Around the Circuit

Industry News

QUALCOMM Inc. announced that the company has acquired Berkana Wireless Inc., a Silicon Valley-based fabless semiconductor company. Berkana is a provider of complementary metal oxide semiconductor radio frequency integrated circuits to the wireless industry. The addition of Berkana’s RF CMOS intellectual property, design portfolio and engineering resources, as well as its cellular systems expertise, reinforces QUALCOMM’s position in the RFIC industry and will help the company continue to deliver CDMA2000“ and WCDMA RF solutions to its customers and the growing number of 3G subscribers around the world.

Analog Devices Inc. (ADI) announced that it has signed a definitive agreement with Ikanos Communications Inc. to sell its FUSIV network processor and Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) product line. The divesture is in line with ADI’s strategy of focusing its digital signal processing (DSP) investments in areas where ADI’s signal processing expertise can earn good returns. This product line currently represents approximately 2 percent of revenue for ADI. The transaction is expected to be complete in the first calendar quarter of 2006 and result in the recognition of a small gain on the sale.

Spirent Communications announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire SwissQual, a test and measurement company for wireless network operators. The company made the acquisition for a consideration totaling up to $70.5 M USD (including performance incentives) on a cash and debt-free basis. The acquisition of SwissQual will enhance Spirent’s presence in the wireless test and measurement market by bringing exposure to a new segment, subscriber experience management.

WiSpry Inc., a developer of low cost, high performance radio frequency microelectromechanical systems tunable components and modules, and Jazz Semiconductor, an independent wafer foundry focused on specialty complementary metal oxide semiconductor process technologies, announced that they have partnered to create innovative RF MEMS offerings using Jazz’s RF CMOS processes. The program has successfully demonstrated the feasibility of commercially manufacturing WiSpry’s digitally tunable capacitor devices into Jazz Semiconductor’s 200 mm wafer fab and provides commercial availability of highly integrated RF MEMS devices, built upon Jazz’s processes.

TestMart announced an agreement with Graphtec America Inc. The deal provides the US government and federal contractors a marketplace with special pricing on intelligent recording instruments and data acquisition systems.

Emerson & Cuming Microwave Products HK Ltd. has announced the opening of the company’s Hong Kong operation. These expansion plans are expected to better position the company to increase its business presence in the Asia-Pacific region. The sales and administration office, managed by Brent Ng, is located at Unit 13, 23rd Floor, Seapower Tower, Concordia Plaza, No. 1 Science Museum Road, Tsim Sha Tsui East, Hong Kong +852 2620 6389, fax: +852 2620 6619 or e-mail: brent@hk. eccosorb.com. Customers can also find support via an information web site in Chinese at www.eccosorb.cn.

Agilent Technologies Inc. announced the availability of GENESYS 2005, a new release of its RF and microwave design software. The version includes a new time-domain simulator, frequency planner, mixer synthesis tool and revamped user interface that help speed circuit simulation and wireless communications design.

StratEdge announced that one of its DC to 23 GHz low cost commercial packages is used by Accel-RF as a platform for life testing of high frequency devices. Accel-RF, San Diego, CA, makes fully integrated, automated systems that characterize RF and DC performance degradation to predict device life expectancy.

Centro de Tecnología de las Comunicaciones S.A. (CETECOM), Spain, has been approved by the PCS Type Certification Review Board (PTCRB) as a PTCRB GERAN laboratory. With this approval, the company is able to offer conformance testing services for the two private certification schemes used in GSM and UMTS technologies, the Global Certification Forum (GCF) and the PCS Type Certification Review Board. Following this approval CETECOM Spain now covers 2G/3G, Bluetooth, WiFi, WiMAX testing and regulatory compliance services, and is a one-stop shop for manufacturers of next generation personal communication devices in the global market.

RF Monolithics Inc. announced that the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) have both certified the company’s newly announced DM1800 embedded wireless mesh networking module. With this regulatory approval, the DM1800 is now available to provide connectivity in wireless sensor network applications in the United States and Europe.

