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Workshops
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Sunday, 5 June 2011
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| 0800 | - | 1720 | WSA: Introduction to GaN MMIC Design |
| This workshop will cover the important and current topic of RF GaN MMIC Design. Workshops in previous years have addressed GaN technology in general, including basic material characteristics, reliability issues, packaging issues, and system implications. This workshop will be educational in nature, with significant time allotted for audience questions and participation. In addition to the usual Q&A time after each talk, we are planning to have an open panel session at the end of the day in which all of the speakers will participate and answer questions from the audience. We encourage attendees to bring questions, design issues, and design hints that they would like to share. | |||
| 0800 | - | 1720 | WSB: Advancements and Challenges Toward Radio-in-Package and Radio-on-Chip |
| Advanced wireless communication systems require multi-functionality and miniaturization of their modules, irrespective of frequency or system. Recent development trend is how we can integrate full-functions on a chip or in a package to achieve a real 'Radio-in-package' or 'Radio-on-chip'. A design challenge of integrated antennas is the most interesting issue. This workshop will focus on design innovations of Radio-in-package/Radio-on-chip and evaluation method of highly integrated System-in-package/System-on-chip with antennas. | |||
| 0800 | - | 1720 | WSC: Imaging at Millimeter-Wave and Beyond |
| Advances in device technologies are making mm-wave imagers both technologically viable and commercially attractive. These imagers are now targeting exciting applications that capitalize on the unique characteristics of the mm-wave spectrum. This workshop will present recent developments in mm-wave imaging, focusing on imagers for security, spectroscopy and clinical diagnosis. | |||
| 0800 | - | 1720 | WSD: Re-Configurability Requirements for Multi-standard Low-power Operation |
| Advances in fabrication technology have enabled the use of (Bi) CMOS in today’s RF transceivers for wireless communications. However, multi-band and multi-mode radios covering the diversity of communication standards from 2G GSM, 3G UMTS, to 4G LTE and LTE-advanced as well as WLAN, BT, and GPS impart unique challenges on the RF-transceiver design due to limitations in terms of reconfigurable RF components that meet the demanding cellular performance criteria at costs that are attractive for mass market applications. The focus of this workshop will be on the challenges and requirements the wireless standards pose on future multi-radio operation, along with a thorough discussion of advanced techniques for receivers and transmitters towards integration in a low-power multi-radio SoC or SiP for terminals and base-stations. | |||
| 0800 | - | 1720 | WSE: Advancements in Linear Power Amplifiers for Cellular Infrastructure |
| Cellular infrastructure equipment market forces are demanding improvements in power amplifier performance in terms of power, efficiency and linearity for increasingly wider bandwidth signals. This challenge is being addressed with research and advancements on several fronts, including device technology (Si LDMOS, GaAs HBT, GaN), PA circuit architecture (Doherty circuits and high power ICs), and more effective PA linearization techniques. | |||
| 0800 | - | 1720 | WSF: EMI Compliant Product Design Practices: Interference Analysis, Floorplanning, Grounding Strategies, Chip-Package-Board Co-Design |
| With the integration of RF, mixed signal and digital building blocks on a single die, combined with the trend to go to higher frequencies to accommodate for higher data rates, it is essential to consider various on-chip coupling effects in the early design phases of the RFIC. Additionally, provisions should be made at the application level by reducing the impact of peripheral interactions (between chip, package, board, antenna, etc.), as well as the potential for self-interference, such that these are either eliminated or can be resolved on the fabricated product in order to reduce the number of re-spins. The focus of this interactive workshop will be on preventing EMI problems by applying a number of measures in the early design phase: interference analysis, coupling-aware RFIC floor planning, grounding strategies, chip-package-board co-design practices, frequency planning, clock generation strategies, and modeling and CAD/EDA capabilities to address coupling effects. | |||
| 0800 | - | 1720 | WSG: New Architectures for Digitized Receivers |
| The recent growth of circuit techniques that leverage the high speed capabilities of deep submicron CMOS devices is gradually renovating the architectures of RF communication systems. The high speed resources of digital circuits allow a redistribution of wireless transceiver functionality among the analog and digital domains. Aiming at highly digitized receiver architectures, several disruptive techniques have recently been proposed to reach this paradigm shift as will be presented in this workshop. | |||
