14 percent decrease from $201.7 million in the year-ago period and versus guidance of $168.0 million.

Non-GAAP operating income was $21.2 million in the second fiscal quarter with diluted earnings per share of $0.12, $0.02 better than consensus estimates. On a GAAP basis, operating loss for the second fiscal quarter was $3.7 million and diluted loss per share was $0.03, including $19.4 million of previously disclosed charges relating to the Company’s operating expense reduction initiatives.

“Despite the challenging economic backdrop, Skyworks delivered solid financial results in the second fiscal quarter of 2009 driven by our diversification, scale advantages, fab-lite strategy and improved cost structure,” said David J. Aldrich, president and chief executive officer of Skyworks. “Offsetting general market weakness, our performance was highlighted by strength in energy management and smart grid technologies, China 3G base stations, smart phones and push-to-talk applications. At a higher level, we believe our results demonstrate that Skyworks is gaining share in the broader analog semiconductor market and is creating a highly differentiated business model.”

Business Highlights

* Maintained non-GAAP gross margin of 40 percent (38 percent on a GAAP basis)
* Reduced operating expenses by more than $25 million on an annualized basis
* Partnered with Itron, a leading energy technology provider, to meet increasing demand for smart meter technology
* Captured key design wins at Huawei and ZTE for 3G and 4G base station solutions
* Unveiled a suite of low noise amplifiers targeting ultra-high performance infrastructure, GPS and satellite radio applications
* Supported an increasingly popular e-book reading platform developed by one of the world’s largest online retailers
* Expanded Qualcomm baseband partnership leveraging higher value front-end modules and encompassing a growing number of 2G, 3G and HSDPA reference designs
* Named Supplier of the Year for the second consecutive time by LG Electronics

Third Fiscal Quarter 2009 Outlook

“Although we remain cautious on the macro-economy, Skyworks intends to resume top and bottom line growth in the current quarter through share gains and participation in new markets,” said Donald W. Palette, vice president and chief financial officer of Skyworks. “Specifically, we expect June quarterly revenue to be up 5 percent sequentially with expanding margins driving non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of $0.14 - - - a 15 percent sequential improvement in profitability.”

TriQuint Reports Q1 2009 earnings

As expected, Q1 2009 revenue was seasonally down, compared to Q4, in a challenging economic environment of inventory correction and reduced short term demand. Still, total revenue was up 7% as compared to Q1 2008. These results were led by Handset growth of 24% and Defense / Aerospace growth of 23%. The reduction of both channel and TriQuint inventory drove Oregon fab’s utilization to 35% and pushed gross margin down, resulting in a Non-GAAP net loss of ($0.07) per share on revenue of $118.9 million, both on the favorable end of our expectations. Fortunately, an inflection point of increasing demand occurred late in the quarter as Handset inventory normalized.

Highlights from the quarter included:

* Revenue for the first quarter was $118.9 million, up 7% from Q1’08
* Inventory was reduced $19.8 million from the fourth quarter of 2008
* Book to bill ratio for the quarter was 1.14
* Honored by Intel Corporation with its 2008 Preferred Quality Supplier award
* Achieved cumulative shipments of more than a half billion total RF modules
* Introduced the market’s first SMT device for 40Gb/s optical communications
* Unveiled TRIUMF™, 3G/4G converged mobile solution
* First design win for TriPower™ – Next generation infrastructure RF power solution
* Fulfilled initial production orders of GaAs and BAW devices for multi-nation F-35 Joint Strike Fighter

Commenting on the results for the quarter ended March 31, 2009, Ralph Quinsey, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated “The global economic downturn prompted lower inventory at our customers and very low factory utilization in Q1. We are now seeing signs of inventory normalization in some of our markets which should translate into stronger demand in the coming months."

Quinsey also commented that, "Market strength in smart-phones, the acquisition of WJ Communications and positive momentum in major military programs contributed to our year over year growth.”

AWR Reports Good Results

On Monday (April 20th) high-frequency EDA supplier AWR® announced record annual revenues for its 2009 fiscal year that ended March 31, as well as for the year’s fourth quarter, and record backlog as it enters the 2010 fiscal year. This achievement marks the twelfth consecutive year of revenue growth for the company and was broad-based, with strong bookings throughout Europe, North America and the Asia Pacific region from both new and existing customers. It is an impressive streak for the software innovator - especially in light of the worldwide recession.