Symmetricom Inc. announced the 20th anniversary of its active hydrogen maser MHM 2010,™ a commercially available active hydrogen maser that offers the highest in atomic frequency standard performance and reliability. The first commercially available maser shipped from Symmetricom in 1985, and since that time, 85 have been deployed throughout the world to institutions at the forefront of time and frequency excellence. The company also announced a new extended seven-year warranty for the maser.

Amphenol RF announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to join the Quick Lock Formula“ Alliance. Amphenol RF signed a QMA and QN license agreement with Huber+Suhner AG and Radiall SA and soon will join the alliance. The QLF Alliance includes RF interconnect companies with certified intermateable QMA and QN connectors that are quick disconnect versions of the SMA and Type N connectors. Both offer a more convenient installation with its patented snap-on interface in place of a threaded coupling. Only QLF Alliance members can guarantee product intermateability between manufacturers. The members are Huber+Suhner AG, Radiall SA, Rosenberger Hochfrequenztechnik GmbH & Co. and Amphenol RF.

Stealth Microwave announced its continued membership in the WiMAX Forum, in support of the IEEE 802.16 standards utilized in next generation broadband wireless access equipment.

Vishay Intertechnology Inc. recently won an award from the French association SPDEI, which includes over 40 distributors of electronic components.

Contracts

Unity Wireless Corp. announced that it has received a $1.2 M purchase order from a North American tier-one wireless equipment original equipment manufacturer (OEM). This is the first order that Unity Wireless has received under a recently announced master supply agreement with this customer.

TECOM Industries Inc. announced the award of an initial production contract for 50,000 endpoint antennas by a fixed network provider. This new contract award follows the completion of successful field trials of pre-production units delivered by TECOM in July 2005.

Valpey Fisher, a distributor and manufacturer of custom and standard frequency control products, announced it has been awarded a $250,000 design win from a leading provider of wireless fire detection systems for the company’s low cost surface-mount voltage-controlled oscillators (VCO) line of products.

AR Worldwide Modular RF announced that it has been working on an amplifier system for Akrion, an ultrasonics systems company and its subsidiary, Goldfinger Technologies LLC. Akrion, which, along with Goldfinger, provides flexible, single-wafer and batch immersion wet processing solutions to customers worldwide, approached AR for help in replacing a field product that was about to be discontinued. AR was charged with developing the RF amplifier system while another company created the signal source and control system.

Aeroflex has announced that it won a significant order for its high speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) conformance test system for Motorola’s ADR Testing Service. Based in Flensburg, Germany, ADR Testing Service is an independent 2G/3G, Bluetooth and EMC certification laboratory. Aeroflex’s 6401 AIME/CT with inter-system handover and HSDPA conformance test cases will provide the backbone of a comprehensive HSDPA testing capability that ADR Testing Service is establishing to maintain its position and keep its test laboratory at the forefront of the mobile handset testing industry.

Applied Wave Research Inc. (AWR) announced that in a recent competitive tool evaluation, Andrew Corp. selected AWR’s Microwave Office® and Visual System SimulatorT products.

Financial News

Silicon Laboratories Inc. reports sales of $110 M for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2005, compared to $95 M for the same period in 2004. Net income for the quarter was $15 M ($0.27/per diluted share), compared to a net income of $13 M ($0.24/per diluted share) for the fourth quarter of last year.

Personnel

WJ Communications Inc. announced the appointment of Herald Y. Chen to its board of directors, effective immediately. The company also announced that Jan Loeber has resigned from his position as a member of the board of directors of WJ for personal reasons. Chen is currently a managing director of Fox Paine and Co. LLC, a US private equity firm based in the San Francisco area, where he also served as CEO of ACMI Corp., a former Fox Paine portfolio company.

