FPGA Central

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RF DesignLine Newsletter
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The RF DesignLine Newsletter is delivered to you
free of charge from the staff of RF DesignLine.
To view the RF DesignLine visit:
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0EtYM0EP

05-20-2009

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This issued sponsored by IEEE MTT-S Intl Microwave Symposium

The premier microwave and RF conference and exhibition is coming to
Boston. Wireless, Radar, RF, high frequency semiconductors,
electromagnetics, com/mil RF, microwave and mm-wave electronics and
applications. Register by May 15 and Save 25%. June 7-12, 2009.
Learn more: http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HEqf0EU
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EDITOR'S NOTE

--As some of you know, data, statistics, and the misuse/misapplication
of both (whether innocent, deliberate, or due to other reason) drives
me crazy. It's is getting worse, too, as innumeracy and ignorance
combine with agenda-driven use of numbers, as well as their endless
repetition. (Special note to "RF DesignLine" subscribers who also get
the "Planet Analog" newsletter: you'll see the next paragraph and the
one after that in that newsletter as well; consider this your "deja
vu" feeling alert!)

We had a great example of such data abuse in the last few weeks, with
the often-cited figure of 30,000+ annual deaths typically, due to the
flu. So, where does this number actually come from, and how solid is
it? Once again, only The Wall Street Journal actually did the hard
work of digging deep rather than just repeating the so-called fact,
and the story is fascinating; I urge you to read "A Pandemic of
Confusion About Flu's Death Rates"
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HIhQ0E3

Why is this story relevant to us,besides the inherent interest? It's a
reminder: just because the data appears precise, doesn't mean it's
right. We always have to ask ourselves, in design and debug, where the
numbers came from, how realistic are they, how accurate and confident
are we in them? Otherwise, we risk thinking something is OK when it is
not, or chasing problems that aren't there, or chasing the wrong
problems.

--Wi-Fi on commercial flights: I was on a Virgin America flight last
week which had Wi-Fi access, $12 for the six-hour flight. That seems
pretty reasonable. I can’t comment on the speed or consistency of the
service, since I didn't use it, but the fellow next to me seemed to be
happy with it. As long as they don't have cell-phone service on the
plane, I'm OK with such connectivity!

It's too bad the flying public has no idea of how much technology
(hardware and software) it takes, at all levels from physical layer
all the way up to the top of the multilayered interconnection
protocol, it takes to provide this service. Coincidentally, there was
an article also in The Wall Street Journal on the topic: "Internet
Service in the Air Is Slow to Take Off; Though Rollout Is Under Way,
Carriers Still Can't Confirm Which Flights Have Wi-Fi"
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HIhR0E4
which gave a nice perspective.

--We lead off this week with Part 3 of a story on low-power, robust RF
design, certainly of interest to many, if not almost all, RF
designers. We also have some interesting products, covering RF SOC
modules, low-noise amplifiers (LNA), and other front ends. And if all
this seems just too "same old, same old" to you, check out the latest
thinking on Star Trek-like "warp drive"!

Feel free to contact me with any suggestions, comments, or even a few
criticisms!

That's it for now. . . .

Bill Schweber, Site Editor, RF DesignLine
bschweber (AT) techinsights (DOT) com
P.S. Don't forget to check out the links at the very end (below) to
articles that may interest you from other publications. Each week, we
have three or four new ones, absolutely with no repeats.

TECHNICAL ARTICLES

--Design Considerations for Robust, Low-Power RF Products (Part 3)--
Understand the techniques you can use to minimize power dissipation
while achieving performance goals
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HIhS0E5

--Using Antenna Diversity to Create Highly Robust Radio Links-- An
improved algorithm can ease the burden of managing diversity antennas
despite the additional hardware or software load they impose
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HIIe0Er

--Motorola's "Green Phone" renews and recycles-- With the W233 Renew,
Motorola attempts to oblige with a carbon-neutral, mostly recyclable
entry-level GSM offering.
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HIIf0Es

PRODUCTS

--2.4-GHz RF SoC supports IEEE 802.15.4 standard-- TI is offering a
complete low-power RF solution for ZigBee/IEEE 802.15.4, ZigBee RF4CE
and smart energy.
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HIhT0E6

--LNA targets applications in the 1.5 to 8-GHz band-- Aimed at a wide
range of wireless mobile communications applications, Avago
Technologies has developed a fully integrated GaAs low-noise amplifier
MMIC for use in the 1.5 to 8 GHz band.
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HIhU0E7

--Broadband products improve CATV infrastructure-- RF Micro Devices
has added two products to its portfolio of broadband transmission
products: the RFMD's D10040300GTH hybrid power doubler amplifier
module and OS10040320PW optical receiver module.
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HIhV0E8

--CDMA cell-band, PCS front end modules boost handset efficiency --
Avago Technologies announced two new front end modules (FEMs) that
incorporate a power amplifier (PA), duplexer, band-pass filter and
coupler to improve efficiency and extend talk time in mobile handsets.
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HIhW0EA

--High-linearity direct-quadrature offers frequency range of 5MHz to
1600MHz-- Linear Technology is offering a 5MHz to 1.6GHz
high-linearity direct-quadrature modulator that extends the dynamic
range performance of wireless transmitters.
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HIIg0Et

--Economical, portable oscilloscopes debut with rich feature set--
Agilent has rolled out six new oscilloscope models that offer more
signal viewing and more capabilities for higher productivity.
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HIIh0Eu

