Aeroflex restructured
Aeroflex restructured
Keywords: Aerospace, Defence, Microelectronics, Testing,Measurement, Aeroflex incorporated
Aeroflex Incorporated recently announced the restructuring of its business under a new corporate brand identity. The company is a global provider of microelectronics and test and measurement systems, instruments and solutions for the commercial broadband communications, aerospace and defense markets. Through its components, equipment, software, systems and services, Aeroflex supports customers' research and development, product validation and manufacturing in the aerospace, satellite communications, wireless, radar, RF and microwave industries.
The company operates in two product- focused groups, the Aeroflex Test Solutions Group and the Aeroflex Microelectronic Solutions Group, consisting of a total of eight divisions. Many of the divisions were once independent companies that retained their names after being acquired by Aeroflex. Now all divisions are united under a single, distinctive Aeroflex brand. Each division will be identified by its city location.
"This is a significant step for us," said Len Borow, Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer, Aeroflex. "Our goal is to be one of the top five companies in the world providing test and microelectronic solutions. To accomplish that goal, we need a single, unified brand used worldwide. Many of our customers buy from several different Aeroflex divisions today. The 'one Aeroflex' brand will create a more powerful and recognisable presence for us with all of our global customers."
"When we decided to unify all the divisions under a single brand, we asked many of our customers what it meant to do business with Aeroflex. The results of the study were very compelling," continued Borow. "Customers felt that one of our traits stood out above all others – our passion. They said we differed from our competitors in our passion to solve our customers' unique problems. We decided to adopt it as our theme, 'Passion for Performance'. We are passionate about solving customers' problems, from creating the highest-performance products to how we fill orders and ship them on time. It is this commitment to go 'all out' for our customers that unites Aeroflex."
History
The company's history goes back to 1937, a Russian emigrant named George Margolis (Plate 1) started a small company to solve a problem. Working on Long Island, New York in the American "cradle of aviation", George manufactured custom spark plugs for automobile racing and electrical pumps for fish tanks. Through his connections in New York, he became aware of the problems confronting a group of early aviators in upstate New York. They were making the world's first photographic aerial maps. Their problem – the airborne cameras vibrated in-flight, blurring the images. George had a solution. Working with the aviators, he designed an ingenious rubber camera mount that kept cameras steady in flight. His invention for stabilizing cameras in flight enabled a giant leap in accurate domestic aerial cartography. When World War II broke out, Aeroflex found itself with a technology much desired by the military. Aeroflex rapidly reapplied its aerial mapping technology for use in aerial surveillance to help the military identify and locate strategic targets from the air.
Plate 1George Margolis
Aeroflex's heritage in aerospace and defense is as long and storied as the company itself. It is part of Aeroflex legend that George Margolis himself did the final check of the ignition on Charles Lindbergh's airplane, the Spirit of St Louis, prior to Lindbergh's record-setting cross-Atlantic flight. From its beginnings in camera stabilizers to aid in aerial cartography to its current role in supplying critical components to the US Space Shuttle program, Aeroflex has enjoyed a long, successful relationship with the aerospace industry.
A stabilizing influence
Moving from domestic aerial cartography to military reconnaissance, Aeroflex devoted most of its first 20 years to the manufacture of stabilized camera mounts. As airplanes flew faster and higher, their photographic needs became more sophisticated and Aeroflex grew in response to those needs, gaining its reputation as an innovative problem-solver.
The period from 1957 to 1977 saw Aeroflex expand from aerospace to integrated circuitry needed to enable the advancements in the burgeoning electronic content of aircraft. Camera mounts were still an Aeroflex staple, but America was changing. Aeroflex also changed.
Outer space was the new frontier. Aeroflex introduced a line of motors and movement- cushioning isolators in response to new demands for enhanced camera stability at the outer reaches of the atmosphere, with a wide variety of applications closer to Earth. Aeroflex played an important role in early moon probe efforts and in lunar simulators used to train astronauts in rendezvous and landing techniques. Aeroflex was also involved in the early years of television broadcasting. For the military, Aeroflex designed a line of infrared scanners for use in night vision systems. In the late 1970s, Aeroflex entered the microelectronics business.
