Andrew Corp. , Orland Park, IL, has acquired Chesapeake Microwave Technologies Inc. , a privately owned company that designs and develops RF and microwave amplifiers and assemblies. The acquisition is intended to broaden Andrew’s amplifier product line to include world-class, high performance, reliable and efficient single- and multicarrier power amplifiers. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. In related news, Andrew has entered into an agreement with PCS provider Powertel Inc. to supply communications systems equipment for the continuation of Powertel’s wireless network across 12 states. Andrew previously supplied material for Powertel’s initial build-out, which included sites in Alabama, Florida, Tennessee and Georgia.
Defense electronics firm Condor Systems Inc. , San Jose, CA, has acquired Signal Science Inc. , an Allen Telecom company. The acquisition is expected to broaden Condor’s products and capabilities in the areas of communication signal studies and analysis, precision geolocation and communications intelligence signal processing. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Fiber-optic communication manufacturer JDS Uniphase Corp. has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire EPITAXX Inc. , a supplier of optical detectors and receivers for fiber-optic telecommunications and cable TV networks. Under the terms of the acquisition, a purchase price of $400 M will be payable in JDS Uniphase common stock to EPITAXX security holders, pending approval of required clearances and other governmental regulations.
Innovative IC package developer and manufacturer ShellCase Ltd. has formed a new US subsidiary, ShellCase Inc. , Mt. View, CA, to coordinate enhanced service and technical support for customers across North America. ShellCase has introduced enhancements that will enable the company to double production and continues to add capacity.
NEC Electronics Inc. , Santa Clara, CA, has reorganized its North American fiber-optic components business by transferring all marketing, sales, technical support and distribution responsibilities to California Eastern Laboratories (CEL) , Santa Clara, CA. The reorganization was scheduled to begin in October.
Millitech Corp. , South Deerfield, MA, has changed its named to Telaxis Communications Corp. to reflect the company’s focus on the telecommunications access portion of its business. The millimeter-wave products portion of the business will remain the Millitech Division of Telaxis .
Philips Semiconductors has opened a new 7000-square-foot facility in Mansfield, MA for its Discretes Product Development Laboratory. The development lab will support traditional discrete product offerings as well as prototype assembly and testing.
Anritsu Co. has opened two new facilities on its Morgan Hill, CA campus. The facilities, which encompass more than 90,000-square-feet on seven acres of land, will house manufacturing and research and development operations and serve as the training centers to support employee development.
RFIC solution designer and manufacturer ANADIGICS Inc. has opened an RFIC design center in Dallas, TX that will support the company’s efforts to develop new products to further penetrate RF applications in the wireless communications market and provide RFIC designs based on GaAs and silicon-based RF processes. In related news, ANADIGICS has entered into an agreement with Global Communication Semiconductors Inc. (GCS) to develop internal heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) capabilities while enabling immediate capacity. Under the terms of the agreement, GCS will provide ANADIGICS with open foundry service for HBT wafers.
MMIC and MMIC assembly designer and manufacturer Hittite Microwave Corp. has relocated its operations to a new facility at 12 Elizabeth Drive, Chelmsford, MA 01824 (978) 250-3343, fax (978) 250-3373. The new facility has tripled factory size and increased production capacity in an effort by the company to better respond to wireless and wired telecommunications customer requirements.
Standard power supply solution provider Lambda , a unit of Invensys plc , has moved its manufacturing operations into a new, world-class, 260,000-square-foot facility in Tijuana, Mexico. Operations from three other existing facilities (located in Reynosa and Del Norte, Mexico and McAllen, TX) were also scheduled to move to the new site by the end of this year.
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) , Palo Alto, CA, has signed an equipment purchase agreement with Austin, TX-based Motorola Semiconductor Products Sector that will cover semiconductor test solutions, including system-on-a-chip test, RFIC test, memory test and semiconductor parametric test and services. In related news, First International Computer Inc.’s Semiconductor Division has selected two HP model 83000 very large scale integration test systems for its expanding test services business in Taiwan and the US. One of the test systems will be installed at Taiwan-based FICTA Technology Inc. , and the other will be put to use at First Semiconductor Technology in Silicon Valley, CA. In addition, Fluke Corp. , Everett, WA, and HP have signed an agreement that allows Fluke to sell HP models 3458A and 34420A digital multimeters through calibration sales channels worldwide.