AWR executives attribute the performance to several factors. The company acknowledged that it had received two of its largest orders in company history, both from top-tier manufacturers of third-generation (3G) wireless transceiver modules for smart phones. The company also claimed to have experienced strong growth within existing aerospace and defense accounts as well as from new customers that switched to AWR products from competing tools.

I’ve always believed that tough times calls for digging in and doubling your efforts to do what has made one successful in the past. This effort needs to also be balanced with flexibility in order to change to changing times. Based on this latest fiscal report, AWR seems to being doing both of these quite well. How is your company weathering the storm? Is the performance of your company better than expected? Are we turning a corner in this recession? Tell us about your success.

Oracle to Acquire Sun Microsystems

Back in the mid-80s, do you remember sign-up sheets for workstations, which were extremely expensive and in short supply. Design software such as MDS (HP), Libra (EEsof) and Harmonica (Compact Software) required the high performance computing only available on these machines and EM simulation software such as HFSS was not yet widely available. Many of us (junior) engineers had to work later in the evening waiting for a workstation to became available. Do you remember the Unix wars between the proponents of BSD from Univerity of California, Berkeley and System V from AT&T? BSD Unix vendor Sun Microsytems and AT&T would start working together on a unified system in 1987. Eventually a workstation for every design engineer would become a reality. Workstations and PCs have certainly come a long way since then, and today's simulators often utilize compute farms to address ever-larger problems, broad parameteric sweeps and optimization, yet hearing that Oracle Corp. plans to acquire Sun Microsystems Inc. for $7.4billion, brought back memories of those days many years ago.

In the deal, Oracle trumped IBM by picking up what might prove to be a software treasure trove that includes the popular MySQL open-source database as well as Java.
Oracle said it will pay $9.50 per share in cash for Sun, or $5.6 billion net of Sun's cash and debt. The move follows Oracle's purchases of a raft of companies in the past few years, including Siebel Systems, PeopleSoft and BEA Systems.

Sun shares rose by $2.41 to $9.10 in trading about an hour after the market opened, while Oracle shares declined by $1.03 to $18.03. Shares of the buying company in big mergers and acquisitions often sink at first as investors debate the relative merits of laying out large amounts of cash for the acquisition.

On a conference call Monday, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison said Java and Solaris were the two main reasons Oracle purchased Sun, a move that is in line with Oracle's acquisition strategy to buy companies with "market-leading products."

Calling Java "the single most important software asset we have ever acquired," he said Oracle's Java-based middleware business, bolstered first by the BEA acquisition and now by the purchase of Sun, is on track to become as large as Oracle's flagship database business. Oracle's Fusion middleware is based on Java.

Oracle also considers Solaris "by far the best Unix technology available in the market," which is why more Oracle databases run on that OS than any other, Ellison said. He said Oracle's enterprise customers running both products will be able to experience new benefits by technical integration of the products.

Anyone else care to share some old Sun Solaris SPARC memories?

WCAI Wireless Policy Summit is Approaching

It was announced this week that Sean Maloney, executive vice president and chief sales and marketing officer at Intel Corporation will give the opening keynote address at the WCAI’s Wireless Policy Summit on May 5 in Washington, DC. The Summit, being held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, will gather key officials from government and industry in an open forum for the exchange of ideas between attendees. This event is an ideal opportunity to meet face-to-face with top decision-makers who are shaping the future of the industry in 2009 and beyond. As the new Administration is acting on its commitment to bring broadband access to all Americans, the Summit will examine the role of wireless in the broadband stimulus package, universal service, open access, net neutrality, and more. WCAI web site

In light of the current economy, the summit seems well timed. On April 8th, the FCC adopted a notice of inquiry seeking public comment on the national broadband plan that the Commission is required to prepare under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). Fred Campbell of the WCAI commmented on his blog stating - "Wireless broadband platforms should play a leading role in the Commission’s plan to ensure that every American has access to broadband capability. Wireless technology is the most cost-effective way to provide affordable broadband both to sparsely populated rural areas and urban centers. Moreover, as the only broadband platform that is capable of providing access everywhere, all the time, wireless broadband offers mobility – a connection to every person whether at home or on the go. These capabilities make wireless broadband essential to achieving the FCC’s goal of universal broadband connectivity.”