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NEWS

--Warp Factor 10! Star Trek warp drive in the works-- With the latest
installment of the Star Trek franchise packing theaters, researchers
are again speculating about the feasibility of building a
faster-than-light "warp drive."
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HIhX0EB

--Analog/digital marriage ends; MIPS/Chipidea not a good idea-- MIPS
Technologies, Inc. who bought in August, 2007 Chipidea, a Portuguese
analog and mixed-signal IP company, has divested its analog business
group to Synopsys, Inc. in an all-cash transaction for $22 million.
What has gone wrong?
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HIhY0EC

--Analog IC market seen stabilizing--
Conditions in the analog semiconductor market are stabilizing due to
rising demand and slowing price erosion, but a real industry recovery
is still far away, according to market research firm iSuppli.
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HIhZ0ED

--Q1 chaos remakes top 20 IC supplier rankings -- Seventeen of the top
20 semiconductor companies changed positions in the first quarter,
according to market research firm IC Insights, which expects more
volatility in the second quarter.
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HIha0EK

--Report: Ultrawideband dies by 2013--
Ultrawideband technology is effectively dead in consumer and computer
markets, according to a new report from market watcher In-Stat that
says Wi-Fi will take the vast majority of the market for handling high
definition video over wireless links while Wi-Fi variants and 60 GHz
options will grab a thin slice of the pie.
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HIIn0E1

--Wi-Fi backers drive to 60 GHz--
Five top Wi-Fi chip makers and a handful of computer and consumer OEMs
have created the Wireless Gigabit Alliance that aims to release later
this year a specification for 60 GHz networking at rates up to 6
Gbits/second, competing with startups such as Amimon and SiBeam that
have rallied similar alliances around their technologies and already
delivered working chips to OEM partners.
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HIIo0E2

--Detector to peer deep into the 'Big Bang'-- Microwave polarization
sensors aim to confirm inflation theory of universe's origin.
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HIIp0E3

VIEWPOINT

--Goodbye, UWB; but we hardly knew you-- Ultrawideband (UWB) was
supposed to be the "next big thing", but it's not there yet (and may
never be); what happened?
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HIhb0EL

--In recognition of the older discrete component-- The 2N2222
transistor is still with us, and going strong; are they any other
components like it?
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HIIs0E6

--What's the status of RFID?--
Is radio-frequency identification catching on as predicted? The
answer, as you might expect, is: it depends who's asking.
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HHgB0El

MOST POPULAR ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

--Using Antenna Diversity to Create Highly Robust Radio Links-- An
improved algorithm can ease the burden of managing diversity antennas
despite the additional hardware or software load they impose
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HIIe0Er

--Motorola's "Green Phone" renews and recycles-- With the W233 Renew,
Motorola attempts to oblige with a carbon-neutral, mostly recyclable
entry-level GSM offering.
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HIIf0Es

--Wi-Fi backers drive to 60 GHz--
Five top Wi-Fi chip makers and a handful of computer and consumer OEMs
have created the Wireless Gigabit Alliance that aims to release later
this year a specification for 60 GHz networking at rates up to 6
Gbits/second.
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HIIo0E2

--Getting some basic RF experience--
The best way to learn RF circuits is to build some basic ones, but
where to start?
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HHgE0Eo

--Report: Ultrawideband dies by 2013--
Ultrawideband technology is effectively dead in consumer and computer
markets, according to a new report from market watcher In-Stat that
says Wi-Fi will take the vast majority of the market for handling high
definition video over.
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HIIn0E1

--In recognition of the older discrete component-- The 2N2222
transistor is still with us, and going strong; are they any other
components like it?
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HIIs0E6

--Design Considerations for Robust, Low-Power RF Products (Part 3)--
Understand the techniques you can use to minimize power dissipation
while achieving performance goals
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HIhS0E5

AROUND THE WEB
Some interesting technical articles recently seen in other
publications:

--This analysis examines the system performance impact for the phase
noise contributions of the various PLLs within the transmitter
frequency chain of a WiMAX access point:
"Gauge Phase Noise Impact On WiMAX APs,"
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HIhc0EM
Microwaves & RF, February 2009

--Glass offers great potential as an alternative to traditional
high-frequency substrate materials, allowing the design of
high-performance circuits using standard integrated-circuit processes:
"Form Bandpass Filters On Glass Substrates,"
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HIhd0EN
Microwaves & RF, February 2009

--Advancements in Vector Network Analysis (VNA) hardware and software
algorithms have enabled a new class of instrumentation for analysis of
active components:
"Nonlinear Vector Network Analyzer Applications,"
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HIhe0EO
Microwave Journal, March 2009

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NOW HIRING ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Electronics Group Now Hiring 05/08/09

Boston Scientific seeking Principal Electrical Engineer in Natick, MA
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HFFO0EP

EnergyHub seeking Senior Electrical Engineer in Brooklyn, NY
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HFFP0EQ

Schweitzer Engineering Labs seeking Engineer III in Pullman, WA
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HFBI0EF

Schweitzer Engineering Labs seeking Manufacturing Engineer in
Pullman, WA
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HHFF0EI

Osram Sylvania seeking Sr. Engineer in Hillsboro, NH
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HIEp0Ey

For more great jobs, career-related news, features and services,
please visit TechInsights EETimesCareers.
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0EfwY0Er
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