April 2018 News for the Microwave and Wireless Engineer

IN MEMORIAM
Tom Brazil (1952-2018)

MTT-S President-Elect Dominique Schreurs writes, “It is with great sorrow that I must inform you that MTT-S President Tom Brazil passed away unexpectedly on Friday, April 13th. Funeral services will be held on April 20th in Dublin, Ireland. Let us remember him as a great mentor, an excellent leader, a gentle soul, and a friend.
“The Memorials Committee is planning to recognize Tom and his contributions to the Society at IMS 2018.”
[Editor’s note: The MTT-S Constitution and Bylaws require that the duties of the President shall be performed by the President-Elect in the absence or incapacity of the President.]

MEMORIAL Tom Brazil Fund Opened

Anding Zhu, Tom Brazil’s colleague at University College Dublin, has opened a Tom Brazil Memorial Fund through GoFundMe.com. The fund is intended to support the university and graduate educations of Dr. Brazil’s three children.

ULTRAWIDEBAND New MIMO/Beamforming Radar

A transmitter monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) using SiGe BiCMOS technology to realize a mixed-mode frequency modulated continuous wave radar that is able to operate in two modes: MIMO (for medium-range and fast 3-D scans) and beamforming.

MEETING Symposium on Millimeter Waves (GSMM, Boulder, CO, 22-24 May)

The 11th Global Symposium on Millimeter Waves (GSMM) meets 22-24 May in Boulder, CO, with the theme, “Millimeter-wave Propagation: Hardware, Measurements and Systems,” with a special focus on channel measurements and transceiver technology.

BIOMEDICINE Sensing Variable Tissues for Wireless Implants

The authors investigate loop and dipole antenna topologies in proximity to simulated tissue models and experimental phantoms, with emphasis on representing heterogeneous tissue with functionally equivalent simplified models, and modeling variability in tissue properties for sensitivity analyses.

IMS2018 Microwave Magazine Preps for International Microwave Symposium

Get ready for the up-coming International Microwave Symposium (10-15 June, Philadelphia, PA) with the May issue of Microwave Magazine. The issue includes a President’s Column, “You’ve Got the Whole World in Your Hands,” from Tom Brazil.

TRANSMISSION Backscatter in Twisted-Pair Lines

As signal bandwidth in twisted-pair transmission increases, unexpected backscattering appears. The authors propose a new model that may be applied to loop diagnostics, using a recursive formulation of the frequency-domain backscattering response for a space-time characterization.

CALL FOR PAPERS Special Transactions on 5G Hardware and Systems

Submit papers by 15 Oct. for a special “5G Hardware and System Technologies” issue of IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques to be published in June 2019.

INTERFERENCE Local-Oscillator White Noise in Wideband Communication

Spectrally efficient modulation of wideband signals has been limited by low signal-to-noise ratios. Frequency-multiplied local oscillator (LO) sources have been identified as a major noise source. The authors offer a model (with data) for LO-noise impacts on communication, and discuss methods for remediation.

IMS2018 Help Improve the Microwave Week Mobile App

MTT-S asks members to help improve the IMS Microwave Week mobile app. Please download the app from the Apple Store or Google Play and road-test its features and content. If you find any issues or errors requiring correction, please document your findings on the Mobile App Change Request Form.

COMING UP Millimeter Waves and International Microwave Symposium

Upcoming MTT-S-sponsored meetings include the Global Symposium on Millimeter Waves (GSMM, 22-24 May, Boulder, CO), the International Microwave Symposium (IMS2018, 10-15 June, Philadelphia, PA), and more. [Note: the MTT-S calendar is off-line through April 20, during the Society’s mourning period.]