Around the Circuit

Around the Circuit

Dr. John H. Bryant , founder of Omni Spectra Inc. and a pioneer in the miniaturization of microwave components, died in his home on June 10.

In the late 1950s, Bryant organized efforts at the Bendix Research Laboratories that resulted in the first miniature microwave connectors. In 1962, he and two colleagues founded Omni Spectra to manufacture OSM connectors and components. In 1968, MIL-C-39012 was established and the type was designated SMA, as it is known today.

After retiring as chairman of Omni Spectra in 1980, Bryant joined the electrical engineering and computer science department of the University of Michigan where he became a historian in radar, electromagnetics and the work of Heinrich Hertz. Bryant headed the Hertz centennial celebration in 1988 and produced a book titled Heinrich Hertz: The Beginning of Microwaves . He served as president of MTT-S in 1970 and received the Society’s Microwave Career Award and Pioneer Award in 1996 and 1997, respectively.

Bryant has left a lasting mark on the microwave engineering profession and will be sorely missed. He leaves his wife, two daughters, a son and eight grandchildren.

INDUSTRY NEWS

Mixed-signal and digital application-specific IC (ASIC) provider American Microsystems Inc. (AMI) , Pocatello, ID, has acquired fellow ASIC designer Focus Semiconductor Inc. of Lower Gwynedd, PA. Operating as a business unit of AMI, Focus will contribute its intellectual property in the form of application-specific standard products. AMI’s new FAB 10 eight-inch submicron manufacturing facility, which is scheduled to be on line in the fourth quarter of this year, is expected to help deliver the new products and technology to more customers in larger volume.

Comtest Ltd. of Fleet, Hampshire, UK, a subsidiary of Thermo Voltek Corp. , Lowell, MA, has acquired Milmega Ltd. , Ryde, Isle of Wight, UK. According to Thermo Voltek, Milmega’s line of broadband microwave and radio amplifiers in the range above 1 GHz will complement Thermo Voltek’s sister company, Kalmus Engineering , which offers amplifier products that are primarily below 1 GHz.

In an effort to accommodate growing product lines, RF and microwave power component supplier RF Power Components Inc. , Bohemia, NY, has formed two new divisions. The Coupler Components Division will design and manufacture 90° hybrid, surface-mount couplers; high power directional couplers, power dividers and combiners; and custom devices. The Resistive Components Division will design and manufacture high power resistors, terminations, high power attenuators and custom devices.

Fiber-optic and RF connector manufacturer Rosenberger Hochfrequenztechnik & Co. GmbH of Tittmoning, Germany has acquired a major share of OSI Kommunications and Systemtechnik GmbH of Munich, Germany. According to Rosenberger, OSI’s turnkey fiber-optic transmission systems will provide broader economies for its line of fiber-optic connectors and couplers.

Advanced circuit-protection device producer Littelfuse Inc. , Des Plaines, IL, has opened its first engineering support facility in Japan. The division, located in Yokohama, will support the circuit-protection efforts of local design and application engineers.

Due to a reported increase in original equipment manufacturer (OEM) customer demand, M/A-COM Inc. of Lowell, MA has developed The Connectivity Zone,™ a new RF cable assembly group within the company that will develop cable assembly solutions and provide cable assembly services to the commercial wireless market using M/A-COM’s cable assembly products. The new operation will focus on assembling standard cable types. The Connectivity Zone’s cable assembly services are available immediately.

Vishay Intertechnology , Malvern, PA, has formed a new group to combine all of the company’s thin-film manufacturing and design capabilities. Vishay Thin Film , a global organization working in partnership with other Vishay thin-film facilities throughout the world, will offer products such as precision thin-film resistor networks, chips, resistors and silicon integrated networks.

Xtalonix , a 30-year-old manufacturer of microwave ceramics located in Hagerstown, MD, was infused recently with a new technical management team. A group comprising 10 managers and key technical employees, formerly with Trans-Tech , have joined the company.

Environmental Stress Systems Inc. (ESS) has moved to a new facility. The company is now located at 21105-B Longeway Rd., Sonora, CA 95370 (209) 588-1993, fax (209) 588-1997 or e-mail: info@essproducts.com.

