Around the Circuit
INDUSTRY NEWS
Smiths Industries , London, UK, has acquired lightning-protection and grounding solutions company PolyPhaser Corp. of Minden, NV. PolyPhaser will continue to develop its products under company president John Cole. PolyPhaser joins 35 complementary companies in Smiths Industries’ Industrial Group , including coaxial cable manufacturer Times Microwave Systems .
In an effort to become more competitive in the microwave component industry and increase manufacturing capabilities and product base, microwave and mm-wave product manufacturers Cernex Inc. , Sunnyvale, CA, and Quinstar Technology Inc. , Torrance, CA, have merged. The companies report that their successful combined efforts on several ventures in the past will make for a smooth transition.
Bird Electronic Corp. , Cleveland, OH, has created a new US sales office located in Franklin, IN to serve Indiana, Michigan, Illinois and Missouri. The new office is located at 50 W. Jefferson St., Franklin, IN 46131 (317) 346-6600, fax (317) 346-6601.
In an effort to enhance its presence in Asia, wireless system supplier Allen Telecom Inc. , Cleveland, OH, has opened two new companies in the region. Allen Telecom Pte. Ltd. (Singapore) and Allen Telecom Ltd. (Hong Kong) will provide customers with a direct, local source for installation, project management, engineering, drive testing and other turnkey services. Niany Sor (Aaron) Tan, former sales manager for the southern Asia region, has been promoted to managing director of the Singapore operation. The Hong Kong operation will be led by Philip Lo, sales manager for the northern Asia region.
Management software designer Alliance Manufacturing Software International has opened a new office in Whetstone, Leicester, UK to market and support its MRP-II software throughout the region. The company’s Alliance/MFG® software provides a full suite of MRP-II functions, including a bill of materials, quotations, sales and purchase orders, forecasting, material requirements planning, inventory control and capacity planning.
Directed Energy Inc. (DEI) has moved to new offices. The company is now located at 2401 Research Blvd., Suite 108, Fort Collins, CO 80526 (970) 493-1901, fax (970) 493-1903 or e-mail: deiinfo@dirnrg.com.
Solid-state power amplifier (SSPA) and satellite microwave radio system designer and manufacturer SSPA Microwave Corp. has moved to a new, 2300 m2 facility to accommodate business growth. The company’s new address is 7420 Pacific Circle, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada L5T 2A4 (905) 565-0558.
In an attempt to meet expanding production, and research and development demands, Stealth Microwave ,™ a division of SSB Technologies Inc. , has relocated to larger facilities. The company is now located at 1007 Whitehead Road Ext., Trenton, NJ 08638 (609) 538-8586, fax (609) 538-8587 or e-mail: info@ssbtech.com.
Mixed-signal and digital application-specific IC supplier American Microsystems Inc. (AMI) of Pocatello, ID has announced that its model CWL 0.8 mm, double-poly, double-metal mixed-signal process will be offered by MOSIS of Marina del Rey, CA. AMI’s process is scheduled to replace the Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) model CMOS34/AMOSI process in use currently by MOSIS. AMI’s process features an additional poly cap layer to make high quality linear capacitors. This layer is located under the first poly and is similar to the diffused capacitor in HP’s process. The CWL 0.8 mm process is scheduled to become available in October.
Digital microwave radio system supplier Advanced TechCom Inc. (ATI) , Wilmington, MA, is supplying its frequency-shift keying (FSK)+ DS3 radios to Calgary, Alberta, Canada-based MetroNet Communications Corp. , a provider of local telecommunications solutions. MetroNet is deploying ATI’s radios in Calgary with Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada-based reseller VariCom Network Technologies Inc. to extend MetroNet’s state-of-the-art fiber-optic networks to remote areas and customers beyond its current coverage area.
Aydin Corp. , Horsham, PA, has announced that the first of two new time-division multiple access (TDMA) traffic terminals manufactured by Aydin and developed by COMSAT Laboratories of Clarksburg, MD is now operational at AT&T ’s Etam, WV international satellite earth station complex. The terminal, which costs less and is more flexible than previous-generation TDMA terminals, is carrying telecommunications traffic over the International Telecommunications Satellite (INTELSAT) TDMA network in the Atlantic Ocean region. The 120 Mbps TDMA network provides service consistent with fiber-optic technology for telecommunications carriers with solutions for telephony, business traffic, data communications and video conferencing. The two new TDMA terminals will handle AT&T’s existing TDMA traffic over the INTELSAT satellites located at 335° and 342° east longitude.
