Edge And Micro Data Centers: Powering The Real-Time Digital World


The modern world no longer runs on delayed responses. It runs on immediacy. When a self-driving vehicle identifies a pedestrian, when a factory robot adjusts production in milliseconds, or when an augmented reality overlay appears instantly during remote surgery, there is no tolerance for latency. These applications demand data processing that happens almost at the speed of human reflexes. B... » read more

New Antennas And Advanced ICs Needed For 6G


6G is expected to bring data speeds that enable highly integrated and responsive technology in smartphones, homes, cities, and autonomous vehicles, but realizing that goal will require a lot more work. There will be many more antennas everywhere, embedded in infrastructure around town, in base stations, edge-devices, and everything in between. They will be sending and receiving many more sig... » read more

6G Line-Of-Sight Repeaters, Dots, And Reflections


6G will open the door to ultra-reliable, low-latency communications, extended broadband, and machine communications, but its rapid signal attenuation places some sharp limits on where and how it can be used, and requires some expensive options to overcome those limitations. Applications include lifelike virtual reality for home and work use, highly interactive smart homes and cities, and aut... » read more

Efficient Electronics


Attention nowadays has turned to the energy consumption of systems that run on electricity. At the moment, the discussion is focused on electricity consumption in data centers: if this continues to rise at its current rate, it will account for a significant proportion of global electricity consumption in the future. Yet there are other, less visible electricity consumers whose power needs are a... » read more

AiP/AiM Design For mmWave Applications — Advanced RF Front-End Design Flows From Concept To Signoff


System requirements for broad bandwidth, millimeter-wave (mmWave) spectrum, phased arrays, and integrated antennas and front-ends are evolving. The challenge for engineers will be achieving the cost, size, and performance requirements that will make these products commercially viable. All these factors align to drive next-generation component integration, which includes embedding the antenna wi... » read more

AI: A Perfect Solution But At What Cost?


The advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) has been a great enabler for the Internet of things (IoT). Given the ability to think for itself, it’s shrugged off its original definition as a network of tiny sensors and grown to incorporate a host of more intelligent AIoT (AI+IoT) devices, from smartphones all the way up to autonomous vehicles. AI has also paved the way for new IoT device... » read more

On The Cusp Of 5G


Carriers and chipmakers are celebrating the rollout of the first standards-compliant commercial 5G services. "We are, officially in the era of 5G," said John Smee, vice president of engineering at Qualcomm at the recent 5G Summit at IEEE's International Microwave Symposium (IMS) in Boston. Movement is happening on the commercial end. Major U.S. carriers Verizon, AT&T and Sprint have set ... » read more

GaN Versus Silicon For 5G


The global race to launch 5G mmWave frequencies could provide a long-anticipated market opportunity for gallium nitride (GaN) as an alternative to silicon. GaN is more power-efficient than silicon for 5G RF. In fact, GaN has been the heir apparent to silicon in 5G power amplifiers for years, especially when it comes to mmWave 5G networks. What makes it so attractive is its ability to efficie... » read more

Challenges Grow For 5G Packages And Modules


The shift to 5G wireless networks is driving a need for new IC packages and modules in smartphones and other systems, but this move is turning out to be harder than it looks. For one thing, the IC packages and RF modules for 5G phones are more complex and expensive than today's devices, and that gap will grow significantly in the second phase of 5G. In addition, 5G devices will require an as... » read more

5G Heats Up Base Stations


Before 5G can be deployed commercially on a large scale, engineers have to solve some stubborn problems—including how to make a hot technology a whole lot cooler. 5G-capable modem chipsets are already on the market from Qualcomm, Samsung, Huawei, MediaTek, Intel and Apple, with some 5G service (LTE-Advanced/LTE-Advanced Pro) available in the U.S. But still mostly missing from the 5G equati... » read more