Around the Circuit
INDUSTRY NEWS
Walter Katzenmeyer , MTT-S Exhibition account executive for exhibitor services and show decoration, died on Thursday, November 13 after a brief but devastating illness that was first diagnosed in July after the close of the Denver show. He was 55 years old. Walter worked with Microwave Journal on every MTT-S show since 1980 in Washington, DC. He made many friends within the microwave community during his long association and was probably best known for his complete unflappability. Faced with the most bizarre problem, Walter would quickly and calmly defuse the situation to everyone’s satisfaction. He was a consummate professional and friend. He will be sorely missed. For anyone interested in contributing, Walter’s family has set up a fund in his name and has requested remembrances in the form of donations. Contributions can be sent to the Arlington Cancer Institute, Columbia Arlington Hospital, 1701 N. George Mason Dr., Arlington, VA 22205 or the Whitman Walker Clinic, 5232 Lee Highway, Arlington, VA 22207.
Aetrium Inc. , St. Paul, MN, has agreed to acquire substantially all of the assets of the Handler Division of Advantek Inc. , Minnetonka, MN, subject to the completion of a due diligence review. The transaction is expected to be completed during Advantek’s fourth quarter. All 50 employees of the Handler Division are expected to become Aetrium employees at the time of the closing.
TRW Inc. has agreed to acquire privately held MilliWave Technologies Corp. , a Diamond Springs, CA designer and manufacturer of multichip electronic modules used in high frequency wireless communications systems. The transaction was approved September 20 by MilliWave’s shareholders and expands TRW’s role in the commercial telecommunications industry. The new company will be called TRW MilliWave Inc. , a wholly owned subsidiary of TRW Inc. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
Microwave and electronic system and component designer and manufacturer General Microwave Corp. , Amityville, NY, has completed the sale of the assets of Math Associates Inc. , its fiber-optic division, to Communications Specialists Inc. of Hauppauge, NY. General Microwave anticipates that the sale will result in a net second-quarter pretax gain from discontinued operations of approximately $800 K to $1 M.
Allen Telecom Inc. has signed an agreement with PCS Wireless to acquire substantially all of the company’s assets and intellectual property relating to its cable-based indoor RF distribution products. Allen Telecom also will assume certain liabilities of the business and retain the research and development engineering staff that has been developing the indoor distribution products and other related wireless telecommunications products in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The transaction is subject to certain preclosing conditions. In related news, Allen Telecom has received Federal Communications Commission type approval for its new PCSConnect™ code-division multiple access (CDMA) repeater, a cost-effective product designed to extend the coverage of a CDMA base station. The unit eliminates the need for interconnect cost and provides remote programming, monitoring and alarm functions without requiring on-site visits.
Test equipment manufacturer Boonton Electronics Corp. , Parsippany, NJ, has announced a new business plan that will increase research and development in the company’s core businesses from eight to 18 percent. In addition, the company is expanding its engineering staff and expects to be ISO 9000 certified by the end of 1998.
Emerson & Cuming Microwave Products Inc. has relocated its US operations to a new, 40,000-square-foot, single-level facility. The division now is located at 28 York Ave., Randolph, MA 02368 (781) 961-9600, fax (781) 961-2845, e-mail: ecmicrowav@aol.com. US business offices, manufacturing, and research and development operations will be combined at the new location, effectively doubling the company’s existing space. In addition, the facility will include a newly designed development, testing and quality control laboratory.
Gabriel Electronics Inc. has relocated its eastern region sales office from Hagerstown, MD to 3920 Market St., Camp Hill, PA 17011 (717) 972-1295, fax (717) 972-1297, e-mail: bpeckrul@compuserve.com. The operation is managed by Robert Peckrul.
Switch, filter, diplexer, directional coupler, connector and cable assembly manufacturer KMW Inc. has purchased a new, 100,000-square-foot facility located at 13131 East 166th St., Cerritos, CA 90703 (562) 926-2033, fax (562) 926-6133. The facility houses the company’s expanded engineering capability as well as state-of-the-art manufacturing.
