EuMW Exhibition 2010: from A to Z

A is for agnostic nonlinear model support, the leading news from AWR in support of the Cardiff models, the latest S-functions from NMDG and X-parameters from Agilent

B is for broadband time delays product line from Hittite, a DC to 24 GHz analog time delay that supports data transmission to 32 Gbps or clock signal delay up to 24 GHz.

C is for cross correlation Phase Noise analyzers from Holzworth for either fixed or tunable DUT test frequencies.

D is for distortion, an increasing concern highlighted by the importance of IM levels and a driving factor behind Creowave’s announcement that they have developed low PIM filtering solutions to measure the performance of base stations.

E is for EADS Defence & Security making the name change to Cassidian, just in time for their presentation at the Defence/Security Executive Forum

F is for FE-BI (finite element boundary integral) hybrid solver from Ansoft, details to follow in the months to come.

G is for GaN which made an appearance with numerous vendors from RFHIC (1 KW PA) to ACCEL-RF (GaN life test systems)

H is for High purity alumina ceramics with excellent electrical insulation, chemical resistance and low dielectric constant introduced by Brush Ceramic Products, Inc.

I is for ICEbreaker, the newest nonlinear device modeling software tool, free from NMDG

J is for jitter analysis, made easier by the new “C” series of Tektronix AWG instruments which reduce waveform creation times by 45 percent compared to prior AWG instruments, targeting high-speed serial and wideband RF/microwave designs.

K is for K-band MMIC design, getting a boost with the new optical .15 um PHEMT process from TriQuint’s foundry.

L is for Liquid Crystal Polymer (LCP) QFN, air cavity packages that support finer lead pitches, thinner lead frames and shorter wire bond lengths in a near hermetic, ROHS-compliant solution from RJR Polymers

M is for mixed-signal active load-pull from Anteverta, featured in our September issue and on display at their stand within the Agilent partners’ pavilion

N is for NEL Frequency Controls Inc.’s latest ultra low phase noise OCXO at 100 MHz with close-in phase noise of -105 dBc/Hz at 10 Hz and -178 dBc/Hz phase noise on the floor.

O is for output powers of 600 W UHF RF power from NXP’s BLF888A LDMOS device targeting broadcast transmitters and industrial applications, reported to be the most powerful LDMOS broadcast transistor in the market to date.

P is for Precision Devices which announced an ultra low noise and ultra stable crystal oscillator with a phase noise floor of -168 dBc at 10 kHz and excellent stability at a precision of only 0.0002 ppm (or 0.2 ppb – parts per billion) over a temperature range of 0 to +70°C or 0.0005 ppm at -20° to +70°C.

Q is for quality factor, a critical measure of passive device electrical performance and a differentiator for Dielectric Labs’ High-Q capacitor series.

R is for the Russian microwave market, represented by Pluton, manufacturers of frequency-agile magnetrons.

S is for small, as in the industry’s first PXI VNA from National Instruments

T is for the TWT based on a mini-helix technology being launched by e2v

U is for universal oscilloscopes from Rohde & Schwarz with 500 MHz bandwidth, 5 Gsample per second and a memory depth of up to 8 Msample make them ideal for testing and debugging analog and digital circuits with low clock rates.

V is for Vector signal analysis software from Agilent to assist R&D engineers performing signal and modulation analysis

W is for Wall, as in A.T. Wall, manufacturer of seamless tubing and high-speed stamping and proud sponsor of the Defense/Security Executive Forum at EuMW

X is for X-band core chips from M/A-Com Tech Asia, highly-integrated core chips that provide high-levels of functionality to greatly simplify the design of T/R modules.

Y is for yield analysis in Microwave Studio from CST is based on evaluating the s-parameter dependencies on various model parameters on the basis of one simulation without restarting the full-wave simulation, thus offering users a considerable speed-up.

Z is for Z-Communications, manufacturers of VCOs and PLLs announced a new line of waveguide solutions including full-band waveguide-to-coax-adapters along with precision, low powered waveguide terminations covering 5 GHz to 40 GHz.

EuMW 2010 Exhibition Report: The lay of the land

European Microwave Week was held in the CNIT convention center in the newer business center that lies to the west of the city’s center, a straight shot down Rue Charles de Galle, about three and a half miles from the Arc de Triomphe. The Center of New Industries and Technologies, or CNIT, is one of the first buildings to ever be constructed in La Défense, Paris. It is a palace for the French Congress that houses the main offices and also functions as a convenience store for the congressmen and their visitors. The initial construction of CNIT was completed in 1958 and the conference and exhibition center provides a unique and interactive place for people to meet and exchange information.

The CNIT is in the plaza at La Defense, which is also home to the Grande Arche - a modern take on the Arc de Triomphe.

