RF & Microwave Industry News

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A new report by the Maravedis analyst firm predicts the number of WiMAX subscribers worldwide will top 100 million by 2014. It is slightly more bullish than a report published earlier this year by Juniper Research, which predicted 80 million WiMAX subscribers by 2013 ( Mobile WiMAX subscribers to...

The technical definition of an amplification class is not obvious. Patents are among the best documents to explain and define what an amplification class is. 1,2 Reviewing the claims sections of those documents is an interesting exercise in understanding the inherent complexity of an amplification class definition. From a...

In recent years, wireless communications have progressed very rapidly. Broadband antenna design has become very important for wireless applications. UWB is a high data-rate and short-range wireless technology, utilizing the unlicensed radio spectrum from 3.1 to 10.6 GHz. The UWB antenna is one of the major components of UWB...

Commercially available 5 GHz WLAN transceivers—with the exception of power amplifiers (PA)—have recently been using advanced CMOS and SiGe BiCMOS technology. 1 It is commonly believed that RFICs made with Si technology, especially CMOS technology, have the lowest cost and can be easily integrated with digital CMOS ICs to...

The development of GaN technology has brought with it the need for accurate nonlinear active device models that can be easily used in standard design tools. A GaN HEMT model should ideally be scalable with gate width and should be able to predict the performance of the device over...

The automatic gain control (AGC) circuit is a critical building block in modern wireless transceivers. It is used in both the transmitter (TX) and receiver (RX). In the TX, the AGC is used to regulate the output power level. For example, a well-known issue in a CDMA system is...

The development of the multi-coax/DC connector has been prolonged and demanding, taking over 25 years. At first there was the development of the Quick Connectors or ‘push-on’ type connectors, which were originally designed and introduced for applications where limited space requirements made tightening, torquing and loosening a threaded coupling...

At present, market demand for miniaturization of SMT components is satisfied at the expense of poorer component insertion loss and limited levels of ultimate rejection. While high Q components offer increased range and/or reduced noise figure at the system level, miniaturized components fit mechanical constraints and tight budgets. The...

Intelligent Optimization Tool Optimizer is new intelligent tool for Vector Fields’ electromagnetic modeling and simulation software that will automatically find the best solution to a design problem. Optimizer automatically selects and manages multiple goal-seeking algorithms to eliminate the need for manual intervention and to make optimization feasible in virtually...

SMT Mixer Hittite Microwave has introduced a new HMC258LC3B GaAs MMIC sub-harmonic SMT mixer intended for microwave radios, VSAT, test and measurement, instrumentation and military applications from 14.5 to 19.5 GHz. The unit has an integrated LO amplifier housed in a 3 x 3 mm leadless RoHS-compliant ceramic SMT...