Advanced wireless solution provider Digital Microwave Corp. , San Jose, CA, has received an additional $2.1 M in orders under a supplier agreement with Rogers Cantel Inc. (Cantel) , Canada’s largest wireless telephone company. Under terms of the agreement, Digital Microwave will supply Cantel with its SPECTRUM™ II digital microwave radios, which will provide cell site interconnection in Cantel’s digital personal communications system (PCS) throughout Canada. Orders received from Cantel since January total $5 M.
Communication and electronic company Harris Corp. , Melbourne, FL, is supplying its PRISM™ chip set as the radio portion of a new wireless local area network system developed and marketed by Z-Com Inc. of Taiwan. The LANEscape™ system operates in the 2.4 GHz industrial, scientific and medical band using direct-sequence, spread spectrum technology, which allows data transfer at 2 Mbps. Z-Com plans to use the system in networking applications where the installation of communications wiring is expensive or impractical, or when mobile computing is required.
Connector manufacturer ITT Cannon has increased ownership of its China-based connector manufacturing and assembly joint venture company from 51 to 90 percent. ITT Cannon’s China-based joint venture partner Zhenjiang Connector & Switch Factory will retain 10 percent of the company, which will continue to be known as ITT Cannon (Zhenjiang) Electronics Company Ltd. ITT Cannon anticipates sales for the joint venture will grow more than twofold in 1997 over 1996 levels.
Microwave transmission line product manufacturer MICRO-COAX has signed an agreement with DuPont Advanced Fiber Systems that allows MICRO-COAX to use DuPont’s Aracon metal-clad conductive yarn in its UTiFLEX microwave cable assemblies. MICRO-COAX hopes Aracon will add strength and light weight to the UTiFLEX microwave cables. Aracon is a Kevlar-based fiber clad with either nickel or silver and is designed for use exclusively as a conductor or electromagnetic interference shielding braid in electrical interconnect systems.
Remote intelligent communications (RIC) technology manufacturer Micron Communications Inc. , Boise, ID, has signed a manufacturing and licensing agreement with Gilbarco Inc. , Greensboro, NC, authorizing the company to make and sell Micron’s RIC interrogators, which are an essential communication link used to read MicroStamp units. As part of an RIC system, which includes a computer, interrogator, antenna system and MicroStamp units, the interrogator transmits commands from a host computer to MicroStamp units and returns replies back to the computer. Gilbarco is developing an automated authorization system for fuel dispensers using the MicroStamp technology.
Advanced communications system and product manufacturer QUALCOMM Inc. , San Diego, CA, has signed a royalty-bearing licensing agreement with RF signal transmission product manufacturer Ortel Corp. , Alhambra, CA. The agreement licenses Ortel to manufacture and sell wireless repeater products based on QUALCOMM’s code-division multiple access (CDMA) technology.
Accelerated life testing service and equipment provider QualMark Corp. , Denver, CO, has signed a purchasing agreement with 3Com Corp. , Santa Clara, CA, calling for QualMark to provide additional OVS™ physical stress systems to 3Com between June 1997 and January 1999. 3Com, which has been using QualMark’s OVS systems for two years, is expanding its own usage and is encouraging its vendors and subsidiaries to take advantage of QualMark’s product-testing technology. The systems improve product quality by evaluating designs and manufacturing processes prior to product release and throughout the manufacturing process.
TRAK Microwave Corp. , Tampa, FL, and the Microwave Division of Elisra Electronic Systems Ltd., Bene Beraq, Israel, a company of Tadiran Group Ltd. , have entered into a cooperative agreement to manufacture and market each other’s products. In Israel and other designated countries, Elisra will market and manufacture TRAK’s VCO-based indirect synthesizers and oscillators. In the US, TRAK will market and manufacture Elisra’s log IF amplifiers, detector log video amplifiers (DLVA), successive DLVAs and high power PIN diode switches.
