Industry News
Ceragon Networks Ltd. has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Nera Networks AS (NAS), headquartered in Bergen, Norway, from Eltek ASA. The consideration for the acquisition is approximately $48.5 M on a cash-free/debt-free basis. Both companies’ assets and core competencies will be combined into a single integrated organization, product family and customer base.
CommScope Inc. agreed to be taken private in a $3.9 B acquisition by the leveraged-buyout firm Carlyle Group, the biggest takeover in the telecommunications-equipment industry in at least two years. CommScope (which had acquired Andrew Corp.), based in Hickory, NC, is working to revive sales after the global recession hurt demand last year. Carlyle is banking on an increase in demand for fiber-optic networks as phone- and Internet-service providers update their systems to accommodate increasing amounts of video and data.
Qualcomm Inc. and Atheros Communications Inc. announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement whereby Qualcomm intends to acquire Atheros, a leader in innovative technologies for wireless and wired local area connectivity in the computing, networking and consumer electronics industries. The acquisition is intended to help accelerate the expansion of Qualcomm’s technologies and platforms to new businesses beyond cellular and provide access to significant new growth opportunities.
Hittite Microwave Corp. announced it has acquired Arctic Silicon Devices, a developer of advanced mixed-signal integrated circuit (IC) technology, located in Trondheim, Norway. The acquisition price was approximately $12.0 M in cash and equity. The acquisition provides Hittite with new IC design and integration capability and a state-of-the-art product line of analog-to-digital converters (ADC). Arctic Silicon Devices has successfully designed and launched innovative, multifunction low power ADC products that target high performance applications, including test and measurement systems and communication infrastructure. The employees of Arctic Silicon Devices will continue to work at their existing facility.
Aeroflex announced that the company has signed a purchase agreement to acquire the spectrum analyzer assets from LIGNex1 Co. Ltd. The primary assets to be acquired under the transaction include bench-top spectrum analyzer product lines that Aeroflex has offered under its own brand. These products include the 2399C, 2394A, 2395A spectrum analyzers as well as the newer 3250 Series spectrum analyzers, along with all the respective intellectual property. The closing is subject to certain delivery requirements by LIGNex1, as well as certain customary closing conditions.
Brush Engineered Materials Inc. announced it will change its name to Materion Corp. and unify all of its businesses under the new name effective March 8, 2011. The company’s common stock will continue to trade on the New York Stock Exchange.
Rosenberger of North America LLC has completed the relocation of its factory and offices to a newly remodeled fifty two thousand square foot (52,000 sq. ft.) facility in Akron, PA. For more information on the complete capabilities offered by the Rosenberger group of companies, contact Rosenberger: P.O. Box 309 Akron, PA 17601, ph: (717) 859-8900, fax: (717) 859-7044.
Raytheon Co. plans to open a Public Safety Regional Technology Center in Los Angeles County this summer and is in the final stages of selecting a specific location with about 25,000 square feet of space.
The ZigBee® Alliance, a global ecosystem of companies creating wireless solutions for use in energy management, commercial and consumer applications, and the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) announced their collaboration on ZigBee Smart Energy™ standard development. Their efforts will make ZigBee Smart Energy the preferred technology supporting Plug-In Electric Vehicles (PEV) and enabling essential vehicle to grid (V2G) communication and power capabilities.
Temex-Ceramics and Modelithics have partnered to provide S-Parameter data on Temex-Ceramics’ CLX (2225) and CLE (4040) HiQ Power Capacitors. Measured broadband, 0.04 to 2 GHz data was acquired using series and shunt mount fixtures, and is now available for free download from the Modelithics website at www.modelithics.com/mvp/Temex%20Ceramics.
Greenray Industries Inc. announced the celebration of the company’s 50th year of operation as a provider of high performance frequency control products.
Valpey Fisher Corp., Microwave Products Group has begun shipping production quantities of a new series of high performance voltage variable attenuators to a major microwave radio manufacturer.
RF Micro Devices Inc. (RFMD) announced it has received its first volume production orders for its Power-Smart™ power platforms. The production orders are in support of a highly anticipated smartphone and tablet product family to be launched by a cellular handset manufacturer beginning in the March, 2011 quarter.
Contracts
Harris Corp. has been awarded an Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract with a potential total value of $475 M to supply military and land mobile radio systems to international partners of the US State Department and US Department of Defense. The five-year contract, awarded by the US Army’s Communications Electronics Command (CECOM), certifies Harris as a provider of radios, accessories, communication systems and services to assist US partners with their tactical communication needs. The contract is part of the US government’s Foreign Military Sales program, which supports coalition building and interoperability through sales of defense equipment, training and services.
The US Naval Sea Systems Command has awarded ITT Corp. a contract to produce 425 Band C systems and their related spares and equipment for $16.7 M. Band C is an upgrade for the US military’s installed base of vehicle-mounted systems that prevent the detonation of radio-controlled improvised explosive devices (RCIED). This award brings the total number of Band C systems on contract to 1,121 for a total contract value of $39 M to date. The initial contract was awarded in April 2010.
Crane Aerospace & Electronics, Crane Electronics Inc., Power Solutions, was awarded by the US Department of Defense (DoD), a $14.2 M contract for production of the Keltec Band 9/10 Transmitter high-voltage power modules for the AN/ALQ-99 tactical jamming system. Under the contract, Power Solutions will work closely with the Navy Airborne Electronic Attack Systems Division in support of the ALQ-99 Pod. These high-voltage modules are designed to drive multiple traveling wave tubes for jamming oncoming missile threats.