B+K Precision , Chicago, IL, has launched a nationwide expansion program with the opening of new facilities in New Jersey and California. According to the expansion plan, the sales, customer service, technical support and accounting departments will relocate to new offices in the Chicago area. Marketing, administration, and a factory service and calibration center will be based at the new Placentia, CA location. The research and development, engineering and manufacturing departments will be joined with those of Boonton Electronics , an affiliated company, in a modern facility in New Jersey. The move is intended to support the company’s growing business through distributor sales in the US while contributing to its continued growth in global markets.
RF and electromagnetic compatibility testing product manufacturer Amplifier Research , Souderton, PA, has expanded its headquarters for the third time with an 11,000-square-foot, $1.5 M project that began in November 1996. In related news, the company has received ISO 9001 certification.
Ansoft Corp. , Pittsburgh, PA, and TriQuint Semiconductor Inc. , Hillsboro, OR, have entered into a partnership for high frequency GaAs design. Under the terms of the agreement, TriQuint will purchase a site-wide license for Serenade 7.0, Ansoft’s RF and wireless design software; Ansoft will develop customized simulator capabilities for TriQuint.
Celwave , Marlboro, NJ, and Raytheon E-Systems , Falls Church, VA, have entered into a strategic alliance to sell Raytheon Precision Spectrum Products™ digital signal processing platforms as an extension and enhancement of the Celwave SMART System™ product line, and to jointly develop advanced, integrated versions of both product lines. The companies plan to demonstrate digital Advanced Mobile Phone Service (time-division multiple access) versions in the coming months.
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) , Palo Alto, CA, and VLSI Technology Inc. , San Jose, CA, have announced a cooperative development effort aimed at producing design and development tools for engineers creating custom silicon systems based on VLSI’s advanced reduced instruction set computing machine (ARM) central processing unit (CPU). HP intends to produce emulation and logic-analysis tools that VLSI and its customers will use for hardware and software debug and verification when developing ARM CPU core-based application-specific ICs and standard products. In related news, HP intends to support the new Motorola M•CORE architecture with an emulation solution that will help design teams with early software development and hardware/software integration.
Integrated Device Technology Inc. , Micron Technology Inc. and Motorola’s Semiconductor Products Sector have announced a cooperative agreement to market static random-access memory products based on the Zero Bus Turnaround™ architecture. Under the terms of the agreement, the three companies will manufacture and market proprietary products based on the same architecture and product pinouts.
American Microsystems Inc. (AMI) , Pocatello, ID, has begun working with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to voluntarily control and reduce the emission of perflourocompounds (PFC) into the atmosphere from its manufacturing plants. A memorandum of understanding with the EPA has been signed by AMI as well as other members of the semiconductor industry to determine methods to measure, control and reduce PFC emissions. Acting as a partner to AMI and other industry signatories, the EPA intends to develop a clearinghouse of information and data on successful strategies for reducing PFC emissions. It also will conduct a preliminary assessment of the possibility for substitutes to these products and report on them to the industry.
Anadigics , Warren, NJ, has been awarded its 11th patent (US patent no. 5,625,307) for a monolithic upconverter IC, which performs the first frequency conversion of a dual-conversion cable television receiver. The announcement marks the second patent received by the company in 1997.
Employees of Fujitsu Compound Semiconductor Inc. , San Jose, CA, have been awarded two patents for a MMIC downconverter for a direct-broadcast service low noise block downconverter and a high efficiency multiple power level amplifier circuit (US patent no.s 5,649,312 and 5,661,434, respectively). The first patent covers a unique downconverter circuit that DC couples the IF amplifier input stage, mixer and LO buffer amplifier, producing a downconverter circuit that consumes less DC power than the conventional circuit and occupies less GaAs area. The second patent improves power amplifier efficiency significantly in CDMA systems.
Andrew Corp.’s Base Station Antenna and Active Wireless Products Business units in Addison, IL have received ISO 9001 certification.
