29 September 2002
Satcoms
Chinese Telecoms Satellite Contract for Alcatel Space
Loral and APT
Satellite Agree to Joint Ownership of Apstar-V Satellite
Vistar Telecommunications Develops Marine Telematics
Solution for Volvo Penta of the Americas
Navigation
QinetiQ and Parthus Developing Applications for NavStream 3000 GPS
Location Platform
Military
Space
Boeing Team Wins
FAB-T Contract
US
Navy Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command Awards Component Contracts for
MUOS
Science
ESA
Awards Asteroid Spacecraft Studies
Technology
New Focus Partners with JPL to Develop Laser for Caesium Atomic
Clocks in Space
Launch
Services
Bechtel-Lockheed
Martin Team Awarded Kwajalein Atoll/Reagan Test Site Operations and Management
Contract
Launches
Progress M1-9
Nadezhda 7
Business
Alcatel Space Announces Restructuring
Andrew Corporation Details
Restructuring Plans
Canal+ Technologies Sold to Thomson Multimedia
Integral Systems Announces
Stock Buyback Plan
Interlink Logistics Acquires Sat-Trac Application Software from
American Millennium
Products and Services
Betaresearch and Scopus present "betacube" for Pay TV
Services
Conexant Introduces Complete Satellite Front-End Set-Top Box
Semiconductor Solution
NovAtel Launches OEM4-G2 GPS Engine
People
Lockheed Martin Names New President Continental Europe
Norsat Announces the
Appointment of Yutaka Ueda as Chief Executive Officer and
President
Chinese Telecoms Satellite Contract for Alcatel Space
(27 September 2002)
Alcatel has signed a contract with the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST)
for the development and construction of a new telecommunications satellite.
Alcatel will provide the payload module to CAST for the
integration of the first China made high capacity communication platform DFH4
into a complete satellite. The new satellite that will be delivered to APT
(Hongkong), is tailored to provide communication, radio and TV broadcasting
services to telecom operators and to radio and TV stations.
The
satellite is to be launched by China Long March launcher in 2005.
Loral and
APT Satellite Agree to
Joint Ownership of Apstar-V Satellite
(23 September 2002) Loral Space & Communications'
Loral Orion subsidiary has agreed with APT Satellite Company Limited, to
equally share ownership of the Apstar-V satellite scheduled to enter service in
the third quarter of 2003.
Loral's capacity on the
satellite will be designated Telstar 14.
Under manufacture by Space
Systems/Loral, Apstar-V is a high-powered C/Ku band hybrid satellite based on
SS/L's 1300 platform. The new spacecraft will operate a total of 54
transponders, 38 C band and 16 Ku band at 138° East longitude. Apstar-V
will provide Ku band voice, video and data services to China, India and East
Asia, and broadbeam C band services throughout the Asia-Pacific region,
including Australia and Hawaii. The new satellite also will be used to carry
entertainment and multimedia services for the main cities of Asia to and from
the US through Hawaii.
The purchase price of US$ 115 million,
representing half of the total cost of the satellite in orbit, for Loral's 50%
interest in the satellite (19 C band and 8 Ku band transponders) will be paid
in increments through 2008. S$ 57.5 million will be paid prior to launch and
funded primarily from the liquidation of existing launch deposits, as well as
cash on hand. The second US$ 57.5 million will be paid in increments ramping
from US$ 10 million to US$ 17 million annually beginning in the fourth quarter
of 2005.
This payment schedule is designed to coincide with the
anticipated utilisation on the satellite. Further, this transaction does not
change Loral's projected cash and capital expenditure plans through 2004.
To ensure a timely launch of Apstar-V in 2003, Loral and APT have agreed
that, if a US license to launch the satellite on board a Chinese Long March
rocket has not been secured by September 30, 2002, a Western launch provider
will be used.
Vistar Telecommunications Develops Marine Telematics Solution
for Volvo Penta of the Americas
(25 September 2002) NSI Global Inc's Vistar
Telecommunications unit has developed a satellite-based marine telematics
solution in conjunction with Volvo Penta. Vistar has received an initial
purchase order for 7,000 units from Volvo and has begun shipping production
units. Communications services will be provided by NSI's Vistar Datacom unit
over its GlobalWave satellite-based wireless network.
