Around the Circuit
Industry News
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) , Palo Alto, CA, has launched Agilent Technologies , a new, diversified technology company that is a result of HP’s plan to strategically realign itself into two fully independent companies. Agilent comprises HP’s former measurement and components businesses and will provide test and measurement solutions and communications components to serve the communications, electronics, life sciences, healthcare and semiconductor products markets. Agilent will be headquartered in Palo Alto, CA and has 43,000 employees in more than 40 countries.
E-TEK Dynamics Inc. , San Jose, CA, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire privately held fiber-optic component developer Kaifa Technology , Sunnyvale, CA. Under the terms of the agreement, shares of E-TEK common stock and cash with an aggregate value of approximately $40 M will be exchanged for all outstanding shares of Kaifa. The transaction is subject to various closing conditions.
Advanced test instrument and system supplier Bowthorpe plc has acquired the xDSL simulator division of Consultronics Ltd . following a $25 M transaction. The division will operate as a separate company within the Bowthorpe Telecom Group and has been named DLS Testworks to reflect the digital loop simulation technology and product offerings on which it will focus. DLS Testworks is located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and will independently develop, manufacture, support and market xDSL test solutions.
Advance Power Inc. , Solon, OH, has acquired the systems product line of Pyramid Power Systems , an operating division of Pyramid Industries Inc. located in Erie, PA. Pyramid Power Systems’ high power systems, small universe power systems, plant system controllers, disconnects, alarm modules, digital communication modules, inverters, converters, ring generators and distribution products complement Advance Power’s existing range of power equipment. Engineering, manufacturing, customer service and technical support for these products and their customers will be integrated into Advance Power’s Dallas, TX facility.
Wireless communications service provider VoiceStream Wireless Corp. , Bellevue, WA, and Omnipoint Corp. , Bethesda, MD, have entered into a definitive agreement to merge. According to the terms of the agreement, VoiceStream will exchange 0.825 share of the company’s common stock plus $8.00 in cash for every share of Omnipoint common stock. VoiceStream has also committed to invest $150 M in Omnipoint prior to the close of the merger, which is expected in the fourth quarter of this year. In addition, Hutchinson Telecommunications PCS Ltd. , a subsidiary of Hutchinson Telecommunications Ltd. and a shareholder in VoiceStream, has committed to make an additional cash investment of $957 M into the combined company.
GaAs solution provider ITT GaAsTEK has merged its operations with ITT MicroElectronics Center (MEC) . Both facilities are located in Roanoke, VA.
Single-layer ceramic chip MIC capacitor manufacturer Tecdia Inc. has moved to a new facility located at 1153 Bordeau Drive, Sunnyvale, CA 94089 (408) 541-0792, fax (408) 541-0795.
Lindgren-Rayproof has expanded its European operations through the acquisition of Electromagnetische Volumenabschirrung GmbH , a Germany-based medical shielding company. The new company, to be named EMV-Lindgren , will market the full range of medical and industrial shielding systems in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Storm Products’ Advanced Technology Group has added a third facility to its two production plants located in Hinsdale, IL. In addition, the company’s fiber-optics business unit (sales and production) has relocated to a 7000-square-foot facility in nearby Westmont, IL. RF/microwave sales and production will continue operations in the Hinsdale facilities.
Process management tool supplier Electroglas Inc. has purchased a minority equity share of probe station and probe card manufacturer Cascade Microtech Inc. , Beaverton, OR. Terms of the $3 M purchase of series B preferred stocks were not disclosed.
Lockheed Martin Corp. , Nashua, NH, has entered into an agreement to sell its Sanders’ Telecommunications Systems business to Transcept Inc. , a newly formed affiliate of Spencer Trask & Co. (ST&Co.) . At closing, Transcept will be jointly owned by ST&Co., Lockheed Martin and financial investors. Terms of the agreement, which was expected to close in July, were not disclosed.
Surface-mount technology (SMT) and advanced packaging technology assembly system supplier Quad Systems Corp. , Willow Grove, PA, has finalized a distribution agreement with Mirae Corp. of Korea to serve as the exclusive private label distributor of Mirae’s SMT placement systems throughout North and South America and Europe.