CNIT Paris is the biggest conference and exhibition center in Europe, containing more than 3 Amphitheatres, 21 adaptable rooms, and has over 17,000 square meters of exhibition area. The exhibition, which opened Tuesday, was in the lower regions of the convention center and the relatively low ceiling either gave the show an intimate or claustrophobic feel, depending on one’s perspective.

Without the usual signs draped from the ceiling above the larger exhibition booths, attendees were forced to navigate the space at the floor level, changing the scale of the entire show - for better or worse. Finding certain exhibitors may have been harder in some cases, but the layout may also have helped force attendees to be more aware of their surroundings and discover vendors they might otherwise have breezed by.

The entrance to the exhibition space was dominated by test and measurement equipment vendors – Agilent, Rohde & Schwarz and Anritsu. Agilent commanded the front of the exhibition hall with an impressive stand filled with no less than eight demo stations, meeting room and a half dozen additional demo stations for partnering companies including Maury Microwave, AMCAD, Anteverta Microwave and SATIMO.

Adjacent to Agilent was the European T&M home team of Rohde & Schwarz, also displaying the latest in their test solutions. Stage left of R&S was Anritsu, a manufacturer which has had a flurry of new product releases over the past several months, much of which was on display for the first time at EumW. Anyone shopping for test equipment could easily spend their time in this one area of the trade show.

The staff at National Instruments proudly show off their new PXIe-1082 which can be configured into a small but fast (400usec/pt) multi-channel VNA (10 MHz to 6 GHz), targeting autotest applications.

Greeting visitors beyond the test and measurement equipment were the majority of software vendors CST, AWR, Ansys (Anosft), Mician, Sonnet, National Instruments and MIG to name a few. Slightly deeper into the heart of the exhibition floor, the types of vendors quickly diversified to the Integrated Device Manufacturers (TriQuint, M/A-Com, Analog Devices, Hittite, NXP and Mitsubishi), passive components, cable, connector manufacturers and material suppliers. One could also find other peripheral test products from VTD, NMDG and Tektronix/Mesuro’s non-linear characterization test equipment and software to turn-key life test solutions from Accel-RF. The complete list of vendors is available on the European Microwave Week web site (http://www.eumweek.com/2010/MapYourShow.asp) and Richard Mumford, our international editor and I will be posting our reports on meeting with various vendors over the next week.

While the floor traffic was not exceptionally crowded, it was respectable and constant. In conversations with exhibitors, most were happy with the quality of people they met at the show and many of them were either closing deals or making worthy new contacts. While many exhibitors were not introducing new products explicitly for this event, many had new products that had never been seen by this show’s attendees. Combined with a “better than last year” economic outlook, most exhibitors were poised for growth… and even vocal about it. That is certainly a 180 degree turn around from 2008, when the crisis had just hit and no one knew what the future had in store.

SV Microwave shows off its connector wares to a fellow exhibitor

With the conferences on a separate floor, it was not immediately apparent how many delegates managed to get over to the exhibition. The conference organizers did promote the exhibition to delegates during the plenary session and with few complaints from exhibitors, I am assuming most ventured into the exhibition at some point during the week. To summarize, the general feel of the show, it was upbeat if not giddy and the majority of vendors will likely go to next years' show in Manchester UK. All in all, I would say this year's event "got the intended job done".

Tom Arthur of Valpey Fisher poises for the press alongside a EumW delegate.

TriQuint's New 0.15um PHEMT Unveiled at EumW

Last evening I attended TriQuint’s customer presentation on their new TQP15 process, which was conveniently held at the hotel where I am staying. Enjoying the relaxed atmosphere, wine and canapés were two dozen or so representatives of MMIC design houses such as Plextek and Roke Manor, journalist, investors and other interested parties. Following the meet and greet with various TriQuint foundry management and marketing folks, the event centered around a presentation by Corey Nevers and Ed Knapp on the technical aspects and targeted applications of the new process. This presentation was followed by an informative Q&A session with attendees.

TQP15 is based on TriQuint’s well-established Pseudomorphic High Electron Mobility Transistor (pHEMT) process portfolio and represents both and evolutionary step in their technical development as well as stable technology built on well-established process techniques. This is the best of both worlds – new capabilities based on trusted and proven tools. At the heart of the processing breakthrough that supports the 0.15um gates is the TQP15 utilization of optical lithography (based on their i-line stepper) to reduce cost when compared to traditional E-beam based solutions. The process also incorporates refractory gate metal architecture which does not exhibit the standard metal gate sinking failure mechanism of non-refractory gate pHEMT processes. The TQP15 is targeting at the Ka-band segment and is designed for cost-effectively building millimeter wave (mmWave) MMICs for applications such as VSAT, satellite communications and point to point radios.

