Here's the news that caught my attention last week:

Companies and Products

Anokiwave released an X-Band front-end IC designed for phased array applications. The IC contains a power amplifier, LNA, limiter and T/R switch.

Anritsu upgraded their MT8821C analyzer to handle LTE-A user equipment downlink 4x4 MIMO and downlink carrier aggregation with up to five component carriers.

Comtech Telecommunications received $2.2 million in orders from an international firm for solid-state power amplifiers that will be used in communications jammers.

DragonWave and Mitel are teaming to explore 5G network architectures. Mitel will contribute software and mobile network expertise, and DragonWave will contribute outdoor networking and high capacity, packet wireless backhaul.

Ericsson and cellular operator Telefónica demonstrated LTE-U "live" on a Telefónica network. LTE-U allows operators to tap the 5 GHz Wi-Fi band to increase downstream data rates.

Google Fiber is adding "plain old telephone service" (POTS) to their 1 Gbps Internet and video offering. The service will cost $10 per month and provide unlimited calling within the U.S.

Keysight Technologies announced a current waveform analyzer for measuring high speed transients and reducing current drain. The company said this is the world’s first analyzer enabling 100 pA dynamic current measurements, with 200 MHz bandwidth, 1 Gsps sampling rate and 14- or 16-bit dynamic range.

Modelithics released v16.0 of their COMPLETE model library for EEsof ADS. The new release adds 56 passive and nonlinear active device models, including CEL (NEC) and Qorvo (formerly RFMD) transistors.

POET Technologies and the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE) are funding a "smart pixel" project for augmented reality applications.

Qorvo added 10 reverse path amplifiers to their CATV portfolio. The 300 MHz upper end exceeds DOCSIS 3.1 requirements.

Skyworks introduced two 75 Ω LNAs for set-top boxes and CATV systems. The LNAs cover 40 MHz to 1 GHz with 2.9 dB noise figure and 15 dB gain. One of the RFICs contains a switch to bypass the LNA.

Markets and Technology

Broadband — New airline and airport smartphone apps use Wi-Fi or Bluetooth to guide you through the airport. Unfortunately, they don't offer TSA Pre. New York Times article.

Optical networks aggregate our wireless data streams and route them to and from the cloud. The lightwave community recently finished their OFC (optical fiber communications) conference. Watch a summary of the conference in three videos.

Cellular — IHS forecasts that the evolution to 4.5 and 5G will accelerate outdoor small cell volume this year. The wireless backhaul to support these small cells will favor the bands below 6 GHz. IHS estimates that more than 1 million links below 6 GHz will be deployed by 2020, representing 35 percent of the total.

IoT — Altice and SFR, two international telecom operators, are adopting SIGFOX to provide IoT services in France and other countries. The SIGFOX network is currently deployed in 14 countries.

Another example of the IoT: using LTE to monitor and ensure the quality of a city's water.

Marc Jadoul of Nokia looks at the adoption of the IoT through the lenses of Moore, Metcalfe and Moore. I wonder where we are on the Gartner hype cycle?

Semiconductor Industry — This interview with EPC CEO Alex Lidow occurred last fall, yet it's still relevant. The former CEO of International Rectifier talks about semiconductor industry consolidation and the potential of GaN. The interview starts at 4:20.

National Security vs. Privacy — Case dismissed. The FBI said it had successfully hacked the San Bernardino terrorist's iPhone and no longer needed Apple's help. The open question: how did they do it?

Fun Reading — Brent Dietz of Qorvo wrote a piece about the industry jargon we so casually use.

CNET is publishing original works of short fiction with "unique perspectives on technology." The first one is The Last Taco Truck in Silicon Valley.

If you see news that you would like covered in this weekly summary, please email me at glerude@mwjournal.com. If it's more convenient to receive these weekly updates via email — adding one more to your inbox — send me your email address.