BANGALORE, INDIA: CommScope has signed an agreement to acquire Argus Technologies, a leading producer of innovative antenna solutions for wireless applications. The terms of the agreement are not being disclosed. The acquisition is expected to be completed by the end of the third quarter of 2011.
Argus Technologies, headquartered in Bella Vista, New South Wales, Australia, provides a wide array of high performance, high technology antennas for base stations, stadiums and venues, and other wireless applications. The company has become a well-respected global competitor in the wireless network antenna market since its founding in 1994 by Dr. Bevan Jones, John Bonello and Danny Schwotzer.
The acquisition will enable CommScope to broaden its antenna solutions portfolio, deepen its research and development capabilities, strengthen its global market presence and accelerate its growth in the wireless market.
“We are very excited to work with the distinguished team from Argus and look forward to building upon their excellent technology, proven innovation and specialized solutions such as high capacity antennas for large venues,” said Paul Bell, senior vice president and general manager, Base Station Antennas and Microwave Products. “Argus will be a strong fit for us as we continue to support wireless operators globally in their evolution to new technologies and their drive to meet the ever-increasing bandwidth needs of consumers and businesses.”
The demand for bandwidth and growth in network traffic continues to drive wireless carriers, enterprises and broadband service providers to invest in communications infrastructure. Wireless subscriber growth in developing markets, the adoption of 3G and 4G services in more mature markets, and network coverage needs inside buildings, tunnels and other hard-to-reach locations are key growth catalysts for the wireless market. CommScope solutions span the entire radio frequency (RF) landscape, helping wireless carriers manage increasing cell site complexity and optimize network planning, capacity, coverage, and performance.
Argus’ top operating executives—John Bonello, managing director, and Bevan Jones, group technology director—are expected to continue in active roles with the business upon completion of the acquisition.
“We’re pleased to join CommScope, and look forward to pairing our antenna research and technology strengths with a company that already is a respected global leader in RF solutions for wireless network infrastructure,” said Bonello. “We believe that by combining our strong and complementary antenna technologies we can provide even better solutions as wireless customers evolve their networks around the globe.”
CommScope will fund the acquisition from cash on hand and funds available under its revolving credit facility.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Sunday, June 19, 2011
AVX expands robust, commercial-grade SMD tantalum capacitor series for long-life apps
GREENVILLE, USA: AVX Corp., a leading manufacturer of passive components and interconnect solutions, has expanded its TRM and TRJ ‘Professional’ Series of SMD tantalum capacitors.
Designed for high-end commercial applications requiring an extended product life, the TRM Series and TRJ Series provide ultra-stable parameters, resistance to harsh environments and excellent reliability.
The Professional TRM Series and TRJ Series tantalum capacitors feature low ESR values and reduce DCL (DC leakage current) by 25 percent. The robust design is capable of withstanding high thermo-mechanical stresses and operating in harsh environments. Once incorporated into devices, they boast high reliability levels, with failure rates of better than 0.5 percent/1,000 hours at 85ºC and full-rated voltage.
Tomas Zednicek, tantalum division, worldwide technical marketing manager at AVX, said: “High-end products need to be affordable, reliable and safe, whether they are destined for automotive, medical, aerospace, military or other products that are expected to be durable. Our Tantalum Division focused on extending product life, increasing reliability and providing performance enhancements in our Professional Series, while achieving the right balance between specification and cost. This extension of the TRJ Series and TRM Series high-end commercial tantalum capacitor range offers the right cost/performance proposition for this specific market sector and will be key to their success.”
Technical specifications for the TRJ Professional include: voltage range of 6.3V to 50V, with DCL leakage of 0.0075CV. TRJ Professional capacitors are twice as reliable as commercial grade tantalum capacitor products, with mean time between failures (MTBF) of 200,000 hours. They are designed and tested to withstand high current surges and are qualified to AECQ-200 automotive requirements.
The TRM Professional is a multianode type tantalum capacitor with a voltage range of 6.3V – 50V. Devices offer very low ESR and DCL leakage of 0.0075CV. Reliability is double that of the standard TPM multianode product range at 0.5 percent/1khrs and MTBF is 200,000 hours. The Acceptable Quality Level (AQL) is 0.10 percent for the TRM Professional against 0.25 percent for standard product. The TRM Professional multianode tantalum capacitors are qualified to AECQ-200.