Mini-Systems Inc.’s Thin Film Division , Attleboro, MA, has been certified to the ISO 9001 standard for its line of passive components.
Semflex Inc. , Mesa, AZ, has achieved ISO 9001 certification for its line of RF cables, cable assemblies and RF connectors.
Arlon, Materials for Electronics , Bear, DE, has achieved ISO 9002 certification for its full line of polytetrafluoroethylene PCB materials. The company’s Rancho Cucamonga, CA facility received ISO 9002 certification in 1996.
Wireless telecommunications system supplier RF Micro Devices Inc ., Greensboro, NC, has been named North Carolina’s fastest-growing technology company by the North Carolina Technology 50 awards committee based on a five-year growth rate exceeding 11,000 percent.
Veeco Instruments Inc. , Plainview, NY, has been awarded the R&D 100 award for its ion beam deposition system, which was developed through a joint effort with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories and is used to deposit films for multilayer reflective extreme-ultraviolet masks. The annual R&D 100 awards were established in 1963 and recognize technologically significant new products.
Mitsubishi Electric’s Semiconductor Division has named European Microwave Corp. (EMC) its distributor of the year following significant sales growth for Mitsubishi’s GaAs high frequency devices. EMC has held the Mitsubishi franchise since the early 1990s and has virtually doubled its business turnover. Following this success, Mitsubishi has appointed Pacer Components , Pangbourne, Berks, UK, and TDC , Basingstoke, UK, as specialist distributors for the company’s optoelectronic product range and RF components, respectively.
FINANCIAL NEWS
Littelfuse Inc. reports sales of $69 M for the third quarter, ended September 27, compared to $60.5 M for the third quarter last year. Net income was $6.4 M (27¢/share), compared to $5.6 M (24¢/share) for the same period last year.
Anadigics Inc. reports sales of $26.7 M for the third quarter, ended September 28, compared to $17 M for the same period last year. Net income was $4 M (26¢/share), compared to $1.5 M (11¢/share) last year.
Aetrium Inc. reports sales of $18.7 M for the third quarter, ended September 30, compared to $13 M for the same period last year. Net income was $2.3 M (26¢/share), compared to $1.8 M (21¢/share) for the third quarter last year.
Ansoft Corp. reports sales of $5.3 M for the first quarter, ended July 31, compared to $2.3 M for the same period last year. Net income was $745 K (8¢/share), compared to a net loss of $2.7 M (35¢/share) for the first quarter last year.
Robinson Nugent Inc. forecasts lower-than-expected revenues in the first quarter that will result in lower-than- expected earnings. The company reported a net income of $402 K (8¢/share) for the first quarter of the prior year and $2.4 M (48¢/share) for the year ended June 30.
CONTRACTS
Harris Corp.’s Farinon Division has received an exclusive contract from BCP SA and BSE SA for the design and installation of a microwave radio system to support the first digital cellular networks in two of Brazil’s most populated areas: São Paulo and a six-state northeastern region of the country. The contract is estimated to be worth $80 M and makes the Farinon Division the microwave supplier to BCP and BSE for three years.
Microwave Power Devices Inc. has received a $6.6 M follow-on order to supply highly linear, single-channel, personal communications service-CDMA amplifiers to Lucent Technologies for use in wireless telecommunications base stations. Shipments of the equipment are expected to be completed during the second quarter of 1998.
LTX Corp. , Westwood, MA, has received a multimillion-dollar order from Samsung Electronics Co. for two Synchro II test systems to be used to test Samsung’s new generation of video ICs and to develop new wireless/RF and hard disk drive mixed-signal products. The systems were delivered to Samsung’s Bucheon and Keheong, Korea facilities during LTX’s fourth fiscal quarter.