RF and microwave specialty component distributor Richardson Electronics Ltd. , LaFox, IL, has entered into an agreement to serve as the worldwide distributor for SIWARD International Inc. , the largest crystal oscillator manufacturer in Taiwan.
Wireless networking solution provider Wireless Inc. , Atlanta, GA, and Witcom Ltd. of Israel have signed an agreement establishing Wireless as the worldwide distribution partner for Witcom’s third-generation, advanced high capacity digital radio systems for use in wireless IP broadband networks. The strategic alliance between the two parties will focus on providing an affordable alternative to traditional and costly high capacity leased lines (up to 100 Mbps Ethernet). Witcom’s products are line-of-sight digital mm-wave radios, which support the convergence of high speed data, voice and video services for wireless IP networking and telephony applications and, in turn, will complement Wireless’ product line of high speed wireless point-to-multipoint access routers.
CoWare Inc. , a provider of system-level design tools for complex system-on-a-chip development, and Fujitsu Ltd.’s WorldWide System LSI Technology group have entered into an agreement to develop a new system-level design flow utilizing the CoWare N2C™ design system. Fujitsu has announced its plans to integrate CoWare into its IPSymphony,™ which will provide a true system-to-silicon design environment. In related news, Mitsubishi Electric Corp. has adopted the CoWare N2C design software for its System LSI Development Environment.
TEMIC Automotive Electronics , a member of DaimlerChrysler Corp . in Germany, has selected Karl Suss , Waterbury Center, VT, as its prime supplier for production substrate bonding equipment. The first installation of SUSS ABS150 Bondcluster has recently been completed and will serve as the basis for TEMIC’s production expansion. SUSS ABS150 is reportedly the world’s first fully automatic cassette-to-cassette substrate bonder using autoalignment with an optical pattern recognition system.
Anritsu Co.’s Microwave Measurement Division has selected Noise Com ’s NC346 series broadband calibrated noise source for the new Anritsu MS462X Scorpion™ vector network measurement system. The system is reportedly the first such instrument with the ability to make error-corrected noise figure measurements on active devices used in wireless communications.
Applied Wave Research Inc. (AWR) , El Segundo, CA, has signed a comprehensive agreement with space- and ground-based wireless communications manufacturer COM DEV Wireless Group , an operating unit of COM DEV International Ltd. , to provide electronic design automation (EDA) solutions to be used on a worldwide basis for RF and microwave design. COM DEV intends to use AWR’s Microwave Office™ software in the design of RF equipment and subsystems for wireless communications infrastructure, including CDMA, GSM, PCS and TDMA standard products.
Mobile telephone supplier Nokia has chosen Texas Instrument Inc. ’s digital signal processor-based open multimedia application platform for its future Wireless Information Devices (WID). The open multimedia application platform is a flexible hardware and software platform that will offer the increased processing power required by advanced and future WIDs.
Magellan Corp. , a satellite access and communications subsidiary of Orbital Sciences Corp. headquartered in Santa Clara, CA, has announced that Maryland-based ARINC Inc. , a developer of communications and information processing systems for the aviation and transportation industries, will be the launch customer for Magellan’s new OM200 satellite modem. ARINC has already contracted for the delivery of the first 10,000 OM200 OEM boards. The unit’s two-way satellite positioning and communications capability will enable ARINC to monitor and track trailers at a low cost.
Ericsson Inc. has selected TriQuint Semiconductor Inc. ’s model TQ9222 dual-band TDMA downconverter for use in its dual-band TDMA telephones. The TQ9222 is a monolithic, 3 V receiver IC designed specifically for dual-band, IS136 standard cellular telephones. The Ericsson 788 uses the device to achieve one of the industry’s smallest form factor phones with long standby time and good performance.
EDA company and memory modeling and verification specialist Denali Software Inc. and Compaq Computer Corp. have finalized an agreement for Compaq to use Denali’s memory system design tools in the development of next-generation Alpha microprocessors. The design tools covered by the agreement include Denali’s new Turbo Channel simulation model, a Rambus DRAM memory modeler and a verification kit for electronic systems memory design. Compaq will integrate the model into its Alpha behavioral simulation environment, which is capable of running multiple, large-scale multiprocessing simulations.
