Anatech Electronics Newsletter - September 2014

What's New

Radar: There's An App for That

A company called Athla has launched Disrupt SF that uses existing hardware that is part of any iPhone to replicate the functions of radar guns, using only software called ‘Velocity’ with sport-specific in-app purchases that cost only $6.99 apiece to unlock. The idea came from Michael Gillam, a doctor who was director of research at the National Institute of Medical Informatics, and who did graduate work at Singularity University co-founded by Ray Kurzweil, best known for his enormous body of work in speech recognition, music synthesizers and text-to-speech reading for the blind (among many other inventions). He was also director of healthcare innovation at Microsoft. The camera in the iPhone 4S could only read speeds of up to around 50 mph but the iPhone 5 can handle 120 mph. The iPhone 6 ought to be able to do twice that, according to Gilliam

Military Small Cell Spending to be $350 Million by 2020

A report from SNS Research claims that spending on small cell infrastructure for military and public safety networks will $350 million by 2020 driven by the need to support data-intensive applications such as mobile video and situational awareness. LTE is considered the de-facto standard for future military and public safety networks, according to the report. SNS Research estimates that military, tactical and public safety LTE small cell shipments will have a CAGR of 45%. The "HetNet Bible (Small Cells, Carrier WiFi, DAS & C-RAN): 2014 - 2020 - Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies, & Forecasts" report covers small cells, carrier Wi-Fi, DAS, and C-RAN markets.

Stealth Wind Turbines?

Wind turbines, the multi-hundred-foot tall towers whose blades spin at more than 100 mph have a nasty habit of creating problems for airport and weather radars for which engineers at Energies Nouvelles of France may have an answer: "stealth turbines” coated with the radar-absorbing material. More than 6 GW of wind farm projects have been blocked for fear of radar interference. In comparison, this new wind farm, which will be France's largest, will have a capacity of 96 MW.

Wireless/Military Sharing Tested at 3.5 GHz

Verizon, Ericsson, and Qualcomm will soon test spectrum-sharing technology in the 3.5 GHz band used for military radar systems that the FCC believes can be shared with commercial uses. This new Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) band is being considered for various licensed and unlicensed shared uses by the FCC. Verizon wants to use the band to add download capacity to its LTE network in high-demand areas like stadiums, college campuses, or airports. The band is currently 3550 to 3650 MHz, although the FCC is also considering stretching it to 3700 MHz.

Interference to Defense Systems: Tough Challenges Require Unique Solutions

By Sam Benzacar

From the perspective of spectrum density and interference, the Department of Defense has issues that are the equal of those faced by the wireless industry with significant and often unique differences. For example, the Department of Defense is no different than the private sector and other government agencies when it comes spectrum allocations: It gets no special treatment within the US, so the Pentagon has over time mostly fended off challenges from other services enviably looking at its frequency allocations as coveted resources.

That’s getting a lot harder today as even the White House has mandated that DoD and other government agencies must either provide good reasons why they should keep their allocations or face the prospect of having to share them. No one, least of all DoD, wants to do that. It potentially puts DoD in the same boat as private sector companies planning to use the “white spaces” at UHF frequencies abandoned by over-the-air television stations when they converted from analog to digital transmission.

These companies must adopt technologies that check the channel they intend to operate on, and if occupied move elsewhere. DoD also operates throughout the world so it must deal with interference from a mind-numbing variety of commercial services that vary from country to country, adversaries trying to jam its forces, and even “friendlies” whose transmissions can disrupt battlefield communications. It’s not surprising that DoD has moved spectrum management to a higher level of interest.

No filter can entirely eliminate interference to a receiver from an emitter whose signal strength is extremely high, but this is a worst-case scenario and most others can be dealt with using filters with very high rejection that can attenuate offending signals by more than 60 dB, effectively making them a minor problem.

Anatech Electronics has effectively solved interference problems for existing defense systems and those in development by relying on nearly 25 years of experience. This is a major benefit to customers as no two interference challenges are exactly the same, which makes the ability to design custom solutions essential. 

If this is a challenge you’re faced with, please let us know. You can call us at (973) 772-4242 or send us an e-mail to technical@anatechelectronics.com.

Anatech Electronics will be exhibiting at the following conferences! Please visit us.

Global Milsatcom 2014
4th November to 6th November 2014
London, United Kingdom

The 26th International Trade Fair for Electronic Components, Systems and Applications
Messe Munchen
November 11-14th

See you there!

Why You Should Buy from Anatech Electronics, Inc. (AEI)

Unlike other Supplier/Vendors, Anatech Electronics, Inc. (AEI) is also a manufacturer that designs, and makes those products. While most supplier, and distributors are selling their products "as is", AEI has the flexibility, and technical knowledge to modify many of its products to better match the customer’s requirements.  For example:

Changing the connectors from one type to another. Shifting the frequency to meet the exact frequency requirement. Possibility to build the filter in a smaller package, should size is a problem. Modifying the bandwidth to closely match the customer’s requirement. Modifying the package from an indoor version to an outdoor (weatherproof) one. Slight modifications to the design to get sharper transition from pass band to stop band. Adding brackets, or mechanical elements for mounting requirements, such as mounting the filter on an antenna pole. Propose different design options, based on size, cost, and performance.

and more..

AEI will typically bend over backwards to provide you with first rate customer service, and being a manufacturer/Supplier, we cater to small quantities as well as large. After all AEI has a personal interest in ensuring fast quote, quick custom/ new designs feedbacks, and excellent service before and after the sale is made.

But these are just some of the reasons why you may want to use AEI for your RF filters and related RF products requirements. Flexibility, ability for quick changes in requirements, before and after sale customer service, quality, and cost are good reasons to buy from a manufacturer/supplier versus non-manufacturer suppliers, vendors or distributors. 

Choosing from a large database of products, and the ability to custom design almost any product, enables AEI to recommend products and solutions that most closely meets your requirements needs, pricing, and corporate objectives.

Purchasing products from AEI can provide the customer with expertise, flexibility, cost saving, and of utmost importance continuous professional relationship.

Proof is the redesign of our website where our customers or potential customers have the option to request a quote for specific standard products in multiple quantity levels, or request a quotation for a custom product with the ability to enter your own specifications.

Please visit us at  www.anatechelectronics.com and find out how easy it is to request a quote on either standard or custom products.