TQP15 offers an economical high-frequency pHEMT process designed for high volume runs. The company claims to have already produced thousands of wafers. The company has successfully used TQP15 for high efficiency amplifiers and control functions up to K-band frequencies, and look forward to using this process to grow our product portfolio through Ka band. Performance highlights include a power density of 740 mw/mm at 24 GHz with over 50% PAE, which hit a maximum at P1db rather than the typical 3 db into compression. This means optimum PAE can be achieved at lower drive levels than most common PHEMT devices. They demonstrated 10 db MSG as well as usable gain up to 50 db.

The transistors have a 14 v breakdown, Idss of 380 mw/mm, noise figure of 0.6 db at 15 GHZ (and low sensitivity between source matching impedance and optimum noise figure), Of note for reference designs was a 40 GHz 3 stage power amplifier developed as a demonstration of capabilities. Adding TQP15 solidifies Triquint position as a technology leader of HBT, E-beam and optical pHEMT technologies. Together with their other fully released optical pHEMT technologies, TQPED and TQP13-N, and the soon to be released TQP25 process, TriQuint is focused on enabling the commercialization of mmWave markets, said Mike Peters, Director of Marketing for Commercial Foundry at TriQuint. This was certainly believable from the information presented and positive audience reaction.

EumW Conference Starts, Exhibition Set-up for Tuesday Opening

Delegates were busy registering and attending the Monday sessions today as work crews unpacked displays and began building the stands for the 2010 exhibition. By mid-morning set-ups were progressing without much drama, in anticipation of the Tuesday opening.

Since there are an impressive number of European Microwave companies engaged in nonlinear device characterization and the development of related test systems, it is appropriate that the European Microwave Week exhibition will feature a sizable representation of companies offering load-pull and related test solutions. Several of these companies were mentioned in last March’s cover story on non-linear Characterization and device modeling including Mesuro, NMDG, AMCAD and Verspecht-Teyssier-DeGroote. Each of these companies has developed the test systems and software for measuring transistor behavior under large signal conditions and generating compact or behavioral models, such as the Cardiff or poly-harmonic distortion (PHD) models. North American companies such as Maury Microwave of California and Focus Microwave of Canada will also be at the show along with the major test equipment vendors that these specialized partner with (i.e. Agilent, Rohde & Schwarz and Anritsu).

And so, just in time for the exhibition, NMDG has just announced the release of their new ICEBreaker application, which provides comprehensive visualization of measurement data sets. This application, which is free, can be upgraded to perform generic sweep plans such as DC, power and/or loadpull sweeps, and to collect measurement data in an accurate way. In addition, the company announced that nonlinear characterization under pulsed DC and pulsed RF conditions is now available in the NMDG ICE software platform, implemented to work with different types of receivers and pulsers.NMDG will be presenting live demos of the NM600 Fast Source and Load Pull under pulsed conditions and of the S-functions model extraction under mismatched conditions using the NM300 ZVxPlus solution this week at Rohde & Schwarz Booth #70 during the conference.

Suede was a bad idea

It is hard to complain about location when the European Microwave Week makes its way to Paris once every half dozen years or so. It is a beautiful city. To quote an e-mail received from a M/A-Com attendee – “ PS - I love Paris!!!!”. I might take fault with weather.com, which predicted sunny days in the mid-sixties. Instead, the air is about 10 degrees cooler and the skies look threatening. Bringing my suede jacket was probably a mistake. Regardless, fall is a great time to be in the land of Coulomb and Ampére.

I took the Saturday night red eye from Boston along with MWJ publisher, Carl Sheffres (seen here overlooking the city). We spotted at least one microwave luminary, Rich Jerome on the plane with us. Several others were already standing around the hotel lobby as we checked in near the convention center. Microwave Journal’s parent company, Horizon House had already sent most of its exhibition support team half a week in advance, to begin preparations for the show taking place at the CNIT La Defense convention center. For us non-smokers, check-in would have to wait and so it was a quick fueling up of double espressos in the lobby and off to the train in order to catch some Sunday sightseeing, my only free day this week.

My schedule looks pretty full with meetings throughout the week, specifically with the test & measurement manufacturers – Rohde & Schwarz, Anritsu, Tektronix and Agilent (whom I already had a pre-show press briefing); a number of smaller nonlinear characterization companies, i.e. load pull including Maury Microwave, Focus, AMCAD, VTD, NMDG; integrated device manufacturers such as TriQuint, M/A-Com, and Analog Devices and software suppliers – AWR, Ansoft, CST and Sonnet.

I am looking forward to meeting some individuals face to face, whom I have only corresponded with via e-mail. One such company is SATIMO. They participated in our successful August issue – “The Masters of MIMO”, contributing an online white paper for the TestBench feature that month as well as our Expert Advice column. SATIMO calls Paris their home and so it is fitting that I open my Paris EumW blogging with a brief look at this local company.