Volvo Penta is one of the most important suppliers of technically advanced
engines and power systems in selected marine and industrial applications.
Initial distribution of the marine telematics solution will be to boaters
throughout North America, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America, providing
emergency and other communication services under Volvo's Seakey and other
private brands.
The solution for Volvo Penta was developed around
Vistar's GlobalWave MT2000. Using this marine telematics solution, boaters will
be able to issue emergency alerts and to receive a response from Volvo Action
Service indicating that the alert has been received and is being acted upon.
Requests for concierge service and requests for vessel service calls can also
be communicated to the Volvo Action Service centre. In addition to water-level
alarms and boat battery low-voltage alarms the Vistar designed system provides
position reporting and tracking capability which can be initiated either on
board the boat or remotely through the Internet.
The GlobalWave system
offers ubiquitous satellite coverage over all of North America, Mexico, Central
America and the Caribbean, and operates 24 hours a day. The GlobalWave MT2000
system represents the smallest, most-powerful satellite communications platform
available, providing sensor capability on volume, temperature, pressure, and
voltage; producing reports on location and speed; and triggering alarms when
sensor thresholds are exceeded. Because GlobalWave provides two-way
communication capabilities, a request for current status can be sent to the
asset and an immediate response will be provided. Environmentally sealed and
fully tested to withstand shock, vibration, and other harsh environmental
conditions, the MT2000 can operate for several years on batteries or use any
source of vehicle power using its smart power management system.
QinetiQ and Parthus Developing Applications for NavStream 3000
GPS Location Platform
(25 September 2002) QinetiQ and Parthus Technologies
have signed a collaborative licensing agreement for Parthus' NavStream 3000 GPS
location platform for deployment in a number of areas including defence,
telematics, transportation and security/authentication.
NavStream 3000 is the latest and most advanced GPS platform from Parthus. While
GPS technology offers unrivalled location accuracy, certain environments like
indoor or urban canyons have traditionally degraded accuracy performance.
NavStream 3000 uses latest hardware and software advances to determine the
exact location of an individual, vehicle, or an asset/device in practically any
circumstance. This includes "static" situations (indoor locations, built up
urban environment, or remote/global locations) or in "high velocity" situations
(transportation, automotive or asset tracking).
QinetiQ will be
integrating the NavStream 3000 platform with other advanced technologies for
which it owns the Intellectual Property (IP) and then marketing the solutions
as part of its telematics and telecommunications programmes. The agreement also
enables Parthus and QinetiQ to deliver total systems solutions for GPS enabled
location based services and to devise suitable modifications or developments to
the existing 3000Q chip set, when its performance or functionality needs to be
specifically tailored.
QinetiQ's current commercial market development
activities embrace four distinct business areas:
Boeing Team Wins FAB-T Contract
(23 September 2002) The U.S. Air Force's
Electronic Systems Center (ESC) at Hanscom Air Force Base has selected The
Boeing Company as prime contractor for a six-year, US$ 273 million contract to
design and develop the first increment of wideband satellite communications
terminals for a transformational Department of Defense initiative known as the
Family of Advanced Beyond Line-of-Sight Terminals (FAB-T).
FAB-T is intended to provide strategic forces with a
multi-mission capable family of terminals - or radio systems with special
purpose antennas - that utilise a common design, open system architecture to
talk to different satellites and enable information exchange between ground,
air and space platforms. The initiative represents a key building block in
Boeing's vision of the integrated battlespace of the future, where networked
information and communications' systems provide a competitive edge to
decision-makers and military personnel.
The winning proposal features
a flexible system architecture design developed by Boeing that can network the
battlespace, accommodate terminal upgrades and meet emerging technology
requirements for the DoD. Boeing views the FAB-T architecture as a solution
that will address not only today's interoperability problems, but tomorrow's as
well.
Boeing's team includes Harris Corp's Government Communications
Systems division; L-3 Communications' Communications Systems West division; TRW
Inc's Command, Control and Intelligence Division and ViaSat Inc's
Communications Systems Group.
