FPGA Central

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RF DesignLine Newsletter
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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....rT0QTC0EtYM0FU

03-04-2009

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This issuse sponsored by: ESC Silicon Valley

When times get tough, the tough get trained! ESC Silicon Valley offers
the best education at the lowest prices. This must-attend conference
is for system architects, design engineers, suppliers and covers the
hottest topics in the market today. Register today for recession proof
prices at http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HCa60FT
Use Priority Code: N100
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

EDITOR'S NOTE
This week's top technical article comes to us from Darren McCarthy at
Tektronix, and it takes aim at one of the most popular topics on the
site: RFID. Entitled RFID Technology
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HDIO0FV
and Testing, this article takes a good long look at RFID and NFC
technologies and their associated test and measurement requirements.

If you are looking to brush up on some fundamentals, check out
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HDIP0FW
Wireless 101: Automatic Gain Control (AGC), a helpful book excerpt
from Tony J Rouphael's new book. I just got my own copy of this book,
and it is a welcome addition to my bookshelf.

This week I included the list of most popular articles on the site.
Topping the list was last week's lead article,
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HCip0FZ
The Need for Linear Circuits. If you missed it before, be sure to
give it a look now.

Finally, I wanted to point out to you that EETimes' TechOnline has
added the
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0G1Oq0Fp
Fundamentals of Multicore Processing to its Fundamentals of Electronics
library. The course takes viewers through a brief history of multicore
processing and its place in the world, describes the state of the art
in multicore design and programming principles and finishes with a
practical programming and validation example.

I hope you enjoy the issue and have a good week,
Janine Love, RF DesignLine
Site Editor

TECHNICAL ARTICLES

--RFID Technology and Testing--
Transient signals, bandwidth inefficient modulations, backscattered
data and passive tags all require special measurement capabilities
not commonly found in traditional test instruments. This article
examines RFID and NFC technologies and their associated test and
measurement requirements.
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HDIQ0FX

--Wireless 101: Automatic Gain Control (AGC)--
Here's how automatic gain control (AGC) algorithms work. Topics
covered include loop detection, loop analysis, and stability analysis.
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HDIR0FY

PRODUCTS

--Infineon chip brings analog phones to ADSL lines--
With two ADSL2+ chips, Infineon claims it creates a technical basis
for telcos to reduce the costs for their infrastructure. The devices
aim at the market for customer premises equipment.
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HDIS0FZ

--12-bit ADC provides high dynamic performance for input frequencies
above 500 MHz--
TI has introduced a monolithic 12-bit, 550-MSPS ADC, which provides
more than 200 MHz of signal bandwidth in applications where high
resolution, accuracy and linearity are critical.
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HDIT0Fa

--2G dual-band transmit modules target emerging market handsets --
RF Micro Devices' family of dual-band GSM/GPRS transmit modules
provides a small footprint, improved efficiency and robust ESD protection.
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HDIU0Fb

--UMTS femto base-station chipset drives adoption in access points,
residential gateways--
The receiver and transmitter in Maxim's new UMTS femto base-station
chipset use the company's proprietary high dynamic range MAX-PHY interface
to eliminate the need for a mixed-signal analog front-end.
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HDIV0Fc

--Atmel : RF transceiver is IEEE P802.15.4c compliant--
Atmel announced the AT86RF212, an IEEE P802.15.4c compliant RF
transceiver for the Chinese wireless market.
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HDIW0Fd

--RFMD : 3G/4G front end offers nine-band coverage--
The RF6460 is currently RFMD's most highly integrated and scalable
3G/4G cellular front end platform.
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HDIX0Fe

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NEWS

--RF chips to fare better in '09, says analyst--
Projections for the overall semiconductor industry in 2009 are dire,
but favorable trends in the handset market should keep the market for
RF chips from crashing this year and ready to bounce back more quickly
than many industry segments, according to an analyst.
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HDIY0Ff