| 0800 | - | 1720 | WSH: Design for Manufacturability and Self-Testability of RFICs |
| With the increased level of integration in today’s mixed signal SoCs, it has become crucial for RFIC designers to minimize the production-testing costs, while also guaranteeing high production yields, by applying design-for-manufacturability (DfM) approaches early in the design phase. This is achieved through a combination of design-for-testability (DfT) strategies and in particular built-in self-testing (BiST). The DfT approach must allow for the various functions to be self-calibrated/compensated in accordance with the expected process variations, thus eliminating costly parametric tests that are prone to result in yield loss. | |||
| 0800 | - | 1720 | WSI: RF Bio-Medical Electronics and Sensors |
| RFIC & mixed-signal integrated devices have found significant and multifarious applications in the broad bio-electronics and bio-medical domains over the past 30 years. Today, RFIC and mixed-signal systems are indispensable to the development of many imaging applications, sensors, actuators, and related products. RF sensors and analog/digital processing are critical to numerous bio-medical components, which include medical implanted devices, embedded wireless sensors in the human body, and external bio-marker sensors. | |||
| 0800 | - | 1720 | WSJ: Systems & Circuits for Sensing, Co-Existence, and Interference Mitigation in SDR and Cognitive Radios |
| Cognitive Radios (CR) provide a new paradigm to improve spectrum efficiency by enabling Dynamic Spectrum Access. In CR, spectrum holes that are unoccupied by primary users can be assigned to appropriate secondary users as long as the interference introduced by secondary users is not harmful to the primary users. The design of cognitive radio networks is a complicated cross-layer procedure. The morning session will begin with the motivation for shared spectrum access and the necessary sensing algorithms that are suitable for portable devices followed by talks focusing on the many system aspects of cognitive radios and Dynamic Spectrum Analysis. The afternoon presentations will focus on potential implementation issues surrounding highly-integrated CMOS transceivers. | |||
| 1320 | - | 1720 | WSK: Efficiency Enhancement Techniques of Power Amplifiers and Transmitters for Mobile Applications |
| With the proliferation of data services and smart phones, mobile phone manufacturers are faced with new, unprecedented challenges and demands from both mobile operators and consumers. In particular, “thermal issues” and “battery life” are two major challenges related to the transmitter section of the phone. The efficiency improvement of the power amplifiers and transmitters is the only solution to address these concerns. Presentations in this workshop will focus on the novel design techniques to enhance the efficiencies of the transmitters and power amplifiers. | |||
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Monday, 6 June 2011
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| 0800 | - | 1720 | WMA: High Efficiency, Linear Power Amplifier Technology: Ka-, Q-band and Beyond |
| Modern communications systems place stringent requirements on power amplifier output power, efficiency, and linearity as well as size, weight, and power (SWaP). Today’s systems typically have to back off the output power to achieve a desired linearity, sacrificing efficiency. This workshop will present technologies and techniques aimed at achieving simultaneous high power, efficiency, and linearity at Ka-, Q-band and above. Advances in power amplifier technology will be presented including the latest developments in GaAs, GaN, Si, and vacuum electronics. | |||
| 0800 | - | 1200 | WMB: Nanotechnologies for Microwave Interconnects and Packaging |
| Nanotechnologies have become increasingly important to the next generation electronic hardware and systems. In this workshop, we will present techniques to fabricate carbon nanotubes for microwave applications. We will discuss the challenges in measuring electrical properties of carbon nanotubes from DC to 40 GHz and the understanding of the transport characteristics. We will then cover various applications including microwave inkjet-printed interconnects, RFID tags, gas sensors, smart skins, and die-attachment materials for microwave power transistors. | |||
| 0800 | - | 1720 | WMC: Practical Compression, IMD, Load Pull and Behavioral Modeling Measurements |
| While non-linear measurements and modeling are an increasingly important part of modern RF/microwave design practice, there are many practical subtleties that are rarely covered in the literature and often not well understood. The main focus will be on the use and understanding of measurement instrumentation for nonlinear circuit characterization and modeling. The talks will cover basic measurement methodology and will explore more complex measurements for nonlinear circuit evaluation and characterization. Several instrumentation problems applied to intermodulation distortion (IMD) characterization, load pull measurements and behavioral modeling schemes will be discussed with practical tips and live measurements. | |||
