It’s almost time to hit the skies, as the 18th annual IEEE Wireless and Microwave Technology Conference (WAMICON 2017) will commence on Monday, April 24. Held in Cocoa Beach, Florida, the conference will address up-to-date multidisciplinary research needs and interdisciplinary aspects of wireless and RF technology.
This years theme: “Emerging Technologies for 5G Systems.”
This year will be my first year in attendance, and I must admit—I’m pretty excited. Not only because the sun will likely be shining in Cocoa Beach, but because I’ve hard nothing but great things. OH, and we love all things 5G over here at Wireless Design & Development. 🙂
OK, let’s dig into the good stuff. There are a couple of great keynote speakers scheduled that you won’t want to miss.
1st Keynote Speaker: Paul Colestock, Ph.D., Founding Director, Head of Exploratory Design Group, GlobalFoundries
Topic: The Impact Of Silicon As An Emerging Technology For 5G Circuits And System Solutions
Abstract: Every major electronic product innovation or improvement in capability is ushered in on a foundation of other technological innovations many of which have been percolating over several years. 5G network capabilities and its benefits are no exception. Given the past expense of millimeter and microwave technologies and products many improvements in semiconductor technology, manufacturing and design are needed to reach the economy of scale needed for 5G. This talk will elaborate on the improvements and impact that silicon will have as an emerging technology for millimeter and microwave design and systems for 5G.
2nd Keynote Speaker: Zoya Popovic, Distinguished Professor Hudson Moore Jr. Endowed Chair of the Department of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering at the University of Colorado, Boulder
Topic: PA Design For Future Wireless Systems
Abstract: This paper presents an overview of efficiency enhancement techniques for microwave power amplifiers (PAs) through supply modulation. The focus is on next-generation wireless systems, which are predicted to operate at higher carrier frequencies, with significantly larger signal bandwidths and under conditions that require more functionality and flexibility at the RF front end. Several PAs with supply modulation are presented to illustrate the challenges and propose some solutions. Starting from continuous envelope tracking of a 10-W X-band MMIC GaN PAs with up to 40-MHz signal bandwidth with >40% composite efficiency (CPAE), the approach is extended to signals with bandwidths >100MHz and with PAPR>11dB using slew-rate reduction methods. Further extensions to supply modulation for multiple simultaneous signals, each with a bandwidth of a few tens of MHz, randomly positioned over a 1-GHz band are shown. Supply modulation is also demonstrated to improve efficiency for more complex PA architectures, such as a 10-GHz Chireix outphasing MMIC PA and a 2-GHz linear and efficient harmonically-injected PA. The flexibility of supply modulation is discussed for PAs that can efficiently amplify both communications and radar signals with improved performance.
But, that’s not all. There will also be a Panel Session, featuring some key players in the RF/Microwave industry.
Topic: The Push and Pull of Technology Solutions for 5G
Panelists:
- Vincent Pelliccia, VP of Business Development, Anokiwave
- Paul Colestock, Ph.D., Founding Director, Head of Exploratory Design Group, GlobalFoundries
- Moray Rumney, Lead Technologist, Keysight Technologies
- Takao Inoue, Ph.D., Wireless Solutions Architect, AWR Group, National Instruments
- Bror Peterson, Principle Systems Engineer, Infrastructure and Defense Products, Qorvo
I do hope to see you there, but if a trip to Florida is not in your cards this year, follow along with me over on Twitter (@JanineEMoon), where I’ll keep you update on what’s happening and key takeaways from WAMICON 2017.
