Pat Hindle, MWJ Editor

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See what the top 10 most viewed articles and videos were for 2015 on microwavejournal.com

This was my first time attending IEEE GLOBECOM that is one of two flagship conferences of the IEEE Communications Society (the other one is IEEE ICC). It drew more than 2300 scientists, researchers and industry experts this year and focused on the hot topics of 5G and IoT. The technical program included oral or poster presentations including about 850 scientific papers, grouped into 12 thematic symposia with more than 15 parallel sessions. In addition to the technical program, IEEE GLOBECOM 2015 featured an industry forum and exhibition program, including industry-focused workshops, tutorials, keynote talks from industrial leaders, panel discussions, small exposition, and business and industrial forums. 

I attended the annual COMSOL conference recently and it made me appreciate that there are many important physical aspects to simulate other than just RF electromagnetic fields. The environment and thermal effects can be significant, and that needs to be considered in many designs.

For the last year I have been following the RF Energy Alliance (RFEA) that is dedicated to presenting solid-state RF energy’s potential as a clean, highly efficient and controllable heat and power source. They envision a fast-growing, innovative marketplace built around this sustainable technology, contributing to quality of life across many applications. 

 I just visited Comsol’s annual COMSOL Conference 2015 Boston where Simulation for Everyone^TM is their trademarked expression. The pre-release of COMSOL Multiphysics® version 5.2 was the focus as it fosters collaboration within organizations by providing simulation specialists the tools to share their simulation work from design and development, to production and testing. 

Highly integrated core chips are now being designed for broader use as AESA radar systems proliferate and commercial radar, satellite and communication systems look to utilize this technology. One big potential for AESAs is 5G cellular systems that are projected to utilize this architecture to steer individual beams of RF energy more efficiently and reduce interference. Peregrine and Anokiwave are now offering core chip designs. 

 ABI Research just released numbers for the RF power market from 2014 showing that RF Power Semiconductors for Wireless Infrastructure “blew off the charts in 2014”. China and the Asia-Pacific region in general continued to be the main drivers for the RF Power Semiconductor devices that were sold into the mobile wireless infrastructure segment. 

 NIWeek2015 was another exciting event with some of the best keynote talks you will hear anywhere. I was able to live broadcast some video snippets from the keynotes using the app Periscope (see my Twitter feed for links to them - @pathindle). Some of the biggest hits were the Berlin heart, autonomous sod excavator and augment reality, real-time instrumented bicycle.  

A summary of upcoming editorial coverage and related events for August through October including the EuMW in August, Satellite and Radio Communications issue and Military Microwaves supplement in September and Passive and Control Components in October.

 The Obama administration has opened up relations with Cuba and Iran to some degree - do these actions have any significant business opportunities for RF and microwave companies? Cuba is a very underserved with wireless infrastructure so perhaps a large rollout could produce significant additional business for components although it is not a large country.