--Keithley cuts more jobs, halts product line--
Test-equipment supplier Keithley Instruments plans to discontinue its
S600 Series parametric testing product line and cut 6 percent of its
workforce due to lack of demand and the economic downturn.
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HDIZ0Fg

--Obama budget request targets technology R&D, education--
President Barack Obama's fiscal 2010 budget blueprint includes big
increases for basic research in energy and other technologies as well
as science and engineering education.
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HDIa0Fn

--Analyst: Trio dominated GaAs device market in '08--
The market for Gallium Arsenide devices grew by 9 percent in 2008,
according to market research group Strategy Analytics, with early
estimates showing that RFMD, Skyworks and TriQuint further consolidated
their position in the sector.
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HDIb0Fo

--ADI buys 'smart-grid' firm --
Analog Devices Inc. (ADI) has acquired power-line communications
technology from Domosys Corp., a company based in Quebec City, Canada.
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HDIc0Fp

--RFEL to sponsor DSP expertise courses --
Signal processing based applications specialist RF Engines Ltd (Isle
of Wight, England) is investing in the future by not only continuing to
recruit engineers but has started sponsoring students focusing on MSc
degrees at the University of York.
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HDId0Fq

--Companies partner for NFC-enabled electronic wallet--
Atmel and French contactless card system developer TazTag (Rennes) are
collaborating to develop a secure NFC module that can be used to
protect personal data.
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HDIe0Fr

MOST POPULAR ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

--The Need for Linear Circuits--
This article focuses on the trend of less filtering and more linearity
in radio design, both as a differentiating factor for receivers and as a
differentiating factor for analog/RF circuit designers.
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HCir0Fb

--Wireless 101: Sampling band-pass signals--
Here's how to sample band-pass signals without aliasing. Topics
covered include conversion of baseband signals to IF or RF, Nyquist
zones, and sampling of WiMAX signals.
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HCiu0Fe

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

Electronics Group Now Hiring 02/27/09

Booz Allen Hamilton seeking Teleport Test Engineer in Herndon, VA
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HBJg0Fs

Osram Sylvania Inc. seeking Supply Chain Manager I in Winchester, KY
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HC7b0FV

Osram Sylvania Inc. seeking Sr. Applications Engineer in Danvers, MA
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HC7c0FW

The Executive Wing seeking Maintenance Manager in Newark, NJ
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HBJi0Fu

Sierra Nevada Corporation seeking Software Engineer II in Sparks, NV
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0HC7d0FX

For more great jobs, career-related news, features and services,
please visit Techinsights EETimesCareers.
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0EfwY0Fw
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Around the Network Events~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

View Our Full List of Newsletters Here!
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0GyHd0Fh

Webinar Services: Upcoming online broadcasts
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0E2Pd0Fc

Upcoming Conferences & Events:
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0BjCO0Fv

Electronics Event Listings:
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0DQwv0F4

EE Times Vendor Sponsored Product Information:
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....rT0QTC0CtAi0FW

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Unsubscribe
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RF DesignLine respects your time and privacy.
If you are not interested in receiving future
RF DesignLine Newsletters,
please reply to this message with the word
"UNSUBSCRIBE" in the Subject area.

**PLEASE NOTE**You are currently subscribed under
the e-mail address newsletter (AT) list (DOT) fpgacentral.com

You must use this address when trying to unsubscribe.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Anything about **the contents of this newsletter**
--comments/suggestions/questions/letters for
publication--can be directed to the editor, Janine Love:
editor (AT) writesol (DOT) com

Any questions about **your profile or registration/change
of address** can be directed to:
designlines (AT) techinsights (DOT) com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PASS IT ON. . .
Feel free to forward this newsletter to your colleagues
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Copyright TechInsights, a Division of
United Business Media Limited All rights reserved.

PRIVACY STATEMENT
http://newsletter.designlinenetwork....YrT0QTC0DQZ0Fc

600 Community Drive
Manhasset, NY 11030