Products
Passive intermodulation analyzers
Summitek Instruments has upgraded the hardware design of its passive intermodulation analyzers, used to test radio-frequency components used in base stations. The new architecture includes an RF module for frequency generation and signal reception; a power-amplifier module for generating high-power signals; and a front-end module for combining two high-power signals into a single RF path. The analyzers operate in the 150 MHz to 3600 MHz band, according to the company.
www.summitekinstruments.com
Wireless device antenna
St. Louis, Mo.-based Laird Technologies announced its new BlackChip antenna built for wireless device applications, including 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth and ultrawideband. The antenna offers a 2 dB peak gain across 2.4 to 2.5 GHz and 3 dB peak gain across 4.9 to 6.0 GHz. It weighs 0.21 grams.
www.lairdtech.com
RFID-compatible printer
Printronix introduced the SL4M, an industrial-grade metal printer encoder designed for global Class 1 Gen 2 ultra-high frequency RFID applications. It is interoperable with the company’s SL5000r printers and SLPA8000r printer applicators, robots that automatically print and apply pressure-sensitive labels to various products.
www.printronix.com
Public-safety routers
Wireless mesh network systems provider Tropos Networks announced the Tropos 9000 series MetroMesh routers for the public-safety market. The series provides policy-based routing for multi-band, metro-scale wireless mesh networks that use the 4.9 GHz public-safety frequency band, according to the company.
www.tropos.com
Mobile network solution
Alcatel-Lucent introduced its CDMA2000 mobile network solution for the 700 MHz frequency band. The commercial solution is being enhanced to support the specific needs of state and local public-safety organizations, according to the company. Based on CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Rev. A technology, the solution offers public-safety personnel high-speed access to critical information and push-to-talk services. It also will enable applications such as access assurance, which guarantees specific users have network access during disasters.
www.alcatel-lucent.com
Mobile computer
Socket Communications unveiled its new hand-held mobile computer, the Socket SoMo 650. The device has a touch screen, a Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system and Wi-Fi (802.11b/g) and Bluetooth technologies for wireless communications. It also offers a durable form factor capable of withstanding multiple drops from 1 meter onto vinyl-covered concrete, according to the company.
The SoMo 650 is the first in a family of hand-held computing products Socket will roll out in 2007 and is available through the company’s distribution channels with a manufacture’s suggested retail price of $648.
www.socketcom.com
RFIC phased array receiver
The University of California, San Diego, and Newport Beach, Calif.-based Jazz Semiconductor have developed an 8-element RFIC phased array receiver covering the 6 GHz to 18 GHz frequency range. The SiGe Bi-CMOS chip replaces 16 gallium arsenide (GaAs) chips and consumes 20 times less power than traditional phased array implementations. It will be used for miniature and low-cost phased arrays — a group of antennas in which the relative phases of the respective signals feeding the antennas are varied so that the effective radiation pattern is reinforced in a desired direction and suppressed in undesired directions — for X- to Ku-Band applications.
The chip provides RF gain from 12 dB to 24 dB with a noise figure of 6 dB, and can be integrated directly with eight planar antennas on a standard printed circuit board.
www.ucsd.edu
www.jazzsemi.com
