Products

TI unveils low-cost Sub-1 GHz RF Value Line product family
Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI)  today introduced a new Sub-1 GHz RF Value Line family, offering developers low-cost connectivity solutions for sub-1 GHz RF applications such as remote controls, toys, home and building automation, and security systems. Read

RFVC182X Low Noise MMIC VCO Family with Buffer Amplifiers
RFMD’s RFVC182X family of narrowband MMIC voltage controlled oscillators (VCOs) with integrated RF output buffer amplifiers have excellent temperature, shock, and vibration performance.  Read

Microchip Expands RF Power Amplifier Portfolio
Microchip Technology Inc.,  today announced the expansion of its RF power amplifier portfolio, with the addition of the new SST12LP17E and SST12LP18E devices. Read

Qualcomm Atheros Unveils Industry’s First FCC-Certified Wi-Fi System-in-Package Fueling the Smart Home/Building/Grid Markets
Qualcomm Atheros Inc. today announced the AR4100, a first-of-its-kind, highly integrated Wi-Fi system-in-package (SIP) for microcontroller (MCU) based design. Read

Honeywell Launches its Globally Available Industrial Wireless Receiver
Honeywell  today introduced its new Limitless WDRR Wireless Din-Rail Receiver for industrial, construction, machine, material handling, and heavy transportation applications, including agricultural equipment, cranes, lifts, conveyors, grain diverters, and door positions. Read

New Compact Energy-Harvesting and Power-Management IC Enables Low-Power Wireless Devices
Maxim Integrated Products introduces the MAX17710, the industry’s first IC to integrate all of the power-management functions for ambient energy harvesting, as well as for charging and protecting micro-energy cells (MECs), a form of solid-state battery. Read

Skyworks Introduces High Performance, Low Power LNAs for Diverse Markets
Skyworks Solutions, Inc. today introduced the first in a series of ultra low current, general purpose low noise amplifiers (LNAs) for diverse wireless applications including satellite receiver set-top boxes, Bluetooth headsets, medically-prescribed hearing aids, advanced meter reading devices and 2.4 GHz wireless local area networks. Read

Marvell Leads TD-SCDMA Market with Industry’s First Commercially Available Single-Chip Solution Shipping in China
Marvell today demonstrated its leadership in China’s fast-growing TD-SCDMA market by showcasing at Computex 2011 a full complement of smartphones, tablets and MiFi mobile hotspot devices incorporating Marvell products now shipping in China. Read

Qualcomm Atheros and Wilocity Announce Tri-band Wi-Fi: Industry’s First Standards-compliant, Multi-gigabit Wireless Chipset
Qualcomm Atheros Inc. and Wilocity, today announced the AR9004TB, the industry’s first tri-band Wi-Fi chipset that integrates the multi-gigabit performance of in-room 60 GHz band with seamless handoff to 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz band Wi-Fi.  Read

D/A Converter Supports Multi-Carrier Wireless Standards Using Half the PCB Space of Competing Devices
Analog Devices, Inc.(ADI)  today introduced a 16-bit D/A converter for wired and wireless communication systems that features the industry’s best combination of package size, speed and low noise. Read

Microchip Introduces Wireless Machine-to-Machine (M2M) PICtail Daughter Board With u-blox GPS and GSM Module
Microchip Technology Inc. today announced a Machine-to-Machine (M2M) PICtail Daughter Board  that comes with all of the hardware, wireless-communication protocols and application-code examples needed to help designers jump start their fleet-management or location-based service application. Read

Texas instruments introduces industry’s smallest wireless power receiver chip
Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI)  today introduced its next generation of wireless power technology, which is 80-percent smaller than TI’s previous receiver chip. Read

Avago Technologies Enables WiFi and Bluetooth Coexistence in Mobile Electronics with New Highly-Integrated Front-End Module
Avago Technologies  today announced a front-end module with robust filtering for 802.11 b/g/n WiFi and Bluetooth radios in handsets and mobile routers for tablets and other portable PC devices. Read

