Today's RF & Microwave Industry News Stories : 25th April, 2016

Miniaturized Circulator has the Potential to Double Wireless Capacity

A DARPA-funded team has drastically miniaturized highly specialized electronic components called circulators and for the first time and integrated them into standard silicon-based circuitry. This feat could lead to a doubling of radiofrequency (RF) capacity for wireless communications meaning even faster web-searching and downloads. It can also be used for the development of smaller, less expensive and more readily upgraded antenna arrays for radar, signals intelligence, and other applications.

This work was led by Columbia University electrical engineers Harish Krishnaswamy and Negar Reiskarimian. Read more about it here.

This defining feature of circulators is that RF signals, in the form of electronic waves in the circuitry, travel only in a forward direction with reverse propagation of the wave forbidden by the physics of the circuit. Read more

Keysight to Release PDK's for San'an-IC HBT, pHEMT Processes

Keysight Technologies has announced that they have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Xiamen San’an Integrated Circuit Co. Ltd. (San’an-IC) to collaborate on an advanced process design kits (PDKs) for its HBT and pHEMT processes based for Keysights Advanced Design System (ADS) software.

San’an-IC works to provide customers state-of-the-art manufacturing technologies for microwave devices and integrated circuits. This new San’an-IC PDKs will provide RF and microwave design engineers a comprehensive suite of design and simulation tools they can use to develop GaAs HBT and pHEMT devices. Moreover, this combination of strong EDA tool support from Keysight and outstanding foundry service from San’an-IC, enables designers to substantially shortened time-to-market.

As part of the collaboration, San’an-IC will adopt Keysight EEsof EDA’s Integrated Circuit Characterization and Analysis Program (IC-CAP) and ADS software, as well as its services, for use in developing the PDKs. Read more

Third Party/Neutral Hosts to Rule $9.5 Billion In-Building Wireless Market

While carrier-led deployments account for more than 47% of in-building wireless deployments today and vendor-led deployments sit close to only 10%, third-party/neutral hosts control close to 43% of overall market deployment revenue and are set to grow that share to over 54% by 2020. ABI Research anticipates that the industry will see a larger concentration of neutral hosts funding enterprise projects in the years ahead.

As carriers transfer assets to neutral host companies, such as Crown Castle, carrier-led ownership will decline worldwide, with tower companies taking on the bulk of the in-building wireless business. Read more

Fast and Flexible Silicon Transistors for Wearables Devices

A team of researchers from University of Wisconsin - Madison have pioneered a unique method that could allow manufacturers to easily and economically fabricate high-performance transistors with wireless capabilities on huge rolls of flexible plastic.

The team of researchers led by Zhenqiang (Jack) Ma, fabricated a transistor that operates at a record 38 GHz, though the simulations show it could be capable of operating all the way up to 110 GHz. In computing, that translates to lightning-fast processor speeds.

This research is very useful for wireless applications. This transistor can transmit data or transfer power wirelessly, a capability that could unlock advances in a whole host of applications ranging from wearable electronics to sensors. Read more

New 10 Watt Power Amplifier Targets Communications, Telemetry And Electronic Warfare Markets

NuWaves Engineering has announced the upcoming release of an upgraded broadband RF power amplifier (PA) for VHF to S-band transmitters and data radios. The NuPower 11B02A model, featuring high power efficiency and multi-octave operation in a compact package.

This NuPower 11B02A model, part number NW-PA-11B02A, will replace the NuPower Mini Multi-Octave Power Amplifier model, part number NW-SSPA-MINI-10W-0.225-2.6, delivering a minimum of 7 Watts of RF power from 225 to 2600 MHz when driven with a 3 dBm (2 milliwatt) RF input signal. Featuring an improved standby to transmit switching speed of less than 100 microseconds, the NuPower 12B01A allows the user to rapidly switch between the operating modes, conserving energy between transmit cycles in power-limited applications such as unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). Read more