Around the Circuit

INDUSTRY NEWS

Shareholders of Northrop Grumman Corp. have approved a merger pursuant to which the company will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corp. Of the more than 54 million shares voted (representing approximately 80 percent of the total shares outstanding), more than 97 percent were in favor of the merger. The transaction is expected to be completed in the near future following clearance under provisions of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act. Upon completion of the merger, each outstanding share of Northrop Grumman common stock will be converted into 1.1923 shares of Lockheed Martin common stock.

Wandel & Goltermann Management Holding GmbH and Wavetek Corp. have jointly reached an agreement in principle to merge. The agreement is subject to execution of definitive agreements and approval by stockholders and regulatory agencies. The merger will reportedly create the world’s second-largest communications test company with annual revenues exceeding $400 M. The transaction is expected to close within the next two months. The new company will provide customers with test and measurement products, services and test solutions for the development, integration, type testing, installation, diagnostics, maintenance, service and operation of voice, video and data communications networks. The combined operation will employ more than 2400 people in 11 operating units and 29 sales and service companies dispersed throughout 87 countries. The parent company of the combined organization will be incorporated in the US and operate from corporate offices in both Germany and the US.

Advanced electronic component manufacturer C-MAC Industries has acquired IQD Ltd. , a leading manufacturer and supplier of frequency control products. Previously, IQD had announced that it was negotiating with SaRonix , but those negotiations were superseded by the agreement with C-MAC. C-MAC will market the full range of IQD products to a worldwide customer base through its extensive operations in Europe and North America.

Electronic test instrument manufacturer IFR Systems Inc. , Wichita, KS, has acquired Marconi Instruments Ltd. , Stevenage, UK, along with all of its worldwide subsidiaries from the General Electric Co. plc , London, UK, for $107 M in cash. The sale is effective immediately. IFR Systems will merge Marconi Instruments’ business with its existing RF Division to form a much larger test instruments division. The new combined company is expected to have annual sales exceeding $230 M worldwide and become one of the top eight test instrumentation companies.

Surrey, British Columbia, Canada-based NII Norsat International Inc. has announced it is acquiring all of the shares of IMT Communication Systems Inc. (IMT ComSys) of Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. Originally the Satellite Communications division of MPR Teltech Ltd. , IMT ComSys develops satellite and terrestrial microwave products, provides microwave engineering services and conducts microwave technology research. Pursuant to the agreement, Norsat will issue an aggregate of 1,580,000 common shares of Norsat stock to the shareholders of IMT ComSys. Of these shares, 580,000 will be held in escrow to be released over the ensuing year based on IMT ComSys securing certain contracts with the European and Canadian Space Agencies.

Audio enhancement technology developer SRS Labs Inc. , Santa Ana, CA, has signed an agreement to acquire all of the outstanding capital stock of Hong Kong-based Valence Technology Inc. for an aggregate purchase price of $19 M ($7.4 M in cash and 1.8 million shares of SRS common stock). Valence is an application-specific IC (ASIC) designer and manufacturer of consumer electronics products. The acquisition is expected to accelerate the pace at which SRS Labs’ technology is distributed and to increase the company’s revenue base in China, one of SRS’ most important growth markets. The transaction was expected to close by March 31.

Microwave Instrumentation Technologies LLC , Atlanta, GA, which recently purchased the assets of Scientific-Atlanta Inc.’s Microwave Instrumentation business, is charting a new course for the business as an independent company funded by a group of private investors. Microwave Instrumentation Technologies is expected to introduce its new name and demonstrate its new model 1590A antenna pattern recorder and other microwave measuring products within the next year.

MAXTECH Inc. , State College, PA, has signed an agreement establishing EUROCOM Telecommunication AS of Tonsberg, Norway as its exclusive service center in Europe. The service center will be stocked with components allowing technical staff to rapidly repair, provide replacement parts and enhance customer service capabilities, and can be reached at +47 55 22 82 20, fax +47 55 22 82 80.

Spinner GmbH , Europe’s leading RF connector manufacturer, has established a full-service applications engineering, marketing and sales/service facility designed to meet growing requirements in North America for quality coaxial connectors and related RF products. Spinner North America Inc. will be headed by Douglas McNeil, who was named VP and GM of the division. The subsidiary is located at 6611 Bay Circle, Suite 100, Norcross, GA 30071 (770) 263-6326, fax (770) 263-6329.

