Trending RF & Microwave News Stories of the Week (25 - 29 Mar, 2019)

5G RF Front Ends are Pushing Innovations in Packaging Technology

5G has finally arrived! A number of key smartphone OEMs have already announced products that will support 5G cellular connectivity. It is clear for everyone that 5G will totally redefine how the RF front-end interacts with the network and the modem. However, the new RF bands (Sub-6 GHz and mm-wave) pose some major challenges for the industry, specially in terms of packaging.

Typical RF front-end components in smartphones include various switches, filters, amplifiers and the antennas themselves. SiP (System in Package) technology is being selected by the leading companies to answer to the market needs such as the implementation of an increasing number of bands and the development of circuitry in ever smaller surfaces. Therefore its added-value is its ability to gather many ICs, package assemblies and test technologies on the same surface. In the end, companies need to create highly integrated products with optimized cost, size, and performance. Click here to read more.

Researchers Develop a Transistor that Functions Perfectly at All Current Ranges

Transistors, currently are used almost everywhere, ranging from mobiles and home appliances to aircrafts. But they often operate only within a restricted current range. Working towards solving this problem, physicists at LMU (Ludwig-Maximilians University) have now developed an organic transistor that functions perfectly under both low and high currents.

Transistors are semiconductor devices that control voltage and currents in electrical circuits. To reduce economic and environmental costs, electronic devices must become smaller and more effective. This applies above all to transistors. In the field of inorganic semiconductors, dimensions below 100 nanometers are already standard. In this respect, organic semiconductors have not been able to keep up. In addition, their performance with regard to charge-carrier transport is considerably worse. But organic structures offer other advantages. They can easily be printed on an industrial scale, the material costs are lower, and they can be transparently applied to flexible surfaces. Click here to read more.

ON Semiconductor to Acquire Wi-Fi Solutions Expert, Quantenna for $1 Billion

ON Semiconductor has announced its decision to acquire leading Wi-Fi solutions expert, Quantenna Communications for over $1 Billion. The acquisition will significantly enhance ON Semiconductor’s connectivity portfolio with the addition of Quantenna’s industry leading Wi-Fi technology and software capabilities.

According to Keith Jackson, president and chief executive officer of ON Semiconductor, the acquisition of Quantenna is another step towards strengthening ON Semi’s presence in industrial and automotive markets. The combination of ON Semi’s expertise in highly efficient power management and broad sales and distribution reach, and Quantenna’s industry leading Wi-Fi technologies and software expertise creates a formidable platform for addressing fast growing markets for low-power connectivity in industrial and automotive applications. Click here to read more.

Vector Launches the World's First Software Defined Satellite

Space access company, Vector, has now initiated its GalacticSky division, which has been in stealth mode since 2016. Led by veterans from VMWare and Citrix, as well as satellite innovators, GalacticSky has achieved a major milestone on its path to launch its first GalacticSky software-defined satellite called GSky-1. Utilizing Vector's patented software-defined satellite technology, developers will no longer be required to build and pay for their own satellites. Instead, they can create an application and host it on an existing satellite or across an ad-hoc constellation made up of satellites all within the GalacticSky ecosystem. This will provide future digital innovators the autonomy to develop and test applications in space.

The solution has now been successfully integrated at the University of Southern California's Space Engineering Research Center (SERC) at the Information Sciences Institute (ISI) and will validate GalacticSky's mission to enable innovators to easily and effectively deploy space application technology in space. Click here to read more.

Fractus Antennas' Components Now Available Within NI AWR Design Software

Fractus Antennas has announced that its virtual compact, surface-mount antenna components will now be available within the NI AWR Design Environment software from April 2019. Any NI AWR user can now choose the Fractus antenna component and implement the matching network within the frequency bands from 650 MHz to 6 GHz. The new inclusion will help accelerate the development of wireless devices for Sigfox, LoRa, narrowband internet of things (NB-IoT), LTE-M, Bluetooth and other IoT and 5G/LTE networks through the NI AWR software.

The new design option is another step forward in Fractus Antennas’ commitment to getting the wireless design and antenna integration easy and complete, to accelerate the time to market of any wireless design project matching the upcoming Internet of Things (IoT) wave. While the inclusion of this new antenna library also furthers NI AWR software support for integration of RF front-end modules with single or multi-band antenna configurations for wireless connectivity. The NN Virtual Antenna components, inclusive of BAR, CUBE, ALL and RUN parts can be quickly and easily accessed by customers from within the elements browser of the software. Click here to read more.

World’s Longest Flexible Printed Circuit Measures 26 Meters!

Printed circuit technology expert, Trackwise, has announced the shipment of a 26-metre long multilayer, flexible printed circuit (FPC) that is believed to be world’s longest ever produced. The FPC will be used for distributing power and control signals across the wings of a solar-powered, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The circuit is one of over fifty supplied by Trackwise for this vehicle.