Wireless communications test equipment provider Telecom Analysis Systems Inc. (TAS) , Eatontown, NJ, has been selected as the vendor of choice by the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA) for CDMA mobile handset evaluation. TAS’ CDMA-ATS automatic mobile phone test system is the specified mobile phone test bench for the CTIA Certification Program.
Circuit Assembly Corp. , Irvine, CA, has received a patent from the Taiwan, ROC Patent Office for its multiconductor cable connector, a technology used in mass-terminating ribbon cable to a connector. The technology provides a method of assembly that compensates for tolerance mismatch between the connector housing, contacts and cable by forcing the cable conductors to accurately align with the interdigital transducer slot of the contacts. The patent was recently allowed by the US Patent Office.
Frequency control product supplier Fox Electronics , Fort Myers, FL, has achieved ISO 9001 certification for quality assurance in design, development and production of its frequency control products, including quartz crystals, temperature-controlled and voltage-controlled crystal oscillators, and monolithic crystal filters.
RIFOCS Corp. , Camarillo, CA, has achieved ISO 9001 certification through Bellcore BQR Services for quality systems for fiber-optic instruments and components.
Synergistic multicompany engineering service provider Silicon Integration Initiative Inc. , Austin, TX, has announced formal approval of the delay and power calculation system (DPSC) as an IEEE standard. The DPSC standard includes the delay calculation language and DPC application procedural interface as well as the standard parasitic exchange format and physical design exchange format. Its advantages are expected to lay a solid foundation for faster and more accurate designs using the next-generation silicon process.
Cable Television Laboratories Inc. (CableLabs“) has qualified headend equipment needed for interoperable high speed data distribution from Arris Interactive and Motorola. The cable headend or modem termination system (CMTS) qualification process consists of interoperability, stability, conformance to specification and manageability of product tests and provides the cable operator or broadband service provider with information on how the CMTS will interoperate with multiple vendors’ certified cable modems using different silicon. Arris Interactive and Motorola are the second and third suppliers this year to have their high speed cable data headend equipment qualified. Cisco Systems ’ equipment was qualified in March.
The Center for the Study of Wireless Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) at the University of Oklahoma has announced that AirTouch Communications has become a member of the Center’s Industry Advisory Board (IAB). The EMC Center is chartered to work with the wireless and medical device industries as well as government agencies to resolve interindustry EMC issues. The IAB is responsible for the strategic direction of the Center, but does not influence or bias the results of the Center’s research.
Stellex Industries , Palo Alto, CA, has acquired privately held RF and microwave component supplier Phoenix Microwave Corp. The combined operations will maintain their current facilities in California and Pennsylvania. The acquisition is subject to finalization of definitive documentation, the receipt of necessary governmental approvals, financing and certain other conditions.
MCE Companies Inc. , Ann Arbor, MI, has completed its acquisition of high performance microwave and RF component supplier DML Microwave Ltd. (formerly Densitron Microwave Ltd. ), Essex, UK. DML will operate as one of MCE’s wholly owned subsidiaries and continue all operations from its current facility with its existing management team. The affiliation with MCE will provide DML Microwave with access to expanded capital, marketing channels and other resources. Each of MCE’s business units will establish key technical links with DML in an effort to enhance its current product technologies.
Financial News
Northrop Grumman Corp. reports sales of $2.3 B for the second quarter, ended June 30, compared to $2.1 B for the same period in 1998. Net income was $113 M ($1.64/share), up six percent from the $93 M ($1.34/share) reported for the second quarter in 1998.
Microwave Power Devices Inc. reports sales of $19.1 M for second quarter , ended June 30, compared to $13.5 M for the same period in 1998. Net income was $1.3 M (12¢/diluted share), compared to $0.3 M (3¢/diluted share) for the second quarter last year.