By 1980, diversification became the key element of Aeroflex's continued growth. Acquisitions in the next 23 years established Aeroflex as a diverse company, home to a myriad of technologies built on the company's aerospace,electronics, testing and microelectronics expertise.
Aeroflex today
From its humble beginning as a small Long Island company, Aeroflex has grown into a multi-national corporation with operations in 24 major locations worldwide and customers in more than 60 countries. Through the series of planned and opportunistic acquisitions, mentioned earlier, Aeroflex has greatly expanded its microelectronics and test and measurement expertise, technology and products while broadening its base of customers across diverse markets.
As Aeroflex has grown, so as its passion for performance, it is evident in the company's solution-minded approach to every customer need, in its performance-driven insistence that every solution do more and do it better in the customer-focused definition of performance.
Aeroflex believes that its passion for performance is a promise to do whatever it takes to help customers achieve their goals. It starts with a commitment by the people of Aeroflex to carefully understand and anticipate customers' needs and culminates in unique, flexible, high-performance systems and solutions for their toughest technology challenges.
The company quotes as an example of this culture at work its "synthetic instrumentation" – a term coined by Aeroflex to describe instruments capable of multiple, discrete measurements. A single synthetic instrument eliminates the need for numerous pieces of stand-alone equipment, while also enabling superior measurement speeds. This flexible, high-performance solution is thought to represent a significant breakthrough in value for the customer.
The synthetic instrument has great application in RF/microwave testing,wireless cellular manufacturing test, TRM module testing, satellite payload testing, ATE and testing applications that require high-speed throughput. The Aeroflex TRM 1000 for transmitter/receiver module testing and the STI 1000 for satellite payload testing are real system and product examples of Aeroflex's synthetic instruments. Both claim the highest performance and flexibility through hardware and software virtual instrumentation.
Through its stable advanced design, engineering and manufacturing capabilities and intellectual property, Aeroflex reports that it commands significant resources on behalf of customers developing aerospace, satellite communications, wireless, radar, microwave, RF and other microelectronics applications. Aeroflex also continues its long legacy in motion control, with shock and vibration isolation systems that are used in commercial, industrial and defense applications.
Diverse products
Aeroflex has defined, developed and nurtured a set of core disciplines applicable to an array of microelectronics and test and measurement products. Currently, the company develops and sells:
synthetic test systems and solutions used in satellite, RF/microwave and radar applications;
ATE-based test systems and solutions;
market-leading radio test sets, signal generators and signal analyzers for military, private mobile radio (PMR) and commercial wireless radio applications;
market-leading avionics test solutions;
patented high-speed synthesizer technology;
CATV-based systems and instruments;
radiation-hardened (RadHard) integrated circuits;
commercial mixed-signal IC products;
thin-film interconnect solutions;
broadband RF and microwave components; and
packaging and multichip module solutions.
Business groups
As mentioned earlier, Aeroflex products are organized under two business groups: Aeroflex Test Solutions Group includes communications test, signal sources, general- purpose test and systems products. Aeroflex Microelectronic Solutions Group includes assembly services, avionic microelectronics, broadband microwave, circuit card assembly, multichip modules, chip-on-board, mixed-signal ICs, power microelectronics, RadHard microelectronics and thin-film interconnect products.
The company also produces a range of specialized solutions, including motion control, isolator products and filters.
Aeroflex test solutions group
Staffed with experts in RF and microwave signal generation and processing subsystems, the Test Solutions Group provides test and measurement systems,instruments, modules, services and integration support for the communications test, military, government and semiconductor industries. Solutions reflect a commitment to industry-accepted standards and the concept of modular product development and encompass the following product areas.
Communications test:public mobile radio, wireless cellular and telecom, military radio and avionics radio test. Aeroflex's superior communications test products continue a legacy dating back more than 50 years to Marconi Instruments, which was acquired by IFR Systems in 1999. Aeroflex, in turn, purchased IFR Systems in 2002. Aeroflex's radio test sets are pre-eminent in the service market and public safety applications. Signal sources: synthesizers, signal generators, signal analyzers and phase noise systems. Aeroflex is one of the top three signal source suppliers worldwide, with patents and intellectual property that have advanced signal generation throughout the industry. The combination of synthesizer, signal generator, analyzer and phase noise instruments, modules,software applications and systems will continue to position Aeroflex as a leading supplier to the industry. General-purpose test: spectrum analyzers, microwave analyzers, bit error rate testers. These test sets are used in mobile radio handset service, manufacturing, R&D, as well as base station installation, commissioning and maintenance. Systems: satellite, ATE, PXI and radar. The company's flexible, modular and upgradeable test systems provide significant reductions in total cost of ownership for both government and commercial customers.