As prime contractor and lead system
integrator, Boeing will be responsible for the systems engineering and
integration, system and terminal architecture, software development, test and
evaluation, integrated logistics support and communications engineering, with
key support provided by Boeing Satellite Systems. Harris will be responsible
for the integration of terminal and antenna hardware; L-3 Communications will
be responsible for the development of the modem processor; TRW will be
responsible for Advanced Extremely High Frequency waveform management; and
ViaSat will be responsible for the communications security module hardware and
information security.
FAB-T program activity will be carried out in
multiple phases. The first increment, managed by the MILSATCOM Terminals Office
at ESC, will include the integration of terminals onboard airborne platforms,
as well as in various ground-based command posts. Future increments will
encompass up to 41 additional airborne platforms with participation from all
the armed services.
US
Navy Space and Naval
Warfare Systems Command Awards Component Contracts for MUOS
(24 September 2002) The
US Navy Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command has awarded two US$ 40 million
contracts to begin the Component Advanced Development phase of the
next-generation narrowband tactical satellite communications system, known as
the Mobile User Objective System (MUOS).
Component
Advanced Development (CAD) is a 14-month effort aimed at reducing risk and
advancing system design concepts that stem from MUOS' recently completed
1999-to-2002 Concept Exploration Phase (CEP). The latest award reflects
SPAWAR's selection of two teams, which will work in parallel until 2004, when
one team will be selected to lead future MUOS efforts.
One team,
consists of Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Missiles and Space Operations of
Sunnyvale, California and General Dynamics Decision Systems of Scottsdale,
Arizona. The second team consist of Raytheon, Space Systems/Loral, TRW, Astro
Aerospace and Honeywell.
The two teams have been funded by SPAWAR to
compete for a System Design and Development contract to be awarded in January
2004, for construction of the first MUOS satellite, which will be launched in
2008. Subsequently, the MUOS Program Production and Deployment contract will be
awarded in mid-2006 and continue through 2023.
MUOS will be an element
of the US Department of Defense's Advanced Narrowband Communications system and
will replace the current Ultra High Frequency Follow-On (UFO) system over the
next two decades. The US Navy's UFO system currently provides narrowband
tactical satellite communications to Joint Forces and Coalition partners and
was initially launched in 1993.
MUOS will be a narrowband satellite
communication (SATCOM) system that supports a world-wide,
multi-service/multi-national population of mobile and fixed-site warfighter
terminals. Its capabilities will provide a considerable increase in throughput
over the current Ultra High Frequency (UHF) Follow-on (UFO) narrowband
satellite communications system. It will also provide greater flexibility
through improved link performance for users such as Navy SEALS and other
special forces to operate in difficult environments.
ESA
Awards Asteroid
Spacecraft Studies
(24 September 2002) The European Space Agency (ESA)
has awarded six studies to develop proposals for probes to investigate the
potentially hazardous Near Earth Objects (NEOs), asteroids whose orbits pass
close to the Earth and which could, some time in the future, hit the Earth
causing widespread destruction.
ESA has been supporting
activities to monitor and investigate NEOs for a number of years. In ESA's
view, these are activities that surpass national boundaries and which it
considers to be a service to the international community. ESA's space research
institute outside Rome in Italy, ESRIN, also hosts the Spaceguard Central Node.
This private non-profit scientific organisation aims to support and co-ordinate
NEO research throughout the world.
Now ESA has launched a new project
to seek the best ideas from industry and academia on how to protect the Earth
from NEOs and in particular, to learn more about them. The damage an NEO causes
depends on the speed at which it hits the Earth, its size and what it is made
of. So, the more we know about them the easier it will be to decide which are
potentially dangerous and what is the best action to take.
In June a
panel of NEO experts met to select the best six proposals.
The winning
six are:
Preliminary studies, funded by the Agency's General Studies Programme, are now under way for the six proposals. Once these are submitted in 2003, ESA will judge whether one or more of the proposed missions is feasible and merits further development.
New
Focus Partners with JPL
to Develop Laser for Caesium Atomic Clocks in Space
(23 September 2002) New Focus Inc has entered
into an agreement to develop lasers for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Based
on New Focus' existing tuneable laser technology, the next generation laser
will be used to selectively excite particular transitions of atomic caesium,
enabling the production of a new generation of high-performance frequency
standards.
