Here's the industry news that caught my attention during the past week.

Companies and Products

Ampleon released the first in a series of dual-stage Doherty power amplifiers for LTE-Advanced Pro base stations and small cells. The first devices are LDMOS and cover the 1.8 to 2.2 and 2.3 to 2.7 GHz wireless bands. Across 2575 to 2634 MHz, the BLM9D2527-20AB provides 43.5 dBm P_3dB, 44 percent efficiency at 8 dB output backoff and >28 dB gain.

Antenova’s chip antenna — possibly the world's smallest — was designed in the Lattis Bluetooth bike lock.

As expected, AT&T is suing Nashville over a new law that allows installers to move existing lines on poles to make room for new ones. The reguest was advocated by Google to streamline the deployment of Google Fiber.

CST acquired AURORASAT Software and Testing, a provider of tools for the analysis, synthesis and design of passive microwave components. AURORASAT software includes FEST3D and SPARK3D.

e2v will be the global supplier of GaN Systems’ 100 and 650 V hi-rel GaN transistors for the aerospace and defense market.

ELVA-1 introduced their 10 Gbps E-Band point-point radio to the U.S. market. The design uses 256-QAM to achieve the data rate.

Swedish media report that Ericsson will stop all manufacturing in Sweden, cutting some 3,000 jobs as part of an effort to reduce costs and improve profits. However, a union representative said there’s no formal decision yet.

Fairview Microwave inroduced six I/Q mixers, with RF/LO bands from 4 to 38 GHz and the IF from DC to 4.5 GHz. The mixers integrate a pair of matched double balanced mixer cells, a 90-degree hybrid and a 0-degree splitter/combiner and are fabricated with a GaAs MESFET process (remember that?).

Gogo announced an upgrade to their air-to-ground network, which will provide a 100 Mbps internet connection to each aircraft. The system will be operational in 2018.

Mitsubishi is sampling 70 and 100 W output, 10 dB linear gain GaN HEMTs for Ku-Band satellite earth stations. Mitsubishi says the 100 W output at Ku-Band is among the highest currently available.

Qorvo released two control products designed for DOCSIS 3.1 cable networks: a single-pole double throw (SPDT) switch and digital step attenuator (DSA). Both are fabricated with a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) process, and the DSA provides 31.5 dB attenuation with 6-bit digital control.

Qualcomm is in talks to acquire NXP, according to The Wall Street Journal. The discussions are preliminary and may not lead to a deal; however Qualcomm’s interest apparently prompted NXP to engage an investment bank to open the process to other companies (e.g., Broadcom, Intel and Samsung). Hat tip to Philip Lau.

SiTime announced four, precision MEMS oscillator families, including TCXOs for core and edge networks, GNSS, industrial and automotive applications; high temperature and high reliability differential VCXOs; and ultra-low jitter differential oscillators.

TRAK Microwave released an X-Band, low phase noise, direct synthesizer/up-converter, with L-, S- and X-Band output ports.

Markets and Technology

Cellular — Consumer surveys show what we want most from our smartphones is longer battery life, then a shatter-proof screen.

Blackberry, arguably the smartphone leader before the iPhone was developed, will stop manufacturing cell phones, quietly ceding the market to Apple, Samsung and a growing list of Chinese companies. Blackberry joins Motorola and Nokia in the historical record. For a full and dramatic account of Blackberry’s rise and fall, Losing The Signal is worth a read.

Technology and Society — If we have the technology to stop people from texting while driving, should we deploy it? The New York Times ponders this ethical question.

We hear that mobile video is driving the growth of the data streaming through our networks. Snapchat, one of the latter social media brands — and one I haven’t adopted — seems to be figuring out “how to move TV viewers to mobile.”

The Final Frontier — Elon Musk has long had the goal of colonizing Mars. Last week, he outlined his audacious thinking at the International Astronautical Congress in Guadalajara Watch his full presentation or the trailer:

If you come across news that you think I should include in the weekly report, please send it to me at glerude@mwjournal.com. Your feedback about content is always welcome.