In an effort to support multiple long-term production contracts, wideband receiver manufacturer Wide Band Systems Inc. has moved to a 10,000-square-foot facility. The company’s new address is 389 Franklin Ave., Rockaway, NJ 07866 (201) 586-6500, fax (201) 627-9190 or e-mail: bilsul@delphi.com.

High performance IC supplier Analog Devices Inc. , Norwood, MA, has announced an alliance with Acer Peripherals Inc. (API) to develop handsets for the Global Service for Mobile communications (GSM) cellular phone market. API will use Analog Devices’ new model AD20msp415 baseband and model AD6430 RF chip sets in its GSM handsets, which are scheduled to be released later this year.

Motorola Space and Systems Technology Group , Schaumburg, IL, and Certicom Corp. , San Mateo, CA, have announced a strategic partnership that will allow Motorola to incorporate Certicom’s cryptographic technologies in its wireless, IC and systems technologies. As part of the alliance, Motorola has purchased 500,000 common shares of Certicom stock with warrants for up to 500,000 additional common shares over the next two years. If all warrants are exercised, Motorola would then hold approximately 10 percent of Certicom’s common equity on a fully diluted basis. In related news, Motorola’s Customer Specified Integrated Circuits Microcontroller Divisions , a conglomerate of business units within the company’s Microcontroller Technologies Group in Austin, TX, have shipped their two billionth model 68HC05 eight-bit microcontroller. The chip was presented to Ford Motor Co.’s Automotive Components Division, which incorporates the chip in several of its vehicles’ electronic message center systems for safer and more reliable operation.

Test and measurement solution providers Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) , Palo Alto, CA, and Fluke Corp. , Everett, WA, have signed a reciprocal distribution and marketing agreement that will enable customers to buy HP’s basic instruments from selected Fluke distributors. Under the terms of the agreement, HP will sell and support several of Fluke’s compact electronic test tools. In related news, HP’s EEsof Division has entered into an OEM agreement with hardware design language (HDL) simulation software supplier Model Technology Inc. of Beaverton, OR. The agreement grants the EEsof Division a nonexclusive right to bundle Model’s V-system HDL simulation products with its digital signal processing (DSP) design and synthesis tools.

Communication and electronic company Harris Corp. of Melbourne, FL has added Montreal, Quebec, Canada-based Future Electronics to its North American distribution network. The companies have signed an agreement giving Future Electronics North American distribution rights to Harris’ commercial product lines. Harris expects the alliance to result in a 25 percent increase in North American sales per year with global sales increasing to $2 B by 2001.

Remote intelligent communications (RIC) technology provider Micron Communications Inc. , Boise, ID, has signed an authorized systems integrator agreement with Peak Technologies , which authorizes use of Micron’s MicroStamp™ RIC products to develop integrated systems solutions. Peak Technologies intends to offer the RIC systems to end users by providing site-specific designs, customized software interface design and development, systems installation and postinstallation services. In related news, Micron has signed Micom s.r.l. as its exclusive distributor in Italy. Under the terms of the agreement, Micom will promote the sale of Micron’s MicroStamp products in Italy and Switzerland.

Semiconductor Packaging Materials Company Inc. (SPM) , Armonk, NY, has purchased the rights to manufacture and market Texas Instruments Inc.’s (TI) SILVAR™ thermally conductive heat dissipation material. Terms of the agreement call for SPM to manufacture and market the SILVAR material and pay TI a royalty based on the net sales for the remaining term of TI’s patent. SPM will market the material through its parent company and through Polese Co. , SPM’s San Diego, CA-based subsidiary.

SGS-Thomson Microelectronics Inc. , Lincoln, MA, and Alcatel Telecom , St. Genis Pouilly, France, have signed an agreement to promote, manufacture and sell high speed communications systems to transmit video, Internet data and other high bandwidth services over conventional telephone lines. The agreement allows SGS-Thomson to license Alcatel’s ICs for implementing asynchronous transfer-mode (ATM) over asymmetrical digital subscriber line technology with rate-adaptive capability, which significantly increases data transmission over existing telephone subscriber loop networks.

Wireless data communication system developer Teklogix International Inc. , Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, has selected Lucent Technologies ’ 2.4 GHz WaveLAN radio technology for integration into its line of wireless communication products. The radio technology will expand Teklogix’ existing range of products, which utilize 402 to 512 MHz (narrowband) and 902 to 928 MHz (spread spectrum) radio technology. Teklogix platforms will be able to operate using the worldwide spectrum allocated by regulatory agencies for use in unlicensed industrial, scientific and medical systems.