In the JPL application, the laser source will
be used to "cool" the caesium atoms in a highly accurate atomic clock that will
be carried by the Space Shuttle and placed on the International Space Station
(ISS), as part of an experiment to test many of the predictions of Albert
Einstein's Theory of Relativity. The current New Focus tuneable laser at 852
nanometers fits well with the extreme environmental demands of this
application, providing high reliability, tunability and a narrow linewidth
centred at the caesium atomic resonance wavelength. This next generation laser
also has applications in the much larger market for commercial caesium clocks,
including those deployed in GPS systems.
New Focus develops and
manufactures innovative photonics solutions for the telecommunications,
semiconductor, industrial and biomedical markets. New Focus' product portfolio
includes tuneable lasers for test-and-measurement applications, precision
opto-mechanical photonics tools, and high-speed opto-electronic
devices.
Bechtel-Lockheed Martin Team Awarded Kwajalein Atoll/Reagan Test
Site Operations and Management Contract
(25 September 2002) The US Army Space and
Missile Defense Command has awarded a Bechtel-Lockheed Martin company,
Kwajalein Range Services LLC, a contract for Logistics Support and Integrated
Range Engineering Support Services at Kwajalein Atoll/Reagan Test Site.
Located in the Republic of Marshall Islands, the US Army
Kwajalein Atoll/Reagan Test Site is designed primarily for ballistic missile
defence testing and space surveillance operations. The US Army Space and
Missile Defense Command is the Army's proponent for Space and Missile Defense
and is responsible for the operation of the Reagan Test Site and other
facilities located at Kwajalein Atoll.
This award is a cost-plus,
cost-term award fee contract with potential duration extending to fifteen
years. Kwajalein Range Services will provide technical services for the missile
testing and space surveillance missions as well as complete logistics and
infrastructure solutions to support the US Army Kwajalein Atoll/Reagan Test
Site community. These logistics services include procurement and supply, power,
water, facility and housing maintenance, schools, recreation, retail, post
office, telecommunications, and sea and air transportation. Phase-in for the
program has started.
Kwajalein Range Services, LLC (KRS), is comprised
of Bechtel National Inc, a subsidiary of Bechtel Corporation and Lockheed
Martin. The Kwajalein Range Services team will also include major subcontractor
Chugach Development Corporation that will provide logistics support services
and AirScan, a veteran owned company, which will furnish aviation
services.
Progress
M1-9
Launched: 25 September
2002
Site: Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan
Launcher: Soyuz-U
Orbit:
LEO, apogee: 226 km, perigee: 226 km: inclination: 51.6°
International
Number: 2002-045A
Name: Progress M-47 (9P)
Owner: Russian Space
Agency
This Progress mission carries supplied to the International
Space Station. It is scheduled with the ISS on Sunday 29th
September.
Nadezhda
7
Launched: 26 September
2002
Site: Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia
Launcher: Kosmos 3M
Orbit:
MEO, apogee: 1022 km, perigee: 987 km
International Number: 2002-046A
Name: Nadezhda 7
Nadezhda 7 (also known as Nadezdha M) is a Russian
military navigation satellite which also carries a COSPAS-SARSAT transponder to
relay search and rescue signals from emergency buoys.
Alcatel
Space Announces
Restructuring
(25
September 2002) Alcatel Space has announced an industrial reorganisation plan
at its French facilities in Cannes, Nanterre, Toulouse and Valence to cope with
the steady decline in the space sector.
Restructuring
measures, which will be applied within the scope of Alcatel's world-wide cost
reduction program, are a further workforce reduction of about 400 during the
first half year of 2003 in order to adapt to market trends.
Furthermore, Alcatel Space is to launch an industrial conversion project for
its Valence plant, which has 250 employees. This project will be carried out in
consultation with unions, to conduct jointly a study to explore the
reconversion of the production unit by seeking external industrial workloads
with partners.
Alcatel Space will work closely with labour
representatives to reduce its workforce and carry out the Valence industrial
conversion project, and will do so in a socially responsible manner. In
particular, it will offer early retirement, leave for training and employees
outplacement. Alcatel Space's workforce in France has 5200 people at the end of
2002.