Pricing for the TRM Series and TRJ Series is set at competitive levels with a lead time of 12 weeks.
Designed for high-end commercial applications requiring an extended product life, the TRM Series and TRJ Series provide ultra-stable parameters, resistance to harsh environments and excellent reliability.
The Professional TRM Series and TRJ Series tantalum capacitors feature low ESR values and reduce DCL (DC leakage current) by 25 percent. The robust design is capable of withstanding high thermo-mechanical stresses and operating in harsh environments. Once incorporated into devices, they boast high reliability levels, with failure rates of better than 0.5 percent/1,000 hours at 85ºC and full-rated voltage.
Tomas Zednicek, tantalum division, worldwide technical marketing manager at AVX, said: “High-end products need to be affordable, reliable and safe, whether they are destined for automotive, medical, aerospace, military or other products that are expected to be durable. Our Tantalum Division focused on extending product life, increasing reliability and providing performance enhancements in our Professional Series, while achieving the right balance between specification and cost. This extension of the TRJ Series and TRM Series high-end commercial tantalum capacitor range offers the right cost/performance proposition for this specific market sector and will be key to their success.”
Technical specifications for the TRJ Professional include: voltage range of 6.3V to 50V, with DCL leakage of 0.0075CV. TRJ Professional capacitors are twice as reliable as commercial grade tantalum capacitor products, with mean time between failures (MTBF) of 200,000 hours. They are designed and tested to withstand high current surges and are qualified to AECQ-200 automotive requirements.
The TRM Professional is a multianode type tantalum capacitor with a voltage range of 6.3V – 50V. Devices offer very low ESR and DCL leakage of 0.0075CV. Reliability is double that of the standard TPM multianode product range at 0.5 percent/1khrs and MTBF is 200,000 hours. The Acceptable Quality Level (AQL) is 0.10 percent for the TRM Professional against 0.25 percent for standard product. The TRM Professional multianode tantalum capacitors are qualified to AECQ-200.
Pricing for the TRM Series and TRJ Series is set at competitive levels with a lead time of 12 weeks.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
SEC 3000 + SEC 3100 gas-detection team has plug-in memory
MINNEAPOLIS, USA: A sophisticated new gas-detection team that couples a SEC 3000 sensor with a SEC 3100 transmitter to "see" even traces of toxic gas concentrations has been announced by Sensor Electronics of Minneapolis.
Engineered for semiconductor production areas where toxic gases like tungsten hexafluoride and dichlorosilane are an ever-present danger, this new sensor/transmitter team reacts instantly to dangerous gas levels.
The factory-tuned sensor works in tandem with its digital transmitter, which incorporates a plug-in memory stick.
Like an airliner's black box, the memory stick logs a permanent record of actual gas levels, remembering times, concentrations, trouble signals, service interruptions and the like.
The memory stick is easily pulled from the transmitter to download data to a computer for retrieval and analysis.
The SEC 3100 transmitter shows actual gas levels – in PPM or per cent LEL – on a digital screen. Brilliant color-coded LEDs – change from green to yellow to red as gas concentrations rise, reverse colors as they drop. At a setpoint, integral relays can trigger alarms, turn on supply/exhaust fans, shut down lines, or whatever. The transmitter even keeps a beady eye on itself: The LEDs turn blue to warn of troubles anywhere in the system, and then the digital display spells out what's wrong where.
To switch gas sensors the transmitter needs no setup time, no reprogramming, and no recalibration. With an optional IS barrier, sensors can be changed without cutting system power.
The sensor/transmitter pair shrug off temperature/humidity extremes (-40/160 degrees Fahrenheit, 0/99 per cent RH) and automatically compensate for wide temperature swings.
The cylindrical stainless-steel sensor measures 2 inches diameter, 3 inches deep. The explosion-proof transmitter is 5 inches high/wide/deep. Sensors can be coupled directly to transmitters, or be up to 1000 feet apart.
