Trending RF & Microwave News Stories this Week(26-30 Nov, 2018)

Globally Configurable NB-IoT Module for 3GPP Rel 14 and 5G

u-blox has introduced the SARA-N3, a multi-band NB-IoT module that supports a preliminary set of 3GPP Release 14 features (LTE Cat NB2). The SARA-N3 is available in two variants: one dedicated to China and another that can operate across multiple bands on any NB-IoT network globally.

The u-blox firmware-over-the-air (uFOTA) client/server solution with Lightweight M2M (LwM2M) allows SARA-N3 to be remotely provisioned with additional features. LwM2M is a more lightweight solution as compared to OMA-DM and thereby ideal for providing critical firmware updates to IoT devices. In this way, SARA-N3 can ultimately become 5G compliant. SARA-N3 also supports the creation of dynamic LwM2M objects, giving customers high levels of feature customization through the ability of scripting their own configurable objects. Click here to read more.

Amazon Web Services and Lockheed Martin Make Downlinking Satellite Data Easier and Less Expensive

Amazon Web Services and Lockheed Martin have entered into a strategic collaboration to integrate the new AWS Ground Station service with Lockheed Martin’s new Verge antenna network. AWS and Lockheed Martin are bringing these two highly capable systems together to provide a solution that addresses customer needs for resilient satellite uplinks and downlinks. Through this integration, customers using AWS Ground Station gain the ability to download data from multiple satellites at the same time and to continue downloading data even when unplanned outages like a weather event impact parts of the network. Click here to read more.

BAE Systems to Develop Machine Learning Algorithms to Decode RF Signals

DARPA has awarded BAE Systems a contract valued at $9.2 million for its Radio Frequency Machine Learning System (RFMLS) program. As part of the program, the company aims to develop new, data-driven machine learning algorithms that will help to decipher the ever-growing number of RF signals, providing commercial or military users with a better situational understanding of an operating environment.

Modern data-driven machine learning research has enabled revolutionary advances in image and speech recognition and autonomous vehicles. At a time when adversaries have built capabilities to disrupt the RF spectrum, it has become critical to explore how machine learning could be applied to traditional RF signal processing. Through the explosive growth of RF devices and the Internet of Things, the number of connected devices such as phones, sensors, and drones makes it even more important to be able to identify signals intended to hack, spoof, or disrupt RF spectrum usage. Click here to read more.

Global Navigation and Location IP Designed for Power-Constrained Devices

Imagination Technologies has released the most comprehensive Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) IP offering. The Ensigma Location GNSS IP core supports GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, and BeiDou as well as several Satellite-Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS) including WAAS and EGNOS. Designed for ultra-low power consumption, the IP is optimized for battery powered remote IoT sensors and edge devices, wearables, health monitors, consumer mobile products, automotive after-sales products such as insurance boxes and road tolling equipment, and asset tracking devices.

Evolving use models mean that a growing number of battery operated products must support positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) services. Consumers want to track their devices, but don’t want to re-charge batteries frequently. In industrial and agricultural environments, users need to track mobile assets to improve efficiency and reduce operational costs, but it isn’t possible to frequently change batteries across numerous devices in disparate locations. In addition, new regulatory requirements mandate the use of location services in some products, for example, to address spectrum sharing requirements in IoT devices and base stations. Click here to read more.

200 Watt Wireless Power System with Data Transmission Capabilities

Würth Elektronik eiSos and Infineon have developed a system for wireless power transfer for applications outside the Qi standard that require up to 200 Watts of power. In addition to wirelessly transmitting power, the system can also transmit data via the transmitter and receiver coils.

With repeated requirements from customers for higher power applications beyond the Qi standard, Würth, created the 760308EMP-WPT-200W development kit to address these high power applications up to 200 watts. A manual is available online and explains the innovative method of modulating the alternating field between transmitter and receiver. Options include sensors and a display board to test scenarios for data acquisition, forwarding and display. Click here to read more.

Narda Develops Automatic Direction-Finding Antenna for Urban Environments

Narda Safety Test Solutions has developed an automatic direction-finding (DF) antenna. The ADFA 1 antenna, when used with the powerful SignalShark Real-time Receiver, is capable of delivering incomparably stable bearing results extremely quickly. Insensitive to reflections, which are ever present in urban environments, it reliably and accurately determines the location of a detected signal. A complete bearing cycle takes just 1.2 milliseconds.

This high measurement speed contributes towards the unprecedented stability of the bearing results. A long list of further advantages makes the ADFA 1 the ideal solution for automatic direction-finding of signals in the frequency range between 200 MHz and 2.7 GHz. As well as for cellular network providers and the military, it is primarily aimed at the users of PMR (professional mobile radio or trunked radio) and BOS (security and safety authorities and organizations) that have applications that involve safety and security, such as the police, fire and ambulance services, frontier defense, and intelligence services. Click here to read more.

PCTEST Partners with Anritsu to Conduct SAR Testing of 5G NR Devices

PCTEST Engineering Laboratory has announced that it will conduct SAR (Specific Absorption Rate) testing of 5G devices using Anritsu's Communication Test System. The MT8000A will be used in PCTEST's Columbia, MD, and San Jose, CA laboratories to emulate a 5G New Radio (NR) radio access network, providing mobile operators and device makers with an efficient means to conduct SAR testing, which is critical due to the imminent rollout of 5G NR technology by operators worldwide. Click here to read more.

Smiths Interconnect Introduces High Power Ku-Band Waveguide Circulators & Loads

Smiths Interconnect has introduced a new suite of high power WR75 circulators and loads. The SpaceNXT Ku Series is a family of passive waveguide components that can be used to create a broad range of readily accessible space qualified waveguide isolators, circulators, terminations, transitions, hybrids and couplers operating in assigned frequency bands from X to V-Band.

The Series is specifically designed for MEO/GEO satellites and offered with recognized testing sequences in order to reduce delivery times and overall cost of ownership. Testing is performed in compliance with general space qualification flow, incorporating industry standard power and environmental requirements. Click here to read more.

Savi Releases New IoT Asset Tracking Sensors for the Government and Military

1 Port VNA to Measure Dielectric Substrate Properties from 3 MHz to 6 GHz

Copper Mountain along with Compass Technology has released a new Epsilometer solution for measuring the dielectric properties of materials. It measures dielectric substrate materials at frequencies from 3 MHz up to 6 GHz and can accommodate sheet specimens 0.3 to 3 mm thick.

Unlike previous dielectric analysis technologies, the new method uses computational electromagnetic modeling to invert the dielectric permittivity and loss. This represents a significant advance over conventional methods, which use analytical approximations and are limited to frequencies below 1 GHz. Click here to read more.

World's First Channel Sounder for Mobile Communications Above 100 GHz

NTT DOCOMO and Rohde & Schwarz have joined forces to set up the first ultra-wideband channel sounder for mobile communications exceeding 100 GHz. They conducted radio wave propagation experiments at frequencies up to 150 GHz. The frequency bands from 100 GHz to 300 GHz are expected to enable high-speed and large-capacity communication for the next generation beyond 5G.

In the experiments, DOCOMO and Rohde & Schwarz measured and analyzed the effects of radio wave propagation characteristics and shielding effects in the mm-Wave range. As a result, the two companies pioneered new frequency bands and contributed to the realization of terabit-class mobile communication systems.

In the 100 GHz to 300 GHz frequency bands, wider bandwidths are available than in the ones used for 5G. However, these higher mmWave frequency bands are strongly affected by obstacles like people, vehicles, trees and environmental conditions like rain. It is, therefore, necessary to research the influence of such objects on the radio wave propagation characteristics. Click here to read more.