Andrew Corporation Details Restructuring Plans
(25 September 2002)
Andrew Corporation has provided details of the restructuring plan it announced
in July. To reduce costs in anticipation of continued reductions in customer
capital spending, Andrew will discontinue several non-strategic businesses: the
equipment building, wireless accessories, and satellite modem businesses.
In addition, as part of a restructuring plan, Andrew will
close several manufacturing and engineering facilities, consolidating into
fewer, more efficient facilities. These actions will reduce the Andrew
workforce by a net amount of about 800 people, reflecting a gross reduction of
1,200 current employees with 400 people to be added at relocated manufacturing
operations by the end of fiscal 2003.
The previously announced
restructuring will result in pre-tax charges for discontinued operations of
approximately US$ 35 million, along with pre-tax restructuring and other
one-time charges of approximately US$ 36 million in the September 2002 quarter.
In addition, costs of about US$ 5 million for relocation of inventory and
manufacturing equipment will be recorded as incurred in operating expenses
during fiscal 2003.
These actions are expected to result in one-time
earnings per share charges of US$ 0.59 in fiscal 2002 and US$ 0.04 in fiscal
2003, mainly in the third and fourth quarters. After tax charges are estimated
to be US$ 26 million (US$ 0.30 per share) for the loss on disposal of
discontinued operations, US$ 25 million (US$ .29 per share) for restructuring
in 2002, and US$ 4 million (US$ 0.04 per share) for restructuring in 2003.
Estimated pre-tax fiscal 2002 losses from discontinued operations of US$
16 million (US$ 11 million after tax or US$ 0.13 per share) will be included in
the September quarter.
The discontinued businesses have four
facilities in the United States, one of which houses shared engineering
activities serving other Andrew businesses. These facilities are in Newnan,
Georgia; Burlington, Kansas; Addison, Illinois; and Sunnyvale, California.
These four manufacturing facilities will be closed and the shared engineering
activities will be relocated to a new, smaller facility in Addison,
Illinois.
The restructuring activities will result in the closing of
the Denton, Texas; Richardson, Texas; Tinley Park, Illinois; Scottsdale,
Arizona; and Burlington, Iowa facilities in the United States. International
facilities to be closed include Bad Blankenburg, Germany; Krasnoyarsk, Russia;
Newton Abbot, England; and Wellington, New Zealand. These facilities will be
replaced by new manufacturing facilities on the US/ Mexico border and in
Europe. In addition, two new, smaller engineering offices will be established
in Europe, along with a new engineering office in Texas.
It is
anticipated these actions will be completed by September 30, 2003 and result in
annual savings of more than US$ 40 million in fiscal 2004. Because of the
timing of restructuring actions taking place through September 30, 2003 and
considering that certain costs of relocation and consolidation will be expensed
as incurred, the net savings from these actions will be about US$ 10 million in
fiscal 2003.
The expected net cash costs of the actions is about US$
12 million, representing charges of US$ 21 million included in the US$ 76
million total charges, capital expenditures of US$ 8 million anticipated for
the two new manufacturing plants, and estimated proceeds of US$ 17 million from
sales of businesses and assets.
Canal+ Technologies Sold to Thomson Multimedia
(25 September 2002)
Canal+ Group, a Vivendi Universal subsidiary, has sold its 89% stake in Canal+
Technologies to Thomson Multimedia for E190 million in cash.
This transaction, approved by the respective Boards and
which still needs to be examined by the relevant competition authorities, is
part of Vivendi Universal's ongoing disposal of assets program.
Thomson Multimedia is already a shareholder of Canal+ Technologies, together
with Canal+ Group, Sun Microsystems, Sony and Sogecable. Last April, Vivendi
Universal and Thomson Multimedia concluded a strategic partnership agreement in
the domain of digital media related to the fight against piracy, broadband
products and video services.
Canal+ Technologies will continue to
provide technology and services to Canal+ Group and its digital TV operators,
as well as to all the third-party operators with whom it is in
business.
Integral
Systems Announces Stock
Buyback Plan
(23
September 2002) Integral Systems Inc's Board of Directors has approved a plan
to repurchase up to 10% of its common stock. The stock repurchase program will
be transacted over an indefinite period of time and purchases will be made as
management and the Board of Directors deem prudent.