IBM and Agilent Technologies , a new company formed from the realignment of HP , have entered into a cooperative agreement to speed the development of ICs used in communications products such as mobile phones. The two companies have collaborated on a design kit that enables HP’s Advanced Design System software to work with IBM’s silicon germanium (SiGe) technology. In related news, IBM has selected the Iridium North America gateway to coordinate special contingency telecommunications plans for events such as Y2K. Iridium is preparing global businesses for any potential telecommunications disruptions in areas where continuous terrestrial service is questionable by providing a solution that will maximize access to communications services in the event of an emergency.
Lucent Technologies and QUALCOMM Inc. have entered into an agreement to commercialize a wireless technology that dramatically increases the capacity and data capabilities of Lucent’s network equipment based on CDMA. Under the terms of the agreement, QUALCOMM CDMA Technologies will provide the core chip and software to be integrated into Lucent’s CDMA base station equipment. Field trials of the new technology are expected during the first half of 2000. In related news, QUALCOMM’s sixth-generation CDMA chipset and system software solution sample shipments, which include the MSM3100™ mobile station modem, the RFT3100™ transmit processor, the PM1000™ power management chip and the SURF3100™ subscriber unit reference development system, have been delivered on time.
Electronic component specialty distributor Richardson Electronics Ltd. , LaFox, IL, has signed a global distribution agreement with SDP Components Inc. to market and distribute SDP products and provide technical support.
Kyocera America Inc. (KAI) and ISE Labs have established a strategic alliance focusing on assembly and test services. The alliance will enable Kyocera to utilize ISE Labs’ test and burn-in/reliability services. In turn, ISE Labs will utilize Kyocera’s flip chip assembly and wire bond assembly services. In related news, KAI has entered into a cooperative subcontracting agreement with Unitive Electronics Inc. Under the terms of the agreement, Unitive Electronics will allow KAI to offer wafer-bumping, assembly and test/burn-in services to its customers.
Electronic component distributor Sager Electronics , Hingham, MA, has entered into a national franchise agreement with Molex Inc. , Lisle, IL, to distribute Molex’s product line of electronic connectors, flat cables, switches and associated application tooling to its US customers.
Racal Instruments Inc. and Digital Lightwave Inc. have entered into a strategic partnership whereby the two companies will collaborate to provide advanced test systems and capabilities and expand their distribution channels. Under the terms of the agreement, Racal will deploy Digital Lightwave’s advanced technology in functional test applications and systems through the purchase, integration and reselling of the company’s products. In turn, Digital Lightwave will designate Racal as Integrator of Choice for functional test applications.
Silicon Wave Inc. , San Diego, CA, has formed a partnership with Tokyo-based Taiyo Yuden Co. Ltd. whereby Taiyo will incorporate Silicon Wave RFICs into modules for use in communications and computing products. Silicon Wave has also formed a partnership with TDK Systems Europe Ltd. to develop products for Bluetooth wireless technology. The alliance will combine Silicon Wave’s IC technology with TDK’s mobile communications software stacks and interface expertise.
Semiconductor equipment distributor and manufacturer Marketech International Corp. has entered into an agreement with Boxer Cross Inc. (BX) , Menlo Park, CA, to serve as the exclusive distributor in Taiwan for BX’s leading-edge in-line electrical measurement systems.
Siliconix has selected wafer processor and die distributor Semi Dice Inc. , Los Alamitos, CA, as an authorized original equipment manufacturer supplier for its discrete die products, which include analog switches, analog multiplexers, low power transistors and power metal oxide semiconductor FETs.