Microwave Journal and its sister publication Telecommunications will be keeping a close eye on the lobbying efforts to develop wireless broadband platforms to address the ARRA of 2009. Stay tuned as we will be working with all parties with a stake in this area. Meanwhile - are you heading to this forum? We'd love to hear from you.

MWJ April Issue is Out - Let the Battle Begin

Our April issue themed "Amplifiers and Oscillators" just came out with the lead story about the advantages and disadvantages of Si versus GaAs based semiconductor technologies for power amplifier applications (the discussion is contained to lower power levels, <1 W where they both have good performance). It discusses how Si has made many strides in this arena and could be the preferred technology for many applications.

There is no doubt that GaAs is usually better suited for higher power applications but in the high power realm, LDMOS (at lower frequencies) and GaN have made significant inroads into the market. So it seems GaAs is always getting squeezed in the market with competition on both ends. We will address this high power market in our June issue lead story as LDMOS and GaN face off. Please read the article and let us know your feedback - I am sure the GaAs proponents will have something to say!

GaAs Downturn Predicted to Not Be as Severe as 2001

Strategy Analytics issued a report “GaAs Industry Downturns 2001 vs. 2009," where the Strategy Analytics GaAs and Compound Technologies service reiterated previous projections of a 5% - 6% drop in GaAs industry revenues for 2009, and explains why the current downturn will not be as extreme for the GaAs industry as in 2001.

As SA said previously, the GaAs industry hit a wall in the last quarter of 2008. The effects of a global economic slowdown finally caught up with the handset market—and other end markets—in which GaAs technology is used. However, Strategy Analytics believes that the expanding demand for bandwidth coupled with better managed inventory corrections will save the industry from seeing the precipitous 25% drop suffered in 2001.

Broadband Stimulus Funds

One hot topic at CTIA and certainly in the broadband market is the pending stimulus money that will become available from the federal government by Sept 2010. The amount to be allocated to broadband projects is $7.2 billion which is a large sum but after it is broken down in projects, it might not look so large. There has to be at least one grant per state (plus DC and some territories) and 75% must go to rural projects so that is where the emphasis will be for providers. They are encouraging people to team up to take a more holistic view of projects but there will certainly be barriers to doing this. There are also incentives for providing services to unserved and underserved areas.

The legislation is still being worked and public inputs are still being taken but it could be very good for the wireless market providing the funds make it into the hands of the manufacturers. Does anyone has any insights or additional information about the stimulus funding?

CTIA Keynote Close Out

Steve Largent kicked off the final keynote with some highlights of the show such as Blackberry launching their apps store, the merging of wireless and medical applications and a few new product launches from the big carriers. He showed a video of how the industry is recycling and leading in "green" efforts. Largent then introduced the final speaker, the honorable Al Gore.

Gore reviewed the history of information distribution and how it has affected the balance of power from the few to the many. He stated there were only 50 web sites online about the time Clinton and he took office compared to today where there are billions. He drove the concept that we have a climate change, security and economic crisis. The common thread in these is our reliance on carbon based energy so we must act quickly to move away from that situation. He stated that wireless is a key tool to solving these problems and challenged everyone to contribute and lead the effort. He said we should have more than a financial incentive as it will improve mankind!

Many people at the show enjoyed the previous day's keynote on how advanced wireless medical applications were being developed. They showed how you could monitor your vital signs on your smart phone and send them to your doctor.

The other subject that was discussed on the floor was the government incentives for the expansion of broadband services around the country. It seems like the funding is still not completely defined but everyone is looking forward to them being released. However, if it is like most government programs, it could be some time before we see any release of those funds.

Did you see anything interesting at the show or have any comments?

Having Some Fun at CTIA

The PowerWave booth is always huge stretching across the middle of the main exhibition hall. This year they have a formula one race car simulator that is very realistic. You provide them with a little information and then get your ride. I have not come across any other interactive displays yet other than presentations and music.

After a long day at the show, we decided to stay in the Mirage and have a "little" sandwich at Carnegie's. Then came the turkey club that was about a foot high and the pastrami that has a full 2 pounds of meat. We did our best to finish them but we were not very successful. Our publisher, Carl, always poses for the food pictures.