Founded in 1982, Integral Systems is a leading provider of satellite systems
and has supported over 190 different satellite missions for communications,
science, meteorological and earth resource applications. The Company was the
first to offer an integrated suite of COTS (Commercial Off The Shelf) software
products for satellite command & control, the EPOCH 2000 product line.
EPOCH has become a world market leader in commercial applications with
successful installations on 5 continents. The Company also offers products and
services for satellite integration and test and payload data
processing.
Interlink Logistics Acquires Sat-Trac Application Software from
American Millennium
(24 September 2002) Interlink Logistics Inc has
acquired the Sat-Trac backend application software program from American
Millennium Corporation Inc. The Sat-Trac backend application software provides
a method for receiving, polling and archiving information on the location and
activities of mobile assets. It will be integrated into the Interlink
Logistics' risk management solution now being marketed to commercial fleets and
transportation companies and will provide a proprietary user interface for the
viewing of mobile assets by Interlink Logistics' customers.
Under the agreement, AMCi will transfer its ownership of the
Sat-Trac software to Interlink Logistics including all intellectual property
interests and associated technical information. Interlink Logistics will
incorporate the Sat-Trac software into its business model as the backend
application software running at Interlink Logistics' network operating centre.
Interlink Logistics' customers will be able to access the data collected from
their mobile assets on their own password protected web sites using Internet
web browsers and the Sat-Trac software.
In exchange for the transfer
of Sat-Trac to Interlink Logistics, AMCi will receive a one-time transfer
payment, royalties from the future sales of Sat-Trac, a minority equity
interest in Internet Logistics, and Board of Directors representation on
Interlink's Board.
Ongoing support will be provided by AMCi under
contract with Interlink Logistics.
Betaresearch and Scopus present "betacube" for Pay TV Services
(24 September 2002)
Betaresearch and Scopus Network Technologies have successfully integrated
Betaresearch's "betacrypt 2" conditional access system and "betanexxt" customer
care & billing system with the Scopus' Codico platform. This product
package, named "betacube", will offer digital TV broadcasters end-to-end
solutions for pay TV applications. "betacube" is targeted at small to mid-sized
PayTV operations, cable or DTH networks and offers reliability, scalability and
flexibility for lowest start-up costs and optimised investment risk.
The core of the integrated solution consists of the
DVB-compliant "betacrypt 2" Conditional Access system, the "betanexxt" customer
care & billing system and Scopus' Codico product line. Scopus' Digital
Turanround (DTA) solutions are the base for this Head-End in the box concept.
Scopus provides a modular solution that meets operators needs for future
expandability based on professional receivers and decryptors for transport
stream decoding and decryption, as well as statistical re-multiplexing.
Further, local encoding is supported by Scopus' E-1xxx encoders family, and a
network management system for system and element monitoring, control and
management.
"betacrypt 2" is BetaResearch's highly secure Conditional
Access System designed to meet the challenges of digital television. "betacrypt
2" has been developed from scratch and features radically new security features
such as 128 bit key length, an adaptive security architecture leading to
extended system life cycles, dynamic SmartCard algorithms and DPA resistance.
It is a full featured Conditional Access System for DVB/MPEG-2 transmissions,
designed for DTH operations as well as cable networks, scaleable from a few
thousands to several million subscribers.
"betanexxt" is
BetaResearch's adaptive Customer Care & Billing solution. Based on its
innovative design, "betanexxt" offers a wide range of modular functionality,
that it provides in a clear, easy-to-understand user interface. It allows
broadcasters to rapidly react to market trends with new or modified service
offerings, identify and acquire new customers, and serve existing customer
bases more efficiently. "betanexxt" can easily be customised to existing
business models and seamlessly integrated into existing processes.
Conexant Introduces Complete Satellite Front-End Set-Top Box
Semiconductor Solution
(23 September 2002) Conexant Systems Inc has announced
two new satellite set-top box (STB) components. The CX24121 is a QPSK direct
broadcast satellite demodulator and forward error correction decoder for
set-top box and PC receivers, as well as residential gateways. The device is
optimised for use with Conexant's silicon satellite tuners.
