Here’s my roundup of news from the past week.

Companies and Products

AT&T announced that 19 states and Puerto Rico have opted in to FirstNet, the nationwide, interoperable public safety network. Congress authorized $7 billion and 20 MHz of 700 MHz spectrum to build the network; AT&T won the 25-year contract to build and operate the network.

During 5G field trials in Beijing, Huawei achieved data rates greater than 20 Gbps using 200 MHz bandwidth at 4.9 GHz.

Modelithics added S-parameter and noise models for five Guerrilla RF broadband LNAs.

Movandi, a new RFIC start-up, unveiled a CMOS RFIC and high efficiency phased array antenna for 28 and 39 GHz networks. The company’s principals are Maryam and Reza Rofougaran, previously with Broadcom.

Nvidia, arguably the new darling of the semiconductor industry, is riding the growing demand for its processors for artificial intelligence (AI) applications.

Rockwell Collins’ board agreed for the company to be acquired by United Technologies for $23 billion, plus Rockwell Collins' debt. This will be the biggest aerospace deal.

Skyworks released a 2.4 GHz front-end module for ZigBee, Thread and Bluetooth networks. Skyworks says the +21 dBm output power of the PA will extend range by 4x.

Taoglas introduced ultra-wideband (UWB) antennas for cm-level indoor positioning applications. Two versions are available: peel and stick and chip.

ViaSat will provide the in-flight internet service on 16 new 787 aircraft being purchased by EL AL Airlines. ViaSat’s service covers North American, Europe and the Atlantic flight routes between the two.

Markets and Technology

Cellular/5G — SK Telecom demonstrated 2 ms round-trip latency over its LTE network, quite close to the 1 ms goal for 5G. Using network equipment from Nokia, the latency was achieved using uplink pre-scheduling and short transmission time interval.

The FCC reported that Hurricane Harvey caused outages with 4 percent of the 7,804 cell sites in the southeast region — or slightly over 300.

While not as devastating as a hurricane, RF interference from mundane sources degrades cellular performance, and finding it isn’t always straightforward. Read an interesting story of one man who does that for a living.

Earl Lum, president of EJL Wireless Research, says 4.5G and 5G will create a “period of prosperity” for GaN and GaAs beginning in 2018. However, macrocell TRx shipments will decline 4 percent this year (2017), reflecting lower LTE capital investments in China and Asia Pacific.

Broadband — Google Fiber seems to be waffling over its commitment to Kansas City, the first city to receive its 1 Gbps FTTH service. Google is searching for a more scalable broadband technology, as installing fiber is too costly and time consuming. Nonetheless, Google's experiment has been a success for those who have the service.

Technology and Society — Perhaps one of the few silver linings from Hurricane Harvey was the organic way Texans helped each other, enabled by the internet, social media and mobile phones. Read this Washington Post profile.

To support the development of autonomous vehicles, last week the U.S. House passed the SELF-DRIVE Act, which stands for Safely Ensuring Lives Future Deployment and Research In Vehicle Evolution. The bill moves to the Senate, where it's likely to get stalled in a traffic jam of other legislation and conflicting views. Read the text of the legislation.

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