Articles by Patrick Hindle

I did numerous formal sponsored video interviews on Tues morning which are now live on our Online Show Daily . But I came across a couple of other interesting demos during the show and took a video of a couple of them with my cheap but convenient Flip video. Below is a Keithley demo showing their new Vector Network Signal analyzer (just turn the volume up). Another interesting product that is very cool is the laser etching machine from LPKF which can in seconds etch a metal pattern into a substrate like a PCB or ceramic board. It etches...

IMS/MTT-S is where you run into a lot of old friends and associates. You never know who you might find on the show floor. MWJ editor David Vye and myself ran into retired tech editor, Frank Bashore, who taught me well. We did a quick interview with Frank who gave his approval to the way we doing things so far. Who did you run into at the show?...

In addition to the conference sessions, workshops and tutorials, there are many short practical and application specific seminars and talks happening this year on the exhibition floor. The largest is the MicroApps which will have its own forum area at the front of the exhibition hall and will be presenting the technology behind commercial products and their capabilities. It is being run by Agilent and has a good number of test and measurement talks along with others being presented by participating companies. M/A-COM Technology Solutions is running 10 minute Tech Talks in their booth (2214) covering various subjects such as...

Our IMS 2009 blogs take a look at the conference from the perspective of exhibitors Freescale and AWR Follow RFLeonard Blog (Freescale) Guest Blog: Sherry Hess (AWR) In addition, our May Expert Advice is given by Gayle Collins of Freescale who writes a perspective on upcoming IMS Power Amplifier papers and the potential impact of different papers on the field. Read and Comment...

As we approach IMS 2009 MTT-S June 7-12, most of our entries will be related to the conference and exhibition in Boston (our home town). Microwave Journal's May issue is dedicated to show coverage and has various exclusive articles including the cover story that takes a look at the past conferences in Boston as told by the past chairs and a preview of the upcoming show. We have a dedicated web site that is live now, the Online Show Daily , that covers the show news, new products, articles from the May issue, messages from the chairs, videos, photos, special...

We have covered the potential benefits of the stimulus funding to the wireless industry and now ABI has released a report covering this subject. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA, also known simply as the Stimulus Bill) will provide funding for a massive $6.8 billion worth of wireless communications upgrades and new deployments over 2009-2010. The Act offers a significant one-off opportunity for wireless equipment vendors. In healthcare, the scope for adding wireless to the technology mix encompasses Wi-Fi-enabled mobile devices and sensors, communications systems linking health networks, telepresence, wireless LAN equipment, and Wi-Fi-enabled video surveillance systems. In education,...

The ZigBee® Alliance announced it is proposing use of the ZigBee Smart Energy public application profile to the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) as a basis for an IEC standard. ZigBee Smart Energy is the only standardized home area network solution in the market today meeting the tough requirements of leading utilities worldwide according to the alliance. The deployment of an estimated 30 million ZigBee equipped smart meters is underway in North America. Working with the IEC on an even broader global standardization will benefit the energy sector and public by placing more emphasis on energy management and smart grid development....

The latest Strategy Analytics report says that TriQuint and Win Semiconductors continue to control the market, increasing their collective share of the GaAs (gallium arsenide) foundry market from 67% in 2007 to 77% in 2008. TriQuint held onto the top spot in 2008, benefiting from commercial opportunities as well as engagements in the US defense and aerospace industries. Win Semiconductors is by far the largest pure-play GaAs foundry, pushing TriQuint hard for the number one spot in 2008, with only one percentage point separating the two companies in overall market share. "Strategy Analytics estimates that the total market for GaAs...

Despite the weakened state of the world economy RFID markets are not contracting, according to the latest data from ABI Research. At worst they are growing at a slower rate. Positive signs are beginning to appear and forecasts suggest that even with the ailing automotive vertical included, the RFID market should see 11% growth between 2009 and 2010. Remove the deeply depressed automotive immobilizer numbers which are directly tied to vehicle production, and the growth rate jumps to almost 16%. "Transponders, readers, software, and services are all showing healthy growth,"says practice director Michael Liard. "he most robust applications include contactless...

You might have noticed that we have added some cool new tools to the blog. In the right column, we now have a link at the top to get all of our entries as audio files. You can listen to them as you do something else or download them to your mp3 player. There is also a feed on the page to subscribe to for updates. Also in the right column is a Twitter Search feed. You can enter any term and it will provide real time updates for that keyword. Enter IMS2009 to follow everyone for Tweats about the...