Frequency Electronics, Inc. was founded in 1962 and is now a well-established public company in Long Island, New York, and trades on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange under the symbol FEIM. It has five wholly-owned subsidiaries: FEI Communications Inc. and FEI Government Systems Inc., located in Mitchel Field, New York; Gillam-FEi a.s., located in Liege, Belgium, near Brussels; FEI-Zyfer Inc., located in Garden Grove, California; FEI-Asia Ltd., located in the free trade zone in Tianjin, China. FEI and its subsidiaries are major worldwide suppliers of Precision Time and Frequency (PT&F) products for ground, seaborne, airborne, and space terminals and platforms used by commercial and government/military systems suppliers.

In the mid-1990s, the Company transformed itself from a defense contract manufacturer into a high-tech provider of precision time and frequency products used to synchronize voice, data and video transmissions in wireless communications systems. These systems are found in both ground-based stations and on-board commercial satellites. The Company also continues to support the United States government with products for defense or space applications but it will do so with more emphasis on COTS (commercial off-the-shelf) products than on contract-based projects.

Terrestrial Wireless
The telecommunications industry is rapidly expanding with new or improved technologies being developed to provide ever more services to the public. Growing digital cellular systems and PCS networks require more base stations to provide the connectivity and quality of service that cell phone users require. Cellular infrastructure original equipment manufacturing companies, consisting of some of the world's largest telecommunications companies, are building out existing networks even as they develop new technologies, such as EDGE and 3G systems, to provide not only improved voice connectivity but also Internet, video and data transmission.

With increased demand for cellular services but limited bandwidth, the requirement for precise timing becomes paramount. FEI manufactures small Rubidium Vapor Atomic Oscillators as well as temperature stable quartz crystal oscillators, which are ideally suited for use in advanced cellular communications base stations. Whether the network uses CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) or GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) or a hybrid, such as EDGE, timing to ensure signal synchronization, is of the essence.

Wireline Network Synchronization
Today’s worldwide digital telephone network infrastructure operates on the Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) protocol. TDM requires accurate and reliable synchronization systems called TSGs (Timing Signal Generators) or synonymously SSUs (Sync Supply Units). FEI is a major supplier of next generation micro-processor controlled TSGs to network operators worldwide. Not only does the backbone voice network require precise timing at every stage of switching, multiplexing and relay, but data transmission is also critically dependent on precise synchronization. Data carried on the fiber optic SONET network is subject to the same exacting timing requirements as traditional voice traffic. IP packet-based communication may be asynchronous, but it is delivered over the common TDM network infrastructure. New timing requirements are in standards development. Clocks will be integral to the operation of voice, data, and internet networks for the foreseeable future.

FEI offers a portfolio of network synchronization products—all software manageable, precisely accurate, reliable, and durable. The flagship product is the US5G-A, the state of the art in Central Office synchronization technology. The US5G-E is targeted for carriers that operate in the European/International network environment. The US5G-M retains most of the features and functions of the ‘A’ model but is designed for smaller switching and transit node applications. It features an integrated GPS receiver enabling it to provide a self-contained Stratum 1 reference for distribution within its service location. FEI has recently introduced another innovative product, the UNISync PRS. This is a compact GPS receiver system that can provide a Stratum 1 signal reference to a co-located TSG or, if needed, can serve as a timing distributor for up to twelve network elements in a very small office. FEI also offers a very powerful server-based Element Management System (EMS). LYNX is capable of monitoring and managing a network of several hundred clock systems and to proactively detect the degradation of synchronization quality before a costly and disruptive system failure occurs.

These systems have been evaluated, tested, and deployed by several of the largest telecom network operators in the world.

Space-based
The commercial use of satellites launched for communications, navigation, weather forecasting, video and data transmissions has led to the increased need and ability to transmit information to earth based receivers. this requires precise timing and frequency control of the satellite systems. For example, FEI has provided the following products to the satellite industry:

• Master clocks (Quartz Crystal Oscillators and Rubidium Vapor Atomic Oscillators)
• RF-Chains ( frequency synthesis and distribution)
• Up-Down Converters
• DC/DC Converters
• Space-rated Hybrid assemblies