Trending RF & Microwave News Stories of the Week (10

Raytheon and United Technologies to Merge to form $150 Billion Company

Raytheon and United Technologies Corp. have entered into an an all-stock merger of equals. The transaction will create a premier systems provider with advanced technologies to address rapidly growing segments within aerospace and defense. The merger of Raytheon, a leading defense company, and United Technologies, a leading aerospace company, comprised of Collins Aerospace and Pratt & Whitney, will offer a complementary portfolio of platform-agnostic aerospace and defense technologies. The combined company, which will be named Raytheon Technologies Corporation, will offer expanded technology and R&D capabilities to deliver innovative and cost-effective solutions aligned with customer priorities and the national defense strategies of the U.S. and its allies and friends. The combination excludes Otis and Carrier, which are expected to be separated from United Technologies in the first half of 2020 as previously announced.

The combined company will have approximately $74 billion in pro forma 2019 sales. With a strong balance sheet and robust cash generation, Raytheon Technologies will enjoy enhanced resources and financial flexibility to support significant R&D and capital investment through business cycles. Click here to read more.

Low-cost 39 GHz Beamforming Transceiver for 5G Communications

The new transceiver is based on a 64-element (4 x 16) phased-array design. Its built-in gain phase calibration means that it can improve beamforming accuracy, and thereby reduce undesired radiation and boost signal strength.

Fabricated in a standard 65-nanometer CMOS process, the transceiver's low-cost silicon-based components make it ideal for mass production - a key consideration for accelerated deployment of 5G technologies. Click here to read more.

Market Size for Millimeter Wave RFFEs to Exceed $1 Billion by 2024

As the market turns to 5G, new C-band and mm-wave RF front end components are starting to ramp up production. According to a new report from Mobile Experts, the millimeter-wave market for RF Front End (RFFE) components will grow to more than $1B by 2024, driven by smartphones, hotspots, and fixed customer premises equipment.

In the report, Mobile Experts explores how 5G will drive renewed replacement of smartphones and add a few new bands and growth in complexity. Further, the report shows how 4x4 MIMO is driving additional RF content in handsets, and how Carrier Aggregation requires more complex RF filter assemblies. 5G mm-wave will be significant, whether in smartphones or in hotspots/tablets/CPEs. IoT growth is starting, which will become noteworthy in the long term. Click here to read more.

Fractal’s Metamaterial Antenna Technology Offers Superior Alternative to Yagis

Fractal Antenna Systems has announced the upcoming issuance of a fundamental patent on unidirectional antennas that replace existing applications with smaller, more versatile and visually pleasing options and form factors. The breakthrough is made possible by the firm’s proprietary fractal and metamaterial technology.

For more than two decades, FRACTAL has explored, developed, and invented fractal-based electromagnetic technology, using size-shrunk fractal resonators/fractal antennas with a broad and or multiband advantage. Fractals have a self-similar structure on a variety of size scales. Close-packing of the fractals makes this a metamaterial, producing a unique composite: a ‘fractal metamaterial,’ that enables wave bending, gain, and control in ways previously not attained. For example, fractal metamaterials made possible the firm’s invention of the invisibility cloak, for which it now holds the patent portfolio for virtually all aspects and uses. Click here to read more.

MACOM Unveils 40 GHz Amplifier for Instrumentation and Communication Applications

MACOM has announced the release of its newest wideband distributed amplifier that operates from 30 kHz up to 40 GHz. The MAAM-011275-DIE is available as a bare-die and has been developed for use in test and measurement (T&M) and communications equipment with broadband frequency coverage from sub-6 GHz to mmWave frequencies. The amplifier supports wideband operation from 30 kHz up to 40 GHz with typical gain of 15 dB. It is input and output matched to 50 ohms with a typical return loss of 13 dB across the band.

Typical part number performance: Click here to read more.

Siemens Uses u-blox’s Positioning Module in its Automotive V2X Test Fleet

u‑blox, a provider of positioning and wireless communication technologies for the automotive, industrial, and consumer markets, has announced that Siemens has integrated the u‑blox ZED‑F9K high precision dead reckoning module into its Toyota Prius V2X (vehicle‑to‑everything) test fleet. Siemens carried out live demonstrations of the technology at the ITS European Congress 2019 in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.