Global Positioning System (GPS) and related products manufacturer Trimble Navigation Ltd. , Sunnyvale, CA, has signed an agreement with automotive electronics company Blaupunkt-Werke GmbH , a subsidiary of Robert Bosch GmbH . Terms of the agreement specify Trimble to license its proprietary Sierra™ GPS chip set design to Blaupunkt for an undisclosed royalty. Blaupunkt will use the unpackaged dies from Trimble’s chip set in a chip-on-board GPS receiver, making the receiver significantly smaller than others available currently and allowing Blaupunkt to meet its tight packaging requirements.

Superconductive electronic commercializer Conductus Inc. , Sunnyvale, CA, has completed its ClearSite™ receiver subsystem trial with Cellcom of Green Bay, WI and has met all performance and serviceability expectations. Cellcom is purchasing all four beta units and is now considering upgrading its additional sites with the systems. Using the systems, Cellcom hopes to enhance its 110 base stations that provide cellular service with range extension and coverage improvements for 0.6 W portables and 3 W mobiles.

Danbury, CT-based Epitronics Corp. , a subsidiary of Advanced Technology Materials Inc. , is currently shipping 100 mm AlGaAs heterostructure bipolar transistor (HBT) wafers to selected customers. According to the company, the HBT wafers are the first to be manufactured in a new, high uniformity production system monitored using statistical process control.

Solid-state, high power amplifier manufacturer Comtech PST Corp. has been certified to the ISO 9001 quality system standard.

FINANCIAL NEWS

Northrop Grumman Corp. reports sales of $2 B for the first quarter, ended March 31, compared to $1.6 B for the same period last year. Net income was $75 M ($1.30/share), compared to $61 M ($1.23/share) for the same period last year.

Andrew Corp. reports sales of $208.2 M for the second quarter, ended March 31, compared to $183.2 M for the same period last year. Net income was $25.6 M (28¢/share), compared to $18.3 M (20¢/share) for the second quarter last year.

Linear Technology Corp. reports sales of $95 M for the third quarter, ended March 30, compared to $104.7 M for the same period last year. Net income was $34 M (43¢/share), compared to $37.8 M (48¢/share) for the same period last year.

Littelfuse Inc. reports sales of $65.6 M for the first quarter, ended March 28, compared to $59.1 M for the same period last year. Net income was $6.3 M (53¢/share), compared to $5.2 M (42¢/share) for the same period last year. In related news, Littelfuse announced a two-for-one split of its common stock in the form of a stock dividend. Stockholders of record as of the close of business May 20 were scheduled to receive one additional share for each share held. The additional shares were expected to be distributed June 10.

Aydin Corp. reports sales of $26.9 M for the first quarter, ended March 29, compared to $36.3 M for the same period last year. Net loss was $4.3 M (83¢/share), compared to a net income of $963 K (19¢/share) for the same period last year.

REMEC Inc. reports sales of $26.2 M for the first quarter, ended May 4, compared to $20.4 M for the same period last year. Net income was $2.5 M (20¢/share), compared to $1 M (11¢/share) for the first quarter last year.

ANADIGICS Inc. reports sales of $22.9 M for the first quarter, ended March 30, compared to $13.6 M for the first quarter last year. Net income was $3.2 M (23¢/share), compared to $1.8 M (14¢/share) for the same period last year.

Robinson Nugent Inc. reports sales of $21.7 M for the third quarter, ended March 31, compared to $21.2 M for the same period last year. Net income was $939 K (19¢/share), compared to $332 K (6¢/share) for the same period last year.

SPM reports sales of $13.9 M for the first quarter, ended March 31, compared to $11.2 M for the same period last year. Net income was $481 K (8¢/share), compared to $990 K (16¢/share) for the same period last year.

Aetrium Inc. reports sales of $11.9 M for the first quarter, ended March 31, compared to $17 M for the same period last year. Net income was $1.1 M (13¢/share), compared to $3 M (35¢/share) for the same period last year.

