HiWave has announced of a wireless speaker module for consumer Hi-Fi applications that delivers over four months of playback from a single battery charge. The 13W burst (26W peak) module enables OEMs to more rapidly create speakers that receive streamed audio from home cinema systems, PCs, smartphones and tablets throughout the home, without any trailing speaker and power cables.
DragonWave has completed the required consultation process with Italian trade union representatives for the planned acquisition of Nokia Siemens Networks' microwave transport business.
IDT has released two low-power, low-distortion RF to IF mixers for cellular base stations. The company says that the new devices improve system third-order intermodulation (IM3) performance and reduce power consumption, resulting in improved quality of service (QoS) and enabling smaller enclosures with increased reliability in 4G wireless infrastructure applications.
NXP has announced a family of SiGe:C low noise amplifiers, dubbed BGU700x, designed to improve the linearity, noise figure and reception of GPS signals while offering the smallest possible footprint. These GPS LNAs dynamically suppress strong cellular, Bluetooth and WLAN transmit signals, offering excellent reception for weak GPS signals, delivering an improvement of 10 dB or better IP3 under -40 to -20 dBm jamming conditions, while the noise figure remains below 1 dB. Requiring only two external components, NXP says the BGU700x LNAs save up to 50% in PCB size and 10% in component cost.
A new industry association, the Wireless Speaker and Audio (WiSA) association, has been formed to advance the adoption wireless HD surround sound audio in the home theatre environment. The association plans to establish an interoperability specification and certification testing programs for manufacturers of high-performance wireless speakers, DTVs, Blu-ray Disc players, and other consumer electronics devices.
Vishay claims its new RFCS series of surface mount thin film RF capacitors has the industry’s highest self-resonant frequency, which ranges from 8.5GHz to upwards of 20GHz, depending on capacitance. With a thin film capacitor-on-silicon construction, the RFCS series devices are designed for RF circuits that require exceptional performance at frequencies up to 20 GHz. The structure of the RFCS capacitors is based on thin-film electrodes deposited on a highly conductive silicon substrate. This patented structure is characterised by ultra-low parasitic inductance, which allows the component to self- resonate at significantly higher frequencies than alternative technologies.
UK-based small cell manufacturer ip.access has unveiled a working concept design of the ‘femtocell of the future’. About the size of an iPhone, the 'Advanced Femtocell Concept' (AFC) showcases a number of new features that add to the usability, portability and desirability of a femtocell in the home, office or even on the move.
Green Hills has announced that Altair Semiconductor has used the company’s compilers, the Green Hills Probe and MULTI development tool chain, in the development of its 4G LTE products. Altair’s solution covers all variants of the LTE standard on a single chipset and software platform.
RF Micro Devices has started volume production of multiple 3G/4G power amplifiers in support of two smartphone families. The two most recent smartphones supported by RFMD feature RFMD's PowerSmart power platform and RFMD's RF724x family of ultra-high efficiency power amplifiers. The first smartphone featuring RFMD's PowerSmart is a stylish, all-touch handset featuring a brilliant 3.2" high resolution display, a 5MP camera with flash and video recording, and preinstalled social networking apps for a smoothly integrated mobile experience. The second smartphone, featuring RFMD's RF7241, RF7242, RF7244, RF7245, and RF7258, is a powerful, full-featured smartphone with a high resolution touch display, a highly tactile keyboard, and a precise optical trackpad. The smartphone will be available in multiple triple-band 3G versions featuring RFMD's ultra-high efficiency 3G/4G PAs exclusively. Both smartphones are manufactured by a leading North America-based smartphone manufacturer.
Nordic Semiconductor has revised its nRF8001 Bluetooth 4.0 low energy radio to extend the devices’ power saving performance and upgrade its Bluetooth core stack. The revision - which will be called the nRF8001 'Build D' and is already sampling to selected leading customers - is fully drop-in compatible (hardware and software) with the current Nordic nRF8001 (Build C) ensuring a smooth migration path for existing customers. The new power saving features and enhanced Bluetooth stack are easily accessible through an expanded Application Controller Interface (ACI) command set that can be used by extending existing application code.