Here's a brief look at the company. SATIMO SA (Société d’Applications Technologiques de l’Imagerie Micro-Onde SA) was founded in 1986 with the objective of developing high-speed microwave field measurement systems. The company started as a spin-off from the French engineering school Supélec, benefiting from years of research in the field of the Modulated Scatterer Technique.

During its first ten years, SATIMO performed research and prototyping of antennas, antenna measurement systems, non-destructive testing equipment, and tomographic imaging systems. SATIMO was entirely focused on the French Market and relied only on few customers. The founder, Prof. Jean-Charles Bolomey, decided to drastically change this situation by naming Philippe Garreau as the C.E.O. of SATIMO.

Au revoir for now. If you’re heading to the show, dress warm and pack an umbrella, just in case. And don’t forgot to sign up for the MWJ/Euma European Defence Executive Forum for Wednesday early evening. This should be an informative set of presentations and worthwhile networking opportunity.

TV White Spaces Spectrum Freed Up by FCC

The Federal Communications Commission has freed up vacant airwaves between TV channels -- called “white spaces” -- to unleash a host of new technologies, such as “super Wi-Fi,” and myriad other diverse applications. This is the first significant block of spectrum made available for unlicensed use in more than 20 years.

TV white space spectrum is considered prime real estate because the 300 - 400 MHz signal travel long distances well and penetrate walls, making it ideally suited for mobile wireless devices. The National Broadband Plan noted the importance of unlicensed spectrum in creating opportunities for new technologies to blossom and recommended that the Commission complete the TV white spaces. The Second Memorandum Opinion and Order (Second MO&O) adopted 9/23 resolves numerous legal and technical issues. Notably, the Order eliminates the requirement that TV bands devices that incorporate geo-location and database access must also include sensing technology to detect the signals of TV stations and low-power auxiliary service stations (wireless microphones).

It also requires wireless microphone users who seek to register in the TV bands databases to certify that they will use all available channels from 7 through 51 prior to requesting registration. Requests to register in the database will be public, thus allowing interested parties to weigh in on any given request.

The Commission is also taking steps to ensure that incumbent services are protected from interference from the use of white spaces in various ways. In particular, the Order reserves two vacant UHF channels for wireless microphones and other low power auxiliary service devices in all areas of the country. It also maintains a reasonable separation distance between TV White Space device and wireless microphone usage permitted to be registered in the database.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has called the new wireless broadband services that could eventually operate over this spectrum "Wi-Fi on steroids." Wi-Fi uses unlicensed spectrum that was opened up by the FCC in 1985, which was the last time the FCC allocated unlicensed spectrum. This high-frequency spectrum was originally used for cordless phones and garage door openers, but the spectrum later found broader use in high speed, in-home Internet connectivity via Wi-Fi.

Chairman Genachowski is optimistic that the new unlicensed spectrum will help create a robust ecosystem, such as the one that has developed around Wi-Fi. "This new unlicensed spectrum will be a powerful platform for innovation," Genachowski said. "When we unleash American ingenuity, great things happen."

EuMW 2010 Show Coverage

Our EuMW 2010 show coverage is now available online. We will bring you the latest news, new products, photos, videos, exclusive articles and interviews plus live Blogging and Twittering from the show floor. We also have started our EuMW newsletters which will be daily during the show. Don't miss our Defence/Security Executive Forum at the show featuring speakers from NATO, the European Defence Agency and the French Defence Agency, among others, discussing future programs and technology for microwave applications.

In addition, the Sept issue dedicated to EuMW 2010 is also online now including conference articles, messages from the chairs, exhibitor list, new products and our cover feature about the Handset RF front-end market.

Let us know what you are featuring at the show in the comments below. Hope to see you in Paris!

ABI Reports Nearly 59 Million Mobile WiMAX Subscribers in 2015

According to new projections from ABI Research, the number of subscribers to mobile WiMAX services will approach 59 million in 2015. That represents a positive forecast in light of recent economic conditions, although research analyst Xavier Ortiz notes, “WiMAX’s growth has not been as early or as strong as many would have hoped several years ago.”

The factors impeding WiMAX’s growth haven’t been technological, he says, but economic and psychological: “The recession certainly played a role, making investors wary and delaying some deployments. On top of that, delays in the formation of the new Clearwire have constrained the rest of the ecosystem to some degree, from subscribers to devices and chipsets.”Subscriber growth and base station shipments go hand in hand, and despite uncertainty among many operators as to which mobile 4G platform – WiMAX or TD-LTE – to choose, ABI Research’s forecasts see WiMAX base station shipments continuing to grow (albeit at a slowing pace) through the current 2015 forecast period.

