Gary Lerude, MWJ Technical Editor

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Targeting 5G, Fujitsu recently announced a prototype 28 GHz phased array antenna that provides four independent, steerable beams delivering 2.5 Gbps.

Keysight Technologies concluded its best year as an independent company, reporting $3.9 billion in GAAP revenue for fiscal 2018, 22 percent above fiscal 2017’s revenue. In Q4, all segments except Ixia achieved strong revenue growth.

The FCC’s meeting last week focused on space-related items, including approval of four satellite constellations proposed for broadband internet or IoT services, as well as officially allowing users in the U.S. to tap into signals from Europe’s Galileo satellite navigation system.

MACOM and Infineon have settled their legal fight over ownership of GaN on Si intellectual property (IP). In an unexpected conclusion, MACOM now owns the IP and has licensed it back to Infineon — although Infineon can't sell production quantities of RF GaN on Si base station products until 2021.

Skyworks reported record fiscal fourth quarter (Q4) and full year results — the ninth consecutive year of revenue and earnings growth. The positive results were dampened by declining iPhone shipments and mobile phone softness in China. Skyworks CEO tried to alleviate any near-term concerns by discussing technology development to position Skyworks to be a leader in 5G.

Apple reported record Q4 revenue and earnings, with revenue of $62.9 billion, 20 percent above the prior year’s quarter and 18 percent above the prior quarter. Apple sold almost 47 million iPhones in Q4, 14 percent above Q3’s volume, yet just 0.5 percent above the prior year’s fourth quarter. However, iPhone revenue grew 29 percent year-over-year to $37.1 billion, reflecting the increasing average selling price of the iPhone.

Radar used to be an esoteric and expensive technology. Not for much longer, as the pioneering efforts of companies like Vayyar Imaging may bring radar into every home, as well as proving it for medical and industrial applications.

In two separate votes today, the FCC proposed to allocate 1.2 GHz at 6 GHz for unlicensed applications — aka Wi-Fi — and updated the rules governing licenses in the 3.5 GHz Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) band.

In this audio interview, market analyst Earl Lum talks about the recent Mobile World Congress Americas and his take on 5G, the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) and small cells.

Reflecting strong demand for SiC and GaN, Wolfspeed’s fourth fiscal quarter (Q4) revenue grew 34 percent sequentially and 81 percent year-over-year (Y/Y) to $110 million. For the full fiscal year, Wolfspeed’s revenue was $329 million, 49 percent above the revenue achieved in fiscal 2017.