Boeing has awarded Honeywell Space Systems a contract to support the development of the International Space Station Systems Integration Lab, a high fidelity avionics ground laboratory for hardware and software integration. Under the terms of the contract, Honeywell Space Systems’ Satellite Systems Operation in Phoenix will build and deliver multiplexers/demultiplexers, multiplexer/demultiplexer application test environment systems, real-time input/output platforms and other ground equipment. Honeywell also will provide hardware and software support and work with Boeing to design the avionics lab. Deliveries of hardware and software were scheduled to begin in November and will continue through August 1998. The contract’s value was not disclosed.
Advanced TechCom Inc. (ATI) , Wilmington, MA, has entered into a contract with Brazil-based MComcast to supply 23 GHz digital microwave radios as part of a state-of-the-art infrastructure for MComcast’s trunking communications services in São Paulo. ATI’s model 16E1 and 4E1 radios will be used in MComcast’s backbone network, which provides high speed microwave links between more than 20 hub sites and more than 60 remote sites for a total capacity of more than 4.68 Gbps. The value of the contract was not disclosed.
Northern Telecom (Nortel) is integrating Trimble Navigation Ltd. ’s Global Positioning System clock into its cellular base station infrastructure equipment to precisely synchronize voice and data transmissions. Trimble will function as the primary supplier of the CDMA clocks that allow individual transmitters to maintain accuracy during holdover, ensuring reliable wireless telephone systems. The terms of the contract were not disclosed.
Sanders , a Lockheed Martin company in Nashua, NH, and Theseus Logic Inc. , Minneapolis, MN, are working together under a three-year government cooperative research and development contract awarded last year to design and develop ICs using NULL Convention Logic,™ a Theseus-patented asynchronous digital circuit design methodology. Clockless logic circuits reduce a chip’s processing time by avoiding time-dependency limitations inherent in the controlling of gates according to traditional design approaches. They also reduce power requirements, improve chip reliability and allow for faster design cycles.
PERSONNEL
Boonton Electronics Corp. has named Yves Guyomar president and CEO. Previously, Guyomar spent over 30 years with various units of Philips in France, most recently as manager of the company’s technical and industrial center in Brive.
Frank W. Schneider has been named president and CEO of GHz Technology Inc. Prior to joining the company, Schneider was senior VP and GM of the microelectronics group of Sharp Electronics Corp.
Sam Smookler has been appointed president and COO of Signal Technology Corp. Smookler joined the company in February as president of East Coast Operations and the Olektron Components and Olektron Systems divisions, and succeeds James S. Walsh who was named vice chairman and technical director.
Bill Stout , current chairman and CEO of Trompeter Electronics Inc. (TEI), has assumed the additional role of president. Stout replaces Jack Kantola who was president of TEI for six years and is leaving the company to pursue other interests.
Anadigics has announced the retirement of George Gilbert , executive VP, COO and co-founder. Gilbert, who plans to retire by the end of the year, will continue to serve as a member of the company’s board of directors. His responsibilities will be assumed by various members of Anadigics’ management.
Microwave Technology Inc. has made two new personnel appointments including Guo-Gang ("Greg") Zhou as VP and CTO, and Patrick Gardner as director, international sales. Previously, Zhou was a program manager and senior scientist for Rockwell International; Gardner was worldwide sales manager for wireless products at Fujitsu Compound Semiconductor.
Mark Albert has joined B+K Precision as director of marketing. Most recently, Albert was marketing manager for Wavetek.
Lark Engineering Co. has appointed Raymond Vincent VP responsible for all of the company’s activities in the eastern US and Europe. Formerly, Vincent was senior VP of Microlab/FXR and co-owner of Val Technical Sales.
Janco Corp. has named Paul Gerritse VP, engineering. Gerritse joined the company in 1986 as design engineer and served as engineering manager since 1990.
Frank Little has been appointed VP, engineering for ADC Telecommunications Inc.’s Broadband Communications Division. Most recently, Little was VP, strategic planning for the Actives Division of Antec’s Network Technologies Group.
Sanders, a Lockheed Martin company, has named John ("Jack") W. Booher director, international business development. Most recently, Booher was director of international business development for Sanders’ Countermeasures Division.