Ortiz adds, “Depending on the particular vendor, much of the hardware in a WiMAX base station may be re-usable for TD-LTE. Service providers adopting WiMAX but interested in upgrading their networks have been choosing those infrastructure vendors that can offer the options of staying with WiMAX (moving towards 802.16m) or moving towards TD-LTE. This creates a sense of reassurance for service providers.”

The lion’s share of the market for WiMAX base stations during 2009 was divided between four major vendors. In terms of market share Alvarion is the leader, followed quite closely by Samsung. NSN (through acquisition of Motorola’s wireless networks business) and Huawei hold third and fourth place shares, followed by ZTE and NEC at fifth and sixth place. The remainder of the market is shared among “Other” smaller vendors.

Ford First to Use Wi-Fi to Auto Program Cars During Assembly

I found this very interesting that Ford is reported to be the first auto company to use Wi-Fi on the assembly line to wirelessly deliver SYNC software to vehicles equipped with the new MyFord Touch driver technology. The new on-the-assembly-line Wi-Fi capability eliminates the need for building, stocking and storing multiple SYNC hardware modules, thus reducing manufacturing complexity and saving cost.

“Using wireless software installation via Wi-Fi, we can stock just one type of SYNC module powering MyFord Touch and loaded with a basic software package,” explained Sukhwinder Wadhwa, SYNC global platform manager. “We eliminated approximately 90 unique part numbers, each of which would have to be updated every time a change is made – this system really boosts quality control.”

Previously, Ford announced that the next-generation SYNC system that powers MyFord Touch would feature a built-in Wi-Fi receiver. Now, Ford is further capitalizing on capability using it in manufacturing but there are many of things they can do with it.

The Oakville, Ontario, assembly line that produces the all-new 2011 Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX will be the first to feature wireless access points for software installation. So the Edge and MKX will become the first vehicles to get their infotainment software installed via Wi-Fi while moving down the line. Ford is also targeting Chicago Assembly Plant, which is building the all-new 2011 Ford Explorer, for Wi-Fi installation capabilities. Plant locations throughout the world that will support the 2012 Ford Focus launch will soon follow.

Through July, hundreds of pilot vehicles were successfully moving through the Wi-Fi access point at Oakville. “Employees at the Oakville assembly plant helped us tremendously in getting the Wi-Fi process to work, and work perfectly,” said Wadhwa. “Turning an assembly plant – with steel beams everywhere and high-voltage cabling throughout; everything you could imagine that would interfere with a radio signal – into an access point that would achieve 100 percent success was a huge challenge.

What will they do with it next?

Shipments of Short Range ICs Will Increase 20% in 2010

According to ABI Research, the market for short range wireless ICs is forecast to expand this year; total shipments of Bluetooth, NFC, UWB, 802.15.4 and Wi-Fi ICs will increase approximately 20% compared to 2009. “Bluetooth ICs still lead the short-range wireless IC market,” says ABI Research industry analyst Celia Bo. “Unit shipments are expected to exceed 58% of the total short-range wireless IC shipments in 2010. Wi-Fi ICs rank second place in this market, making up approximately 35% of the total shipments, with the rest of the shipments accounted for by NFC, UWB and 502.15.4 ICs.”

Cellular handsets and accessories are taking a significant portion of the market for Bluetooth-enabled products in 2010, accounting for almost 75% of total shipments. This is followed by the notebook and UMD segments, taking approximately 12%. The demand for Bluetooth-enabled consumer electronic and home entertainment products is expected to grow steadily over the next five years. Shipments of portable media players are forecast to grow tenfold in 2015 as compared to 2010, and the total shipments of networked game consoles and handheld game consoles are expected to show a 14% CAGR between 2010 and 2015.

Bo adds, “Combination chip solutions that integrate two or more short-range wireless technologies will be broadly deployed in hundreds of millions of electronic devices due to their advantages of lower cost and smaller chip size, paving the way for expansion of the short-range wireless IC market.”

The Bluetooth+FM radio integration solution is taking the highest market share among the major integration solutions of “combo” chips today, followed by Bluetooth+Wi-Fi+FM radio and Bluetooth+FM radio+GPS solutions. Bluetooth’s integration with Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) wireless technology will be adopted widely from next year and is projected to account for more than 50% of total Bluetooth combo IC shipments in 2015.

ABI also reported that shipments of “combo” chipsets for mobile devices that gather a variety of connectivity types in one small package are expected to approach 280 million worldwide by the end of 2010. Integrating different radio technologies such as FM, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS on a single chip may sometimes involve performance compromises, but saves money, space and power. ABI Research forecasts that more than 979 million such chipsets will ship in 2015.

These forecasts bode well for the wireless industry. Hopefully, they will be on target or better.

