State by state statistics are available on the association's Web site.

Senate passes nanotechnology bill, authorizes $3.7 billion for research
RF Design Staff

New York -- The U.S. Senate passed a version of the Nanotechnology Research and Development Act (Senate Bill 189) that was negotiated with the House Science Committee and had the backing of the NanoBusiness Alliance. The House is expected to pass the bill shortly and send it on to the President, who is expected to sign it, says a statement from the Alliance.

The Bill puts the President's National Nanotechnology Initiative into law and authorizes $3.7 billion over the next four years for the program. The bill also requires the creation of research centers, education and training efforts, research into the societal and ethical consequences of nanotechnology, and efforts to transfer technology into the marketplace.

According to the NanoBusiness Alliance statement, the National Science Foundation estimated that nanotechnology applications may be worth more than $1 trillion in the global economy in little more than a decade.

Products

ARM introduces transaction-level SystemC models
RF Design Staff

Cambridge, U.K. -- ARM Ltd. announced the availability of what the company is calling the first transaction-level SystemC models of ARM cores targeted for system-level verification.

According to ARM, the ARM1136J-S SystemC processor models and the ARM1136JF-S SystemC processor models leverage a joint donation to the Open SystemC Initiative (OSCI) by ARM, Cadence Design Systems Inc., and STMicroelectronics Group, which the companies say will accelerate the development of an industry standard.

The new models use STMicroelectronics knowledge in system modeling design and Cadence Design's validation platform. The models also use an application programming interface (API) developed in collaboration with STMicroelectronics and Cadence Design Systems that is optimized for early hardware-software verification of complex embedded systems, ARM says.

The new models will be available from ARM in the fourth quarter of 2003, as part of the company's RealView model library.

Ansoft releases Maxwell v10 electromagnetic simulation software
RF Design Staff
Pittsburgh, Penn. -- Ansoft Corp. announced the release of Maxwell v10, its 3-D/2-D electromagnetic simulation software for the analysis of electromagnetic and electromechanical devices.

The new release includes research involving nonconforming mesh coupling techniques and the combined use of edge-based vector elements and nodal-based scalar elements, the company says.

According to the company, Maxwell 3D can now simulate linear translational motion and spinning rotational motion. This enables Maxwell 3D to predict the performance of industrial applications, such as motors and actuators, where motion-induced physics is crucial to device behavior.

Also, the new numerical techniques speed computation and avoid non-physical solutions, a problem that has prevented 3D motion capability from reaching the mass market sooner, the company says.

Other Maxwell v10 enhancements include:

• the ability to freeze permeability to derive a greater amount of engineering information;
• the ability to determine the demagnetization operating point of permanent magnets;
• improved geometry translation and meshing for IGES- and STEP-originating geometry; and
• the ability to calculate core-loss coefficient from a loss curve.

WJ Communications launches new converters, amp
RF Design Staff

San Jose, Calif. -- WJ Communications Inc. announced five new infrastructure products -- four new single-branch down converter modules and the high-dynamic range AG102 amplifier -- for a variety of applications, including next generation wireless networks, homeland security, and CATV.

The CV1xx series of single-branch converters, reduces the board space and cost of equivalent functions realized with discrete components, the company says. They series comes in a 28-pin, 6 mm x 6 mm, quad-flat no-lead (QFN) surface mount package.

The AG102 is a broadband, general gain block GaAs amplifier requiring only DC-blocking capacitors and an inductive RF choke for operation.

Fully assembled evaluation boards and loose samples are available now. Unit prices for the CV1xx series, purchased in 10,000-piece quantities, are $6.80 each. Unit prices for the AG102 model purchased in 10,000-piece quantities, are $1.10 each.

Calendar

IEDM presents emerging RF technologies
RF Design Staff

Blazingly fast new transistors and circuits on transparent plastic films, along with many other futuristic concepts, will be the focus of discussion at the 49th annual IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM), to be held December 8-10, 2003, at the Hilton Washington and Towers in Washington, D.C.

As per tradition, several papers will uncover new developments in high speed SiGe based complementary biCMOS heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) for RF applications, as well as GaN based HEMT power transistors.

Other materials to be probed include InP and SOI substrates. Plus, the forum will shed light on using organic materials to make transistors and circuits.

Some of the papers to be presented include;

• A 3M Co. team will describe how they built RFID transponders from pentacene-based thin-film transistors (TFTs) in paper number 8.1, Organic Semiconductor RF ID Transponders. With electron mobilities of 2 cm²/V-sec. to 3 cm²/V-sec., the 3M paper will report the fastest circuit ever made with organic TFTs. The goal is inexpensive, throw-away RFIDs.

• Researchers from Germany's IHP division will present paper number 5.2, which will disclose the fastest pnp bipolar transistor ever, with f_t/f_max values each of 115 GHz, and matched it with a high-performance npn device. The resulting complementary HBT made from silicon-germanium (SiGe), was integrated in a standard 250 nm CMOS process with no degradation of the CMOS devices. It is promising for low-voltage, low-power, high-speed applications.

• A silicon or SOI substrate is not optimum for high-speed radio-frequency (RF) circuits, because RF energy couples into the silicon, which is resistive. This resistivity leads to crosstalk and other undesirable effects. A team from Philips Electronics will describe a substrate transfer technology that enables the silicon or SOI substrate to be removed and the circuits to be transferred to glass or flexible polyimide foil substrates. In paper number 15.4, Substrate Transfer: Enabling Technology for RF Application, the researchers also will show how the process allows GaAs layers grown on germanium substrates (for solar cells) to be transferred to substrates that are non-conductive.

IEDM's three plenary presentations by experts in their respective fields will give a good picture of how technologies are shaping our world and lives. These include:

• Ambient Intelligence -- Key Technologies in the Information Age, by Dr. Werner Weber of Infineon Technologies AG;
• Future Chip Technology for Mobile Communications, by Dr. Keiji Tachikawa of NTT DoCoMo; and
• Nanotechnology Needs Today, by Dr. oseph Bordogna of the National Science Foundation.

Interestingly, evening panel discussions will discuss and debate the following questions this year; "Who Will Solve the Power Problem?" and "When Will CMOS Replace SiGe HBT?"

While the luncheon talk on Tuesday, December 9, by Michael Cima of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology will give a glimpse on Implantable Electronic Drug Delivery.

For further information, visit the conference Web page.

Next Newsletter Delivered Tuesday, November 25

Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, next week's RF Design Bulletin will be delivered on Tuesday, November 25.