RFM DIVERSIFIES ITS SHORT-RANGE RADIO PRODUCTS BY ADDING WI-FI & WI-FI + BLUETOOTH COMBINATION MODULES
RF Monolithics, Inc. today introduced the WLS-series of Wi-Fi & Wi-Fi + Bluetooth combination modules to the company’s integrated short-range radio products.  Read

CEL’s MeshConnect Sub-G Modules Deliver Superior Performance
California Eastern Laboratories (CEL) is now offering its new MeshConnect Sub-G modules, built on the highly integrated circuits (ICs) for wireless applications, the Si1000 and Si1002 from Silicon Labs. Read

Picochip announces volume shipments of PC333 basestation-on-a-chip
Picochip has announced that it has commenced volume production of the PC333, the industry’s most advanced basestation-on-a-chip solution. Read

Reference Circuits from Analog Devices Help Engineers Solve Common and Complex Design Challenges in Analog, RF and Mixed-Signal Systems
Engineers throughout the world are being asked to design products more quickly, with fewer iterations and using an ever broadening range of technologies requiring analog, RF, power and mixed-signal expertise. Read

RFMD Expands Portfolio of Industry-Leading 5GHz WiFi Front End Modules (FEMs) For Handsets, Smartphones And Tablets
RF Micro Devices, Inc.   today announced the expansion of its industry-leading 5GHz WiFi product portfolio to include two new 5GHz high-band WiFi front end modules (FEMs) with integrated power amplifiers (PAs). Read

Skyworks Ramps Production of Precision Analog ICs Supporting Enterprise Access Points, Cable Set-Top Boxes and Wireless Video Systems
Skyworks Solutions, Inc. is ramping production of various precision analog ICs in support of several customers launching fiber to the curb (FTTC), fiber to the home (FTTH), cable set-top boxes and wireless video systems. Read

IMST GmbH and Silicon Labs join forces to introduce Wireless M-Bus module for smart metering
Silicon Laboratories Inc. and IMST GmbH today introduced a turnkey wireless M-Bus solution designed for the smart energy market. Read

Semtech and Virtual Extension Expand Wireless Mesh Network Platform with Ultra-High Transmission Range Chipset
Semtech Corp.  and Virtual Extension  today announced the expansion of their wireless mesh network platform to include a new, ultra-high transmission range (Tx) power chipset that brings a new level of performance to a wide variety of smart environment applications. Read

RF1603A Broadband High Power SP3T Switch
RFMD’s new RF1603A switch is optimized for switching applications requiring very low insertion loss and high power handling capability with minimal DC power consumption. Read

Imec and Renesas Electronics Announce Development of an Innovative SAW-Less Reconfigurable Transceiver
At this week’s International Solid-State Circuit Conference, imec and Renesas Electronics Corporation present a highly-linear reconfigurable transceiver, eliminating the need of surface acoustic wave (SAW) filters. Read

RFMD Unveils Portfolio Of Cellular Front End Modules For 3G/4G Switch And Signal Conditioning Applications
RF Micro Devices, Inc. today announced the addition of four new products to RFMD’s expanding portfolio of front end modules for 3G/4G switch and signal conditioning applications. Read

STMicroelectronics Unveils Solution for Modular Smart Meters
As installations of smart meters in homes and businesses accelerate globally, STMicroelectronics has unveiled a new set of metering chips that offer the industry’s most accurate and cost-effective solution for next-generation smart meters. Read

RF9802 Quad Band and RF9801 Dual Band Linear EDGE/GPRS Transmit Modules
RFMD’s new RF9802 and RF9801 build upon the successful RF716x GPRS family, incorporating full EDGE capability while maintaining a common footprint for ease of phone platform design. Read