| 0800 | - | 1720 | WMD: Laboratory Class: Wafer-Level S-Parameter Calibration Techniques |
| The main objective of this workshop is to build a foundation of theoretical knowledge and practical experience in state of the art wafer-level S-parameter calibration and measurement techniques. The attendees will have a possibility to exercise off-line calibration, error correction and data post processing using their own laptops and data sets provided by lectures. The workshop attendees will leave with a practical and in-depth understanding of the calibration theory and the best-known practices in operating calibration software packages. Special attention will be given to the common misconceptions and errors. In contrast to organizing a conventional technical-session orientated workshop, we will focus on creating a laboratory-like environment and providing the attendees with enough time to do practical exercises. | |||
| 0800 | - | 1720 | WME: Simulation- and Surrogate-Driven Microwave Design Technology |
| This workshop addresses rapid advances in the related arts of simulation- and surrogate-driven microwave CAD technology for effective modeling and optimization of microwave and associated circuits. Going beyond conventional approaches, the new directions exploit adjoint sensitivity information available from advanced electromagnetic simulators, sophisticated modeling algorithms and software systems, multilevel co-simulation strategies, space mapping, and more. Our objective is to assist the microwave engineer in achieving convergent design solutions while avoiding computationally expensive simulations, all without sacrificing the simulation accuracy available from high-fidelity electromagnetic simulations. | |||
| 0800 | - | 1720 | WMF: Challenges and Techniques of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Systems |
| The workshop offers the MTT community members, who have not been involved in MRI before, an outstanding opportunity to understand its concept and to contribute with their expertise to the improvement and optimization of high-field MRI systems. Better image resolution and higher tissue contrast are achieved by increasing the strength of the static magnetic field B0. Scanners with B0 > 4T (fL > 160MHz) are categorized as “High Field”. Only those analytical and numerical techniques developed by the MTT community are capable of characterizing and optimizing such structures. The tutorial will present material covering the RF design practice used in Magnetic Resonance Scanners with a focus on circuit design issues involved in developing components used within the high magnetic field encountered in the bore of the MRI magnet. | |||
| 0800 | - | 1720 | WMG: Recent Developments in Microwave Imaging and Detection |
| Microwaves have been used successfully for target detection and for imaging of dielectric bodies where relatively long wavelength allows for penetration into optically opaque materials such as living tissue, clothing, wood, ceramics, concrete, soil, etc. The possibility of using the ultra-wide band from 3.1 GHz to 10.6 GHz and the advent of a new generation of high-speed oscilloscopes and waveform generators spurred a new wave of activity in short-range applications such as biomedical imaging, through-wall imaging, concealed weapon detection, and non-destructive testing. This workshop aims at bringing together researchers and designers involved in near- to medium-range imaging and detection using microwaves. | |||
| 0800 | - | 1720 | WMH: Flexible, Autonomous RFID-Enabled Sensors: Novel Applications, Energy Harvesting and Integration Challenges |
| Emerging communication systems point towards the internet of things, a new era of ubiquitous sensor networks where RFID tags and sensor circuitry are used to interconnect numerous objects able to constantly provide useful information to the network users. Such nodes, consisting of RFIDs and RFID enabled sensors are being used in an increasing number of applications including identification, tracking, monitoring, logistics and security. As a result, there is a growing need for low power, energy efficient, self-sustainable and environmental friendly nodes. Within this context, the design of an energy harvesting unit that provides autonomy to the sensor nodes is a critical issue. Additionally, low cost, low profile and conformal nodes are being sought, spurring research efforts utilizing novel flexible substrate materials such as paper and textiles. | |||
| 0800 | - | 1720 | WMI: Current state of Hexaferrite Materials and Their Applications |
| This workshop will cover current developments of hexaferrite materials from a material science point of view and move on to an application point of view. We aim for a controversial discussion among the principal attendees from ferrite-aware companies and research houses as to whether hexaferrite materials will always remain the “material of the future” or whether the time for broadly based applications is "today". The speakers will cover new developments in the area of hexaferrite materials and their applications as well as historical aspects. It will be one of the main goals to identify which materials developed found their way into actual commercial applications and also what prevented certain implementations. Throughout the workshop the potential of a commercial use of hexaferrite material will be emphasized. | |||