Specialty material and service provider Semiconductor Packaging Materials Co. Inc. , Armonk, NY, has announced that it is changing its name to SEMX Corp. Subject to the approval of its shareholders, the company plans to amend its article of incorporation for the name change concurrent with its annual meeting date.

Eupen Cable USA , the US subsidiary of Kabelwerk Eupen AG , has constructed a new warehouse facility and distribution center at its St. Petersburg, FL headquarters. Inventories of the company’s full range of EC3™ corrugated copper cables, connectors and accessories will be maintained at the site for rapid delivery. The distribution center also offers the US and Latin American wireless industry a broad range of value-added, technical support and service capabilities, including connector installation and RF testing of cables.

General Microwave Corp. has opened a new western regional sales office to better serve customers and sales representatives located west of the Mississippi River. The office is located at 15507 East Golden Eagle Blvd., Fountain Hills, AZ 85268 (602) 816-8503, fax (602) 816-8504 or e-mail caggiano@gmcwave.com.

LNR Communications Inc. , Hauppauge, NY, has established a toll-free telephone number ((888) 567-7858) to provide immediate technical support and applications advice on all of its products and systems. Technicians and engineers will be available to answer questions weekdays from 8 am to 5 pm Eastern US time. Overseas customers can receive the same service by calling (516) 761-5567.

Antifuse-based field-programmable gate array (FPGA) supplier Actel Corp. , Sunnyvale, CA, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Space Electronics Inc. (SEi) , San Diego, CA, to develop and market a new line of high reliability, radiation-tolerant FPGA products. The agreement calls for the two companies to link Actel’s commercial FPGA products with SEi’s RAD-PAK package shielding technology for availability by the second quarter of the year. Reportedly, SEi’s technology can increase the total dose survivability of commercial FPGA devices significantly.

Global energy company Entergy , New Orleans, LA, has announced it is using Alcatel ’s Optinex™ dense wave division multiplexing technology to expand capacity in the backbone of its private telecommunications network. The project comprises a 16-channel Optinex long-haul terminal configured initially to support eight working optical channels linking Entergy’s Jackson, MS and Gretna, LA operations and communications centers. This 340 km route also features Alcatel’s 1648 SM synchronous optical network (SONET) multiplexers on each end and three in-line optical amplifier sites for a total engineered capacity of 40 Gbps per fiber.

Hewlett-Packard Co. and BNeD Broadband Network Design have announced an agreement to jointly develop electronic design automation (EDA) products for the photonic systems market. The companies will develop an EDA software package that combines HP EEsof Division ’s Advanced Design System’s simulation technology and RF and digital signal processing models with the comprehensive optical model libraries from BNeD. The software is expected to allow telecommunications service providers and photonics and component systems manufacturers to codesign both the electrical high frequency and optical elements of photonics networks.

Litton Marine Systems and Iridium North America have entered into an agreement appointing Litton as distributor for the IRIDIUM services and products for the marine industry in North America. Litton will offer a choice of telephone sets and a range of subscriber options for the service, including global satellite service and combined satellite-cellular coverage. Also offered will be the IRIDIUM paging and notification services. These products and services will be sold by Litton through its branch offices, sales representatives, agents and dealers. In related news, Litton Industries’ Airtron Division has signed a license agreement with Northrop Grumman Corp.’s Electronic Sensors & Systems Division that allows Airtron to produce silicon carbide substrates for the semiconductor industry using processes developed by Northrop Grumman. Airtron expects the products to be available within a year.

Motorola Semiconductor Products Sector , San Jose, CA, has announced it is collaborating with Motorola Space and System Technology Group , Scottsdale, AZ, in the development of custom complimentary GaAs logic circuits for the planned Celestri broadband satellite network. The complimentary GaAs technology enables the custom logic devices to perform at very low power, low voltage levels and offers radiation hardness protection for the planned Celestri constellation of satellites. In related news, Motorola and Peregrine Semiconductor Corp. , San Diego, CA, have formed a collaborative relationship to explore the applications for Peregrine’s advanced process technology for wireless semiconductors. Peregrine will provide technical details of its Ultra-Thin Silicon (UTSi") CMOS process capabilities for use by Motorola’s Wireless Subscriber RF/IF Division . The companies hope that the new UTSi process will be useful in manufacturing high frequency wireless devices with lower power consumption. The first step in the agreement calls for production of an advanced phase-locked loop RF device for Motorola’s product portfolio in the third quarter of the year.