As the only available source of absolute position, satellite-based positioning plays a crucial role in advanced driver automation systems and driverless vehicles. The same is true in V2X communication, in which vehicles continuously share their location and other information with other traffic participants – cars and pedestrians – as well as surrounding infrastructure, improving road safety and reducing traffic congestion. Click here to read more.

Glass-based, 3D RF Device Innovator Secures Funding from Lockheed Martin

3D Glass Solutions (3DGS), a leading innovator of glass-based, three-dimensional passive RF devices, has secured an investment from aerospace and global security leader Lockheed Martin, as part of its Series B funding.

3D Glass Solutions produces a wide variety of glass-based system-in-package (SiP) devices and components using its patented low-loss photosensitive APEX® Glass technology for applications in radio-frequency (RF) electronics, photonics, automotive radar, integrated circuit (IC) electronics, medical, aerospace, defense, wireless infrastructure, mobile handset, and Internet of Things (IOT) industries. They provide their customers complete glass-enabled systems integration services. Their aim is to provide our customers with an integrative solution in RF electronics and IC packaging that allows them to integrate more components onto a single platform while decreasing overall manufacturing costs. Click here to read more.

Antennas Made from Carbon Nanotubes Can be Used for 5G Applications

According to researchers at Rice University’s Brown School of Engineering, antennas made of carbon nanotube films can be just as efficient as those made of copper for wireless applications. The carbon nanotube antennas are also tougher, more flexible and can essentially be painted onto devices.

Matteo Pasquali, the chemical and biomolecular engineer of the Rice lab and his team tested antennas made of “shear-aligned” nanotube films. They discovered that not only were the conductive films able to match the performance of commonly used copper films, they could also be made thinner to better handle higher frequencies. Click here to read more.

5G-Ready Cellular Module with Enhanced Security for IoT Applications

The module also features a lightweight and low power pre-shared key (PSK) management system that is tailored to the needs of IoT applications, along with a comprehensive set of security features.

With mobile network operators announcing their plans to roll out 5G networks, 5G readiness is becoming a key factor in selecting cellular communication modules. LTE-M and NB-IoT are forward-compatible with 5G networks and, by implementing key LTE-M and NB-IoT features from 3GPP Release 14, SARA-R5 offers customers a smooth transition towards 5G via software upgrades to already deployed devices. Click here to read more.

Industry’s First Single-Chip Automotive Imaging Radar with High-Resolution 4D Visualization

4D imaging experts, Vayyar Imaging, has introduced the first automotive 4D point cloud application using a single radar chip. 4D point cloud transforms radar technology by constructing a real-time, high-resolution 4D visualization of both the in-cabin and exterior environments of a car.

Click here to read more.

Qorvo Uses Keysight's Modulation Distortion Solution to Characterize 5G mm-Wave FEMs

Keysight announced that Qorvo, has used their new Modulation Distortion Analysis test suite to fully characterize 5G mm-Wave front end modules (FEM) performance in production testing.

Qorvo selected the test suite to measure wideband modulated signals and ensure full 3GPP 5G new radio (NR) compliance on all front-end technology up to 43 GHz. This additional production testing capability increases customers' system level yields over the lifetime of a product. Click here to read more.

pSemi Introduces Software for Viewing S-Parameters to Assist 5G and RF Measurements

pSemi, a Murata company focused on semiconductor integration, has launched a free beta version of a software for viewing S-parameters. The pSemi sNpViewer allows for in-depth S-parameter viewing graphically. This comprehensive viewer includes Smith, polar, magnitude, phase and phase vs. amplitude charting. Time-domain analysis is also available.

S-parameters (Scattering Parameters) describe the input-output relationships between ports in a linear RF system. Specifically, at high frequency, it becomes essential to describe a given network in terms of phase and amplitude of a wave rather than voltage or current. Click here to read more.

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Trending RF & Microwave News Stories of the Week (10 - 14 June, 2019)