SRC Inc., formerly Syracuse Research Corp., recently received two contract awards with a total potential value of up to $12.3 M for its Foliage Penetrating, Reconnaissance, Surveillance, Tracking and Engagement Radar (FORESTER), a revolutionary airborne radar system that penetrates through foliage to track people and vehicles on the ground.
Applied Radar Inc. has been awarded a Phase 2 Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) contract from the US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) to develop a “Wideband Subarray Digital Receiver/Exciter (DREX).” This contract builds upon Applied Radar’s on-going work with the MDA on radar receiver/exciter technology, and greatly expands the bandwidth and throughput of existing technology.
Focus Microwaves Corp., a device characterization solutions provider, announced several multi-national Tier 1 foundries and RFIC ODMs have placed orders for advanced noise characterization systems based on Focus NPEx 2.0, an advanced noise characterization toolset, and Agilent Technologies’ PNA-X network analyzer.
Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University (NTU) has selected Agilent Technologies Inc. as the supplier of RF test equipment for its Virtus IC design center of excellence. The move is designed to build a long-term relationship focusing on the growing education market in Asia.
Financial News
Growth equity investor Summit Partners announced an investment for a minority stake in M/A-COM Technology Solutions Holdings Inc., a supplier of semiconductors, active and passive components, and sub-assemblies for use in radio frequency, microwave and millimeter-wave applications. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
New Market Entries
Remcom announced expanded consulting offerings for commercial and government organizations needing electromagnetic (EM) simulation resources. Remcom Consulting provides a combination of EM modeling experts, software developers and high performance computational resources on a per-project basis; this service is designed to help organizations that need EM expertise, but that do not have an ongoing need for EM simulation software.
W.L. Gore & Associates Inc. has expanded its family of GORE® SKYFLEX® Aerospace Materials to include preformed gaskets for multi-face aircraft applications such as hole liners, flange joints, fastener seals and galley or restroom hard-mounts. These lightweight, non-hazardous gaskets ensure continuous protection between flat interfaces, around chamfers and inside a component’s mounting hole. By isolating dissimilar materials completely, these new gaskets significantly reduce the likelihood of galvanic corrosion, thereby increasing the life of the component.
Personnel
The Association for Manufacturing Excellence (AME) is pleased to announce that Douglas Carlberg has been re-elected president of the Association’s Southwest region. In addition to serving as the 2011 president of AME’s Southwest region, Carlberg was elected to the association’s board of directors.
CommScope has appointed Phil Sorsky as Vice President of Wireless Sales for Europe. Based in Wokingham, England, he will lead CommScope’s Andrew Solutions’ European wireless sales organization in its efforts to provide high levels of support and satisfaction to customers from the Atlantic coast to Russia, and from the Nordics to the Mediterranean. A graduate of the University of Birmingham, UK, Sorsky has more than 20 years of telecommunications industry experience, having worked for Juniper Networks, Adobe Systems, Cisco Systems and AT&T.
Linwave Technology has appointed Ian Dale as a Sales Account Manager. His background is in semiconductor processing and he has many years of experience in the design, development and manufacture of microwave and millimeter-wave devices. Dale has spent the last five years in a technical sales role, supplying advanced RF and microwave components into the military, industrial and communication market sectors. His appointment will play a strategic role in the growth of Linwave Electronic Manufacturing Services and product range.
Link Microtek has expanded its surface-mount product team with the appointment of Chaxu Lad as Sales Engineer covering central and northern England. He joined the company from Teledyne Defence (formerly Filtronic Defence), where he spent six years as a procurement engineer. In addition to his UK responsibilities, Lad will play an important role in developing export business, particularly in India, which is an important territory for the company’s Azdec range of infra-red mobile communications systems.
Rep Appointments
Carlisle Interconnect Technologies announced the appointment of Microwave Marketing Ltd. as technical sales agents and representatives for Carlisle Interconnect Technologies’ comprehensive range of RF and microwave connectors, cables and components within Ireland, Portugal, Spain and United Kingdom. Representing the established Carlisle Interconnect Technologies brands CDI, Jerrik and QMI, this strategic appointment strengthens the company’s European market presence and fully compliments Microwave Marketing’s existing range of solutions for the RF and microwave market. Microwave Marketing can be contacted at: 4 Henley Way, Doddington Road, Lincoln, LN6 3QR UK, Tel: +44 (0) 1522 686 690, Paul Johnson, Sales Director, E-mail: paul@microwavemarketing.com or visit: www.microwavemarketing.com.
TotalTemp Technologies Inc., a manufacturer of temperature cycling and conditioning equipment in San Diego, CA, has announced the appointment of two well established sales representative groups in the eastern US; Eastern Instrumentation of Philadelphia (www.eiphila.com) and EOX Sales (www.eoxsales.com). They will be handling product sales for TotalTemp’s Next Generation Thermal Platform Systems (Hot/Cold plates), temperature controllers and custom engineered solutions. Eastern Instrumentation will be the exclusive representative for TotalTemp in PA, NJ and DE. Their affiliate, EOX Sales, will represent TotalTemp in the MidAtlantic and Southeastern states.
Website
In a move to employ social media to assist career development within the engineering community, Rogers Corp. has launched a social media program engaging online communities such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. The social media presences are linked to the new Rogers Corp. US Careers Center page at Rogers’ website, www.rogerscorp.com/careers/us. Here engineers can conduct job searches of open positions at Rogers and apply online.