Pat Hindle, MWJ Editor

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Carol Kasyjanski has become the first American recipient of a wireless pacemaker that allows her doctor to monitor her health automatically over the Internet. The wireless home monitoring system collects the data through a WiFi connection and transmits it over the Internet to her doctor. The server and the remote monitor communicate at least once a day to download all the relevant information and alert the doctor and patient if there is anything unusual. Now when she visits the doctor, about 90% of the tests are already completed from the data collected. She has suffered from a severe heart condition...

Euroconsult states that growth in the fixed satellite market has remained strong despite the adverse economic environment. According to their latest forecast, the fixed satellite sector grew in terms of both transponder demand (+9%) and overall revenues (+10.7%) representing a peak in the current decade. Digital entertainment and emerging digital markets remain the primary growth drivers, with corporate networks, military communications and broadband access uptake also contributing to growth. Our August Satellite and mmWave themed issue is live online today with the cover feature focusing on the Mil SatCom Capacity Crunch. It includes survey responses from companies in the...

Researchers at GA Tech Research Institute ( GTRI ) are developing a novel heat-transfer material for powerful radar systems with a goal of removing heat up to 100 times more effectively than present materials. The novel material is a composite of diamond and copper that is trying to achieve thermal conductivity of up to 20,000 watts per meter K compared to 200-300 watts per meter K for copper. This would be achieved by using a materials systems approach that would also include liquid cooling. The project is funded by DARPA targeting high power T/R module packages. For more details,...

Euroconsult recently announced that growth in the fixed satellite market has remained strong despite the adverse economic environment. According to Euroconsult’s soon-to-be-released report, the fixed satellite sector grew in terms of both transponder demand (+9%) and overall revenues (+10.7%) representing a peak in the current decade. Digital entertainment and emerging digital markets remain the primary growth drivers, with corporate networks, military communications and broadband access uptake also contributing to growth. According to the report growth in transponder demand remained particularly strong in emerging satellite markets, which include Latin America, Africa, Central Europe and large parts of Asia. These regional markets...

After the 9/11 disaster, the government allocated significant funding for homeland security with a large amount allocated toward interoperable communications. It seemed like it took a a year or two but a good amount of the money eventually became available. Most critical communications companies offer interoperable solutions from simple patches to full IP -based systems. But I have not heard of any significant progress in deploying these systems especially at the federal level where solutions could offer interoperability nation wide. What ever happened to our priorities here? New York was suppose to roll out a state wide system being supplied...

There were a couple of significant RFID news items this week. The first was a report indicating that the global radio-frequency identification ( RFID ) market is growing despite the fact that the world’s largest RFID project - the $6-billion China National ID card scheme - was completed a year earlier. According to IDTechEx , the global RFID market is rising 5 percent this year to $5.56 billion. Most of the action has been in the US, where the largest orders continue to be placed, as well as in the UK, China, and Japan. The second was a contract for...

I was a little surprised by this report that has Skyworks surpassing RFMD in market share but Strategy Analytics announced that Skyworks has managed to gain the number one position for cellphone PAs according to their research. The rapid growth of handsets has pushed the PA market to $2 billion per year with Skyworks and RFMD relying on the majority of their revenues from this market despite diversification efforts. Both firms and their competitors have invested heavily in new PA products and technologies to meet the demands of the cellphone OEMs for ever more bands, higher data rates, higher efficiency...

I recently received this from our Jan 09 antenna expert Dr. Raines and thought it was a relevant subject these days: "Computers Make Us Stupid" That was a key point, and a direct quote from Prof. Pat Winston of the Electrical Engineering Dept., made to over a thousand returning alums at the MIT reunion on June 6. Looking back over recent events, it certainly seems that this was not an idle, abstract, or rhetorical observation. On Monday, in Washington, DC, the worst Metro commuter train crash in its 33 year history claimed 9 lives and caused many more serious injuries....

I am having IMS 2009 withdrawals but came across this ABI Research release that states the crystal oscillator is threatened by a new set of devices grouped under the label "silicon timing solutions." According to research director Lance Wilson, "There’s a growing battle for market share between silicon timing solutions and the traditional quartz oscillator and its derivatives. Right now, silicon timing solutions have about 20% of the market, but ABI Research forecasts that percentage to nearly double within five years." Virtually every device that contains an IC or generates a radio signal needs these devices. The incentives for equipment...

According to IMS2009, the annual conference and exhibition attracted thousands of designers, researchers, developers, academics and executives in the microwave and RF industry to the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center in Boston. Based on preliminary attendance numbers, more than 9,000 participants attended and 559 companies were represented. “This past week in Boston has been an enormous success in every respect,” said Fred Schindler, General Chair, IMS2009 and Director, RF Micro Devices Boston Design Center. “Our attendance results would be great any year, but given these difficult economic times they are outstanding.” Microwave Journal interviewed Fred on the first day...