Microwave Engineering March 1999 Cover story In this issue we focus on the industrial and automotive applications of RF technology which are driving the demand for mm-wave components. We look at microwave's place on the intelligent highway in Focus on ISM & Automotive applications . Filling the skills shortage We often hear about the shortage of RF engineers these days, following the great wireless revolution. And a shortage, there most certainly is. It may be good for salaries but probably not for sanity if too few engineers are trying to do all the work that's needed now. That's one of the reasons we're very pleased to be involved in a special initiative, organised by the new European Microwave Association and funded from the European Microwave Week Conferences and Exhibition. The formation of the European Microwave Association, based in Belgium, is certainly something to be pleased about as a focus for encouraging professional development in our industry, particularly amongst young engineers. The programme of support for young engineers being developed, will give financial help with the registration fees for the European Microwave Conference and the workshops that run alongside it, and, through their attendance, will introduce the next generation of microwave and wireless engineers to leading edge developments and companies in the microwave and associated industries. In 1998 the conference fees were all reduced significantly to encourage far more people to attend and the Association's initiative will take things one stage further. Extra support is also coming from Mini-Circuits of the US who will be donating a special bursary of $5000 for the best student paper each year, starting with the Week in Munich this October. Anything that helps to ensure a healthy reservoir of young engineers for the future must be a good thing and we're pleased that both of these initiatives are using the European Microwave Week as a springboard for support. The deadline for the submission of abstracts for the European Microwave Conference, GAAS 99 and European Wireless '99 is 19 March, 1999 so time is tight for potential authors! Just one month after a discussion on mergers and co-operation in the test and measurement industry, Hewlett Packard hit us all with the announcement that it is to take its business in the opposite direction by de-merging the test business from the computer business and using the HP name in future for computers, now by far the largest part of the company's activity. It's certainly not the first time such a thing has happened but, assuming the test company does choose a new name, it certainly will be strange not to have the Hewlett Packard logo on RF test and measurement equipment after half a century of seeing it all over the lab. The fans of mergers and takeovers look set to see plenty of activity again this year. Just when the San Jose, California-based VLSI Technology is looking seriously at RF CMOS, Philips Semiconductors has put VLSI on it's shopping list. We'll probably know more about that one next month. Paul Jackson

Contents In focus W-CDMA chips arrive faster than standards; Spectrum analyzers pack room to expand; GSM Congress and US symposium clash. Focus on ISM & Automotive applications Automotive radar looks to road ahead; WLAN flies at 5.5Mb/s. Design of general filters for modern digital communication systems The central theme of this paper by Djuaradj Budimir of the University of Westminster, London, is the optimization oriented approach for the accurate design of RF, microwave, millimetre-wave, and submillimetre-wave filters. It presents computer-aided filter design algorithms and provides examples of their applications. In this issue we are pleased to present the third and fourth papers in a series of five selected by the GAAS Association steering committee from the GAAS '98 conference, part of the first European Microwave Week. Design and technology of T/R modules for phased array radar applications In the third of our specially selected GAAS '98 papers, R. Schäffner, G. Eckert and T. Nuetzel from DaimlerChrysler present the design of a T/R Module demonstrator for a future military earth observation satellite with a synthetic aperture radar. Millimetre-wave transciever design for today's digital radio link In the fourth of our series of papers selected from GAAS '98, J. del Alamo, M. Somerville, and R. Blanchard of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA, review the state of the art of millimetre-wave power HEMT technology as well as recent advances in understanding of breakdown phenomena. Also discussed are the prospects and challenges facing InP HEMTs in performance, reliability and low-cost manufacturing. Sommaire d' articles Zusammenfassung der Artikel New Products and Data Calendar Classified Catalogue Update & Appointments