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For first-quarter 2008, WJ Communications Inc of San Jose, CA, USA, which designs and supplies GaAs-based RF products for wireless infrastructure, RFID and WiMAX markets, has reported revenue of $10.3m, down slightly on $10.6m last quarter and $10.8m a year ago.

“Our first quarter was highlighted by our first two production orders for our MCM chipset targeted at the TD-SCDMA rollout in China,” says president and CEO Bruce Diamond.

Gross margin has risen from 44.3% a year ago and 44.8% last quarter to 45.2%. However, though down from $4.4m a year ago, net loss has risen from $738,000 last quarter to $2.9m. This included $1.2m in expenses related to the agreement, announced on 10 March, for RF front-end component maker TriQuint Semiconductor Inc of Hillsboro, OR, USA to acquire WJ for $1 per share ($72m in total).

A special meeting of stockholders is scheduled for 22 May to vote on the TriQuint takeover. “We believe the enhanced scale that will result from the TriQuint transaction will lead to a greater level of market penetration for many of the innovative products that WJ has produced over the last several years,” says Diamond.

WJ launches 5V gain block amplifier with +37dBm OIP3 at 1.9GHz in SOT-89 package

WJ is sampling the latest addition to its WJA family of +5V active bias InGaP/GaAs HBT gain block amplifiers. The WJA1021 is claimed to be one of the first 5V gain block amplifiers - not requiring any external matching components - that offers +37dBm OIP3 at 2GHz in a lead-free/RoHS-compliant industry-standard SOT-89 SMT package (using NiPdAu plating to eliminate the possibility of tin whiskering).

WJ says that the new device is suited to general-purpose high-linearity broadband applications in the 50-4000MHz frequency range (e.g. wireless technologies such as multi-carrier GSM, PCS, CDMA, W-CDMA, WiBro and WiMAX, repeaters, BTS transceivers, and RFID). With this new addition, the WJA family has a more complete selection of cascadable gain blocks offering a wide variety of performances that complement different gain, OIP3, and Icc levels, says the firm.

The WJA1021 has been optimized internally to offer high-linearity performance at 1.9GHz, while drawing very low current. At 1.9GHz, the WJA1021 typically provides 17.5dB gain, +37.5dBm OIP3, and +19dBm P1dB compression point, drawing only 90mA of current from a 5V supply. It also works in the 900MHz cellular band with 18.5dB gain, +40dBm OIP3, and +20dBm P1dB, says WJ.

The WJA1021 consists of Darlington-pair amplifiers and is internally matched to 50 ohm. An internal active bias is designed to enable stable performance over temperature and allow for operation directly from a +5V supply voltage. Only DC blocking/bypass capacitors and a bias inductor are needed for operation.

“The WJA1021 design incorporates an internal active bias to ensure ease of application implementation and stable performance,” says Rufino Olay, director of worldwide marketing. “Moreover, this dynamic range amplifier gives design engineers the flexibility to meet the complex requirements of wireless infrastructure applications in a cost-effective manner.”

See related items:

TriQuint to acquire WJ for $72m

WJ adds to InGaP/GaAs HBT gain block amplifier series

Search: WJ Communications TriQuint InGaP/GaAs HBT

Visit: www.wj.com