Engineered for semiconductor production areas where toxic gases like tungsten hexafluoride and dichlorosilane are an ever-present danger, this new sensor/transmitter team reacts instantly to dangerous gas levels.
The factory-tuned sensor works in tandem with its digital transmitter, which incorporates a plug-in memory stick.
Like an airliner's black box, the memory stick logs a permanent record of actual gas levels, remembering times, concentrations, trouble signals, service interruptions and the like.
The memory stick is easily pulled from the transmitter to download data to a computer for retrieval and analysis.
The SEC 3100 transmitter shows actual gas levels – in PPM or per cent LEL – on a digital screen. Brilliant color-coded LEDs – change from green to yellow to red as gas concentrations rise, reverse colors as they drop. At a setpoint, integral relays can trigger alarms, turn on supply/exhaust fans, shut down lines, or whatever. The transmitter even keeps a beady eye on itself: The LEDs turn blue to warn of troubles anywhere in the system, and then the digital display spells out what's wrong where.
To switch gas sensors the transmitter needs no setup time, no reprogramming, and no recalibration. With an optional IS barrier, sensors can be changed without cutting system power.
The sensor/transmitter pair shrug off temperature/humidity extremes (-40/160 degrees Fahrenheit, 0/99 per cent RH) and automatically compensate for wide temperature swings.
The cylindrical stainless-steel sensor measures 2 inches diameter, 3 inches deep. The explosion-proof transmitter is 5 inches high/wide/deep. Sensors can be coupled directly to transmitters, or be up to 1000 feet apart.
Friday, June 17, 2011
element14 doubles its inventory portfolio stocked in Asia Pacific to 130,000 to meet growing demand
SINGAPORE: element14 (formerly Farnell), the industry’s first fusion of commerce and community supporting engineers and purchasing professionals worldwide, announced the expansion of its inventory portfolio to over 130,000 products, doubling its product range over the past year to give customers the broadest electronic and maintenance products selection stocked in the region to ensure fast delivery to destinations in Asia Pacific.
element14's regional inventory, which comprises of products from 3,500 leading suppliers, is also complemented by its global network of distribution centres, giving engineers access to a wide array of solutions to overcome any challenges they face.
Based on Gartner’s latest Semiconductor report, Asia Pacific’s semiconductor market revenue is forecasted to grow from $181 billion in 2010 to $278 billion by 2015. The rising trend in electronic equipment demand and spending in the region reveals that revenue in Asia Pacific is expected to grow from $719.4 billion in 2010 to $1139.3 billion in 2015.
These factors point towards an increased demand for a wide range of electronic production and component usage in the region. In addition, technology is constantly progressing and becoming more sophisticated as international and domestic designs converge in the Asia Pacific region to meet worldwide demands.
“As Asia Pacific emerges as the centre for electronics manufacturing, engineers face increasing challenges to create end products that are reliable, intuitive and technologically advanced,” said William Chong, regional director of Supplier, Product & Purchasing Management, element14, Asia Pacific. “At element14, we have bolstered our product selections and strengthened our partnerships with leading industry manufacturers to offer our customers unrivalled access to our extensive product range and services that support them from product conception to production.”
Stocked in its three regional distribution hubs in Singapore, Shanghai and Sydney, element14’s extensive inventory of 130,000 is positioned to support next day delivery to most cities in Asia Pacific for electronic components that range from connectors, passives, electromechanical, semiconductor to maintenance products.
Within its inventory portfolio for semiconductors, the building blocks for electronic designs, element14 offers a wide spectrum of innovative products and technologies in analog, logic and discrete solutions that are complemented with critical microcontrollers, embedded solutions and developmental kits. These components provide engineers and purchasing professionals with immediate solutions for evolving market demands.
element14 also stocks critical PCB components in connectors, passives and electromechanical, providing total solutions that support all design and production requirements. Besides offering the best in class PCB connectors from leading suppliers, element14 made new grounds by offering the most advanced lighting connectors, green and miniaturised interconnect solutions.