Ansoft Corp. reports sales of $12 M for the year, ended April 30, compared to $8 M last year. Net income was $1.3 M (19¢/share) last year. Sales were $5 M for the fourth quarter, compared to $2.7 M for the same period last year.

Kopin Corp. reports sales of $4 M for the first quarter, ended March 29, compared to $5.3 M for the same period last year. Net loss was $2.1 M (19¢/share), compared to $8.7 M (80¢/share) for the same period last year.

Vari-L Company Inc. reports sales of $3.3 M for the first quarter, ended March 31, compared to $2.6 M for the same period last year. Net income was $244 K (6¢/share), compared to $242 K (6¢/share) for the same period last year.

CONTRACTS

Raytheon Co. , Bedford, MA, has been awarded a $500 M indefinite delivery/quantity prime contract for the command and control product lines (CCPL) program by the Air Force Electronic Systems Center (ESC) at Hanscom Air Force Base, MA. CCPL is an ESC acquisition-streamlining initiative designed to reduce the overall development time and costs associated with acquiring software-intensive command and control systems. Under the terms of the five-year contract, the CCPL team will develop command and control systems that reuse commercial off-the-shelf hardware and software or that reuse software developed by the government for previous applications. In related news, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has awarded a $484 M direct-sale contract to Raytheon for technical assistance, training and logistics support for the Kingdom’s Patriot and Hawk air-defense systems. Under the terms of the contract, Raytheon will provide technical assistance at Patriot and Hawk sites and service depots in Saudi Arabia, training and instruction to operate and maintain the equipment, and logistics support for spares and modifications throughout the duration of the contract. Raytheon was also awarded a $4 M contract from the Civil Aviation Authority of China to provide a modern air traffic control (ATC) radar system for a new airport at Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China. The total project includes primary and secondary surveillance radars, communications, training and spares. The Guangzhou award represents the ninth Raytheon ATC radar system to be installed in China.

Hughes Network Systems Inc. (HNS) , Germantown, MD, and Alcatel Telecom have signed a $60 M contract with Telesp, the telephone company of Sao Paula State, Brazil, to implement a cellular mobile system in Taubate. Production is scheduled to begin in November with a build out to support 50,000 subscribers by March 1998. HNS’ GMH 2000™ multifunctional wireless platform will be installed in the Taubate region of Sao Paula State and connected to a planned 49 cell sites. The platform uses Alcatel’s model 1000 S12 switch as the mobile switching center and will offer Taubate subscribers a complete range of Advanced Mobile Phone Service vertical features, including IS-41 intersystem signaling, which allows roaming throughout the entire cellular coverage area of Telbras, Brazil’s national phone company.

Electronic and information technology product supplier Tracor Aerospace Inc. of Lansdale, PA, a subsidiary of Tracor Aerospace Electronic Systems Inc. , has received a three-year, $9.8 M cost-plus-fee contract to design, develop and test seven AN/ALQ-99 low band transmitters for the Naval Air System Command in Arlington, VA. The transmitter is expected to improve the tactical jamming capability of the AN/ALQ-99 jamming system aboard the Navy’s EA-6B aircraft by providing greater frequency range coverage. The contract also calls for Tracor to provide associated technical, engineering and integrated logistics support data, and to test interrogation software for the EA-6B.

APCOM Inc. , Gaithersburg, MD, has been awarded a $1.6 M contract from an undisclosed foreign customer to supply more than 100 dual-channel, 20 MHz RF-to-baseband converters for use in precision direction-finding systems. The versa module for Eurocard-based RF converters and synthesizer modules will be used in vehicular and fixed-site applications. Deliveries are scheduled to begin later this year.

Power amplifier manufacturer Microwave Power Devices Inc. , Hauppauge, NY, has been awarded a $900 K order from QUALCOMM Inc. to supply highly linear, single-channel, cellular code-division multiple access (CDMA) amplifiers to be used in QUALCOMM’s prototype testing of CDMA cellular communications systems base stations. The base stations then will be utilized to upgrade present cellular infrastructure from analog to digital while supporting future wireless local loop applications worldwide.