The Test Solutions Group comprises a number of divisions in cities in the US,United Kingdom and France. Each division is associated with a significant core competency and set of products.
Plainview, New York
In addition to being the worldwide headquarters of Aeroflex, the Plainview Division is a world player in the design, development and manufacturing of wideband, fast-switching frequency sources and subsystems. These systems include frequency synthesizers, RF/microwave signal generation and processing subsystems, specialized multi-function modules and filters (Plate 2).
Plate 2 Plainview division site
The Plainview Division manufactures ultra- high switching speed (<200ns)and ultra-low phase noise synthesizers. These synthesizers come in a variety of sizes, shapes and frequencies. The most common are the FS2000 and FS5000, which are standard products in 19in. rack-mountable chassis. The units are inherently modular in design and can be reconfigured to provide solutions for more narrow-band applications, such as L- S- and X-band RADAR. In addition to synthesizers, Plainview has developed a line of satellite components (power dividers, multipliers) to expand into the high-reliability marketplace.
Aeroflex is also a leading company in the design and production of custom,high-performance RF and microwave filters for critical applications. The Plainview Division manufactures constant delay filters with highly selective attenuation, preselectors with ultra-low intermodulation distortion, MUX and channel filters for space applications including high power, low passive intermodulation distortion and no multipaction, n-channel switch filter banks and commercial wireless filters for PCS, LMDS, CDMA and TDMA applications.
In addition, Aeroflex has vast experience in motion systems and components for space, military and high-reliability industrial/ commercial applications. Rotary, linear and compound actuators for high-performance applications and environments span a range from deep sea to deep space. Stepper motors (both hybrid and permanent magnet), full rotation brushless, full- and limited-angle torquers, arc segment, zero-cogging, solenoid and voice coil types are designed and manufactured in high-volume dedicated cells or in specialized low-volume,fast-track systems at our Hauppauge facility in New York. With continuous production of gimbals and actuators for space since the late 1950s (thrust vector controllers for the Ranger moon probes), Aeroflex has designed to customer specifications thousands of systems and components for space environments.
Wichita, Kansas
In 2002, Aeroflex acquired IFR Systems with facilities in Wichita and Stevenage, England. The Wichita Division is home to a variety of radio test sets for avionics and private mobile radio as well as test sets for legacy analog systems. It offers a wide variety of test instrumentation with considerable expertise in wireless test solutions, while continuing to build an impressive portfolio of instruments and flexible test and measurement solutions.
Stevenage, England
The Stevenage Division is home to the technology and personnel acquired in IFR's 1999 purchase of Marconi Instruments. Stevenage is the primary location for the development of RF signal generators, microwave test systems, RF signal analyzers, telecommunications test equipment, ATE systems for board and functional test and other general test and measurement equipment. Like the Wichita Division, it is using its wireless test expertise to produce a broad range of instruments and flexible test and measurement solutions.
Powell, Ohio
A leading producer of high-speed test and measurement equipment and virtual instrumentation for RF and microwave applications, the Powell Division supplies products used in satellite payload testing, T/R module testing, power amplifier testing, radar cross section measuring and antenna pattern testing.
Bowie, Maryland
The Bowie Division designs and develops advanced object-oriented control system software based on a proprietary software engine. The technology is scalable to control and monitor simple embedded devices or complex distributed systems such as communication or computer networks.
Elancourt, France
The Elancourt Division designs, develops and manufactures test equipment for measuring and evaluating the quality of communication signals. Instruments measure phase noise, timing jitter and other noise- and distortion- induced parameters for almost the entire communications spectrum.