As the region shifts to more advanced electronic and equipment production, element14 is well-positioned to meet engineers’ dynamic requirements for passives, not just in general purpose capacitors, resistors and electro-magnetic components, but also in higher capacitance, robust high temperature and longer life capacitors, low ohmic, tight tolerance and high power resistors and inductors, all of which support the Bills of Materials for many manufacturers in the Approve Vendor List.
element14 has also expanded its electromechanical product offerings in the region, including critical components in circuit protection, thermal management, sensors and relays and switching solutions, and these components support key automation and control applications across multiple industries.
element14 constantly innovates to ensure that its products and services evolve with the growing needs of the design engineering industry in the Asia Pacific. Recent element14 initiatives include the element14 knode, acclaimed PCB Design software from Cadsoft EAGLE, and recent manufacturer partnerships with Pentalogix, Agilent Technologies and Johanson Dielectrics. These initiatives, which present their customers with a full suite of products and solutions, are proof of element14’s continuous commitment to its customers and their growing demands in the region.
element14's regional inventory, which comprises of products from 3,500 leading suppliers, is also complemented by its global network of distribution centres, giving engineers access to a wide array of solutions to overcome any challenges they face.
Based on Gartner’s latest Semiconductor report, Asia Pacific’s semiconductor market revenue is forecasted to grow from $181 billion in 2010 to $278 billion by 2015. The rising trend in electronic equipment demand and spending in the region reveals that revenue in Asia Pacific is expected to grow from $719.4 billion in 2010 to $1139.3 billion in 2015.
These factors point towards an increased demand for a wide range of electronic production and component usage in the region. In addition, technology is constantly progressing and becoming more sophisticated as international and domestic designs converge in the Asia Pacific region to meet worldwide demands.
“As Asia Pacific emerges as the centre for electronics manufacturing, engineers face increasing challenges to create end products that are reliable, intuitive and technologically advanced,” said William Chong, regional director of Supplier, Product & Purchasing Management, element14, Asia Pacific. “At element14, we have bolstered our product selections and strengthened our partnerships with leading industry manufacturers to offer our customers unrivalled access to our extensive product range and services that support them from product conception to production.”
Stocked in its three regional distribution hubs in Singapore, Shanghai and Sydney, element14’s extensive inventory of 130,000 is positioned to support next day delivery to most cities in Asia Pacific for electronic components that range from connectors, passives, electromechanical, semiconductor to maintenance products.
Within its inventory portfolio for semiconductors, the building blocks for electronic designs, element14 offers a wide spectrum of innovative products and technologies in analog, logic and discrete solutions that are complemented with critical microcontrollers, embedded solutions and developmental kits. These components provide engineers and purchasing professionals with immediate solutions for evolving market demands.
element14 also stocks critical PCB components in connectors, passives and electromechanical, providing total solutions that support all design and production requirements. Besides offering the best in class PCB connectors from leading suppliers, element14 made new grounds by offering the most advanced lighting connectors, green and miniaturised interconnect solutions.
As the region shifts to more advanced electronic and equipment production, element14 is well-positioned to meet engineers’ dynamic requirements for passives, not just in general purpose capacitors, resistors and electro-magnetic components, but also in higher capacitance, robust high temperature and longer life capacitors, low ohmic, tight tolerance and high power resistors and inductors, all of which support the Bills of Materials for many manufacturers in the Approve Vendor List.
element14 has also expanded its electromechanical product offerings in the region, including critical components in circuit protection, thermal management, sensors and relays and switching solutions, and these components support key automation and control applications across multiple industries.
element14 constantly innovates to ensure that its products and services evolve with the growing needs of the design engineering industry in the Asia Pacific. Recent element14 initiatives include the element14 knode, acclaimed PCB Design software from Cadsoft EAGLE, and recent manufacturer partnerships with Pentalogix, Agilent Technologies and Johanson Dielectrics. These initiatives, which present their customers with a full suite of products and solutions, are proof of element14’s continuous commitment to its customers and their growing demands in the region.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Revenues from thin-film batteries to reach almost $900 million by 2016
GLEN ALLEN, USA: NanoMarkets has just issued its latest report on the thin-film battery market and in the report the firm predicts that the business will create almost $900 million in revenues in the year 2016.
