David Vye

A study last July by Strategy Analytics, "Fiber-optic Analog IC Market Forecast: 2007-2012," predicts that GaAs and InP (Gallium Arsenide and Indium Phosphide) technologies will be the drivers for 10G and 40G growth. Collectively, the 10G and 40G capacity market segments will grow at a CAAGR (compound annual average growth rate) of 28% with demand for GaAs and InP transimpedance amplifiers (TIAs), post amplifiers and optical laser drivers representing over 25% of the total fiber-optic analog IC market in 2012. The total market for fiber-optic analog ICs will grow at a respectable CAAGR of 9% through 2012. Driven by increasing...

A friend of mine shared this story with me and I thought it was worth passing along. During the space race back in the 1960's, NASA had to address the problem of how astronauts would write in the vacuum of space. At the cost of $1.5 million dollars they developed an "astronaut pen", which went on to enjoy success in the commercial market. Proving that ingenuity can solve almost any problem. The Soviets, faced with the same problem used pencils. Its a funny story and worth pointing out to our community that applies considerable brain-power to solving problems. Be wary...

A preliminary look at the first quarter financial results for the telecom industry reveals poor but not surprising results, reflecting the impact of the recession. Service provider revenues are down versus the same quarter last year, but only a few percentage points, while capital spending and attendant equipment vendor revenues are down 15–25%. Component makers and contract manufacturers are also reporting revenue declines averaging 20–30% versus the year-ago quarter. Among equipment vendors, revenues declined 15% on average, with Alcatel-Lucent down 6.9%, NSN down 12.1%, and Cisco down 21.5% (with exchange rate effects factored out for Alcatel-Lucent and NSN). Further down...

The IEEE MTT-S steering committee for the IMS 2009 in Boston has extended the deadline for reserving a hotel room from among their block of rooms. The new date, May 8 is this Friday - just around the corner!!! Hopefully, the extension will help all you last minute planners. If you have been on the fence about attending, I recommend you consider the long term benefits of industry networking and the year-in year-out high quality of attendees that go to this one show. While the economy has certainly been rough this year, the IMS is our industry's biggest single event...

Agilent Technologies recently introduced an integrated real-time radio frequency (RF) emitter geolocation technique using a network of RF Sensors. The Geolocation server software estimates position of a non-cooperative intermittent or short-duration RF signal using measurements from the sensor network and calculations with time-difference-of-arrival (TDOA) techniques. "Traditional direction-finding systems are ideal for obtaining the line of bearing on higher power and narrowband signals. However, modern signals with complex modulations, wider bandwidths and short durations are driving a need for complementary geolocation techniques such as TDOA," said Tom Burrell, vice president and general manager of Agilent's Signal Networks Division. "Tightly synchronized receivers...

According to Wirefly, sales of touchscreen devices have grown 56% from the fourth quarter of 2008 to the first quarter of 2009 and currently account for 38% of its cell phone sales. Two factors are driving the sharp increase in popularity of touchscreen phones: The increased choice of touchscreen devices from virtually every wireless manufacturer and its affordability for even the most budget-conscious consumer. “The mobile industry has embraced the touchscreen,” said Andy Zeinfeld, CEO of Simplexity, parent company of Wirefly. “Consumers are in love with the fluid interface. Many find the touchscreen cell phone easier to learn and easier...

src="http://podcasts.odiogo.com/read_now.js"> showOdiogoSubscribeButton ("/YOUR_FEED_DIRECTORY"); //--> This past Wednesday, Agilent Technologies laid off 300 employees at its Santa Rosa division or more than 20 percent of its work force. Agilent employees had been awaiting the grim news for the past three weeks. In March, the Santa Clara-based company announced plans to eliminate 14 percent of its global work force. The layoffs at the high-tech test & measurement equipment manufacturer occurred over the full range of Agilent jobs in Santa Rosa, including managers, engineers, marketing, human resources, finance, manufacturing and support, said Ron Nersesian, who heads Agilent’s Santa Rosa-based Electronic Measurement Group....

RF/microwave integrated device manufacturer, Skyworks Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ: SWKS) announced their second fiscal quarter 2009 results on Thursday. Revenue for the quarter was $173.0 million, a 14 percent decrease from $201.7 million in the year-ago period and versus guidance of $168.0 million. Non-GAAP operating income was $21.2 million in the second fiscal quarter with diluted earnings per share of $0.12, $0.02 better than consensus estimates. On a GAAP basis, operating loss for the second fiscal quarter was $3.7 million and diluted loss per share was $0.03, including $19.4 million of previously disclosed charges relating to the Company’s operating expense reduction...

As expected, Q1 2009 revenue was seasonally down, compared to Q4, in a challenging economic environment of inventory correction and reduced short term demand. Still, total revenue was up 7% as compared to Q1 2008. These results were led by Handset growth of 24% and Defense / Aerospace growth of 23%. The reduction of both channel and TriQuint inventory drove Oregon fab’s utilization to 35% and pushed gross margin down, resulting in a Non-GAAP net loss of ($0.07) per share on revenue of $118.9 million, both on the favorable end of our expectations. Fortunately, an inflection point of increasing demand...

TestBench May 2009 Characterizing nonlinear devices involves measurements and modeling to achieve optimum results. For measurements, Non-linear Vector Network Analyzers (NVNA) are traditionally used to address this market. An emerging approach supports simultaneous measurement of actual current and voltage waveforms at the device and engineering of waveform shapes to boost efficiency. Read more>