Trending RF & Microwave News Stories of the Week (2

Cadence to Acquire AWR Corporation from NI for $160 Million

Cadence Design Systems has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire AWR Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of National Instruments (NI) for approximately $160 million in cash. AWR is an industry leader in high-frequency RF EDA software technology and will bring a highly talented RF team to Cadence. Concurrently, Cadence and NI also entered into a strategic alliance agreement to expand their relationship to enhance electronic system innovation with a focus on communications.

AWR software is used by microwave and RF engineers to design wireless products for complex, high-frequency RF applications. The technology helps customers accelerate the design and product development cycle of systems used in communications, aerospace and defense, semiconductor, computer, and consumer electronics, by helping reduce the time it takes to go from concept to manufacturing. Click here to read more.

State-of-Art Tunable Notch Filter for Sub-6 GHz RF Test & Measurement Applications

Ranatec, a part of the Qamcom Technology AB group and specialist supplier of test and measurement equipment for RF/Microwave applications, has introduced a new, state-of-the-art notch filter for RF test and measurement. With a continued focus on design and manufacturing of test and measurement equipment for the most demanding niche RF and microwave applications, the new Ranatec RI 266 tunable notch filter covers all sub-6 GHz mobile bands and channel bandwidths – making it the first of its kind on the market. It provides comprehensive coverage of all sub-6 GHz channel plans for design verification, product certification and product testing.

Ranatec's newest instrument is designed to aid test houses and mobile device vendors in meeting the extensive set of ETSI/3GPP conformance test specifications (TS 136 521-1 for LTE and TS 138 521-1 for 5G NR) stipulating levels of radio properties to be verified for enabling high quality wireless access of mobile devices. Two key objectives for the conformance test specification are to detail requirements applicable for any mobile device with respect to transmitter output spurious emissions and receiver blocking characteristics. Click here to read more.

DARPA Using Echodyne Radars to Detect and Track Drones

Echodyne has announced that its EchoGuard and EchoFlight radars were used by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) during the Aerial Dragnet. DARPA's Aerial Dragnet program aims to detect and track small UAS in urban terrain. The program took place in San Diego during the week of October 21, 2019. In conjunction with the Applied Physics Laboratory at the University of Washington (APL-UW), Echodyne’s EchoGuard and EchoFlight radars provided comprehensive surveillance of drone activity in San Diego’s urban airspace.

The DARPA testing involved radar sensors on two large tethered aerostat balloons flying up to 400 feet above ground level (AGL) over San Diego and National City, as well as fixed building-top and tower-mounted locations providing large-area coverage. The sensors were tuned to detect and track small drones and distinguish them from background objects such as buildings, vehicles, and birds. The testing assessed how well the system could detect, track and identify over 150 models of drones including various commercial off-the-shelf models, similar to those available at electronics stores or online retailers, which simulated unauthorized/unidentified drones flying in the city. Click here to read more.

Active Antenna Systems to Disrupt Global RF Front-End Market for Telecom Infrastructure

According to Yole’s latest market research report, the global RFFE (RF Front-End) market for telecom infrastructure is expected to be worth USD $2.52 billion by 2025, growing from USD $1.47 billion in 2018. In a global flattening telecommunication industry, this segment is showcasing a steady growth of 8% CAGR during the forecast period.

According to Yole, this growth is a result of value diversion from the system level to the RF component level through the AAS (Active Antenna Systems) evolution. The evolution of the RFFE industry is directly linked to the macroeconomic and technology trends at the system level that are themselves directly linked to market trends at consumer level for operators. That is why, today, telecom megatrends including 5G implementation strongly impact the RF FE industry and its supply chain with drastic technical changes, in terms of communication frequencies and power levels. Click here to read more.

RFS to Provide Ruggedized Radomes for Antennas in Extreme Weather Conditions

Radio Frequency Systems (RFS), a leading provider of wireless and broadcast infrastructure solutions, is now providing ruggedized radomes with its high-wind, high ice antennas. The new radomes will come included with the antennas and are designed to prevent radome damage in extreme wind and ice conditions. They will thus further strengthen the robust and field-proven RFS high wind, high ice antennas.

Unique Radome Design Features Target Extreme Conditions Click here to read more.

Integrated Quad-Channel Radio Transceiver for 3G/4G/5G Basestation Applications

Leading RF and semiconductor solutions company, Analog Devices (ADI), has announced the addition of a new wideband RF transceiver to its RadioVerse family. ADI’s RadioVerse offers a one-stop radio design environment focused on simplifying the radio development process for a wide range of markets and applications. As demand for data increases globally, telecom infrastructure manufacturers are challenged by shorter time to market, increased antenna count, ever-growing cost pressure, and proliferation in variants of form factors, frequency bands, output power, and software.

The ADRV9026, ADI’s 4th generation wideband transceiver, delivers quad-channel integration with the lowest power, smallest size, common platform solution available to simplify design and reduce system power, size, weight, and costs for 3G/4G/5G applications, including multi-standard base stations, massive MIMO, and small cells. Click here to read more.