The report, "Thin-Film Batteries: A New Market Opportunity Assessment - 2011," also projects that the value of products containing thin-film batteries will reach approximately $14 billion by 2016.
This report is part of NanoMarkets' ongoing coverage of novel energy storage solutions. In August, the company will publish an analysis of the printed battery market and an assessment of new materials developments for Li-ion batteries will follow in September.
Findings from the report
* The high energy densities of thin-film batteries combined with energy harvesting devices promise a power source for remote sensing devices that almost literally never needs to be recharged or replaced. As a result, NanoMarkets expect the sensor market to be the largest application for thin-film batteries, with consumption of thin-film batteries by this sector reaching around $400 million by 2016. Sensors for smart grids, military sensors and wireless sensor networks are seen as providing particular opportunity for thin-film battery manufacturers in the near future.
* Although thin-film batteries may prove too expensive for powering garden variety smartcards, NanoMarkets believes that there are significant niches in the smartcard market to support significant sales of thin-film batteries. For example, biometric ID cards are expected to have longer product lives than the average credit card and therefore need power sources that themselves are long-lived. As a result, consumption of thin-film batteries by the smartcard sector is expected to reach around $280 million by 2011.
* Thin-film battery manufacturers are looking for ways to increase their attractiveness to potential investors through expanded addressable markets or by creating value-added products. Thus, Planar Energy Devices sees itself competing against conventional lithium ion batteries in a broad range of applications while Cymbet and IPS see new opportunities from battery/energy harvesting products combos.
The report, "Thin-Film Batteries: A New Market Opportunity Assessment - 2011," also projects that the value of products containing thin-film batteries will reach approximately $14 billion by 2016.
This report is part of NanoMarkets' ongoing coverage of novel energy storage solutions. In August, the company will publish an analysis of the printed battery market and an assessment of new materials developments for Li-ion batteries will follow in September.
Findings from the report
* The high energy densities of thin-film batteries combined with energy harvesting devices promise a power source for remote sensing devices that almost literally never needs to be recharged or replaced. As a result, NanoMarkets expect the sensor market to be the largest application for thin-film batteries, with consumption of thin-film batteries by this sector reaching around $400 million by 2016. Sensors for smart grids, military sensors and wireless sensor networks are seen as providing particular opportunity for thin-film battery manufacturers in the near future.
* Although thin-film batteries may prove too expensive for powering garden variety smartcards, NanoMarkets believes that there are significant niches in the smartcard market to support significant sales of thin-film batteries. For example, biometric ID cards are expected to have longer product lives than the average credit card and therefore need power sources that themselves are long-lived. As a result, consumption of thin-film batteries by the smartcard sector is expected to reach around $280 million by 2011.
* Thin-film battery manufacturers are looking for ways to increase their attractiveness to potential investors through expanded addressable markets or by creating value-added products. Thus, Planar Energy Devices sees itself competing against conventional lithium ion batteries in a broad range of applications while Cymbet and IPS see new opportunities from battery/energy harvesting products combos.
Avnet Electronics Marketing Americas takes thermal solutions to the Nextreme
PHOENIX, USA: Avnet Electronics Marketing Americas, a business region of Avnet Inc., has inked a distribution agreement with Nextreme Thermal Solutions, a manufacturer of micro-scale thermal and power management products. Nextreme’s energy harvesting products are available from Avnet Electronics Marketing Americas and online at www.AvnetExpress.com.
Nextreme uses breakthrough thin-film thermoelectric generators and coolers to produce both discrete and integrated, electronic cooling and power generation modules. Nextreme’s latest product, Thermobility, is a wireless power generator that uses differences in temperature to enable power anywhere there is an adequate heat source, eliminating the need to use traditional wire power sources or replaceable batteries.
When paired with wireless transmitters, the Thermobility solution can provide electric power for decades of maintenance-free operation for applications in industrial control, transportation, automotive and building management.
“Nextreme is excited to offer our thin-film thermoelectric product line through Avnet's world-class distribution network,” said Nextreme CEO John Goehrke. “We look forward to a strong partnership as we strive to offer ground-breaking thermal and power generation solutions to Avnet's extensive customer base.”
