RF & Microwave

Novocomms, the RF antenna design and manufacturing specialist, has unveiled NovoSat – a lightweight, dual-port, L Band antenna. Featuring high performance GNSS capability, the company highlights, it is also described as being ideal for high density environments, “urban canyons” and rugged terrains. The company writes: “The new antenna also performs well in poor weather conditions, thanks to its high gain, ...

5G services enhance safety and convenience in connected vehicles – but rely on a reliable connection. A project at the University of Warwick is dedicated to making sure cars and equipment are 5G-ready. The way cars are designed, made and used should significantly change with 5G connectivity. Critical properties include low latency, real-time determinism, the ability to handle large quantities ...

NXP has introduced an intelligent automotive RF IC that can implement automatic vehicle unlocking and short-range in-cabin radar, for example. “This enables OEMs to transform a single UWB-based car access system into a flexible, multi-purpose platform, enabling multiple use cases with the same hardware – for example, OEMs can leverage their secure car access system to also deliver features like ...

STMicroelectronics will be showing an evaluation kit that implements both power-line and sub-GHz RF comms for smart grid infrastructure this week at Enlit Europe. Called EVLKST8500GH-2, it combines the company’s ST8500 power-line communication SoC, STLD1 line driver and S2-LP low-power long-range sub-GHz radio transceiver – a chipset which is certified to the v1.4 Hybrid specification of power-line communication industry body ...

The race for comms from space is heating up. Viasat, the satellite communications company, and Skylo Technologies, a non-terrestrial network (NTN) service provider, have announced the launch of a global direct-to-device (D2D) network. Their infrastructure agreement will, they say, allow Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), device makers and chipset manufacturers to take 3GPP Release 17 compliant products to market using Viasat’s ...

A team of UK companies led by Stratospheric Platforms Limited (SPL), a Non Terrestrial Networks telecoms developer, has won a  contract trialling advanced airborne 5G connectivity from a Britten-Norman Islander. Aircraft manufacturer Britten-Norman will be providing key design and trials support for the project, with Marshall Futureworx providing cooling systems technology. SPL is pioneering the concept of using a High-Altitude ...

ST has announced a wireless microcontroller with the Bluetooth 5.3 LE software, initially in a 5 x 5mm QFN, and scheduled to be available in a ~2.8 x 3mm chip-scale package. STM32WB09 (right) is built around a single Arm Cortex-M0+ core and will support 2Mbit/s data, long range (coded PHY), advertising extensions, angle-of-arrival, angle-of-departure, LE data packet length extension and ...

NXP has invested in a high-resolution distributed aperture radar software start-up, and will use its software in ICs for vehicle radar. “Distributed aperture radar offers a path to enhance the resolution of radar systems while eliminating the need for thousands of antenna channels,” according to NXP. “It coherently fuses information from multiple radar sensors on a vehicle to create a ...

United Monolithic Semiconductors has introduced a 24.25 – 30.5GHz combined output power amplifier, input low-noise amplifier and transit-receive switch. Called CHC6054-QQA, it is manufactured from AlGaN/GaN-on-SiC (gallium nitride on silicon carbide) and gallium arsenide die, both from 150mm wafers. Packaging is 4 x 5mm QFN. It “typically exhibits an Rx gain of 18dB with a noise figure of 3.2dB, and ...

NXP has announced a dual-band concurrent Wi-Fi and Bluetooth radio for automotive use that includes security. Called AW693, it is a dual Wi-Fi 6/6E and and Bluetooth 5.3 device supporting four modes: CDW 2×2 Wi-Fi 6/6E 5GHz + 1×1 Wi-Fi 6 2.4GHz CDW 1×1 Wi-Fi 6/6E 5GHz + 1×1 Wi-Fi 6 2.4GHz 2×2 Wi-Fi 6 2.4GHz 2×2 Wi-Fi 6/6E 5GHz ...