The CX24109 is the industry's most highly integrated digital
satellite tuner for set-top boxes, digital video, audio and data receiver
applications. When used in conjunction with either Conexant's single-stream
CX24121 or dual-stream CX24130 demodulator, it forms a tightly integrated
complete satellite front-end semiconductor solution that enables manufacturers
to reduce the overall set-top box cost. The individual components and system
solution are compliant with international digital video broadcast/digital
satellite (DVB/DSS) standards.
The CX24121 shares a common software
platform with Conexant's previously announced CX24130 dual-stream demodulator.
This provides manufacturers with a software-compatible migration path for
applications such as personal video recording, which require dual-stream
modulation.
The new device includes several advanced features that
enhance overall system performance, including integrated signal-to-noise ratio
and bit error rate monitors that facilitate channel-performance measurements as
well as lower power dissipation from the previous generation. As an added
benefit, the device's low jitter MPEG output clock smoothing simplifies the
interface to MPEG decoders.
The CX24121 demodulator/decoder is
sampling now with volume production scheduled for October 2002. The device is
packaged in a 80-pin thin-quad flat pack (TQFP). A complete reference design
package is also available.
The CX24109 is based on a
direct-conversion, Zero-IF architecture, which reduces the number of components
required for operation. In addition, it includes an integrated low noise
amplifier, an integrated variable baseband filter that provides optimal
interference rejection, and an integrated local oscillator with on-chip
voltage-controlled oscillator and synthesiser that further reduces the overall
complete cost of the tuner portion of the set top box.
The CX24109
digital satellite tuner is sampling now with volume production scheduled for
October 2002. The CX24109 is packaged in a 48-pin exposed thin-quad flat pack
(eTQFP).
NovAtel Launches OEM4-G2 GPS Engine
(25 September 2002) NovAtel Inc has launched
its latest generation GPS engine, the OEM4-G2. This new engine is available
with an Application Programming Interface (API) option - an enhancement that
allows system developers to write specialised application software to run on
the OEM4-G2.
The OEM4-G2 is a small, high performance,
dual frequency receiver featuring patented Pulse Aperture Correlator (PAC)
technology. This state-of-the art positioning technology virtually eliminates
the effects of multipath errors - GPS positioning errors caused by the
interaction of the GPS satellite signal and its reflections. In addition to the
API option, the OEM4-G2 has many standard features including low power
consumption and external oscillator input.
Lockheed Martin Names New President Continental Europe
(24 September 2002)
Lockheed Martin Global Inc has named Scott A Harris as President, Continental
Europe.
In this new position, Harris will be responsible
for Lockheed Martin's business development activities in continental Europe.
The Corporation is actively engaged in a number of European industrial
alliances such as the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, Atlas V rocket, MEADS (Medium
Extended Air Defence System) and F-100 class frigates.
Harris joined
Lockheed Martin in 1997 as Vice President, Plans and Analysis, in the Business
Development organisation at Lockheed Martin Corporate Headquarters in Bethesda,
Maryland. Prior to that, Harris worked at the Department of Defence, where he
served as Special Assistant to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defence
and Chief of Staff to the Deputy Secretary. From 1991 to 1995, he was a Senior
Analyst in International Policy and Associate Director of the Washington
Research Department of RAND where he regularly conducted analyses of NATO and
European security issues. He has also served on Capitol Hill as the National
Security Advisor to Senate Majority Leaders Robert C Byrd and George .
Mitchell. Harris received a PhD in Political Science from the University of
Wisconsin-Madison.
Norsat Announces the Appointment of Yutaka Ueda as Chief
Executive Officer and President
(24 September 2002) Norsat International Inc has
appointed Mr Yutaka Ueda to the position of Chief Executive Officer and
President, effective October 16th, 2002. Mr Ueda replaces Mr Mark
Ahrens-Townsend, who has tendered his resignation, effective the same day.
Mr Ueda is currently Vice-President and General Manager of
ImageOne, one of Japan's solution providers in satellite communications and
imagery. ImageOne has been an exclusive distributor of Norsat products in Japan
since 2001, and Mr Ueda has been a member of Norsat's board since June of that
year. Mr Ueda will be located at the Company's headquarters in Burnaby, British
Columbia, Canada.