Richardson Electronics Ltd. announced the appointment of Arthur Buckland to president, chief operating officer and board member. Bruce Johnson, former president and chief operating officer, has retired, but will continue as President Emeritus and director of Richardson. Prior to joining Richardson Electronics, Buckland was awarded the “Entrepreneur of the Year” from NASDAQ, E&Y and others for his role as chairman, CEO and president of Clare Inc. from 1993 to 2001.

Palomar Technologies announced that Bruce W. Hueners has been named company president. Hueners joined Palomar Technologies in 1981 when it was Hughes Aircraft and most recently held the position of COO.

Crane Co. has announced the appointment of David Bender as president of the electronics group of Crane Aerospace and Electronics. In this capacity, Bender is responsible for Electronics Group product and service solutions. He will be located in Redmond, WA. Before joining Crane Aerospace and Electronics, Bender served at Aerojet General Corp., a division of GenCorp, where his most recent role was vice president of
operations.

Hittite Microwave Corp. announced the promotion of Brian Jablonski to vice president of operations. In this position, Jablonski is responsible for the company’s supply chain management and manufacturing operations. Jablonski had served as director of operations of the company since 2004.

Michael Vohrer has assumed the mantle of president and CEO of Rohde & Schwarz, following the retirement of Friedrich Schwarz, who had been in the role for the past 10 years and a member of the Executive Board for 35 years. Vohrer became a member of the Executive Board himself in 2003 and has been with the company for 30 years. Prior to joining the Board he served as head of the Test and Measurement Division, during which time he greatly expanded the company’s market share in this segment.

Janos Technology Inc. announced the appointment of Harvey Clough as president. Prior to joining Janos Technology, Clough was the president and COO of Energy Sciences Inc.

Anritsu Co. president Frank Tiernan announced the promotion of Don Bradley to the position of senior fellow. During his 29-year tenure with Anritsu, Bradley has received more than 30 US and foreign patents, and has been instrumental in the conception and design of many of Anritsu Co.’s most successful products, including the Site Master™ family of handheld cable and antenna analyzers. Prior to joining Anritsu, Bradley worked for several other electronic firms, including California Microwave and Cushman Electronics.

Mercedes Johnson has been appointed to the position of chief financial officer of Avago Technologies. She will have overall responsibility for the company’s financial operations, including corporate finance and accounting, planning, tax, treasury, business development, investor relations, internal audit, risk management and information technology. Johnson most recently worked for Lam Research Corp., serving for seven years as senior vice president of finance and chief financial officer. Prior to that, she was employed for nearly 11 years with Applied Materials Inc., where she served in various senior financial management positions.

Interconnect Devices Inc. (IDI) announced the appointment of Karen Bock to vice president of marketing. Bock has been employed at IDI for 17 years. During that time she has served as quality control manager, application engineer and marketing communications manager.

Marta Rencz, head of the department of electron devices at the Technical University of Budapest and the CEO of MicReD Ltd., a Flomerics Group company, has been elected to the Board of Management of the EU-funded Network of Excellence, PATENT-DfMM as manager of the Modeling and Simulation work package. In this capacity she will serve as liaison between the board and the 16 university and industrial partners participating in the simulation activities of the project. The NoE Patent-DfMM aims to establish a collaborative team to provide European industry with support in the field of Design for Micro and Nano Manufacture (DfMM) to ensure that problems affecting the manufacture and reliability of products based on micro nano technologies (MNT) can be addressed before prototype and pre-production.

Mason F. Fein has been appointed director of sales at Wide Band Systems Inc., Rockaway, NJ, according to an announcement by William B. Sullivan, president. His responsibilities will include worldwide sales of the company’s miniature fast frequency synthesizers for automated test equipment, simulator systems, built-in-test equipment, local and digitally tuned oscillators, and other
RF and microwave applications. Fein was most recently director of sales at Red Rock Technologies Inc., Scottsdale, AZ.