ERZIA Signs Global Franchise Agreement with Richardson RFPD

Richardson RFPD, an Arrow Electronics company, has entered into a global franchise agreement with ERZIA Technologies. Headquartered in Santander, Spain, ERZIA is a leading specialist in the design and manufacture of solid-state amplifiers using the latest technologies available to provide rugged and high-reliability solutions for a range of applications, including communications, test and measurement, radar, and electronic warfare.

The agreement covers ERZIA’s commercial off-the-shelf products, including high-power/driver amplifier (HPA) modules and low noise amplifier (LNA) modules. ERZIA’s broad product offering covers DC to 100 GHz, with connectorized and waveguide interfaces. All of ERZIA’s COTS products are ITAR-free designs and offer a high degree of customization. Click here to read more.

SIMCom Partners with Qualcomm to Develop 5G Modules

SIMCom, a leading 5G and IoT module manufacturer based in China has started working with Qualcomm to make 5G technology a reality. Their latest 5G modules - the SIM8200 and SIM8300 ensure smooth operation in 5G Non-Stand Alone (NSA) real networks.

SIMCom integrated the SIM8200EA-M2 into a netbook to realize a stable connection on a real 5G network, signifying that SIMCom 5G modules can fully realize end-to-end data communication capability on an NSA network making 5G a reality. Click here to read more.

MediaTek Unveils World’s Most Advanced 5G Chipset Family

MediaTek has unveiled Dimensity, a family of powerful 5G system-on-chips (SoCs) offering an unrivaled combination of connectivity, multimedia, AI and imaging innovations for premium and flagship smartphones.

The MediaTek Dimensity 5G chipset family brings smart and fast together to power the most capable 5G devices. Dimensity represents a step toward a new era of mobility – the fifth dimension – to spur industry innovation and let consumers unlock the possibilities of 5G connectivity. Click here to read more.

Multi-Band Antennas for Ship Radars Improve Sea Rescue Services

The Fraunhofer Institute for High-Frequency Physics and Radar Technology FHR has joined forces with the Institute for Microwaves and Plasma Technology of the FH Aachen and Raytheon Anschütz GmbH to develop a harmonic radar system that can safely locate people in the water. At the final presentation of the consortium partners, which also includes the company Kadematic Seenotrettungsgeräte GmbH as an associated partner, the experimental system was successfully tested in Eckernförde.

If a person goes overboard on the high seas and gets out of sight, it is almost impossible to detect the person in the water using the conventional ships’ radar systems. The person in the water hardly stands out on the water surface, because the waves reflect the radar signal too much. This is where SEERAD comes in and offers a system that makes it possible to find shipwrecked people or small lifeboats even at a great distance. Click here to read more.

Researchers Develop Terahertz Receiver Using a Single Resonant Tunneling Diode

A research team at Osaka University has introduced a new terahertz detector that allows extremely rapid wireless data communication and a highly sensitive radar by using a frequency range that has previously been very difficult to work with. Their approach combined sensitive electronics and a novel method for handling high frequencies to achieve the long-sought goal of using terahertz radiation for sending and receiving wireless data. The record 30 gigabits per second real-time error-free transmission they obtained may lead the way for next-generation (6G) cellular network technology.

Wireless data is in great demand. Not only do mobile phones need high speeds to stream videos on the go, but some people living in rural areas rely entirely on wireless technology for their home broadband connections. Terahertz radiation- electromagnetic waves with frequencies around 1012 cycles per second, has long been tempting scientists and cell phone companies alike. The high frequency of terahertz radiation would allow more data to be transmitted per second, compared with the current standard of about 800 MHz. However, a practical terahertz receiver has remained elusive, for two main reasons. First, the electromagnetic oscillations are just too fast for conventional electronics to handle, and both the terahertz oscillator and detector have poor efficiency. Second, the thermal noise of the room-temperature detector obscures the received signals above. Click here to read more.

Researchers Develop New GaN Transistor to Enable Faster & Cheaper Wireless Communications

Researchers at the University of Delaware have created a high-electron mobility transistor with record-setting properties, including record low gate leakage current (a measure of current loss), a record high on/off current ratio (the magnitude of the difference of current transmitted between the on state and off state) and a record high current gain cutoff frequency (an indication of how much data can be transmitted with a wide range of frequencies). This transistor could be useful for higher bandwidth wireless communication systems. For a given current, it can handle more voltage and would require less battery life than other devices of its type.

Yuping Zeng, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Delaware and her team of researchers has created a high-electron mobility transistor, a device that amplifies and controls electrical current, using gallium nitride (GaN) with indium aluminum-nitride as the barrier on a silicon substrate. The results were published in the journal Applied Physics Express. Click here to read more.

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Trending RF & Microwave News Stories of the Week (2 - 6 Dec, 2019)