The board of directors of Microwave dB Inc. has appointed David L. Sprague as the firm’s first VP of marketing, sales and program management. Prior to joining the company, Sprague founded and served as the president of InMark Corp.
CTS Corp. has appointed James K. Kolkowski director of corporate sales. Previously, Kolkowski served as VP, sales and marketing for the company’s Resistor Network business unit.
Dow-Key Microwave Corp. has made two new personnel appointments, including Julie K. Williams as sales manager for Commercial Avionics and Wireless Products and Krzysztof J. Ciezarek as director of the newly formed Space/Hi-Rel Business Center. Most recently, Williams was sales manager at Jay-El/DMT; Ciezarek was business unit director of space products and electromechanical switches at Sage Laboratories.
Thomas B. Smiley has been promoted to the newly created position of director, planning and business development for BI Technologies Corp. Previously, Smiley was director of marketing.
Rudy Winter has been appointed COO and executive VP of EEV Inc. as well as director of EEV Canada Ltd. Winter joined EEV in 1979 and most recently served as the company’s executive VP, finance and administration.
Littelfuse Inc. has named Paul Johnson manager, international marketing for its POWR-GARD products division. Johnson has 11 years of marketing and sales experience in domestic and international markets.
Alan Song has been appointed marketing manager of wireless products at Jay-El/DMT. Song has over 23 years of industry experience and formerly was with KMW.
Interconnect Devices Inc. has appointed Christy Cameron product manager and Thad Sketers product specialist. Cameron has seven years of sales, marketing and product management experience; Sketers has two years of sales and marketing experience.
Gabriel Electronics Inc. has promoted Michael Cahill to director of international sales and Susan Williams to director of sales. Cahill has been with the company since 1984, serving as eastern region sales engineer and international sales manager; Williams has been with the company since 1981, serving as North American sales manager and manager of installation services.
Richardson Electronics Ltd. has made several new personnel appointments, including Hector Munoz as regional sales manager for Latin America, Enio Guedes as regional sales manager for Brazil, and Walter Meggiolaro and Nelson Mantovani as district sales managers with Latin America. Jorge Gordon Reid will manage the company’s recently opened sales office in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
REP APPOINTMENT
Radiall Inc., Stratford , CT, has made several new rep appointments, including Ammon & Rizos , Richardson, TX, to represent its products in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas; Electronic Manufacturers’ Agents , Huntsville, AL, to cover North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida; and Eagle Sales Corp. , Hunt Valley, MD, to cover Maryland, Virginia and Washington, DC. In addition, Radiall has expanded the existing territory of Cain-Forlaw Co. , Palatine, IL, to include North and South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and western Pennsylvania.
NEW MARKET ENTRY
TMC Design LLC is a new company formed to design and manufacture custom antennas and systems for commercial and military applications. Immediate plans include the release of commercial test antennas and to provide senior-level design services. The company’s headquarters are located at 210 E. Idaho, Suite A, Las Cruces, NM 88005 (505) 524-4225, fax (505) 523-8588.
NEW WEB SITES
RF test instrumentation manufacturer Amplifier Research , Souderton, PA, has unveiled its refurbished Web site, which was designed to convey the company’s new image and provide information on amplifiers, antennas, interference generators, precompliance test systems and accessories for RF testing. The site can be accessed at http://www.ar-amps.com.
Solid-state power amplifier manufacturer Comtech PST , Melville, NY, has developed a new Web site featuring product offerings, specifications, new product updates and a listing of both domestic and international sales offices. The site is located at http://www.comtechpst.com.
Coto , Providence, RI, has introduced a user-friendly Web site (http://www.cotorelay.com) featuring information and specifications on its reed and solid-state relays. The site also offers areas where users can design customized relays and submit technical questions.
DuPont Photomasks Inc. , Round Rock, TX, has established a Web site located at http://www.photomask.com that covers the company’s products and services, equipment and technology, financial information and employment opportunities at various facilities.