Global independent semiconductor company STMicroelectronics and advanced CDMA product developer Dot Wireless have entered into a partnership to develop CDMA technology and integrated baseband chips based on CDMA technology for third-generation (3G) cellular phones. The two companies have created an engineering team to co-develop baseband intellectual property, embedded protocol software and transceiver reference designs.
Elanix Inc. , Westlake Village, CA, and Xpedion Design Systems , Santa Clara, CA, have entered into a partnership to produce a highly integrated design flow for wireless communications systems and ICs that will enable designers to perform architectural trade-offs and verify their actual system performance. The first integrated products resulting from the partnership are scheduled to be released in the first quarter of 2000.
SatCom Systems Inc. , Burbank, CA, has launched NetRadio, a new mobile satellite service that provides low cost, reliable wireless communications through the TMI MSAT-1 satellite for agencies and organizations with remote-site operations. The satellite’s coverage area encompasses all of North America and its offshore waters, including Alaska and Hawaii, and extends to Central America, the Caribbean and northern South America.
SiGe Microsystems Inc. has announced that more than 12 well-known local multipoint distribution system manufacturers have purchased SiGe’s low phase noise transistors for their oscillator applications.
Circuit Assembly Corp. , Irvine, CA, has licensed Advanced Connectek Inc. for the manufacture and marketing of ATAS,™ the company’s proprietary 40-pin ultra Atbus attachment (ATA) connector that permits implementation of ATA-4 signal and logical protocol for integrated device electronics (IDE) host systems and storage devices. ATAS mates into the existing form factor of the 40-pin IDE connector and terminates to 80-conductor ribbon cable.
Memory module manufacturer DANE-ELEC has signed up for Computer Memory Test Labs’ (CMTL) Intel“ Gold certification program. The aim of the Gold certification program is to ensure that all Intel products have qualified memory modules available. To qualify for Gold certification, manufacturers must ship a minimum of 250,000 Intel-qualified modules per month, build in-house and be ISO 9000 compliant.
Magnetics-based electronic component manufacturer Pulse has been honored in recognition of outstanding sales performance in Passive Components for 1998 by electronic component and computer product distributor Arrow Electronics Inc.
Thin Film Concepts Inc. , Elmsford, NY, has achieved ISO 9002 certification for the manufacture and coating of thin-film components and devices for the electronics and optical industry.
Frequency Electronics Inc. , Mitchel Field, NY, has received ISO 9001 certification by the Underwriters Laboratories’ Registration Assessment Team.
Interstate Electronics Corp. , a division of L-3 Communications , has achieved ISO 9001 certification as a compliant manufacturer for high quality management.
Motorola has received QS-9000 certification for its Compound Semiconductor-1 wafer fabrication facility. The QS-9000 certification has more than 100 additional auditable requirements added to the ISO 9001 quality system.
Financial News
Andrew Corp. reports sales of $215.1 M for the fourth quarter, ended September 30, compared to $220.7 M for the same period last year. Net income was $13.4 M (16¢/diluted share), compared to $26.8 M (31¢/diluted share) for 1998.
E-TEK Dynamics Inc. reports sales of $60.3 M for the first quarter, ended October 2, compared to $32.9 M for the same quarter last year. Net income was $6.7 M (10¢/diluted share), compared to $5.3 M (9¢/diluted share) for the same period in 1998.
Robinson Nugent Inc. reports sales of $20.9 M for the first quarter, ended September 30, compared to $14.9 M for the same period last year. Net income was $784 K (16¢/share), compared to a net loss of $1.3 M (27¢/share) for 1998.
Signal Technology Corp. reports sales of $20.8 M for the third quarter, ended September 30, compared to $22.8 M for the same quarter last year. Net income was $1.43 M (18¢/diluted share), compared to $85 K (1¢/diluted share) for the same period in 1998.
Microwave Power Devices Inc. reports sales of $16.4 M for the third quarter, ended September 30, compared to $13.1 M for the same period in 1998. Net income was $345 K (3¢/diluted share), compared to $205 K (2¢/diluted share) for the third quarter in 1998.