SA Says 400 Million Connected Convergent Devices in 2014

The Connected Convergent Devices (CCDs) market will claim a global installed base of over 400 million units by 2014, according to research just released by analyst firm Strategy Analytics. The report, “Connected Convergent Devices: The New Battleground,” envisions CCDs filling the gap between smartphones and netbooks—a gap that is ripe for growth.

The firm estimates the value of the CCD market will exceed $50 billion in 2014. Some cannibalization is inevitable, according to the report, particularly among the tablets, netbooks, eBook readers and Mobile Internet devices (MIDs) categories.“ All categories have the potential to be very disruptive,” said Peter King, Director of the Connected Home Device service at Strategy Analytics. “However, all have their place in the market, and as casual computing develops, new products such as the tablet can be additive to the market as well as cannibalistic”.

CE, Mobile and PC companies are vying for the consumer wallet with a variety of Connected Convergent Devices, including tablets, netbooks, smartbooks, eBook readers and MIDs. “We have recently witnessed price erosion and product withdrawals in the eBook reader market, and the netbook market growth has slowed down since the introduction of the Apple iPad,” added King. “As rival tablets hit the market by year-end, many driven by Google’s Android, we will see even more competition in this dynamic new market segment.”

This sounds reasonable as these devices have come down drastically in price. With the Kindle now at $139, I am tempted to buy one. If it was over $300 like the original devices, I might as well buy an iPad or netbook and get a device the does several functions.

Terrafugia's “Roadable Aircraft” Engineered With Virtual Prototyping From ANSYS

I thought this was a very interesting news article from ANSYS about the world’s first commercial “flying car." Photo courtesy of ANSYS.

Massachusetts-based Terrafugia used ANSYS® engineering simulation software to design and verify its new production prototype of the Transition® aircraft that also can drive on the highway, which was unveiled yesterday at the EAA AirVenture airshow. Terrafugia engineers conducted whole-vehicle airflow tests that assessed the effects of design changes on overall performance — working in parallel across the various Transition components. The simulations were used to maximize wing lift in the air and to minimize the effects of crosswinds along the road.

“The Transition’s test flights identified some important engineering issues that ANSYS fluid dynamics software helped us to address in the production prototype,” said Gregor Cadman, an engineer at Terrafugia. "Our latest design improves both the in-air and on-road performance of the Transition, as well as ensures that the vehicle lends itself to full-scale manufacturing. Simulation software from ANSYS played a central role in these engineering efforts. Without the ability to work in a virtual environment, we would have had to construct complicated physical models, modify or rebuild them, and conduct hours of real-world testing, slowing down the process and adding significantly to development costs.”

The Transition is the world’s first vehicle to combine a lightweight, aerodynamic aircraft with the stability needed for long-distance driving on the highway. The vehicle can cruise up to 490 miles at over 105 miles per hour, can drive at highway speeds on the road, and is capable of transforming from plane to car in less than 30 seconds. The sophisticated design features foldable wings that span more than 26 feet, a rear-wheel-drive system for the road and a propeller for flight. Terrafugia’s team of aeronautical engineers earned global attention when the Transition proof-of-concept vehicle completed a successful 60-second test flight in March 2009. The company expects to begin commercial production of the vehicle in 2011.

Working closely with ANSYS product specialists, the Terrafugia engineering team also studied the impact of the Transition’s propeller on air flows around the vehicle. As the project developed over time, engineers applied simulation tools to study ever-smaller and more precise design modifications, which added to their confidence that the Transition will perform well in flight testing.

“The dual challenges of driving and flying present significant challenges for aeronautical engineers,” said Greg Stuckert, aerospace industry manager at ANSYS. “Terrafugia’s use of engineering simulation to fine-tune designs throughout the development process — not just at the end for verification — contributed to an optimized historic vehicle and an efficient product launch. Their earlier successful test flights and this year’s production prototype are the proof that their efforts are paying off.”

Cellular M2M Market Forecast

ABI Research reports the Cellular Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication market has been a challenging place for cellular embedded module vendors over the past 18 months. 2007 was this market’s last “good year”: 2008 saw both shipment volumes and revenue decrease. In 2009, the cellular M2M module market grew somewhat in terms of unit shipment volume, although rapidly declining module prices meant that 2009 revenue was still below that of 2007.

Despite its difficulties, however, this market is on an upward path. Unit shipment volume growth and the growing importance of 3G are already resulting in stronger performance and a new ABI Research study estimates that the market will be worth $3.8 billion in 2015.

Qi Wireless Power Charging Standard Released

The Qi low power standard, was finalized at the end of last month by the Wireless Power Consortium. The standard calls for delivering up to 5 Watts into wireless power receivers. The goal is for the standard to be interoperable between chargers and gadgets from different makers. This would be a big step forward if they are able to accomplish this as many wireless applications are slow to the market or fail without standardization.