Smart antenna system provider Metawave Communications Corp. has announced the closing of a $91 M round of private equity financing, reportedly the largest round of private equity raised by an equipment manufacturer through the first quarter of 1999. Total investment in the company now exceeds $140 M. Proceeds from the financing will be used to accelerate marketing and deployment of the company’s CDMA smart antenna systems, fund development of products for GSM networks and establish a global market presence with expansion throughout Asia and Latin America.
Wireless communications filter product provider Superconductor Technologies Inc. (STI) , Santa Barbara, CA, has entered into a private equity financing of gross proceeds of $5 M with Tredegar Investments Inc. and Wilmington Securities Inc. , a subsidiary of The Hillman Company . Under the first tranche of the agreement, STI raised $3.8 M in equity in the form of convertible preferred stock. In connection with the financing, STI also has issued warrants to purchase up to 154,592 shares of common stock at $3.00 per share. The second tranche of the agreement will be completed after the company obtains shareholder approval of the issuances.
Contracts
Ericsson Microwave Systems AB has signed a contract valued at SEK4 B with the Greek government to supply four ERIEYE airborne early warning radar systems for monitoring airspace and the Greek islands. The framework of the contract includes an option for two additional systems. All of the systems are completely integrated with the prevailing management and communication systems used by NATO. Deliveries are expected to begin by 2002.
The US Navy has modified an existing contract with Raytheon Co. for the remanufacture of up to 624 Tomahawk cruise missiles to the latest Block III configuration. Under the terms of the $414 M-ceiling-priced indefinite-quantity-type contract, the Navy will order the upgraded Tomahawks as needed. Launched from surface ships and submarines, Tomahawk is a long-range, subsonic cruise missile used for land attack warfare. Block III adds a GPS guidance capability to the Terrain Contour Matching and Digital Scene Matching Area Correlation guidance. Work will be performed principally at the Raytheon Missiles Systems business unit in Tucson, AZ and is expected to be completed in October 2002.
Wireless communication system supplier Decibel Products , an Allen Telecom company, has entered into a $6.6 M contract with China’s largest cellular operator to manufacture and deliver more than 5000 base station antennas, including directional panel antennas, omni antennas and dual-polarized, variable down-tilt antennas as well as transmission cable and accessories. Decibel Products’ factory in Guangzhou, China will manufacture 20 percent of the antennas.
I-Bus Inc. , a Maxwell Technologies company, has entered into an agreement with Massachusetts-based Brooktrout Software, a provider of Windows NT“ solutions and services. As part of the estimated $4 M contract, I-Bus will supply fully integrated PC platforms, including CPU boards, passive backplanes and system enclosures, for Brooktrout Software’s Professional Services Group, which develops total system solutions for interactive voice response and call management.
Fiber-optic instrument and component manufacturer RIFOCS Corp. , Camarillo, CA, has been awarded a $1.3 M contract from SDL Inc., San Jose, CA, to build fiber-optic connectors for use in deep space. The contract involves the development, qualification and termination of a single-mode simplex connector, which must withstand extreme vibration, shock and temperatures.
Globecomm Systems Inc. , Hauppauge, NY, has been awarded a contract valued at approximately $1.3 M by Mercantile Information & Telecommunication Technology Co. LLC to supply, install, test and commission a K-band antenna system and ground communication equipment on a turnkey basis for an Arabsat III satellite earth station facility in the United Arab Emirates. The earth station is intended for use on the Arabsat III BSS satellite network, but will have the ability to operate with other satellites utilizing the same band at other locations within its reach.
Test equipment manufacturer Boonton Electronics Corp. , Parsippany, NJ, has signed a contract valued at more than $250 K to supply 70 of its model 1130 distortion analyzers to the French army. The distortion analyzers measure total harmonic distortion noise, signal-to-noise and distortion ratio, and frequency readings, and provide RMS and average level detectors.
Andrew Corp. , Orland Park, IL, has been awarded a contract from Triton PCS Inc., an affiliate of AT&T Wireless Services Inc. located in Malvern, PA, to supply for the buildout of Triton PCS’ digital wireless network — which will cover a population of 13 million people — in Virginia, the Carolinas, northern Georgia and northeastern Tennessee. Andrew will supply HELIAX“ coaxial cable, RingFlare™ connectors and SureFlex™ cable assemblies for sites that include rooftops and towers where cable flexibility is essential for economical installations that do not sacrifice performance. Andrew will also provide SureGround™ RF grounding kits to protect the installed radio equipment from lightning damage. Financial terms of the contract were not disclosed.
