Here's the weekly report, a recap of recent industry news that caught my attention.

Companies and Products

Analog Devices released a 16-bit, 12 GSPS digital-to-analog converter (DAC). The AD9162 has 2.5 GHz bandwidth with -82 dBc spurious free dynamic range (SFDR) and -167 dBm/Hz noise spectral density (NSD). Among possible applications, the AD9162's bandwidth exceeds the future requirements of DOCSIS 3.1

Anritsu added CPRI RF measurements to their handheld field analyzers (Site Master™, Spectrum Master™ and Cell Master™). The capability helps identify radio uplink interference sources from the ground, reducing the number of tower climbs.

Huawei and China Mobile demonstrated end-to-end, 3.3 to 3.4 GHz TD-LTE at the recent Global TD-LTE Initiative (GTI) workshop in Shanghai. The 3.3 to 3.4 GHz spectrum is available in 45 countries, including China.

Infineon is acquiring Wolfspeed for $850 million, which is 4.9x Wolfspeed's latest reported 12-month revenue. Wolfspeed complements Infineon's power electronics business and boosts it's RF segment, which has long been #3 in the base station market. With the announcement, Infineon declared its interest in GaN on Si as well as GaN on SiC and its intent to become #1 in RF power by 2020. Infineon's CEO, Reinhard Ploss, spoke of Infineon's RF strategy during a call with investors:

Keysight introduced "all in one" software for the calibration, signal creation and signal analysis of 5G waveforms. The Signal Optimizer software can generate and analyze 5G candidate technologies such as FBMC (filter bank multi-carrier) and F-OFDM (filtered orthogonal frequency division multiplexing). The suite can be expanded by licensing and downloading additional waveforms.

Netherlands-based MegiQ introduced the VNA-0460, a compact, PC controlled, two-port vector network analyzer (VNA) that covers 400 MHz to 6 GHz. An enhanced version (VNA-0460e) adds a generator port for three-port measurements and a bias voltage/current generator for measuring active circuits.

National Instruments announced a 1 GHz bandwidth vector signal transceiver (VST) that fits in a two-slot PCI Express module. The PXIe-5840 is NI's second-generation VST, combining a 6.5 GHz RF vector signal generator, 6.5 GHz vector signal analyzer, high performance user-programmable FPGA and high-speed serial and parallel digital interfaces, programmable with LabVIEW.

Raytheon received a $1.1 million grant from the Army Research Laboratory to develop Scalable, Agile, Multimode, Front-End Technology (SAMFET) for the Army's Next Generation Radar (NGR) program. As part of the 24 month program, Raytheon plans to apply their GaN technology to "dramatically improve the Army's radar capabilities."

Filter design start-up Resonant acquired GVR, a Swiss firm led by filter expert Victor Plessky. The deal increases Resonant's design capacity, and Plessky becomes the director of engineering. Resonant also announced the extension of a license agreement with an existing customer, which adds a SAW filter design for a TDD band in China.

Sprint has delayed plans to deploy 70,000 small cells that would use the company's 2.5 GHz spectrum. The mundane task of securing locations for the small cells has become the issue; as with macro towers, some locales protest the appearance and say NIMBY (not in my back yard).

According to The Wall Street Journal, Tesla doesn't plan to disable their autopilot feature. Elon Musk said the company plans to explain the feature and the drivers' responsibilities when using it. The Wall Street Journal quoted Musk saying, “It says beta specifically so people do not become complacent.” He added that the disclaimers to drivers are “written in super plain language.”

Markets and Technology

5G — To support the development of 5G in the U.S., the FCC allocated almost 11 GHz of licensed and unlicensed spectrum above 24 GHz. The commission is also asking for comments on allocating an additional 18 GHz, including E-Band.

Verizon released a 5G radio specification that defines guidelines for testing and validating technical components. Read it here.

Mobile Experts forecasts "wide commercial deployment" of pre-standard 5G in the U.S. for fixed broadband services, even though the standards won't be finalized until 2020.

In an interview with Mobile World Live, Ulf Ewaldsson, the CTO of Ericsson, shared his views about 5G: standardization, timing and how the 5G network must be tailored to serve machines that are "pickier" than smartphones. Watch the interview.

IoT — The Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) published Evolution to Narrow Band IoT, the first edition of a report that will be updated quarterly. The report covers the standardization of NB-IoT, which will be part of 3GPP Release 13.

Economy — China's exports in June fell 4.8 percent from the prior year, and exports during the first half of 2016 were down 7.7 percent compared to the prior year. Imports into China dropped 8.4 percent from the prior year. According to Reuters, the data suggests that measures to stimulate growth in China may be fading, after encouraging readings in May.

If you come across news that you think is worth including in the weekly report, please send it to me at glerude@mwjournal.com.

Have a good week, and make some news yourself.