RF MICRO DEVICES UNVEILS PORTFOLIO OF BROADBAND 6-BIT DIGITAL STEP ATTENUATORS
RF Micro Devices, Inc. today announced the launch of its broadband 6-bit digital step attenuator product portfolio, with the availability of the RFSA2614 and the RFSA2624. Read

PandaBoard: Low-cost, open OMAP 4 processor-based mobile software development platform
Mobile software developers now have an accessible, well-equipped open source development tool based on the high performance OMAP 4 platform in the form of PandaBoard. Read

RF Energy Harvesting Kit Enables Battery-Free, Perpetually Powered Wireless Applications
Microchip Technology Inc. and Powercast Corporation today announced the Lifetime Power Energy Harvesting Development Kit for Wireless Sensors featuring PIC microcontrollers with eXtreme Low Power (XLP) Technology. Read

First Complete Bluetooth Low Energy Solution and Highest Integrated ANT Network Processor
Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) today introduced two ultra-low power, short-range wireless connectivity solutions for consumer medical, mobile accessories, and sports and wellness applications. Read

PicoChip Introduces Low-Power Femtocell Chip, Reference Design
A friend of mine—Brian Fuller, formerly with Low-PowerDesign—recently moved from his suburban home back to the urban canyons of San Francisco. Complaining that the only way he could receive a cellular call at home was to stand by the window, he went out and bought a femtocell, which gave him “five-bar reception” throughout the house. Read

Popular Antenna Series Add 2.45GHz Models
Antenna Factor is pleased to announce 2.45GHz models of its popular HW and HWR Series antennas. These 1/2-wave center-fed dipole antennas deliver outstanding performance in a rugged and cosmetically attractive package. Read

Low power 27-MHz FSK transceiver features simplest star network management
Austriamicrosystems today introduced the AS3900 27 MHz FSK low-power transceiver with built-in star network management, the only one in the 27 MHz ISM band. Read

6900 MHz Coaxial Resonator Oscillator
Crystek’s new CVCO55CXT-6900-6900 Coaxial Resonator Oscillator (CRO) is a coaxial-based VCO with an internal proprietary frequency doubler. The CVCO55CXT family’s frequency doubling, 2X fundamental technology reaches new performance levels of lower phase noise and much lower harmonics over the competition, while achieving lower current consumption in the process. Read

Silicon Labs Launches Wireless Remote Control on a Chip
The new Si4010 system-on-chip (SoC) RF transmitter enables developers to optimize remote keyless entry (RKE), garage door opener, remote control, building automation and security device designs for the lowest system cost and highest performance while ensuring one-way link integrity. Read

MSP430 Development Kit for $4.30
Texas Instruments Incorporated today announced its new MSP43 MCU Value Line LaunchPad development kit. For $4.30, the open source kit includes all of the hardware and software needed to easily launch designs based on TI’s MSP430 Value Line MCUs, which start at 25 cents and offer up to 10X performance and 10X battery life over 8-bit MCUs. Read

UHF Narrowband Transceiver Module
Power efficient radio solutions developer Radiometrix has introduced a new UHF narrowband transceiver specifically suited to power-constrained applications where existing single frequency wideband UHF modules cannot deliver the range required. Supporting data rates of up to 10 kbps, the NTR2 module provides a low power, highly reliable wireless data link, even in the most uncompromising of industrial settings. With an RF power output of 10 dBm and a receiver sensitivity of -118 dBm, its usable range can extend beyond 500 m. Read

Certified Embedded Wi-Fi Transceiver Modules With Easier API Interface to PIC Microcontrollers
Microchip Technology Inc. today announced from the Embedded Systems Conference in Chicago its next-generation, agency-certified MRF24WB0MA/MB embedded Wi-Fi transceiver modules.  The IEEE 802.11 module firmware has an easy-to-use API driver interface to Microchip’s free TCP/IP Protocol stack and 8-, 16- or 32-bit PICmicrocontrollers. Read