Renaissance Electronics Corp. announced the appointment of Alex Sierra as international sales manager for the Ferrite Product Group. Sierra, an aerospace engineering graduate from the University of Florida at Gainesville, has joined the company’s sales team and will oversee the international efforts. He can be reached at (978) 772-7774 x15 or e-mail: asierra@rec-usa.com.

Urs Alder, corporate human resources manager and member of extended corporate management of Huber+Suhner, has joined the Executive Group Management. The move is designed to emphasize the strategic importance of human resources and recognizes the contribution of Alder to the company. A graduate of Harvard Business School’s HR Management Program, he joined Huber+Suhner in 1991 and has headed human resources for the entire group since 2003. He started as a human resources section leader, and managed Human Resources Switzerland from 2001 to 2003.

Rep Appointments

RFMW Ltd. announced that it has signed a distribution agreement for the Americas with EMC Technology Inc., a manufacturer of RF/microwave surface-mount terminations, attenuators and resistive products. RFMW is a specialized distributor that provides customers and suppliers with focused distribution of RF and microwave components as well as specialized component-engineering support.

Trilithic’s RF and Microwave Components division welcomes new companies to its representative team. These appointments will have exclusive technical representation in several regions. dBD Communications Ltd. will be responsible for sales and support in the United Kingdom. GCS Electronics LLC will handle the full line of Trilithic products in Maryland, Washington, DC and northern Virginia.

Roseville, CA-based Vista RF Inc., a maker of low cost, high performance components for the telecommunications industry, announced that the company has signed a new sales organization for France. Atlanthys will be responsible for marketing Vista RF’s products and establishing new customer relationships with companies based in France. Customers can begin working directly with Atlanthys by contacting Laurent Rault, sales director, 02 96 29 43 44, fax: 02 96 29 43 45 or e-mail: atlanthys@atlanthys.com.

Giving design engineers of hybrid microelectronics expanded options and worldwide availability for ultra stable, tantalum nitride miniature resistor die, TT electronics IRC Advanced Film Division has added Chip Supply Inc. as a die distributor for its wire bondable chips. Located in Orlando, FL, Chip Supply has a facility comprised of two clean rooms and five buildings of processing space. Chip Supply will distribute IRC’s WBC series product to all markets.

CDM Electronics Inc., a distributor of commercial and military interconnect products, and provider of value-added contract manufacturing services, has announced an agreement with J.A.T. Electronics, a Canadian-based manufacturer’s representative firm. The agreement is effective immediately, and authorizes the marketing, sales and support of all CDM’s products and services throughout Canada.

G.T. Microwave Inc., Randolph, NJ, announced the appointment of Eltech Sales Associates to cover New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York City, Long Island and Orange, Rockland and Westchester counties of New York. Eltech Sales Associates can be contacted via e-mail at eltechrep@optonline.net. Wes Tech Associates will be responsible for coverage in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Ohio and Wisconsin. Guy Cicinelli of Wes Tech Associates can be contacted via e-mail at guycicinelli@comcast.net.

Networks International Corp., a provider of RF and microwave filters and assemblies, announced the appointment of R&D Technologies as its representative in Canada and MHz Marketing in Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey. You can reach R&D Technologies at david.rdt@ rogers.com and MHz Marketing at www.mhzmidlantic.com.

CAP Wireless Inc., a designer of RF and microwave amplifiers and amplifier subsystems, announced the appointment of Imagitron Sales Co. Inc. as its exclusive sales representative for Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Washington, DC. Imagitron can be reached at 3321 Mt. Carmel Road, Upperco, MD 21155 (410) 374-5600. Additionally, CAP Wireless has appointed RF Electronic Sales Co. Inc. as its exclusive sales representative for metro New York and northern New Jersey. RF Electronic Sales can be reached at 366 North Broadway, Suite 410, Jericho, NY 11753 (516) 624-3800.

Web site

Vicor Corp. announced the availability of Vicor Quality Center on www.vicorpower.com. This center is designed to satisfy the needs of customers or prospective customers for up-to-date information on quality operations at Vicor.