WAtt LEvel transmitters at mm-waves (WhALE)

In the next decade fifth generation (5G) mobile communication promises to transform, the way wireless data are used from commercial to infrastructural and societal based, impacting government, transportation and public health.

For this to happen, the technological infrastructure required for 5G needs to be developed, i.e., on-demand connectivity both indoors and outdoors, with time delays of less than a second, while being cheaper, more secure and energy-efficient. To enable the predicted increase in data traffic projected by the various application scenarios of 5G new portions of the frequency spectrum, providing wide available bands, are being targeted, i.e., mm-wave frequencies. When aiming for these higher frequencies one of the most challenging block to be realized is the power amplifier. This building block needs to provide sufficient output power, over the selected band, to reliably satisfy the application requirements, and in view of the ubiquitous nature of 5G, it must provide this function in an energy efficient way.

The WhALE project targets, employing complementary expertise in the field of EM, system integration, and integrated circuit design, to develop the next generation of mm-wave transmitters. These systems will be integrated into smart packages to deliver, through low-loss, broadband mm-wave interfaces and/or integrated radiating elements, watt level signals in selected mm-wave bands, efficiently and supporting the high data rate schemes of 5G communication.