Low-Power-Consumption Transceiver and Agency-Certified Modules for Sub-GHz Wireless Networking
Microchip Technology Inc. today announced from the Embedded Systems Conference in Chicago the new MRF89XA transceiver with extremely low receive current of 3 mA for longer battery life in 868, 915 and 950 MHz Sub-GHz wireless networks.  The 868 MHz MRF89XAM8Aand 915 MHz MRF89XAM9A transceiver modules accelerate design cycles by removing the complexity of designing RF circuitry and the cost of obtaining agency certification. Read

RF Front-End Module Simplifies Integration of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth in Mobile Phones
SST Communications, Corp. has announced a new RF front-end module solution that makes it easier for system designers to reduce the footprint of  Wi-Fi and Bluetooth functionality in mobile phones. The SST12LF02 integrates key RF components, including a power amplifier (PA), antenna switch and filters, in a single compact module that significantly reduces the size and lowers the bill-of-materials cost when compared to alternative design approaches that can use up to 10 discrete components. Read

Highly Integrated WiFi Front End Module for High-Performance Dual-Band Applications
RF Micro Devices, Inc. has introduced the RF5608 WiFi RF front end module (FEM). RFMD’s feature-rich RF5608 FEM delivers superior integration and full final testing to reduce size, simplify development and lower overall cost in high-performance, dual-band applications such as mobile computing and access point WiFi applications. Read

High-Linearity DVGAs For Wireless Infrastructure Applications
RF Micro Devices, Inc. has announced a new family of high linearity, 6-bit digitally controlled variable gain amplifiers (DVGAs). The innovative RFDA family of DVGAs expands RFMD’s portfolio of infrastructure grade components that target the cellular base station, point-to-point and CATV end markets. Read

Fully Tested WiMAX Power Amplifier
RF Micro Devices, Inc. has announced the availability of the RF5633, a WiMAX 3.3 GHz – 3.8 GHz power amplifier IC. The RF5633 is optimized for WiMAX systems, however it can be designed into multiple applications, including customer premises equipment (CPE), gateways, access points, wireless infrastructure, and WiFi-based wireless high definition interface (WHDI) for wireless video distribution networks. Read

IPD2 RF Process Technology for Portable Electronics Applications
An enhancement of the company’s existing HighQ™ copper (Cu) on silicon (Si) IPD technology, the new IPD2 process features a second 5um copper layer that increases inductor performance, allows greater flexibility, and supports the design of highly precise, cost-effective IPDs for RF system in package applications in portable electronics equipment. Read

Industry’s Largest Embedded Logic Non-Volatile Memory for SoCs
Kilopass Technology Inc. has announced Gusto, the industry’s first and only 4 megabit (Mb) one-time programmable (OTP) NVM IP. Gusto is the only NVM IP large enough to store the firmware and boot code traditionally stored in external serial-flash and EEPROM chips. It is ideal for cost-, power- and form factor-sensitive applications. Read

Industry’s Fastest 12-bit ADC
National Semiconductor Corp. has introduced the Industry’s fastest 12-bit analog-to-digital converter (ADC). At 3.6 Giga-samples per second (GSPS), the ADC12D1800 is 3.6 times faster than any other available 12-bit device. The ADC’s dynamic performance of -147 dBm/Hz noise floor, 52 dB noise power ratio (NPR) and -61 dBFS intermodulation distortion (IMD) enables a new generation of software-defined radio (SDR) architectures and applications. Read

CD-quality wireless audio with new PurePath Wireless family
Texas Instruments Incorporated has introduced the first device in the family of PurePath Wireless audio products for consumer, portable and high-end audio applications, such as wireless headphones and wireless speakers. The CC8520 is an audio transceiver featuring a 2.4-GHz system-on-chip that transmits uncompressed CD-quality wireless audio over a state-of-the-art RF (radio frequency) link with no unwanted noise or dropouts. Read

Spectra CX version 3.2
PrismTech has announced the General Availability (GA) of the latest release of its model-driven development (MDD) tool for radio developers, Spectra CX v3.2. Read