Microwave Engineering Europe May 2000 Cover story In this issue we focus on design tools and the measurements needed to piece together accurate models. Focus on CAD starts on page 15 and a paper on dynamic I(V) measurements by GaAs Code is on page 23. Key skills and core investments Just what should the European Union invest in with future technology development programmes? It's an interesting question and it is appropriate to raise with the European Commission. The view taken in the past has been that core technologies need to be developed and this may well have been an appropriate use of resources as the European RF industry made the transition from a defence dominated industry to a commercially driven one. Looking now at the wireless communications industry, the technology looks like it's in pretty good supply, although not always in the public domain. Where we do all see a shortage is in the engineering staff to push the technology further and to apply it. The bounties for recruitment of engineers are increasing more and more. Indeed, we recently heard of one company, specialising in electronic design, which is offering not only a substantial single payment for every member of its staff who attracts a new recruit but also enters the recruiter into a quarterly draw for a whopping $40,000. In an industry where engineers are in short supply a $40k prize may not be a great deal of cash but it certainly is a large signpost that the European Commission's money could be well invested in developing the core people skills rather than being devoted entirely to technology development. Europe has established a tremendous position in the wireless industry but the position will only be built upon if enough skilled engineers are there to push it forward. Good times can bring tough decisions after all! Names and News You may have noticed a new logo on the top left hand corner of this issue with the CMP name on it. No, Microwave Engineering Europe hasn't been sold to another company but we are planning to take full advantage of the electronics industry products within our parent company, United News and Media. CMP, which publishes Electronic Engineering Times and many other important journals in the US and has established the EDTN Network on the Web, has now brought together all of the electronics industry activities from our parent company into a single group. We're very pleased to be part of a group with just under half a million subscribers and exhibition visitors around the world - the new organisation will allow us to bring important new features into Microwave Engineering Europe over the coming months. We'll keep you in touch with the progress! Paul Jackson

Contents The current state of CAD - a users' perspective In the second and concluding part of this feature, which began in our November issue, Helen Duncan has collected the views of a further set of RF and microwave CAD users. The users interviewed describe their perception of how the 3D electromagnetic software they are using meets their needs, and what they believe the vendors' future priorities should be. The findings of the first part of this Focus are re-visited, and combined with the new research to produce an overall picture of how users rate the performance of their CAD tools in comparison with their expectations. Read the full article. In focus RF circuit integration receives a cash boost, Ericsson takes 2W Si PAs to "select" customers, 2000 Measurement prize Dynamic I(V) measurement of contemporary semiconductor devices The difference between dynamic and dc characteristics of devices can be surprising. P. H. Ladbrooke, N. J. Goodship, J. P. Bridge and D. J. Battison of GaAs Code Ltd, discuss the measurement and modelling issues. Trends in silicon radio large scale integration After 10 years of advances in silicon RF integration, what used to be an art is becoming "normal practice". Bart Verstraeten, Jan Sevenhans and Silvio Taraborrelli of Alcatel, review the key trends in device technology, modelling and performance. The operation of nonreciprocal microwave Faraday rotation devices and circulators The rotation of the polarization of the plane tranverse to that of propagation of an alternating radio frequency wave in a suitably magnetized gyromagnetic medium is an important microwave phenomenon. A number of nonreciprocal ferrite devices rely on the so-called Faraday rotation in such a medium. The purpose of this paper by Joe Helszajn, is to briefly review some of these devices. Sommaire d'articles Zusammenfassung der Artikel New Products and Data Calendar Classified Catalogue Update & Appointments