News
Lockheed Martin to debut tiny
smart satellites
Slated for launch this year, Lockheed
Martin is changing the way satellites
operate with a new generation
of space technology
that will allow satellites
to change their missions
in orbit. Satellites that
launched one, ten or even
fifteen years ago largely
have the same capability
they had when they lifted
off. With the new architecture, users
can add capability and assign new
missions with a software push, just like
adding an app on a smartphone. This
new technology, called SmartSat, is a
software-defined satellite architecture
that will boost capability for payloads
on several pioneering nanosats ready
for launch this year.
“Imagine a new type of satellite that
acts more like a smartphone. Add a
SmartSat app to your satellite in-orbit,
and you’ve changed the mission,” said
Rick Ambrose, executive vice president
of Lockheed Martin Space. “We are the
first to deploy this groundbreaking technology
on multiple missions. SmartSat
will give our customers
unparalleled resiliency
and flexibility for changing
mission needs and technology,
and it unlocks even
greater processing power
in space.”
This year Lockheed
Martin is integrating Smart-
Sat technology on ten programs and
counting, including the Linus and Pony
Express nanosats, which will be the first
to launch. Cyber security is at the core of
this new technology. SmartSat-enabled
satellites can reset themselves faster,
diagnose issues with greater precision
and back each other up when needed,
significantly enhancing resiliency. Satellites
can also better detect and defend
against cyber threats autonomously, and
on-board cyber defenses can be updated
regularly to address new threats.
www.lockheedmartin.com
NB-IoT market to ‘see’
double digit growth
According to a report by Transparency
Market Research (TMR) the global narrowband
IoT (NB-IoT) market is projected
to achieve US$1052.69 million before
the end of 2025, with a CAGR of 33.12%
over the time frame of 2017 to 2025.
The report predicts that Europe will
lead the global narrowband IoT (NB-IoT)
market in the forthcoming years – owing
to increasing applications of NB-IoT
in the transportation and automation
sectors. North America is also a leader
owing to the rising adoption of cloud
based and IoT services.
Key applications for narrowband IoT
include healthcare, retail, energy and
utilities, transportation and logistics,
agriculture. Among these, the report
finds that smart cities are the leading
segment as IoT devices are deployed in
both residential and commercial buildings
to make resource and energy allocation
more effective with improved security.
The NB-IoT market is expected to show
significant growth due to rapid development
in the IoT industry.
www.transparencymarketresearch.com
MACOM and GlobalFoundries to
scale silicon photonics
MACOM Technology Solutions and
GlobalFoundries (GF) have announced a
strategic collaboration to ramp the innovative
Laser Photonic Integrated Circuit
(L-PIC) platform from MACOM using GF’s
current-generation 300mm-wafer silicon
photonics offering, 90WG. Production
scale of 300mm wafers is expected to
enable exponential port growth in cloud
data centers and 5G networks
The collaboration will leverage GF’s
300mm silicon manufacturing process to
deliver requisite cost, scale and capacity
that is expected to enable mainstream
L-PIC deployment for hyperscale data
center interconnects and 5G network
deployments at 100G, 400G and beyond.
90WG, built on the company’s 90nm
SOI technology using 300mm wafer
processing, enables low-cost integration
of optical devices like modulators, multiplexers
and detectors into a single silicon
substrate. L-PIC technology solves
the remaining key challenge of aligning
lasers to the silicon PIC. Leveraging patented
Etched Facet Technology (EFT) lasers
and a patented Self-Alignment EFT
(SAEFT™) process, MACOM’s lasers are
aligned and attached directly to the silicon
photonics die with high speed and
high coupling efficiency, thereby accelerating
the adoption of silicon photonics in
true industrial-scale applications.
Industry forecasts project 2019,
2020 and beyond to be strong growth
years for Coarse Wavelength Division
Multiplexing (CWDM) and PAM-4, with
the potential for overall unit demand in
2019, reaching volumes of 10 million
units. With a track record of enabling
1.6 million ports in 2016, 4 million ports
in 2017, and 6 million ports in 2018,
MACOM will work with GF to scale
L-PIC production aimed at meeting this
exponentially growing market demand.
www.macom.com
www.globalfoundries.com
Partnership on future 5G
standards
France Brevets, IMT and EURECOM have
announced a joint agreement with Qualcomm
Incorporated to foster research
into new technologies for future 5G standards.
Under the terms of the agreement,
Qualcomm will contribute funding and
standards expertise to support wireless
communications research by EURECOM
and its partner organization Institut
Mines-Télécom (IMT), while France
Brevets will provide support in the area of
intellectual property strategy.
The agreement also includes the
creation of an annual event for French
researchers to learn about how to get
involved in 3GPP and promote their technologies
into upcoming 5G standards.
“This agreement with EURECOM and
France Brevets to support fundamental
5G research in Europe aims to expand
the potential for 5G technology in Europe
and beyond,” said Alex Rogers, executive
vice president and president, Qualcomm
Technology Licensing.
www.qualcomm.com
www.mwee.com March - April 2019 MW 9
/www.lockheedmartin.com
/www.transparencymarketresearch.com
/www.macom.com
/www.globalfoundries.com
/www.qualcomm.com
/www.mwee.com
