Articles by Dan Massé, Associate Technical Editor

Hughes Network Systems LLC, a leader in broadband satellite technologies and services, and a provider of managed network services, announced it was awarded a $495,000 contract by the US Department of Defense (DoD) to conduct an architectural study of commercial communications satellite (COCOMSAT) systems capabilities. The report, which will...

RFID Item-level Tagging (ILT) is being deployed very rapidly in apparel and footwear markets. Item-level passive UHF tags now make up an increasing share of the total world market for RFID tags. ABI Research forecasts that more than three quarters of a billion RFID tags will be used in...

There’s no question that in the long term LTE will become the mainstay 4G network technology, although its universal use is still in the future. Until then, says ABI Research, some service providers will benefit from a dual-platform strategy based on both LTE and WiMAX. According to Research Director...

Smartphone markets are on a roll. Shipments grew from 177 million in 2009 to 302 million in 2010, a remarkable 71 percent growth rate. Meanwhile, handset OEMs’ market shares have fluctuated widely; Nokia’s dropped from 39 to 33 percent, even as the collective share held by manufacturers of Android-based...

M/A-COM Technology Solutions Inc. (M/A-COM Tech) has extended its position in high power semiconductors with the introduction of its first family of Gallium Nitride (GaN) RF power transistors. This new family of products targets S-band radar pulsed applications and leverages M/A-COM Tech's heritage of providing both standard and custom...

Applied Radar Inc. has been awarded a Phase 2 Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) contract from the US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) to develop a “Wideband Subarray Digital Receiver/Exciter (DREX).” This contract builds upon Applied Radar’s on-going work with the MDA on radar receiver/exciter technology, and greatly expands the...

Raytheon Co. has been awarded a $107 M US Air Force contract to further the design of the Space Fence system. Under this contract, Raytheon will deliver a preliminary design and test a functional radar prototype to ensure cost and schedule certainty and technical maturity of the final design...

SRC Inc., formerly Syracuse Research Corp., recently received two contract awards with a total potential value of up to $12.3 M for its Foliage Penetrating, Reconnaissance, Surveillance, Tracking and Engagement Radar (FORESTER), a revolutionary airborne radar system that penetrates through foliage to track people and vehicles on the ground....

Lockheed Martin has received a $139.6 M contract to provide 44 combat-proven High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) to the US Army. This order will increase the Army’s HIMARS launcher fleet to 375, with deliveries continuing through January 2013. Work on the contract will be performed at the company’s...

Millimeter-wave links at E-band frequencies can be deployed with minimal interference, allowing more efficient spectrum re-use, reducing coordination requirements, and allowing regulators to adopt a "light licensing" scheme at a fraction of the cost of "traditional" licenses, which has a number of backhaul equipment manufacturers touting its usage. Millimeter-wave...