Microwave Engineering Europe - April 2008 - (Page 10)

10 NEWS By JP Joosting, Microwave Engineering Europe IN BRIEF TriQuint places large GaN wafer order TriQuint Semiconductor Inc. has placed the largest commercial gallium nitride (GaN) wafer order in the history of IQE Plc. The wafers will support ongoing development efforts and the roll out of GaN products by TriQuint, with initial product and process releases targeting the 2-to20-GHz range. TriQuint’s order for GaN epitaxial high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) wafers from IQE’s New Jersey facility will also be used in ongoing military and commercial R & D efforts. Since being awarded a multi-year GaN research development contract in excess of $30 million by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in 2005, TriQuint has devised a new class of GaN-based ampliﬁers. www.mwee.com/206904067 Ofcom approves the use of mobile phones on aircraft U.K. communications regulator Ofcom says airlines can offer mobile communication services on U.K.-registered aircraft subject to approval by the relevant U.K. and European aviation authorities — the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in the U.K. The decision has been developed jointly with other EU countries and will enable use in European airspace. It follows an Ofcom consultation on the proposals published in October 2007. The system works by passengers’ own mobile phone handsets connecting to an on-board base station. Both of these must be switched off during take-off and landing to ensure they do not interfere with mobile networks on the ground. Once the aircraft reaches a minimum height of 3,000 metres, the system may be switched on by the cabin crew. Mobile handsets will then be able to use the aircraft’s network service to make and receive calls which will be routed via a satellite link to the network on the ground. Calls will be billed through passengers’ service providers. Mobile phones will connect to the system for 2G (GSM) data, voice and text services. If the service is successful it could be extended to 3G and other services in future. Ofcom proposes to allow the use of these systems by amending the aircraft operators’ existing Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006 licences. www.mwee.com/207000014 Gartner: In the short term, WiMax a long shot in India The Indian government may be pushing WiMax technology especially for broadband connectivity in rural areas, but the country will have only 6.9 million mobile and ﬁxed WiMax connections by the end of 2011, as the country-speciﬁc mobile broadband framework makes a national rollout too costly. According to research ﬁrm Gartner Inc., India will remain a niche market for this technology until 2009. Although WiMax has been selected by the Indian government to connect rural areas to the Internet, low PC penetration will lead to limited demand in the near term. In urban areas, WiMax is still a niche technology for enterprise and high-end residential users. Further, mobile frequencies will not be available in the short term, so most WiMax connections in the short- and mid-term will be for ﬁxed-wireless applications. India had only 3.4 million broadband subscribers in January 2008, far short of the target of 9 million by 2007 set by the country’s broadband policy. www.mwee.com/207000016 Toumaz, TI partner for low power RF devices Low power wireless monitoring chip specialist Toumaz Technology (Abingdon, England) has signed a licensing and distribution agreement with Texas Instruments. Financial details were not disclosed. With the deal, Toumaz gains access to Texas Instruments’ design, process and manufacturing capabilities as well as have an opportunity to use its sales channels. www.mwee.com/206904598 UWB startup Tzero raises $18 million Tzero Technologies has raised $18 million in its third round of funding. The investment was led by the CID Group with full participation from Tzero’s current investors: August Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, OVP, U.S. Venture Partners, and VentureTech Alliance. Tzero CEO Rajeev Krishnamoorthy said the funding will help the company expand market presence, gain design wins, and bring nextgeneration products to market. www.mwee.com/206902628 Single chip platform aids wireless health monitoring systems Researchers at Cambridge Consultants have devised a single chip based platform that allows medical devices to transmit data wirelessly that is expected to sell at about $10. The “Vena” platform is targeted at people with chronic conditions who will be able to monitor their own health accurately, systematically and independently. Consultants (Cambridge, England) says the single chip solution is a signiﬁcant breakthrough in the medical monitoring sector. It suggests the software based platform can be added to a medical device using hardware with a potential cost of less than $10 at the “appropriate volumes” and that it could be available in medical devices by the end of 2008. The platform uses low power wireless network technology to transmit readings to a central monitor located in the home, or to an online health record such as Google Health or Microsoft Health Vault. It embeds both the emerging IEEE 11073 standard, which ensures compatibility of data exchanged between different types of devices, and the emerging Bluetooth Medical Device Proﬁle, optimized for the secure transport of medical data, on to the chip. www.mwee.com/207000013 Microwave Engineering Europe ● April 2008 ● www.mwee.com 010_MWEE.indd 10 28/03/08 14:17:00 http://www.mwee.com/207000014 http://www.mwee.com/206904067 http://www.mwee.com/207000016 http://www.mwee.com/206904598 http://www.mwee.com/207000013 http://www.mwee.com/206902628 http://www.mwee.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Microwave Engineering Europe - April 2008

Microwave Engineering Europe - April 2008 News Contents Comment Test and Measurement: Comprehensive WiMAX and Wi-Fi Product Design Demands Effective Channel Emulation Military/Aerospace Focus: Hardware Needs Limit Software Radio Interview — Mitsubishi Electric Europe: GaAs Technologies Spanning High-End Space and Radar Through to Cost-Sensitive Handset and LNB Applications How Do You Test ZigBee Transmitters? Advanced Receiver Design Boosts Performance CMOS PAs Pave the Way for One-Chip Phones Products Calendar

Microwave Engineering Europe - April 2008

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