SEMX Corp. reports sales of $12.2 M for the three months ended September 30, compared to $11.5 M for the same period in 1998. Net income was $1.2 M (19¢/diluted share), compared to a net loss of $600 K (10¢/diluted share) for the same period in 1998.
Vari-L Company Inc. reports sales of $5.5 M for the second quarter, ended June 30, compared to $4.3 M for the same quarter last year. Net income was $747 K (14¢/share), compared to $652 K (12¢/share) for the same period in 1998.
Superconductor Technologies Inc. (STI) reports revenues of $1.97 M for the third quarter, ended October 2, compared to $2.06 M for the same period last year. Net loss was $2.86 M (37¢/diluted share), compared to a net loss of $2.50 M (34¢/diluted share) for the third quarter of 1998.
Contracts
M/A-COM, SIGINT Products has completed a multireceiver contract for the Department of Defense (DoD) two years ahead of schedule. Under the terms of the $10 M, six-year contract that was awarded in 1995, SIGINT Products was expected to produce hundreds of a new design of 1 to 18 GHz microwave receivers. By employing commercial off-the-shelf components and technology and state-of-the-art manufacturing methods, the company has saved the DoD approximately $10 M. SIGINT Products also was awarded a $3.5 M follow-on contract from the DoD to supply an improved variant of the SMR-5550 microwave receiver.
Electronic component and system designer and manufacturer Signal Technology Corp. ’s California Operations has received a $2.4 M contract from Turkey-based Microwave Electronic Systems Inc. for F-16 radar warning and jamming digitally tuned oscillators. Deliveries, which began this year, are expected to continue through early 2001.
Solid-state control device manufacturer G.T. Microwave Inc. has been awarded a contract valued at $750 K for the design, development and qualification of an integrated RF subassembly. The company also has been awarded $1.5 M for the initial production phase, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2001.
Analog Devices Inc. has been awarded two development contracts by Raytheon Co. to provide data conversion modules for upgrading both the Patriot and Advanced Medium Range Air-to-air (AMRAAM) missiles. Under the terms of the contract, Analog Devices will design, develop and manufacture a multichannel analog-to-digital converter (ADC) module optimized for direct intermediate frequency sampling as well as high speed ADC modules to support AMRAAM upgrades. Financial terms of the contracts were not disclosed.
Berkeley Varitronics Systems Inc. , Metuchen, NJ, has been awarded a contract by Austron Division of Datum Inc., Irvine, CA, for the design of a dual-mode (PCS and cellular) CDMA timing extractor for precise clocking of microcells and base stations. In related news, Berkeley Varitronics Systems has been awarded a contract by Virginia-based Telecell One to provide CW drive test equipment comprising Gator transmitters and Panther four-band receivers for GSM build-out in Africa. Financial terms of the contracts were not disclosed.
Maxtek Components Corp. , Beaverton, OR, has been awarded a subcontract by Sanders, a Lockheed Martin company, for the development and packaging of multichip modules (MCM) for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) MicroStar Micro Air Vehicle program. Under the terms of the contract, Maxtek is expected to develop two MCMs, including a processor MCM and data. Financial details were not disclosed.
Personnel
Microwave Power Devices Inc. has appointed Alfred Weber chairman of the board. Weber has been a board member since 1995 and, most recently, was employed by C&D Technologies Inc.
Wireless Inc. has appointed William J. Palumbo president and CEO. Palumbo has 25 years of experience in the wireless communications and telecommunications markets and, most recently was co-founder and VP, sales and marketing for Spectralink Corp.
E-TEK Dynamics Inc. has promoted Ming Shih to president of its Asia-Pacific operations. Most recently, Shih was senior VP for the company.
Alpha Industries has promoted David Aldrich to president and COO and Bruce Nonnemaker to VP, operations. Most recently, Aldrich was executive VP and general manager of the company’s wireless semiconductor operations and Nonnemaker was director of semiconductor operations.
CTS Corp.’s Hybrid Microelectronics business has named John D. Watson VP and general manager. Watson joined the company’s Interconnect Products business as VP and general manager and acted in various consulting positions before being appointed to his new position.