Redmond, WA-based Metawave Communications Corp. ’s newly launched Network Services group has signed a $500 K contract with Cox California PCS Inc., a subsidiary of Cox Communications Inc. in Irvine, CA. Under the terms of the contract, the Network Services group will provide installation services to Cox California PCS, which is building out a personal communications service (PCS) network that will serve the southern California/Nevada major trading area. Metawave will provide rigging crews and project-management services for more than 80 new Cox California PCS installations in the specified areas throughout this year. To support the activities in these areas, Metawave has opened a new regional office in Los Angeles.

Space Electronics Inc. , San Diego, CA, has received a research contract from Mission Research Corp. of Santa Barbara, CA for microelectronics optimized to perform in space. The contract has an initial value of approximately $118.6 K with possible extensions to $635 K.

Following a several-month bidding process, wireless communications company Nurad Technologies Inc. of Baltimore, MD has been awarded a multimillion-dollar contract by Lockheed Martin Corp. The contract, part of a Lockheed contract with the US Air Force, calls for Nurad to design and build an advanced antenna/radome system, which is an integral part of the ASPJ electronic warfare system for the F-16 fighter.

PERSONNEL

Gerry Gendron has been appointed president of ITT Cannon. Prior to this position, Gendron was VP and GM of ITT Cannon Commercial Connectors.

Robert C. Ayotte has been named president and CEO of Norton Performance Plastics Corp., a subsidiary of Saint-Gobain Corp. Ayotte, who has been with Saint-Gobain since 1987, will continue in his role as CEO of Saint-Gobain Industrial Ceramics Inc.

Advanced Control Components has appointed David J. London VP of marketing. Prior to joining the compa-ny, London was strategic sales manager at Narda.

Rick Dock has been named VP, sales and worldwide support at Cascade Microtech. Most recently, Dock was manager of Cascade’s Probing Systems Business Unit.

Johnstech International Corp. has appointed Stuart Morris territory sales manager in the eastern region of North America. Morris has been selling Johnstech’s products for five years and has 10 years of experience in semiconductor test engineering.

Alpha Industries Inc. has announced two personnel appointments, including Bruce Nonnemaker , director of operations, and Dave Fryklund , director of commercial IC products. Most recently, Nonnemaker was GM for the strategic accounts group at KLA Instruments Corp. and Fryklund was product line manager of IC control products at M/A-COM.

Malcolm Oliphant has been appointed director of training at IFR Systems Inc. Oliphant is a coauthor of An Introduction to GSM and previously was a systems engineer at Wavetek.

Chris Ciufo has been appointed the new product marketing manager of Sharp Microelectronics Technology Inc.’s (SMT) recently acquired DSP line. Prior to joining SMT, Ciufo was product marketing manager at DY 4 Systems Inc.

Littelfuse Inc. has named Tom Wortmann manager of marketing ser-vices. Wortmann’s experience includes positions as manager of electronic commerce and manager of market planning and analysis.

Kenneth Braithwaite has joined Micro Crystal as US operations manager. Braithwaite hasmore than 20 years of experience in sales and management, including positions at Rendell Sales, Arrow Electronics, RM Electronics, Molex and Richco Plastics Co.

Palomar Products Inc.’s Assembly and Test Products Group has chosen Jeff King to head the bonding applications engineering team and MikeSzuch to head welding and reflow soldering applications.

The first Joseph F. and Nancy Keithley professorship in electrical and computer engineering at Carnegie Mellon University has been awarded to Angel G. Jordan , professor of electrical and computer engineering and robotics. The chair is endowed in honor of Joseph F. Keithley, founder of Keithley Instruments Inc.

REP APPOINTMENTS

Microwave absorber manufacturer Microsorb Technologies Inc. , Hopedale, MA, has appointed Hi-Peak Technical Sales of North Chelmsford, MA to represent its full line of products and services in New England; upstate New York; and Ontario, Canada.

Microwave & Video Systems Inc. of Danbury, CT has hired Microwave Component Marketing Inc. of Lowell, MA to represent its products in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island and Vermont. Additional representation is being sought to service foreign and domestic markets.

Microwave Devices Inc. , Franklin, IN, has appointed EBA Microwave of Dana Point, CA and Microwave Component Marketing Inc. of Lowell, MA to represent its line of RF and microwave components in southern California and New England, respectively.

Texas Instruments , Dallas, TX, has appointed ENERCON Inc. of Phoenix, AZ to represent its thin-film product lines and PCBs in Arizona, Utah, New Mexico and Nevada.