The Qi low power specifications consist of 3 documents:

• Part 1, Interface Definition. This document defines the interface for contactless power transfer between a power transmitter and a power receiver, based on near field magnetic induction between coils.
• Part 2, Performance Requirements. This document defines performance requirements for power transmitters and power receivers.
• Part 3, Compliance Testing. This document defines the compliance test procedure for power transmitters and power receivers.

Part 1 is currently available for members only, but will be made publicly available as download from this website on August 30, 2010. Part 2 and 3 will stay exclusive for members of the Wireless Power Consortium only.

The power is transfer ed via magnetic induction so the distance between the device and charger is only up to a few mm. Most of these are charging pads or areas where the device it set on top of or very near the charger but it certainly makes charging a whole lot easier and more convenient especially if multiple devices can be set in the charging area at one time.

And the results are in……

Leading RF front-end chip manufacturers RFMD, Skyworks and TriQuint each released their quarterly earnings last week and the results for each were very encouraging with revenue for the quarter up 29, 44 and 23%, respectively over the same quarter of the previous year .

For its fiscal 2011 first quarter, ended July 3, 2010, RF Micro Devices Inc. posted better-than-expected quarterly results, helped by growing demand for mobile broadband devices, and said it expects its September-quarter results to be in line with its first quarter. The company earned $28.1 million, or 10 cents a share, compared with $4.8 million, or 2 cents a share, a year ago. Excluding items, RF Micro Devices earned 16 cents a share. Revenue rose 29 percent to $273.8 million. "RF Micro Devices is currently on track to grow revenue and achieve double-digit earnings growth this fiscal year," Chief executive Dean Priddy said in a statement.

While on a different fiscal calendar, Skyworks Solutions Inc.'s also announced that its second-quarter net income nearly doubled, propelled by the booming market for mobile phones and other wireless devices that rely on the company's chips. The company indicated the favorable trends are likely to extend into the third quarter; it provided a forecast above analysts' previous estimates.

In the quarter completed July 2, Skyworks said it earned $34.7 million, or 19 cents per share, up from $18.7 million, or 11 cents per share, at the same time last year. If not for certain accounting items, Skyworks said it would have earned 32 cents share. That was two cents better than the average estimate among analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.
Revenue for the period increased 44 percent to $275 million, about $6 million above analyst forecasts. In the current quarter, Skyworks expects to earn 37 cents per share, excluding certain items, on revenue of $300 million. Analysts, on average, had predicted earnings of 34 cents per share on revenue of $287.5 million.

TriQuint Semiconductor also reported their financial results for the second quarter which ended July 3, 2010 with revenue for the second quarter at $207.5 million, up 23% from the second quarter of 2009. The company’s Networks products continued to enjoy a strong rebound from the lows of 2009 growing 19% sequentially and 64% year over year. Net income was $22.5 million, or $0.14 per diluted share. Non-GAAP net income was $33.1 million, or $0.20 per diluted share. Gross margin for the second quarter of 2010 was 41.2%, up from 32.3% in the second quarter of 2009. On a non-GAAP basis, gross margin improved for the fifth consecutive quarter to 42.3%, up from 33.2% in the second quarter of 2009. Gross margin improved sequentially due to strong factory utilization, a higher mix of networks and defense product revenue and favorable product mix.

Operating expenses for the second quarter of 2010 were $58.8 million, or 28.3% of revenue, up from $50.3 million, or 29.8% of revenue in the second quarter of 2009. Non-GAAP operating expenses for the quarter were $54.7 million or 26.4% of revenue, up 4.4% sequentially. Most of the increase was in research and development expenses.

IEEE EMC 2010 in Fort Lauderdale

We are at the IEEE International Symposium on Electromagnetic Compatibility in Ft. Lauderdale, FL and finished our first day of attending the exhibition. Over 2000 attendees are on site with over 150 exhibitors at the Ft. Lauderdale Convention Center. The primary RF and microwave modeling, design, test/measurement and component companies that offer EMC/EMI solutions are here.

The theme of the 2010 Symposium is "Systems Engineering" and the emphasis is preventing or catching EMC issues early in design with proper modeling and early testing. The technical program is designed cover everything from EMC fundamentals to advanced numerical techniques for prediction and control. There are five days of papers, workshops, tutorials and demonstrations.

The exhibition was very busy for the first couple of hours on the first day but seemed to slow for most of the rest of the day until happy hour. Most exhibitors were happy with the quality of the leads so far so we hope this continues through the week. We are shooting some videos of demonstrations and products from the leading companies and will include them in our show wrap up next week.

Update on the iPhone 4 Antenna Issue

By now most everyone has heard about the iPhone 4 antenna problems. Holding it in certain areas can either bridge the gap between two of the antennas embedded into the outside frame causing them to not work properly or covering the lower part of the phone can attenuate the signal resulting in poor reception. There is no software that can fix this physical problem although Apple was pushing this as a solution by reprogramming the sensitivity of the signal strength indicator (number of bars displayed).