Kopin Corp. , Taunton, MA, has signed a joint development, supply and license agreement with Siemens Wireless Terminals , a division of Siemens Business Communications Systems . Under the terms of the agreement, Siemens will license certain Kopin technology to be used in wireless telephones, telephone accessories and related products, and purchase Kopin’s CyberDisplay components. The CyberDisplay model 320 is a 0.24" diagonal transmissive active matrix liquid-crystal display imaging device that displays information at 320 x 240 pixel resolution and is based on Kopin’s SMART SLIDE™ technology. The companies will also develop products jointly using CyberDisplays.
Wireless service provider Metawave Communications Corp. , Redmond, WA, has announced that its Network Services Group has entered into an agreement with Advanced Radio Telecom Corp. , Bellevue, WA, and Arizona Cellular Communications , Kingman, AZ, to provide installation services for the companies’ wireless networks. Metawave will install digital microwave equipment for Advanced Radio Telecom’s 38 GHz wireless broadband network and microwave interconnections at several cell sites to improve Arizona Cellular’s cellular service.
Ericsson Microwave Systems AB of Mölndal, Sweden displayed a model of its new agile multibeam Giraffe AMB three-dimensional air-defense search radar at the Paris Air Show. Intended for medium-range, tactical air-defense systems, the radar, which is currently undergoing field trials, has been selected already for the Swedish RBS 23 Bamse medium-range air-defense system and will be delivered for full RBS 23 system trials in early 1998. The radar also has been adapted for the improved Hawk system. The Giraffe is a stacked-beam radar feeding up to 10 medium-range and SHORAD firing units simultaneously. Instrumented ranges available include 30, 60 and 100 km, and elevation coverage is more than 70°. C2 functions include group and split tracking with a capacity of more than 100 tracks, track correlations, jammer triangulation and full-radar netting on data from other Giraffe radars.
Specialty material and component manufacturer Rogers Corp. , Rogers, CT, has completed the first in a series of planned capacity increases. The expansion, completed at Rogers Microwave Materials Division in Chandler, AZ, has allowed the company to begin production of an additional laminate manufacturing line. The company reports it can now ship its model RO4003® laminate product within five days of receiving orders and manufacture 24" x 36" panel sizes for the laminate. Rogers is currently working on its second expansion phase.
Sanders , a Lockheed Martin company, Nashua, NH, reports that the Air Force mission support system (AFMSS) version 2.0 and associated aircraft/weapon/electronics software modules the company is producing have been rated effective for use on the US Air Force F-16 and F-15E tactical fighter aircraft. The AFMSS provides automated mission planning support for more than 25 Air Force aircraft platforms, including fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, and smart munitions such as the joint direct-attack munition. The AFMSS is also being produced for the air forces in Italy, Taiwan, Israel and Saudi Arabia. The program is being managed by Sanders Information Systems Division under contract to the Air Force Material Command’s Electronic Systems Center at Hanscom Air Force Base, MA.
NEC Electronics Inc. ’s RF and microwave semiconductor source, California Eastern Laboratories (CEL) , Santa Clara, CA, has restructured its sales efforts to include independent distributors. CEL signed agreements recently for the distribution of CEL’s NEC RF and microwave products with Reptron Electronics , Bell Industries/Milgray Electronics and Mouser Electronics . The company also signed an agreement with Anthem Electronics Canada Ltd. , which will distribute the products in the Canadian provinces.
In an effort to reach a wider audience via broader distribution and expand into telecommunications markets, Marconi Instruments Inc. , Fort Worth, TX, has appointed Testforce Systems Inc. as its new exclusive distributor for microwave and RF test equipment in Canada. In addition to its Montreal headquarters, Testforce distributes Marconi products in Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver, British Columbia.
American Pacific Aviation & Technology Corp. , San Francisco, CA, and Zhongxi Pharmaceutical Group have signed a joint venture to manufacture miniature surface-mount inductors in Shanghai, China. The agreement represents a three-year commitment to foster the business expansion of Zhongxi Micro-Electronics Components , the companies’ jointly owned operation. The machinery will be installed at Zhongxi Micro-Electronics in Shanghai and production of miniature chips is scheduled to begin this month.