The entire interconnect system (power and signal) of the vehicle is made of FPCs representing an estimated total systems weight saving of 60% over traditional wire harnesses. This will enable the UAV, which is being manufactured in the US, to achieve higher payload and/or improved speed and range. The FPCs are manufactured using Improved Harness Technology (IHT), a patented, reel-to-reel manufacturing technique. Conventional FPCs are rarely more than two metres in length, primarily due to limitations of manufacturing processes. IHT overcomes these limitations, enabling FPCs of unlimited length to be produced. Click here to read more.

IDT to Exhibit SATCOM Beamforming Solutions at SATELLITE 2019

At the upcoming SATELLITE 2019 event in Washington DC from May 6-9, Integrated Device Technology (IDT) will be highlighting its beamforming solutions. Attendees can schedule meetings with IDT's SATCOM beamforming experts during the show and visit the company's booth (#2311) to see the most recent advancements in low cost, high-performance microwave and millimeter-wave (MMW) beam-formers, including: Click here to read more.

New Rain RFID Tag IC Delivers 2x More Chips Per Silicon Wafer

Impinj, a leading provider, and pioneer of RAIN RFID Solutions, has introduced new endpoint IC technologies to meet the increasing demand for item connectivity in the retail, grocery, consumer packaged goods, and logistics markets. An Endpoint comprises of an Impinj tag chip attached to an individual item, providing a unique identifier and enabling connectivity devices to determine the item's identity, location, and authenticity.

Developed in an advanced semiconductor process node, these technologies paint the future of RAIN RFID by endowing Impinj endpoint ICs with differentiated features and enhanced performance, enabling these and other emerging markets in the coming years. Click here to read more.

2.5 Gbps Compact, Outdoor High-Capacity Backhaul Solution from 70 to 80 GHz

Cambium Networks, a leading global provider of wireless networking solutions, has announced the PTP 820E E-band Radio, a compact full outdoor high-capacity backhaul solution operating in the E-band (70-80 GHz). Enterprise, industrial and service provider network operators now have more choices in the spectrum to leverage in their network.

Approved by the FCC and ETSI, the PTP 820E supports 62.5, 125, 250, and 500 MHz channels and delivers up to 2.5 Gbps Ethernet throughput. An attractive feature of the PTP 820E is its Multi-band ability to combine E-band and microwave transmissions in the 11 to 24 GHz bands using a single antenna for high throughput; which results in lower operating costs for the network operator by reducing tower rental and antenna procurement costs; and higher network availability. The PTP 820E extends the wireless connectivity options for backhaul infrastructure in Cambium Networks' Wireless Fabric portfolio of connectivity solutions. Click here to read more.

The Second GPS III Satellite is Ready for Launch

The U.S. Air Force’s second GPS III satellite, bringing higher-power, more accurate and harder-to-jam signals to the GPS constellation, has arrived in Florida for launch. Lockheed Martin shipped the GPS III space vehicle (GPS III SV02) to Cape Canaveral for an expected July launch. Designed and built at Lockheed Martin’s GPS III Processing Facility near Denver, the satellite traveled from Buckley Air Force Base, Colorado, to the Cape on a massive Air Force C-17 aircraft. The Air Force has nicknamed the GPS III SV02 “Magellan” after Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan.

GPS III is the most powerful and resilient GPS satellite ever put on orbit. Developed with an entirely new design, for U.S. and allied forces, it will have three times greater accuracy and up to eight times improved anti-jamming capabilities over the previous GPS II satellite design block, which makes up today’s GPS constellation. It also will be the first GPS satellite to broadcast the new L1C civil signal. Shared by other international global navigation satellite systems, like Galileo, the L1C signal will improve future connectivity worldwide for commercial and civilian users. Click here to read more.

Raytheon to Upgrade Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar on USAF U-2 Aircrafts

Raytheon, under an un-definitized US Air Force contract worth $320 million, is developing a new version of the Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar that flies on the U-2 Dragon Lady aircraft. Equipped with an active electronically scanned array antenna, the ASARS-2B doubles the surveillance range while maintaining the mapping and imagery resolution of the current ASARS-2A system. The newer version completed its flight test at Edwards Air Force Base in California in early 2019.

The new ASARS-2B is a high-resolution, multimode, long-range, air-to-ground radar that provides operators with critical intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance data. Capable of operating in all weather, day or night, ASARS detects and precisely locates fixed and moving targets on the ground. It is normally employed in a tethered mode of operation, which allows transmission of data in near real-time via data link for exploitation of the collected imagery. Operators can then share that information with commanders on the ground or assets in the air, making the ASARS a true force multiplier. Click here to read more.