News

Anadigics Inc of Warren, NJ, USA has elected David Fellows to its board of directors. Since January, Fellows has been executive VP and executive fellow with Comcast Cable (the USA’s leading provider of cable, entertainment and communications products and services), advising the firm on technology matters (after being its chief technology officer from 2003 to 2006). From December 2001 until its acquisition by Comcast in 2003 he was CTO at ATT Broadband.

Anadigics says that, as CTO at Comcast, ATT Broadband and MediaOne, Fellows has been instrumental in defining the cable network of the future, including implementing a nationwide IP platform that enables a converged network for voice, video and data. His experience has put him at the center of the triple play of the converging communication landscape, reckons Dr Bami Bastani, president and CEO. “I’m sure he will provide valuable insight to Anadigics broadband strategy,” he adds.

Fellows is also chair of the Data Standards Subcommittee for the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE), and was previously a member of the board of non-profit R&D consortium CableLabs (Cable Television Laboratories Inc) of Louisville, CO, USA. 

*Anadigics launches single-chip 1GHz RF amp with integrated gain control for CATV tuner front-ends

Anadigics has announced the availability of the ABA3130, a single-chip, low-noise, high-linearity RF amplifier with integrated gain control, the latest addition to its portfolio of RF products for cable TV front-end applications. Designed to replace existing discrete solutions, the fully integrated ABA3130 can improve receiver performance in the growing number of cable TV digital set-top boxes and analog and digital TVs, the firm claims.

To ensure compatibility with tuners being developed for the upgrade to 1GHz cable systems soon to be rolled out around the world, the ABA3130 features wideband operation of 50MHz to 1.1GHz. Anadigics says it is already shipping the part to a leading cable box manufacturer.

Operating from a single 5V supply, the ABA3130 has a typical noise figure of 4.5dB at 5dB gain, enabling clearer analog pictures and better reception on digital channels, it is claimed. It also offers a wide dynamic gain control range of 37dB to prevent overloading tuner front-ends.

“According to In-Stat market research, sales of cable set-top boxes increased nearly 80% between 2005 and 2006, to 27.5 million units worldwide,” says Ron Michels, Anadigics’ senior VP and general manager of Broadband Products. “As integrated tuners continue to penetrate this market, we anticipate an increase in the need for companion products like the ABA3130.”

The RF amp accepts a single-ended (unbalanced) input and converts it to a differential (balanced) output, which some integrated tuners require for optimal performance. This eliminates the need for a separate balun transformer on the circuit board. The high level of integration and 3mm x 3mm x 1mm form factor (in a 12-pin surface-mount QFN package) further reduce the board space required for RF front-ends.

See related items:

Anadigics continues 40% year-on-year growth and cuts losses after shedding fiber-optic subsidiary

Anadigics to build 6-inch GaAs fab in China

Visit: http://www.anadigics.com