There were numerous complaints and now there are lawsuits against Apple that they shipped a defective product and mis-represented its performance (by the way, there are many reports that they are hiring antenna engineers if you want a job there). The final nail seemed to come last Monday when Consumers Reports reported they are not recommending the iPhone 4 due to its issues.

The $30 bumper Apple sells can fix most of the issues but they earlier insisted that customers pay for one. There are even YouTube videos showing how to fix the problem with a band-aid which people are now selling! After being in denial for many weeks and trying to divert attention to the real antenna hardware problem, Apple seems to have come to their senses and is now going to give away free bumpers to its customers although they still are not admitting it is a design flaw. This is estimated to cost around $175 million but this is probably much less than a recall or all the lawsuits, etc. that will be filed in the future.

It is a shame as the new iPhone has improved sensitivity and works very well when held so that the antenna is not covered or shorted out. I originally thought this new antenna design was a great idea but leaving it exposed has shown to be a very bad idea. The iPhone 4 antenna in the phone frame is really a poor design and should have been caught/fixed during modeling or at least during testing. It is standard practice to test a phone in several different hand positions next to a phantom head so it is hard to believe they did not know about this flaw.

A Legal Right to Broadband!

At the beginning of this month, everyone in Finland has been given the legal right to broadband service making it equivalent to a utility available to most everyone in developed countries. The Finnish law means that from 1 July all telecommunications companies will be obliged to provide all residents with broadband lines that can run at a minimum 1 Mbps speed and has vowed to connect everyone to a 100 Mbps connection by 2015.

It is believed up to 96% of the population are already online and that only about 4,000 homes still need connecting to comply with the law so they are much closer to realizing this goal than any other country. Of course, they are in Nokia-land where wireless is their second language.

In the UK, the government has promised a minimum connection of at least 2 Mbps to all homes by 2012 but has stopped short of making this a right in law. The US broadband plan is being developed and funded but the broadband penetration is only about 64% so it is far behind Finland while S. Korea enjoys the fastest broadband speeds worldwide.

RF/Microwave Calculator and Converter Apps

I recently came across this very nice microwave toolbox for Android mobile devices that Faust Nijhuis developed (posted on our LinkedIn Community). He has created a free lite version with a few useful calculators and a 1.99 euro version that has 6 calculators and 2 converters for the full toolbox. Below are a couple of sample screen shots from his web site.


MW calculator lite is the lite and free version of the microwave tool box with the following tools:

• PI and T attenuator calculator
• Reflectometer calculator
• Mismatch error limits calculator

MW calculator is a microwave tool box with the following tools:

• PI and T attenuator calculator
• Reflectometer calculator
• Mismatch error limits calculator
• Microstrip calculator
• Stripline calculator
• Coplanar waveguide calculator
• Power and voltage converter
• Field intensity and power density converter

You will find the applications in the Android Market and more information can be found on his web site at http://www.mwave-design.nl/mw/index.php?title=Android.

At IMS 2010, Agilent launched the Agilent MicroWave calculator to help calculate the errors in microwave measurements. It consists of Directivity Error Calculator, Mismatch Error Limit Calculator, and Ratio-to-dB Calculator. The Directivity Error Calculator shows the accuracy of a reflection measurement of unknown impedance based upon the directivity of the coupler used for the measurement. The Mismatch Error Limit Calculator shows the potential error in a transmission measurement due to imperfect source match and load match. The Ratio-to-dB Calculator simply converts between voltage ratio, power ratio, and dB.

It can be downloaded at http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/microwave-calculator/id369705771?mt=8.

Please let us know if there are RF/microwave related tools that you would like to have in an app. What other mobile phone apps have you seen that would be useful to microwave engineers? This should be a very interesting area to watch as new apps are developed for our industry.

No link between Mobile Phone Base Stations and Early Childhood Cancers

There is no association between risk of early childhood cancers and a mother’s exposure to a mobile phone base station during pregnancy, concludes a new study published on bmj.com last week. This is the first study to look at phone masts in Britain as a whole and is the largest of its kind.


Use of mobile phones has increased markedly in recent years and questions have been raised about possible health effects, including brain and other cancers, especially after prolonged use. Surveys also indicate high levels of public concern about the potential risks of living near mobile phone masts. Previous reports of apparent cancer clusters near mobile phone base stations are difficult to interpret due to small numbers and possible biases that could have affected the results. Also, any radiobiological explanation for such cancer excesses is lacking.



So researchers at Imperial College London set out to investigate the risk of early childhood cancers, such as brain tumours and leukaemia, and proximity to a mobile phone base station during pregnancy. Here is a link to the full story.