Volume 10
October 2006

By Judy Miller
Associate Publisher


249 W. 17th Street, 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10011-5300
212.204.4246
Fax 913.514.9245
jmiller2@prismb2b.com

E-Newlsetters

Supplements

Sales Contacts

Western U.S.
Twyla Sulesky
408-779-3503

Southern CA
Shelley Kelly
310-547-1777

Eastern/Midwestern U.S.
Tracy Smith
913-967-1324

Classifieds
Julie Dahlstrom
312-840-8436

Calendar Snapshot

November
Microwave/mm Wave Technologies
Passive Components
Time & Frequency
Next-Generation Wireless
Product Focus: Signal Processing

Emerging Wireless Technology

Value Add:
Web site Showcase

Bonus Distribution:
IEEE Radio & Wireless 07

And the Oscar Goes to...

Last night I attended the CEBA awards, a gala affair at Lincoln center sponsored by American Business Media. CEBA stands for Creative Excellence in Business Advertising, and is basically the "Oscar" of Business Advertising, culminating with a $25,000 grand prize. This kind of attention to business advertising makes me realize how far the industry has come from the old days when "trade" ads were simply a product and caption slabbed together.

Today, business advertising is all about pushing an idea to its ultimate—crafting powerful communications to a targeted audience.

The $25,000 grand prize went to Eclipse Aviation for an ad that portrayed a revolution in air travel through low-cost, high-performance jets. However, the CEBAs represent far more that a $25,000 grand prize. By honoring outstanding achievements in business advertising, the CEBAs now draw thousands of entries and enhance relationships among advertisers, marketers, agencies and publishers.

With all the money you are spending in "trade advertising," are you paying enough attention by creating ads that have an impact and create value for the readers? Is your media selection targeted to an exclusive audience that is prepared to act on your message?

RF Design and its complimentary supplement Defense Electronics offer such an opportunity. With homeland security issues at the forefront, today's design engineers are under heightened demand to provide the latest and the most reliable electronics solutions to defense and military applications. The October issue of Defense Electronics  will polybag with the regular issue of RF Design and examines the most up-to-date developments in microwave and millimeter wave components, test and measurement and advanced communications systems that enable designers to generate solutions demanded by this challenging market.

The October issue of RF Design is laser targeted for those looking to impact our readers while they are tackling next generation wireless dilemmas, or analyzing the use of power amplifiers in mobile communications, or how they can test and measure these products .

For a handy, 16-page brochure on WHAT MAKES A GREAT B-T-B AD with effective examples (created by ABM), please contact me today!

Best regards,

Judy Miller
Associate Publisher
212.204.4246

Semiconductor Technology
Improved HBT technology facilitates high linearity PAs
While circuit techniques aid in improving the performance of high power amplifiers (PAs), underlying RF power transistors play an equally important role in achieving the PA goals. RF Design examines recent improvements in a InGaP/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) for 24-28 V linear PA operation. Also included is a report on lifetime tests conducted to guarantee the performance of the improved HBT technology.

Next-Generation Wireless
Addressing the new challenges of MIMO wireless LAN manufacturing test 
Multi-in multi-out (MIMO) could prove to be the next major advance in radio technology since the advent of digital communication. MIMO can be used to achieve significantly higher data rates and/or range in wireless systems such as IEEE802.11n wireless LAN (WLAN). However, this does not come for free. RF Design looks at new challenges for manufacturing test systems to ensure quality and performance of MIMO WLAN systems, and how these challenges can be met with suitable MIMO test equipment.

Amplifiers
Measuring RF parameters in GSM/EDGE power amplifiers
GSM/EDGE RF power amplifiers used in mobile communications in North America, Europe and elsewhere must conform to a strict ETSI standard in order to obtain type-approval by the end user, the service provider and public in general. RF Design outlines a method for conducting RF lab measurements using commercially available test equipment and following common RF practices.

Embedded Technology
Mobile Application Reference Designs Accelerate Time to Market
Market requirements for consumer product categories such as smart phones, portable media devices, and personal navigators demand increasing battery lives, shrinking product packages, and decreasing price points. Embedded designers need to seek innovative approaches to meeting these requirements. RF Design investigates a system-on-a chip (SoC) approach and explains how SoC can enable increased battery life, decrease on-board real estate requirements, and lower bill of material costs.

Product Focus: Next-Generation Wireless Components

Test & Measurement
Coherent Multi-Channel and Diversity Systems
Coherent multi-channel systems have unique properties that enable beam forming, direction finding and improved reception in a dispersive channel. Interest in diversity antenna systems, phased array antennas and multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems continues to grow. These coherent multi-channel systems offer capabilities and performance that are simply unavailable with other technologies. This article will explore two applications of coherent diversity systems, MIMO communication systems and direction finding. These applications are critical to the aerospace and defense communities since recent new developments in military tactics require these technologies.

Microwave/Millimeter Wave Technology
State-of-the-Art High Performance Multifuncition MMICs
Multifunction self-aligned gate (MSAG) multifunction control MMICs (MCMs) provide a low-cost, high performance, high reliability approach to signal control function implementation in phased array systems due to the merging of microwave and digital control elements onto a single MMIC. This article presents the latest advanced performance MCM development efforts by describing an X-band MMIC incorporating seven gain stages, 6-bit attenuation and phase control, transmit/receive (T/R) switching and an on-board serial-to-parallel controller (SPC). Besides presenting a standard T/R GaAs MMICs with unprecedented levels of integration, the article also discusses efforts to further enhance MCM performance.