Find out about Agilent's new economically priced
L Series switches and enter the iPOD giveaway
Reduce measurement uncertainty with Agilent's economically priced L Series switches. With
0.03-dB insertion-loss repeatability guaranteed for 2 million cycles (and typically 5 million
cycles) and unmatched isolation, the L Series switches provide the performance you need from DC
to 26.5 GHz.
Manufacturing is moving from these shores, as price pressures force businesses to seek low-cost
production in other parts of the world. While this is not news to most folks, a recent query about
the possibility of RF design skills following the path of manufacturing evoked an image of a
future United States with no manufacturing capabilities and no design talent. Many
prognosticators envision a future United States with no products, only service.
RF design engineers are a unique bunch, whether they view themselves as such. For most high-
frequency companies, what sets them apart from their competitors is not their manufacturing
capabilities (which can now be readily outsourced), but their design capabilities.
For the companies with RF design talent, today's message is to hold onto those engineers. If
anything, support them, let them mentor younger engineers, encourage their creativity with
support in the form of test equipment, computer simulators, and other tools of the trade. This
industry's RF design talent is one of those competitive edges that sets this country apart. When it
becomes outsourced, we become second-rate.
The Thermal Management
Imperative in Defense Electronics
The one trend that can make or break your company
Still testing thermal performance with cardboard mockups and duct tape?
The most successful Defense Electronics companies are making real thermal
management expertise part of their DNA. New technologies like upfront CFD
software make it possible for every Engineer to handle thermal issues
early in the design process.
Peregrine Semiconductor Corporation announced at the recent Microwave Theory & Techniques
Symposium (MTT-S) in Hawaii the availability of the model PE42110 MultiSwitch™
multiple-switch integrated circuit (IC). The device incorporates four independent RF switches on a
monolithic circuit. It is operated by means of a single outboard CMOS controller for more than
85-percent size reduction in next-generation wireless handsets. The device provides as much as 70
dB isolation with typical insertion loss of 0.35 dB from 100 to 3000 MHz. Its high linearity is
characterized by a third-order intercept point of +71 dBm. The switch IC uses the company's
proprietary UltraCMOS silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology on a sapphire substrate to achieve
excellent RF performance with high linearity.
The industry group devoted to the proliferation of WiMAX technology, the WiMAX
Forum™, recently announced the first North American based certification test laboratory, set
to open in VA this October. The lab will be operated by AT4 wireless, Inc. According to Luis
Fernando Martinez, General Director of AT4 wireless, "Establishing a WiMAX Forum
designated test facility in North America is very important strategically because the WiMAX
Forum and key Telecommunications Industry Forums are located in the United States." The lab
will conduct WiMAX Forum certification testing and radiated performance testing (RPT) to
ensure interoperability of all WiMAX Forum Certified devices.
Visit Microwaves & RF's RF Test Blog to learn about the latest developments in RF and
microwave test equipment and measurement techniques. The blog highlights hot new products,
white papers, and application notes. And while you're there, take a look at the RF Components
Blog, sponsored by M/A-COM for the latest component news, at:
2008 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC)
February 3-7, 2008
San Francisco Marriott Hotel
San Francisco, CA
http://www.isscc.org/
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