Sprint PCS, Overland Park, KS, has awarded Berkeley Varitronics Systems , Metuchen, NJ, a contract for 12 wireless telecommunications test systems comprising receivers and transmitters for microcell analysis. Financial details of the contract were not disclosed.
Personnel
Arthur Butts has been promoted to VP, sales and marketing at Signal Technology-Olektron Operation. Butts had been sales manager at the company since 1998.
Stellex Electronics Inc. has appointed Louis M. Seieroe VP, West Coast Components Operations and Bruce Quinn director of sales and marketing. Seieroe has 22 years of experience in design/production engineering and manufacturing and, most recently, worked as director of components engineering and manu-facturing operations at Stellex Microwave Systems Inc. Quinn has 25 years of experience in sales and manufacturing and, most recently, was director of sales and marketing, semiconductor products at Filtronics Solid State.
Spectrian has named Chris Tubis executive VP/general manager of its semiconductor business unit. Tubis has more than 25 years of experience in the semiconductor industry and, most recently, served as VP at National Semiconductor.
American Technical Ceramics has appointed Dave Ott VP, New York manufacturing. Ott has extensive industrial experience including nine years with TAM Ceramics as VP, operations for all materials manufacturing and VP/general manager of the company’s ceramics division.
Unitek Miyachi Corp. has named R. Patterson (Pat) Jackson to the newly created position of senior VP, marketing and sales. Most recently, Jackson served as VP, marketing and sales at Signet Scientific Co.
James Griscavage has been named VP, quality assurance for TriPoint Global Communications Inc. Griscavage has been with the company since 1987 as a member of the technical products staff and, most recently, served as quality assurance director.
Electronic component manufacturer CTS Corp. has announced several personnel appointments, including William J. Kaska and Philip G. Semprevio as executive VPs, Francis Loo as managing director (CTS Singapore Pte. Ltd.) and Jeannine M. Davis as executive VP, administration. Most recently, Kaska was VP and general manager of CTS Corp.’s automotive electronic position sensor and actuator manufacturing facilities, Semprevio was president of Justrite Manufacturing Co. LLC, a subsidiary of Federal Signal Corp., and Loo was customer/product support engineering manager. Davis will retain her previous roles as general counsel and secretary in addition to her new appointment.
Trompeter Electronics Inc. has named Patrick Owings western regional sales manager. Owings brings to the company 13 years of experience in sales, marketing and public relations and, most recently, served as sales and marketing manager at IERC.
GEL-PAK Corp. has named Darby Davis international sales manager and Patricia Kennedy sales account manager. Davis spent eight years at Lockheed Missiles and Space and, most recently, was product sales manager for Asia at OnTrak Systems, a division of Lam Research. Kennedy has six years of experience as a manufacturer’s representative in the semiconductor, disk drive and printed circuit board industries and, most recently, held a variety of managerial and technical positions at IBM.
ANADIGICS has named Burhan Bayraktaroglu chief scientist, heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) development. Bayraktaroglu has more than 14 years of experience in HBT research and development, including the fabrication of the first monolithic microwave HBT amplifier. Most recently, he served as technical director, advanced technology at Northrop Grumman Corp.
Rep Appointments
Boonton Electronics Corp. , Parsippany, NJ, has appointed two new representatives to market and sell its full line of power meters, analyzers and sensors for wireless applications. W.A. Brown Instruments Inc. , Orlando, FL, will represent the company in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina, Alabama and Mississippi. Northwest Test & Measurement Inc. , Beaverton, OR, will represent the company in Washington, Alaska, Oregon and northern Idaho.
Frequency control device manufacturer Champion Technologies Inc. , Northbrook, IL, has named two new representatives to cover territories in the southern US. McGhee Group Inc. will represent the company in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma. New Age Electronics will represent the company in Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee.