Articles by David Vye

With ADS 2009, the folks at Agilent EEsof are targeting the needs of engineering community engaged in high-frequency & high speed front end co-design. This includes anyone working on 4G LTE smartphones, one of the few markets in commercial electronics that is facing likely growth this year. The challenges for designer include the need to remain backward compatible with 3G and 2G modes, supporting Bluetooth, Wifi and MIMO capabilities which means multi-antennas operating over multi-frequency bands and squeezing this capability into smaller volumes and closer proximity with greater undesired interactions. Since costs & delays must be kept low, multiple available...

The Fifth Annual Device Packaging Conference (DPC2009) will be held in Scottsdale, Arizona, on March 9-12, 2009. It is an international event organized by the International Microelectronics And Packaging Society (IMAPS). The conference provides a focused forum on the latest technological developments in 6 topic areas related to microelectronic packaging: 3D Packaging; Flip Chip; Wafer Level Packaging; MEMS; BioMedical Devices; and Power LED Devices. While the majority of technical sessions seem to be focused on fabrication, reliability and thermal issues (i.e. Impact of Underfill Design on Package Reliability), advanced packaging technology certainly impacts multi-chip manufacturers. A couple of talks...

This month's lead story in Microwave Journal looks at the state of System on Package technology as package device features move to the nano-scale. With such high density, the co-design of RF System on Package (SoP) is an evolving concern among multi-chip module manufacturers and the EDA companies that support this complex technology. Our editors posed a number of related questions to AWR, Agilent and Mentor Graphics on co-design, simulation and design flows for multi-chip modules and advanced packaging. The following MWJ exclusives take a look at this evolution. Mentor Graphics:EDA/RF SoP Co-Design> Agilent:EDA/RF SoP Co-Design> AWR:EDA/RF SoP Co-Design>...

Doing a little business traveling this week and so I'm being treated to a copy of USA Today outside my hotel room door and I have to say it's nice to see microwave (in this case millimeter-wave) technology making the front page of a mainstream newspaper. The article in mention "Scanners replace detectors in tryout" refers to a new scanning technology being tested out by the Transportation Security Administration at the Tulsa International Airport. An experimental program that begins today will test whether the $170,000 body scanners could replace $10,000 metal detectors that have screened airline passengers since 1973. The...

The final passing of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Bill by Congress last week calls for over $6 billion in grants for the expansion of broadband areas across America. This funding will provide continued progress in the deployment and adoption of broadband technology that is vital to ensuring that the United States will remain competitive worldwide. As a platform capable of providing access everywhere, wireless broadband will be essential in bringing innovation and helping reach the Obama Administration’s goal of achieving universal broadband connectivity. Commercial entities are clearly eligible for direct grants from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA),...

Last month (January 28th), The University of California, Berkeley succeeded in controlling a live rhinoceros beetle by radio. A video of the experiment was previewed at the MEMS 2009 academic conference taking place in Sorrento, Italy. In the experiment, radio signals were sent to six electrodes attached to various locations of the beetles brain and muscles, thus allowing university researchers to control the movement of the beetle’s wings and some other parts. They equipped the beetle with a module incorporating a circuit to send signals to the electrodes, wireless circuit, microcontroller and battery. Controlling the movements of an insect is...

by MWJ European Editor, Richard Mumford EB intends to demonstrate how it bends the limits of technology to design market-moving wireless device and infrastructure solutions to increase market competitiveness, revenue-potential and wireless portfolio. In Hall 1, Stand 1F07 the company will reveal news for the highly-anticipated Mobile Internet Device (MID) market, as well as reference designs for integrated satellite-terrestrial communications. It will also demonstrate new infrastructure base station solutions for mobile WiMAX, including EB's next-generation radio channel emulator performing a live-replication of the mobile WiMAX environment....

by MWJ European Editor, Richard Mumford Comsys Communication & Signal Processing Ltd will be demonstrating multimode data handover between Mobile WiMAX and cellular networks as well as a customer commercial handset running the company’s Mobile WiMAX/EDGE solution in Hall 2, Stand B73. The multimode data handover between Mobile WiMAX and GSM-EDGE networks will demonstrate how service continuity is achieved over Comsys Mobile’s ComMAX™ CM1100 mobile WiMAX baseband processor in conjunction with any third-party legacy cellular baseband, or independently with the CM1125 WiMAX/EDGE processor, thus providing a multimode solution that enables the user to always be connected. Comsys Mobile will also...

by MWJ European Editor, Richard Mumford Infineon’s Wireless Solutions Division is a leading provider of semiconductors and system solutions to serve the growing trends in the mobile communication market. In Hall 1, Stand B19 the company will present its highly integrated semiconductor solutions, complete systems platforms and Software products. The focus will be on highlighting different ‘flavours’ of ultra low-cost mobile phone platforms, ranging from 2G to 3G and something new in positioning technology, the A-GPS solution. Experts will be on hand to discuss the company’s comprehensive cellphone semiconductor and system-level offering ranging from integrated single-chip GSM/GPRS/EDGE solutions to slim...

Building up to Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona next week, several well known companies have been hinting about new smartphones offerings, each with a specific use case and no shortage of challenges to overcome. Taiwanese PDA and computer-maker AsusTek Computer and personal navigation device (PND) company Garmin formally announced that the two companies will introduce a jointly branded line of smartphones, called Garmin-Asus nuvifone, the first of which will debut at MWC. Jonney Shih Chairmen of Asustek said that the Garmin-Asus phone will likely launch worldwide by next year and that the G60 will be announced at the Mobile...