“We’ve seen a dramatic rise in demand for energy harvesting technology, both in the consumer and industrial end-markets,” said Alex Iuorio, senior vice president, supplier marketing, Avnet Electronics Marketing Americas. “With Nextreme’s technology, we see a great opportunity to address the growing thermal management and energy harvesting opportunities. In particular, Nextreme is a great fit as an alternative energy source for our wireless connectivity solutions.”
Nextreme uses breakthrough thin-film thermoelectric generators and coolers to produce both discrete and integrated, electronic cooling and power generation modules. Nextreme’s latest product, Thermobility, is a wireless power generator that uses differences in temperature to enable power anywhere there is an adequate heat source, eliminating the need to use traditional wire power sources or replaceable batteries.
When paired with wireless transmitters, the Thermobility solution can provide electric power for decades of maintenance-free operation for applications in industrial control, transportation, automotive and building management.
“Nextreme is excited to offer our thin-film thermoelectric product line through Avnet's world-class distribution network,” said Nextreme CEO John Goehrke. “We look forward to a strong partnership as we strive to offer ground-breaking thermal and power generation solutions to Avnet's extensive customer base.”
“We’ve seen a dramatic rise in demand for energy harvesting technology, both in the consumer and industrial end-markets,” said Alex Iuorio, senior vice president, supplier marketing, Avnet Electronics Marketing Americas. “With Nextreme’s technology, we see a great opportunity to address the growing thermal management and energy harvesting opportunities. In particular, Nextreme is a great fit as an alternative energy source for our wireless connectivity solutions.”
Diodes Inc.'s 40V gate driver reduces IGBT switching losses
PLANO, USA: Diodes Inc., a leading global manufacturer and supplier of high-quality application specific standard products within the broad discrete, logic and analog semiconductor markets, announced the ZXGD3006E6 gate driver. Designed specifically for switching high power IGBTs, this gate driver helps to increase power conversion efficiency in solar inverter, motor drive and power supply applications.
The ZXGD3006E6 typically provides a drive current of 4A for an input current of 1mA, making it a perfect high-gain buffer stage between the high-output impedance of a controller and the low-input impedance of the IGBT. With an emitter-follower configuration, this gate driver is inherently resistant to latch-up and shoot-through issues and delivers propagation delay times of less than 10ns.
The ZXGD3006E6’s wide 40V operating range allows full enhancement of the switching device to minimize on-state losses and permits +20V to -18V gate driving to prevent dV/dt induced false triggering of IGBTs.
To enable circuit designers to better define switching characteristics for particular applications, the gate driver offers separate source and sink outputs, allowing independent control of rise and fall times. Combined with 10A peak current handling, this allows for controlled charge and discharge of large gate capacitive loads, which reduces the risk of EMI issues and cross conduction at higher operating frequencies.
Delivering higher pulse currents than competing devices, this rugged SOT26 packaged gate driver ensures heat dissipation is reduced, resulting in an increase in product reliability. Device pin-out has also been optimized enabling a simplification of PCB layouts and a reduction in parasitic trace inductances.
The ZXGD3006E6 typically provides a drive current of 4A for an input current of 1mA, making it a perfect high-gain buffer stage between the high-output impedance of a controller and the low-input impedance of the IGBT. With an emitter-follower configuration, this gate driver is inherently resistant to latch-up and shoot-through issues and delivers propagation delay times of less than 10ns.
The ZXGD3006E6’s wide 40V operating range allows full enhancement of the switching device to minimize on-state losses and permits +20V to -18V gate driving to prevent dV/dt induced false triggering of IGBTs.
To enable circuit designers to better define switching characteristics for particular applications, the gate driver offers separate source and sink outputs, allowing independent control of rise and fall times. Combined with 10A peak current handling, this allows for controlled charge and discharge of large gate capacitive loads, which reduces the risk of EMI issues and cross conduction at higher operating frequencies.
Delivering higher pulse currents than competing devices, this rugged SOT26 packaged gate driver ensures heat dissipation is reduced, resulting in an increase in product reliability. Device pin-out has also been optimized enabling a simplification of PCB layouts and a reduction in parasitic trace inductances.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
