In This Issue...

• A Message from Sam Benzacar
• Did you know...?
• LTE: It's Coming, But When?
• Featured Products
• Trivia questions
• Answers to last month's trivia questions 

Did you know...?

Keeping Us Safe?

With 23,000 warheads still available for launch by the U.S., Russia, and other countries, it’s unnerving to hear about close calls that have occurred over the years. The first, on October 5, 1960, occurred when America’s North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) detected a Soviet nuclear missile approaching. However, the radar’s processing system had removed two zeros from the radar’s ranging components, showing that the missile was launched from 2,500 miles away. It was instead detecting a reflection from the moon, which is 250,000 miles from Earth.

Another missile strike was detected on June 3, 1980, and 100 nuclear-armed B-52 bombers were placed on alert. A computer was again at fault, and the problem was supposedly fixed – until it occurred again three days later. This time, the cause, once again a computer, was quickly remedied.

And on January 10, 1984, Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, WY, received an alert that one of its Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles was about to launch from its silo because of a computer malfunction. To prevent the launch, an armored car was parked on top of the silo.

Finally, seven nuclear submarines (five Russian, two American), most armed with nuclear weapons, have been lost since 1956, along with 92 nuclear warheads (according to Greenpeace). The most recent accident was in 2000, when Russia’s Kursk sunk in the Barents Sea.

Upcoming Events!

March

3/17- St. Patrick's Day

3/20- Spring Begins

April

4/1- April Fools' Day

4/2- Good Friday

4/4- Easter Sunday

4/22- Earth Day

May

5/9- Mother's Day

5/31- Memorial Day

Trivia Questions 

 

2. What's the second most populous continent?

3. What's the flattest U.S. state? 

Look for the answers in next month's issue! 

A Message from Sam Benzacar

The fourth generation of wireless services based on the Long-Term Evolution (LTE) enhancement to the UMTS architecture will soon be rolled in the 700 MHz region principally by AT&T and Verizon Wireless, which bought most of the licenses. These networks promise terrific benefits for consumers for video streaming, fast file transfers, and potentially online gaming. In addition to commercial wireless services, a section of 700 MHz allocation has been reserved for a nationwide public safety system, which will more than likely be realized through a collaborative effort between wireless carriers and the federal government. The close channel spacing within the allocated frequency pairs throughout not only requires extremely high transmitter linearity and receiver sensitivity, but close attention to filtering as well. In short, interference simply cannot be tolerated in these systems.

Filters will play a role at every stage of the system, from bandpass filters inside the transceiver to duplexers after it. In addition, as base stations are deployed with entirely new equipment, installers will have to follow strick FCC guidelines which requires extremely sharp transition from the pass band to the rejection frequencies, and  inevitably find that interference problems must be dealt with that were not envisioned before the systems were placed in service. The latter problem requires bandpass filters that solve the problem by rejecting that interference.

Anatech Electronics has solutions for all of these filtering issues, from the smallest SAW devices to high-power, tower-mounted cavity filters that provide the ultimate solution for unexpected interference. Our filters have been used throughout the wireless industry for decades, and our product line covers filters dedicated to every wireless frequency range – including the 700 MHz band. Our 700MHz bandpass combiners saves space, and complexity by integrating two bandpass filters within a single enclosure, while having one input, and one output, enabling simultaneous transmit and receive from one transceiver, and one antenna.

Please give us a call at (973) 772-4242 or send an e-mail to filters.marnl@anatechelectronics.com to learn more about how we can help you solve any filtering and interference issues, whether it’s inside the equipment shelter or at the tower top. 

Featured Products

Anatech Electronics’s broad array of filter products for 700 MHz applications includes these models, all of which are extremely rugged and designed to meet IP-66 ingress protection standards for resistance to internal contamination by dust and water. They have an operating temperature range of -40 to +75 deg. C, attenuation of 40 dB at 700 kHz from band edges, use Type-N female connectors, and can handle 50 W of power. For more info on these products, please contact us.

Cavity Bandpass Combiners

Our bandpass combiners integrate two fully isolated cavity bandpass filters within a single enclosure, allowing interference rejection of frequency pairs to be performed more easily and cost-effectively.

• A-Block Bandpass Combiner – 698 to 703 MHz (Band 1) and 728 to 733 MHz (Band 2) (AD700-730C111)

• B-Block Bandpass Combiner – 704 to 709 MHz (Band 1) and 734 to 739 MHz (Band 2) (AD706-736C112)

• C-Block Bandpass Combiner – 710 to 716 MHz (Band 1) and 740 to 746 MHz (Band 2) (AD713-743C113)

Cavity Bandpass Filters

• A-Block Cavity Bandpass Filter -- Passband of 728 to 733 MHz (AB730B949)

• B-Block Cavity Bandpass Filter – Passband of 704 to 709 MHz (AB706B947)

• C-Block Cavity Bandpass Filter -- Passband of 710 to 716 MHz (AB703B942)

New! 
Ask Anatech Electronics!
 

We would be happy to answer your technical questions- no personal information necessary. Just click here and insert your question in the box. We will answer it in the next issue. 

LTE: It’s Coming, But When?

Everyone reading this newsletter knows about LTE, the next-generation wireless standard that has been adopted by virtually every major wireless carrier throughout the world. LTE will end the evolution of CDMA2000, the standard that carriers such as Sprint Nextel and Verizon Wireless have employed since the transition from analog to digital wireless services occurred in “2G”. The question is no longer if LTE will be deployed, but when.

The answer is “soon” but not as soon as everyone would like. Analysts tend to agree that the first LTE-enabled devices will probably be in notebook and netbook computers, either internally or through PC cards. This is because LTE is optimized for data traffic and because it is considerably more difficult to integrate yet another frequency band into a smartphone already laden with three and sometimes four bands from 800 MHz to 2100 MHz.

Sweden’s TeliaSonera already launched LTE in the central areas of Stockholm, Sweden and Oslo, Norway late in December, and is working to roll it out to Sweden’s 25 largest municipalities and Norway’s four largest municipalities within the year. However, Verizon Wireless has promised to have its first LTE phones in stores by the middle of next year, with AT&T Wireless soon to follow in the U.S. and NTT DoCoMo in Japan.

Analysts suggest that LTE smartphones will not become mainstream for at least two years in the U.S. and perhaps later. This means that carriers will have to begin procurement and installation of infrastructure equipment at 700 MHz this year and ramp up rapidly thereafter. Rollout dates are continually being revised by carriers to reflect their extensive development efforts, so perhaps the wait won’t be so long after all.

Answers to last month's trivia questions    

1. What was a gladiator armed with, in addition to a dagger and spear? A net

2. What Texan ended up with one delegate after spending $12 million of his own money running for president in 1980? John Connally

3. What congressional award was Dr. Mary Edwards Walker the first woman to receive? Medal of Honor

Anatech Electronics will be exhibiting at the 2010 IEEE MTT-S IMS show from May 25-27 in Anaheim, California at the Anaheim Convention Center.