- 22 June 2006 -

MTT-S highlights - new chip launches abound

At the IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium 2006 in San Francisco, June 13-15, companies will be revealing many new products and other key innovations. Here is today's selection of new wares, which include improved design software, synthesizers and GaN HEMT chips, as well as the first module to combine five individual FBAR (Film Bulk Acoustic Resonator) filters to produce a totally passive solution for dual-band cellular communications with GPS.

Applied Wave Research, Inc. (AWR), a provider of high-frequency electronic design automation tools, and Vector Fields Ltd., announced at the 2006 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium that they have integrated Vector Fields' Concerto 3D electromagnetic modelling software into AWR's Microwave Office circuit design platform. Vector Fields, experts in the field of EM modelling, offers a complete range of 2D and 3D EM modelling, analysis, and simulation software that covers high-frequency applications using state-of-the-art modelling techniques such as finite element (FEM/FEA), finite difference time-domain (FDTD), and method-of-moments (MoM).

http://www.vectorfields.com

Cree, Inc. will demonstrate three new GaN HEMTs targeted for WiMAX applications ranging from 2.4 to 3.9 GHz at Booth 1143.

Cree's new 30- and 120-W transistors (CGH35030 and CGH35120) augment the 15-W CGH35015 released for sample shipments last month. Together, these devices cover multiple WiMAX applications requiring from 2 to 12-W average orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) output power in the 3.3 to 3.9GHz frequency band. Cree will also demonstrate the new 15-W CGH27015, the first in a new line of Cree transistors targeted to address the 2.4 to 2.9 GHz North American WiMAX market.

www.cree.com

Analog Devices Inc. will highlight some of the technologies that enable wireless consumers to enjoy more features, faster delivery of data services, and fewer dropped calls. The ADF4108 is the industry's first 8 GHz phase-locked loop (PLL) synthesizer. The device can be used to implement local oscillators in the up-conversion and down-conversion sections of wireless receivers and transmitters in high-frequency wireless systems. Because of its high-frequency operation, the ADF4108 can eliminate the need for frequency doublers, thereby simplifying the system architecture and reducing system cost.

Also just out is the ADL5385 quadrature modulator, which operates from 50MHz to 2200MHz, making it well-suited for low intermediate frequency (IF) and RF applications such as broadband wireless access systems, microwave radio link transmitters, cable modem termination systems and cellular infrastructure.

www.analog.com

Avago Technologies announced the first module to combine five individual FBAR (Film Bulk Acoustic Resonator) filters to produce a totally passive solution for dual-band cellular communications with GPS. The ACFM-7101 quintplexer module directs PCS and cellular signals from the same antenna without the use of switches and control logic, eliminating the cost and electrical loss of the switch, as well as routing and matching losses, and the space required for this functionality.

The result is that GPS-equipped dual-band handsets can be made thinner, the radio-frequency electronics smaller, and at a lower cost to manufacture, with longer overall battery life and improved performance. The quintplexer module is the latest in a series of technological breakthroughs in FBAR duplexers, enabling Avago Technologies to garner more than 75 percent of the bulk acoustic wave market according to Strategy Analytics.
The ACFM-7101 utilizes Avago's FBAR filter process and innovative microcap bonded-wafer chip scale packaging technology to achieve a small 5 mm by 8 mm by 1.3 mm thick module. This small module size, along with the saving of additional board space for components, routing, and antenna, gives handset designers flexibility in design.

http://www.avagotech.com