Aeroflex Microelectronic Solutions Group
The Microelectronic Solutions Group encompasses all of Aeroflex's microelectronic expertise. The group designs and manufactures radiation-hardened integrated circuits, mixed-signal ASICs and standard products, thin-film interconnects, broadband RF and microwave components and provides packaging and multichip module solutions. These products are used in the backbone of today's defense and communication satellites, military aircraft, tanks, communication telecom and datacom systems and medical imaging. Key product and service areas include the following.
RadHard microelectronics. Aeroflex has been a leading supplier of RadHard system solutions for more than 20 years to the aerospace and defense markets. Available are various levels of radiation- hardened databus,transceivers, memories, logic, programmable logic, LVDS, microcontrollers, ASICs and other devices. The company is fab-independent and has access to 0.6-0.18m processes.
Mixed-signal integrated circuits. Aeroflex's family of mixed-signal products include ASICs, microcontrollers and peripherals. The company specializes in system- on-chip (SoC) applications with analog features.
Thin-film interconnect. Aeroflex designs and manufactures passive interconnect solutions, from pattern design and layout to machining, coating and patterning of advanced multi-level circuitry.
Multichip modules. Aeroflex provides total custom multichip module(MCM) packaging capabilities with the use of co-fired ceramic packages, thick film multiplayer or thin film using advanced high-density substrate technologies.
Chip-on-board. Also available are full, turnkey, chip-on-board (CoB)surface mount manufacturing and testing.
Power microelectronics. Aeroflex offers a unique power hybrid microcircuit capability in three-phase motor controllers, high-power switching devices and regulators and DC-DC converters using state-of-the-art components and packaging technologies.
Avionics microelectronics. Aeroflex produces a range of high-reliability microelectronics such as databus, transceivers,microcontrollers and single-board computers for use in airborne, shipboard,ground-based and commercial avionics.
Broadband microwave. Aeroflex designs, develops and manufactures fiber optic components and equipment for telecommunications, CATV, sensor and antenna remoting applications. Specialty products include RF and microwave components, amplifiers and custom RF modules.
Assembly services. Aeroflex offers a variety of assembly and test services for the aerospace and defense markets and high-reliability telecommunications markets.
Circuit card assembly. The company's circuit card assembly capabilities consist of full assembly, test and coat in a high-mix/low-to-medium volume operation.
The Microelectronic Solutions Group comprises divisions in New York and Colorado.
Plainview, New York
The Plainview Division manufactures advanced microelectronic MCM and CoB solutions for avionic, aerospace, shipboard, ground-based and commercial avionics and telecommunications markets. The product line includes standard products, as well as customer-specified designs for specific applications. Products encompass MIPS microprocessors, memory, MCMs, military and commercial avionics data communication (MIL-STD-1553, 1397, 1760, ARINC429/ 629) bus devices, power regulators/ controllers, DC-DC converters, and motor drivers, RF and microwave components.
Colorado Springs, Colorado
The Colorado Springs Division is a major supplier of semicustom and standard ICs and custom circuit card assemblies for avionics and space applications,including databus, transceivers, memories, logic, LVDS and microcontrollers. Aeroflex offers technologies to meet a variety of ASIC needs. Rad-Hard CMOS technology can handle design complexities up to three million usable gates, with advanced technologies from 0.6 to 0.18. Aeroflex's circuit card assembly combines best commercial practices of the circuit card industry with Aeroflex's Rad-Hard ICs to provide CCA solutions for the commercial space industry. The division also offers mixed-signal custom ASICs and standard products such as microcontrollers for the medical and industrial markets.
Pearl River, New York
The Pearl River Division supplies state-of- the-art thin-film interconnect products. Aeroflex interconnect products reportedly have attributes that make them highly desirable for use in modern wireless, communication, satellite,video and microwave systems. Aeroflex's PIMICTM technology allows for increased power handling, improved thermal management and substantial miniaturization for high-frequency electronic devices.
Isolator Products
The Isolator Products Group of Aeroflex provides products and engineering services to commercial, industrial, and defense original equipment manufacturers(OEM), as well as the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) industry. This group draws upon one of the most comprehensive product lines in the shock and vibration industry with a full range of spring, elastomer and cable type mounts.
Details available from: Aeroflex, Inc. Tel: +44 (0) 1438 772087; Fax: +44 (0)1438 727601.