In an effort to help the Microwave Theory and Techniques Society address the needs of RF engineers who work at frequencies below 1 GHz, a new technical committee has been formed for HF, VHF and UHF technology. Fritz Raab and H. Clark Bell, cochairmen of the MTT-17 committee, are seeking volunteers to help with International Microwave Symposium sessions and to review papers. For more information, contact: Fritz Raab, Green Mountain Radio Research, 50 Vermont Ave., Colchester, VT 05446 fax (802) 655-9670 or e-mail: f.raab@ieee.org.
Time and frequency reference provider Datum-Frequency & Time Systems Inc. , Beverly, MA, has been certified to the ISO 9001 quality system standard.
MMIC designer/manufacturer Hittite Microwave Corp. , Woburn, MA, has achieved ISO 9001 certification.
Solid-state, high power amplifier manufacturer Comtech PST Corp. , Melville, NY, has been certified to the ISO 9001 quality system standard.
Worldwide semiconductor and magnetic equipment and material supplier Materials Research Corp. (MRC) , Gilbert, AZ, has announced that its Sendai, Japan plant has achieved ISO 9002 certification. The certification covers all products produced by MRC Japan , which manufactures materials for thin-film applications in the semiconductor and magnetics industries.
FINANCIAL NEWS
Comtech Telecommunications Corp. reports sales of $5.5 M for the third quarter, ended April 30, compared to $5.3 M for the same period last year. Net income was $83 K (3¢/share), compared to $79 K (3¢/share) for the same period last year.
RF Micro Devices Inc. has completed an initial public offering of three million shares of its common stock at $12/share. Certain shareholders also sold an aggregate of 37,000 shares in the offering. The company intends to use approximately $15 M of the net proceeds received to finance a portion of the cost of constructing a new GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistor wafer fabrication facility.
Cryptographic technology provider Certicom Corp. reports that its common shares have been conditionally approved for listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE). TSE is expected to announce a date for trading in the near future.
CONTRACTS
The US Army Missile Command recently awarded Raytheon Co. , Lexington, MA, the first increment of a $34.8 M contract for 256 enhanced fiber-optic guided missile (EFOGM) system missiles. Ratheon plans to use the $5.1 M increment to purchase long-lead production material. The missiles, as well as associated fire units, will be used to equip an EFOGM company in the XVIII Airborne Corps. The company is scheduled to be combat deployable by 2000.
Global telecommunications service and product provider COMSAT Laboratories , a division of COMSAT Corp. located in Clarksburg, MD, has been awarded a $14.4 M contract from Ericsson Ltd. to develop high penetration notification subsystems for ICO Global Communications Ltd., which is designing a hand-held satellite phone service. The subsystems will be located at each of ICO’s 12 satellite access nodes (SAN), which will be linked together to form a single global mobile communications network known as the ICONET. The ICONET will be connected to existing public telephones and cellular networks, allowing users to place and receive calls to and from anywhere on earth. As a member of the ICONET ground facilities team led by NEC, Ericsson will provide the mobile switching centers at the SANs. Under the terms of the contract with Ericsson, COMSAT Laboratories will design, develop, integrate and test the subsystems at each site.
Microwave Power Devices Inc. , Hauppauge, NY, has received a $7.3 M follow-on order to supply highly linear, single-channel PCS-CDMA amplifiers to Lucent Technologies for use in its PCS-CDMA wireless telecommunications base station. The order will commence immediately and shipments are expected to be completed during the first quarter of 1998.
Lockheed Martin Skunk Works (LMSW) has selected Aydin Corp. , Newtown, PA, to provide flight test instrumentation for the joint strike fighter concept demonstration program. LMSW is proving two flying aircraft demonstrators in accordance with requirements from the US Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) royal navy for the next-generation, multirole strike fighter. The $6 M contract calls for Aydin to manufacture a majority of the equipment and to integrate other major subcontractors’ equipment for the aircraft for delivery through 1998. In related news, Aydin has been awarded a $4 M add-on contract from the UK’s MoD to supply additional service practice instrumentation kits used in SKYFLASH air-to-air missiles. The work will be performed at the Aydin Telemetry facility in Newtown, PA.
Berkeley Varitronics Systems Inc. , Metuchen, NJ, has been awarded a $750 K contract by QUALCOMM Inc. to provide propagation analysis equipment for the international distribution of both PCS and cellular systems. In related news, the company has been awarded a contract for the design of a 2.3 GHz wireless local loop system for both Daewoo Telecom Ltd. and Sungmi Telecom Ltd. of Korea. The system will employ 10 MHz wideband CDMA modulation capable of supporting up to 80 simultaneous users per RF channel for each radio port base station.