Gabriel Electronics Inc. has appointed Andrew Charles VP, operations and Russell Vest VP, sales and marketing. Charles brings to the company more than 13 years of experience in the electronic and consumer goods industries; Vest has more than 20 years of experience and, most recently, was VP at P-Com.
Philip E. Rogren has been named North American VP, sales and marketing for the newly created ShellCase Inc., a US subsidiary of ShellCase Ltd.
United Monolithic Semiconductors has appointed Jean-Marie Houillon director of marketing and sales. Most recently, Houillon was marketing director, Europe at Richardson Electronics.
TEGAM Inc. has appointed James Borton director of global sales. Most recently, Borton was marketing manager of Data Acquisition Products at Keithley Instruments.
David White has been promoted to general manager at Melles Griot Photonics Components Division. White has been with the company for 13 years and, most recently, was general manager and financial controller for Melles Griot Canada Inc. where he will continue his role.
G.T. Microwave has appointed Leonard Kahn to the newly created position of international sales and marketing manager. Kahn has 38 years of microwave experience and has represented more than 100 microwave firms in the foreign marketplace.
Palomar Technologies has appointed Tom Simonson direct account manager for sales in the midwest region. Most recently, Simonson was program manager at Honeywell’s Commercial Flight Systems Division.
Douglas C. Strain , founder of Electro Scientific Industries Inc. (ESI), is retiring from his position as vice chairman of the board of directors. ESI has named the company’s Portland headquarters campus in his honor.
Signal Technology Corp.’s Olektron Operation has announced several new personnel appointments, including Catriona Ewer as quotation administrator, David Hatfield as account sales representative, Lee Provost as account representative — Military Accounts, and Cindy Ginsberg and Samantha Curcio as customer service representatives.
The Department of Energy’s (DoE) Los Alamos National Laboratory has named Raymond J. Juzaitis deputy associate laboratory director for nuclear weapons and director for the National Hydrodynamic Testing Program and Vann Bynum project director for pit manufacturing and rebuild. Most recently, Juzaitis was senior technical advisor for the DoE’s Defense Program Office and Bynum served in scientific positions at Science Applications International Corp. and Rockwell International.
Rep Appointments
Tekmark Inc. , Alpharetta, GA, has selected H-D Associates Inc. to represent the company’s high quality quartz frequency control products for the computer, telecommunications, wireless data communications, and CEM and OEM markets in Arizona, New Mexico and parts of Nevada.
Resistor manufacturer International Resistive Company Inc. (IRC) , Boone, NC, has selected two companies to represent its full line of resistive products. Meridian Marketing Inc. , Englewood, CO, will provide coverage in Colorado, Utah and parts of Wyoming and Idaho; Westrep , Anaheim, CA, will provide coverage in Southern California.
Taconic – Advanced Dielectric Division , Petersburg, NY, has named mmWave Technologies Inc. , Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, to represent and distribute its microwave circuit board products in Canada.
Web Sites
Decision Analyst Inc. , a US-based marketing research and marketing consulting firm, has launched The Technology Advisory Board.™ The Board is a group of technology professionals who participate in on-line surveys and discussions to help governmental agencies and major corporations make better decisions about technology policies, technological issues and new technology products. Select survey results can be found at www.th.technologyboard.com.
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. has added Video-on-Demand to its Web site, which enables users to view tutorials and related materials such as video and audio, presentation slides and an interactive table of contents. The site can be accessed at www.ieee.mediaplatform.com.
HP has introduced its on-line HP CAD data store. The Web site, located at www.caddatastore.hp.com, enables printed circuit board engineers and engineering librarians to increase quality and reduce the time spent creating CAD data for new parts used in designs.
Electronic material manufacturer Electro-Science Laboratories (ESL) , King of Prussia, PA, has designed a Web site that enables customers to purchase thick-film materials as well as screen-printable pastes for use in the automotive, telecommunication, medical and aerospace industries. The site is located at www.electroscience.com.