Millimeter-wave component, assembly and system manufacturer Millitech Corp. , South Deerfield, MA, has received an order from FORMUS International Inc. to provide its 28 GHz Broadband Wireless Local Loop (BWLL™) Hub and CPE transceivers for the first local multipoint distribution service-based, full-service broadband system pilot to be held in Denver, CO. The pilot integrates Millitech’s BWLL mm-wave point-to-multipoint radio systems and Stanford Telecom ’s asynchronous transfer mode wireless broadband equipment.

Mirco-Mode Products Inc. has announced it is expanding its microwave connector line to include blindmate products such as the company’s MMPO,™ MPPO™ and other special microwave interconnect products. Improved performance and complete interchangeability with competitive products are being offered currently.

Flexible and rigid waveguide assembly, passive component, and waveguide antenna and distribution system manufacturer Continental Microwave & Tool Co. Inc. , Hampton, NH, has been certified to the ISO 9001 quality system standard.

The Special Products Division of Siemens Microelectronics Inc. , Iselin, NJ, has announced that the Siemens ceramic components manufacturing facility has met the US automotive industry quality management system QS 9000 standard and the European VDA 6, part 1 equivalent. This achievement distinguishes Siemens ceramic components, including metal oxide varistors, thermistors, microwave filters and resonators, and capacitors, from competitive alternatives. During the certification process, the facility reached 95 percent compliance.

The Inductive Products Division of Vishay Dale located in Yankton, SD has earned a Certified Supplier Award from Allied Signal Aerospace Canada for its perfect record of delivering all shipments on time and defect free during the past year.

FINANCIAL NEWS

REMEC Inc. reports sales of $156.1 M for the year, ended January 31, compared to $118.6 M last year. Net income was $14.7 M. Sales were $44.2 M for the fourth quarter, compared to $33.1 M for the same period last year.

Semiconductor Packaging Materials Co. Inc. reports sales of $48 M for the year, ended December 31, 1997, compared to $33.1 M in 1996. Net income was $3.8 M. Sales were $14.4 M for the fourth quarter, compared to $8.3 M for the same period in 1996.

Comtech Telecommunications Corp. reports sales of $7.7 M for the second quarter, ended January 31, compared to $6 M for the same period last year. Net income was $317 K (12¢/share), compared to $148 K (6¢/share) for the same period last year.

Ansoft Corp. reports revenues of $5 M for the third quarter, ended January 31, compared to $3 M for the third quarter last year. Net income was $1.1 M (12¢/share), compared to $467 K (6¢/share) for the third quarter last year. In related news, Ansoft has announced a public offering of 2,000,000 shares of its common stock for $12 per share.

Kopin Corp. reports revenues of $13.1 M for the year, ended December 31, 1997, compared to $11.7 M in 1996. Net loss was $6.3 M. Revenues were $4.2 M for the fourth quarter, compared to $3.3 M for the fourth quarter in 1996.

CONTRACTS

Telecommunications system developer Alcatel Canada Inc. , Montreal, Quebec, Canada, has received a $50 M contract to act as private telecommunications network operator Hydro Quebec’s exclusive technology partner to meet all of its multigigabit fiber-optic transmission, digital microwave and network management needs over the next five years. In a turnkey project, Alcatel will install its 1648 SM and 1603/12 SM SONET multiplexers, Optinex™ long-haul terminal optical amplifiers, MDR-4000 and MDR-6000 digital microwave radios and TMN-compliant 1320 NM network management system for all operations, administration, management and provisioning functions. In related news, Alcatel has signed contracts to provide its 1000 S12 mobile switching center with Indus, a C-block personal communications service operator in Milwaukee, WI, and with Hughes Network Systems to act as its time-division multiple access switch partner for the upbanded AlReach GMH™ IS-136 product.

Microwave multifunction module manufacturer REMEC Inc. , San Diego, CA, has been awarded a follow-on contract from P-Com Inc. for the continued supply of products for its 23 GHz point-to-point radios. The contract is valued at $21.8 M.

Aydin Telemetry , a division of Aydin Corp. located in Newtown, PA, has been selected as subcontractor by Boeing Aircraft Missile Systems Division, Seattle, WA, to provide flight test instrumentation for the Joint Strike Fighter Concept Demonstration Program. The contract is valued at approximately $8 M. Aydin Telemetry Vector Products will manufacture a majority of the flight test instrumentation equipment and integrate the Aydin data acquisition system and other components for two next-generation X-32 fighter aircraft. Meeting the requirements of the US Navy, Marines and Air Force and the UK MOD royal navy, the project testing program is expected to be completed in 2001. Delivery on the contract will extend through the first part of 1999.

Electronic defense system supplier Tracor Aerospace Inc. , a subsidiary of Tracor Inc. located in Lansdale, PA, has announced that its Tracor Aerospace Electronic Systems Inc. operating unit has received a contract to design, develop and test antiradiation homing receivers from Science and Applied Technology of San Diego, CA. The receivers are expected to improve the targeting capability of US tactical air-to-ground missiles by providing highly accurate phase, amplitude and frequency information over a wide range. In addition, Tracor will provide field engineering and technical data to support system flight testing. Work on the $8 M contract will be performed at Tracor’s Landsdale operations over the next two years.

Power amplifier manufacturer Microwave Power Devices Inc. , Hauppauge, NY, has been awarded a $1.2 M follow-on order to supply highly linear, single-channel, cellular code-division multiple access (CDMA) amplifiers to QUALCOMM Inc. The terms of the contract call for Microwave Power Devices to supply these amplifiers for use in QUALCOMM’s cellular Qcell™ CDMA base stations, which will be utilized to upgrade existing cellular infrastructure from analog to digital while supporting wireless local loop applications worldwide. The order will commence immediately and shipments are expected to be completed in the near future.

Harris Corp.’s Farinon Division , Redwood Shores, CA, has signed a contract with LibanCell, one of Lebanon’s two cellular operators, to expand its extensive network in the Middle East. Lebanon is considered the fastest-growing cellular market in the area with an estimated population of four million. The Farinon Division will work with its Lebanese development partner, Vega Systems, to provide the wireless infrastructure for the LibanCell network, which covers 95 percent of Lebanese territory and currently has more than 140,000 subscribers. LibanCell expects to increase its capacity to accommodate 250,000 subscribers by using MicroStar Plus 38 GHz flat antenna radios to link the network’s existing microcells. Under the terms of the agreement, LibanCell may request additional radios in 1999.

PERSONNEL

Sanders, a Lockheed Martin company, has named Albert E. Smith president. Formerly, Smith was president of the Electronics Systems Sector of Harris Corp. In addition, the company has appointed Rance P. Walleston as director of business development at the Surveillance Systems Division (SSD), Eugene L. Dempsey as director of sourcing and John A. Windyka as director of business development at the Microwave Electronics Division. Prior to these appointments, Walleston was acting director of business development for SSD, Dempsey was director of sales at MC Assembly and Windyka was Sanders’ business development manager for government systems.

John E. Breyer has been appointed president, CEO and chairman of the board of managers at Microwave Instrumentation Technologies LLC. Breyer brings more than 30 years of experience to the position, including technical and managerial roles at The General Electric Company.

Sen. Gary Hart has joined Eagle Wireless International Inc.’s board of directors. Since retiring from the US Senate, Hart has been involved extensively in international law and business as a strategic advisor to major US corporations.

Centurion International Inc. has promoted four staff members to new positions, including Brad Hoffman as VP, manufacturing; Rich Meyers as plant manager; Monty Rohde as corporate director of research and development; and Henry Smith as director of corporate quality assurance. Previously, Hoffman was plant manager, Meyers was operations manager for tool products, Rohde held several supervisory positions during his six years with the company and Smith was quality assurance manager.

Ian Archer has been named VP and GM of CTS Corp.’s worldwide interconnect systems business. Archer will retain his current position of managing director of CTS Corp. UK Ltd. in Glasgow, Scotland. In addition, CTS has promoted William "Willie" MacKinnon to the plant manager position at CTS’ interconnect systems business in Glasgow. Most recently, MacKinnon was a financial controller at the company.

M-tron Industries Inc. has appointed Jon Butterfield southwest regional sales manager. Butterfield brings to the company more than 20 years of experience in the electronics industry.

Switching Systems International has hired Richard J. Martone as eastern regional sales manager. Most recently, Martone was regional sales manager at Patapsco Designs Inc.

Michael Anderson has been named director of worldwide customer service at Electro Scientific Industries Inc. Previously, Anderson was the Americas zone distributed accounts manager at Digital Equipment Corp.

SV Microwave has hired Phillip J. Hayes as hi-rel program manager. Hayes brings 13 years of hi-rel experience to the company, including work at M/A-COM and Filtronics.

REP APPOINTMENTS

Frequency control device manufacturer M-tron Industries Inc. , Yankton, SD, has appointed Chesapeake Technology Inc. , Burtonsville, MD, to represent its line of crystals, oscillators and frequency control products in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. In related news, M-tron Industries has announced that its Canadian representative, Pipe-Thompson Technologies Inc. , has expanded its coverage area to include Calgary. Pipe-Thompson also represents M-tron’s products in eastern Canada. The new office can be reached at (403) 279-6670, fax (403) 279-6684.

Microwave Devices Inc. , Franklin, IN, has appointed Sematron Europe , Rome, Italy, to represent its line of RF and microwave components in Europe. In addition, Solitec , Stockholm, Sweden, has been signed to represent the product line in Scandinavia.

Southern Microwave Inc. , Boynton Beach, FL, has appointed R.L. Engineering Inc. , Davidsonville, MD, to represent its products in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, DC, and Sweden-based Nos Rep Elektronik AB to represent its products in Scandinavia.

Techtrol Cyclonetics Inc. , New Cumberland, PA, has appointed two companies to represent its products, including Brennan Associates , Clearwater, FL, to provide coverage in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia and South Carolina; and Vector Sales Co. , Richardson, TX, to provide coverage in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.

TriQuint Semiconductor Inc. , Hillsboro, OR, has appointed Hong Kong-based MEMEC (Asia Pacific) Ltd. to represent and distribute its RF, mm-wave, analog and mixed-signal GaAs ICs. MEMEC’s Unique Division will cover South Korea, Taiwan, the People’s Republic of China and Hong Kong; the MEMEC Asia Pacific organization will cover Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines.

WEB SITES

Microwave absorber manufacturer ARC Technologies Inc. , Amesbury, MA, has introduced a new Web site that features the company’s products, services, equipment and technologies. The site can be accessed at http://www.arc-tech.com.

Corrugated copper cable, connector and accessory manufacturer Eupen Cable USA , Atlanta, GA, has announced a Web site at http://www.eupen.com to provide information on its products and services.

Fordahl USA Inc. , Gainesville, GA, has added downloadable product data sheets to its Web site at http://www.fordahl.com that can be formatted as PDF files or Microsoft Word documents. The specifications sheets are also available in a ZIP file.

LNR Communications Inc. , Hauppauge, NY, has introduced a Web site to provide information about the company’s products and systems. The site can be accessed at http://www.lnr.com.

Modco Inc. , Sparks, NV, has created a new Web site at http://www.modcoinc.com that features its oscillator products, including VCOs, low noise oscillators and standard wideband oscillators that are available as custom VCOs from 5 MHz to 7 GHz.

PCB fabrication provider PCB Engineering Inc. , Milpitas, CA, has established a new Web site that offers information about the company as well as an on-line circuit board fabrication quote sheet. The site can be accessed at http://www.pcbengineering.com.

Southern Microwave Inc. has developed a new Web site at http://www.southernmw.com that features information about the company and its products. The company’s e-mail address is circulators@southernmw.com.

Techtrol Cyclonetics Inc. has established a new Web site at http://www.tci-ant.com that features specifications and outline drawings for the company’s complete line of low noise and ultra-low noise crystal oscillators, microwave sources, phase-locked multipliers, discrete frequency multipliers, and noise calibration components and references. Products from the company’s Advanced Noise Technologies Division also are featured, as well as articles on noise measurement and calibration.