Space Electronics Inc. (SEI) , San Diego, CA, has received a contract from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, to characterize commercial microelectronics for low voltage space applications. During the six-month project, SEI will evaluate several commercial off-the-shelf advanced static radar-absorbing material chips for performance at a lower supply voltage to reduce spacecraft power requirements for memory subsystems.
PERSONNEL
Cable Television Laboratories Inc. has named Christopher J. Lammers CEO. Formerly, Lammers was president and CEO of Western Communications.
Nancy Rowden Brock has been appointed CFO at Suss Advanced Lithography Inc. Previously, Brock was CFO of Chittenden Corp.
ANADIGICS Inc. has named James Gilbert to fill the newly created position of VP, process and device engineering. Most recently, Gilbert was GaAs device engineering manager at Motorola Inc.’s Compound Semiconductor Technologies.
Linear Technology Corp. has named Louis Di Nardo VP, marketing. Previously, Di Nardo was manager of North American distribution at the company.
Radiall Inc. has appointed Thomas A. Wolf VP, sales/marketing. Wolf has more than 20 years of experience in the connector industry with management positions at Amp, Molex and Augat.
RF Monolithics Inc. has named Robert Kansy VP, engineering. Formerly, Kansy was manager of solid-state technology at Q-DOT.
Jess Rosenthal has joined Telecom Analysis Systems Inc. as VP, sales. Previously, Rosenthal worked at NEC Electronics as worldwide account manager responsible for the AT&T/Lucent Inc. account.
LCC International Inc. has added Fred Banks to its Software Products Group as VP, product development. Prior to joining the company, Banks was employed at Relay Technology as senior VP, development and technical support.
Aetrium Inc. has appointed Gary L. Herd West Coast regional sales manager. Herd has more than 20 years of experience in the automated test equipment industry including a position as national sales manager at Micro Component Technology Inc.
Brush Wellman ceramic division has appointed Arthur Coakley eastern regional sales manager, and Christine Brown and Hans Pridgett account representatives. Formerly, Coakley was an engineering manager at the Ceramic Technology division of Allaire Industries. Brown and Pridgett were promoted from prior positions within the company as material planning administrator and customer service representative, respectively.
Chesapeake Microwave Technologies Inc. has named Thomas Bachman director, sales and marketing. Bachman has held sales and engineering positions with Rational Software Corp. and Quantum Wave Systems.
Bird Electronic Corp. has appointed David Distler Midwestern sales manager. Most recently, Distler was marketing and sales manager for Trilithic.
Sierra Technology Group Inc. has named Angela Ling district sales manager. Ling graduated recently from Penn State University with a PhD in biochemistry.
John W. Stokes has been appointed manager, worldwide marketing at Milliwave Technologies Corp. Prior to joining the company, Stokes was a technical consultant at Litton EDD.
Fiber Options Inc. has appointed Beth Melnick purchasing manager. Melnick has more than 12 years of experience in the electronic product distribution and manufacturing industries.
Gordon Dean has been named engineering manager, transmission products at Vista Labs Inc., a research and engineering subsidiary of Larus Corp. Formerly, Dean was an independent consultant and founder/manager of his own engineering firm.
REP APPOINTMENTS
G.T. Microwave Inc. , Landing, NJ, has appointed three companies to represent its products, including New Era Sales , Glen Burnie, MD, for representation in Maryland, Virginia and South Carolina; Expo International Company Inc. , Wayne, NJ, for international representation; and C-Wave , Redondo Beach, CA, for representation in southern California.
Microwave Devices Inc. , Franklin, IN, has appointed Crosslink Electronics , Prairie Village, KS, to represent its line of RF components in Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska and southern Illinois; and Schank Electronic Marketing , Indianapolis, IN, to represent its products in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan and northern Illinois.
NEW WEB SITE
LMDS/CS equipment manufacturer Dudley Lab , Toms River, NJ, has developed a Web site offering 40 pages of industry news, a question-and-answer section, products and a history of the company. The site can be accessed at http://www.dudleylab.com.