The study also examines the market for GPS integrated circuits (ICs). Though unit growth will be very strong in the GPS market, continued pricing pressure for ICs will temper overall revenue growth to about that of the overall equipment market.

Fujitsu and Synopsys launch SoC design consulting service
RF Design Staff

Tokyo, Japan and Mountain View, Calif. -- Fujitsu Ltd. and Synopsys Inc. announced a new design consulting service to help system-on-chip (SoC) designers improve the quality of designs and reduce design cycles.

The service is currently available in Japan and will gradually be expanded to other markets throughout the world.

The consulting service's goal is to help customers eliminate unwanted design iterations by creating a concurrent logical and physical design flow using register transfer level (RTL), netlist, and placed-gates interfaces.

As part of the service, Synopsys contributes its skills in front-end design, functional verification and physical synthesis, and Fujitsu brings its physical design skills, such as chip image planning (floorplan) technology for early detection and control of potential back-end design problems.

SDR Forum conducting research on requirements for base station architectures
RF Design Staff

New Hartford, N.Y. -- The Software Defined Radio (SDR) Forum announced it is conducting research to gain insight into wireless operator requirements for future basestation architectures.

The research initiative is being coordinated by the Forum's Operator Market Requirements Study Group (OMRSG). To help facilitate the data collection process, the Forum is conducting detailed questioning and discussion sessions with operator representatives. In addition, the Forum has created a questionnaire which is being administered to operators throughout the world.

"We are working hard to ensure that not only do we collect data from operators representing all three ITU regions, but that we also include insight from operators ranging in size -- large and small, regional and international," says Bo Piekarski, chairman of the OMRSG.

The first phase of the research initiative, data collection from member wireless operators, is complete. Phase two, data collection from the rest of the operator community, will begin this month. The Forum expects to finished compiling the survey results by November, with a formal report and overview scheduled by early 2004.

Comments from basestation operators surveyed so far include:
• The majority believe that it would be beneficial to have the capability to dynamically allocate capacity from 2G to 2.5G to 3G; and
• More than half are interested in a radio infrastructure that can dynamically switch between air interfaces.

Operators interested in taking part in this research should contact Piekarski via e-mail or call (310) 955-3830.

Products

Patch antennas for portable and automobile GPS applications
RF Design Staff

Seoul, Korea -- AMECS, the ceramic division of Amotech Co. Ltd. announced its new series of dielectric patch antennas.

According to the company, the patches have low profile, ceramic antenna elements for use in portable GPS receivers and navigation systems. They are designed for 1575.42 MHz reception, and have four different footprints; 25 mm x 25 mm, 18 mm x 18mm, 15 mm x 15 mm, and 12 mm x 12 mm.

The flat patch antennas have a rectangular micro-strip design for GPS C/A right- and circular polarization wave reception.

The antennas have an impedance of 50 Ohms and a maximum temperature coefficient of ±5 ppm/degree C maximum. The offered gain starts between 3 dBi for the small patches (12 mm, 15 mm and 18 mm) and 5 dBi for the 25 mm antenna.

Amotech ships the antennas with double-sided adhesive tape for ease in mounting to the ground plane. The antennas are approved for the Onstar program, as well as for navigation system of most car manufacturers. Pricing starts at $1.05 each in 10,000 piece quatities.

Keithley announces 40 GHz parametric testers
RF Design Staff

Cleveland, Ohio -- Keithley Instruments Inc. announced the availability of its S630DC/RF parametric testers with 40 GHz RF measurement capabilities.

According to the company, until now, an accurate method had not been identified for characterizing equivalent (electrical) thickness of certain gate dielectrics that were approaching the 0.5 nm dimension. In testing these devices, inaccuracies could occur due to the high dissipation factor and phase error in the measurements, which may involve 3rd harmonic frequencies well above 20 GHz.

Keithley's 40 GHz RF measurement technique removes this barrier, the company says, by designing reliable RF connections into the test head and using per-pin electronics to achieve precision and repeatability. In addition, the system incorporates the company's vector network analyzer (VNA) and DC/RF probe card technology. The inherent DC resolution is 100 aA and 100 nV. The system also supports 300 mm automation standards, and is compatible with both 200 mm and 300 mm probers, the company says.

The 40 GHz capability for the S630DC/RF is available immediately with prices starting at less than $150,000 for an upgrade to an existing S600 series system, and less than $360,000 for a complete S630DC/RF system.

Skyworks introduces two WCDMA PA modules
RF Design Staff

Wobrun, Mass. -- Skyworks Solutions Inc. announced a pair of WCDMA power amplifier (PA) modules for 3G handset applications.

The first new PA module, the SKY77152, is a high-efficiency, fully matched, 10-pin surface mount WCDMA PA module with dual-stage bias control.

The second unit, the SKY77404 load insensitive PA (LIPA) module, is a 16-pin product that delivers full RF performance under severe load-mismatch. The company says the LIPA delivers full RF performance even into an output load-mismatch of 4:1 voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR).

The SKY77404 PA module also features a low current control pin to maximize power efficiency in both high and low RF power ranges, and a separate bias control (V BIAS) pin that can be directly connected to the battery, allowing the battery supply voltages (VCC1 and VCC2) to be operated as low as 0.8V and enabling significantly extended talk times, the company says.

Both the SKY77152 and the SKY77404 PA modules are packaged in Skyworks' 4 mm x 4 mm x 1.5 mm laminate-based multichip module (MCM) packages that contain all active circuitry, including onboard bias circuitry, as well as input and output interstage matching.

Samples of the SKY77152 and SKY77404 are available now. The SKY77152 is currently in production, and the SKY77404 will begin shipping in mass production by the end of this year. Pricing is $1.75 per unit for the SKY77152, and $2.25 per unit for the SKY77404, in volumes of 10,000.

Stealth Microwave introduces broadband amplifier
RF Design Staff

Trenton, N.J. -- Stealth Microwave, a unit of SSB Technologies Inc., released its new SM0520-36H medium power SSPA designed for multi-purpose use in wireless and military applications.

The new amplifier operates from 500 MHz to 2000 MHz with a gain flatness of ±0.5 dB across the band. The P1dB is +36 dBm at 0º C to +55º C. Linear gain is 33 dB typical, VSWR is 1.5:1, and OIP3 is +48 dBm.

It is packaged in a 5.0 inches x 2.5 inches x .56 inches modular housing and operates on +12 V while drawing draws less than 2.0 A.

Standard features include Logic On/Off Control, Thermal Protection with Auto Reset, and Over/Reverse Voltage Protection. The unit also has an internal voltage regulation option for +13 V to +15 V operation.

Calendar

IEEE Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits 2004 Symposium (RFIC-2004)
Fort Worth, Texas
June 6-8, 2004

The IEEE RFIC 2004 symposium will be held in conjunction with the IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium (IMS). Microwave Week 2004 will continue with the International Microwave Symposium and Exhibition, and the Microwave Historical Exhibit. Technical papers are now being accepted, but must be submitted in electronic format via the Web site.

The technical sessions will be held for three days, from Sunday through Tuesday. Workshops will be on Sunday.

Technical paper summaries are due by January 5, 2004, and final manuscripts for the digest and CD-ROM are due by March 15, 2004.