| 1320 | - | 1720 | WMJ: Compact Equivalent Circuits and Table Based FET Models - Is There One Winner for Circuit Designers and Foundries? |
| Nonlinear models can be separated into three categories: physical models, table based models (TBM) and empirical compact models (ECM). Today, the bulk of nonlinear modeling for circuit design applications is accomplished using empirical compact models, but recent developments of more robust table based models could impact that dominance. This workshop will examine the strengths and weaknesses of both TBM and ECM approaches in terms of measurement requirements, computation complexity, model accuracy, required expertise, cost, etc. Some examples of mixed modeling approaches will also be presented. | |||
| 0800 | - | 1720 | WMK: High Power Effects on Passive Microwave Components |
| Presently, many communication systems are increasingly demanding higher power transmission levels while simultaneously being driven to employ more compact and lighter passive components, thus increasing the risks of undesired RF discharge effects (such as multipaction and corona), passive intermodulation (PIM) and thermal related issues. This workshop is aimed at covering the most recent advancements achieved in the areas of theory, modeling and experimental verification of high power effects (i.e. multipaction and ionization breakdown, PIM and power handling related issues) present at passive microwave equipment widely used in several modern communications systems. | |||
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Friday, 10 June 2011
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| 0800 | - | 1720 | WFA: Wireless Power Transmission |
| Ever increasing demand for mobility/wireless connectivity and green energy have made a great impact and presented great promises in the healthy development of human society. Wireless power transmission (WPT) has recently emerged as one of the most active areas for electric energy transmission over long, medium and short distances. This workshop presents (a) overview of the state-of-the-art, (b) investigation and testing of various WPT theories, and (c) example applications of WPT technologies to charging systems of electric automobiles and biomedical devices and systems. | |||
| 0800 | - | 1200 | WFB: Piezoelectric RF MEMS for Communication and Defense Applications |
| The unmatched range of displacement and forces achievable with low activation voltages has drawn a great deal of attention in piezoelectric MEMS. With aluminum nitride (AlN) film bulk acoustic resonators (FBAR) becoming mainstream in many RF applications, there has been a wave of related research in harnessing the power of piezoelectric materials for a variety of RF MEMS applications. Other material systems, such as lead zirconate titanate (PZT) and zinc oxide (ZnO), are also promising for many RF applications. The aim of this workshop is to present the state of the art in piezoelectric RF MEMS and their applications in RF/microwave systems. | |||
| 0800 | - | 1720 | WFC: The Design Flow of Microwave Power Amplifiers: Challenges and Future Trends |
| The workshop will focus on the different phases involved in the design flow of microwave power amplifiers: measurement, modeling and design. The latest measurement techniques, which allow characterizing the transistor behavior under actual operation, could bypass the need of exploiting nonlinear models in the design flow. On the other hand, nonlinear models, by exploiting the new measurement techniques, are becoming more accurate under severe operating conditions (e.g., switching regime). In reality, “hybrid” design techniques, founded on CAD analysis and experimental characterization, are actually adopted by designers. These talks will give particular emphasis to their interactions in order to provide an exhaustive scenario on the design flow of microwave power amplifiers. | |||
| 0800 | - | 1720 | WFD: Medical and Biological Microwave Sensors and Systems |
| Due to rapid advances in integrated circuit technology and wireless communications, that enabled inexpensive radio and digital signal processing implementations, microwave technology has become readily available for use in medicine and biology. This workshop will include state-of-the-art applications of RF, microwave, and millimeter wave technology in medicine and biology. These applications include modern MRI imaging, tracking for surgical navigation and monitoring of endangered species, physiological monitoring and treatment, communications and powering for implantable devices, and control of cellular processes using millimeter-waves. | |||
| 0800 | - | 1720 | WFE: Electronically Steered Arrays for Radar, Communications and Electronic Warfare: Are They Affordable And Are They Ready to Assume Their Place in Advanced 21st Century Systems? |
| AESA technology has proven indispensable for advanced fighter aircraft whose pilots and missions demand the ultimate in beam agility and the greatest situational awareness. This workshop will present the latest work on AESA’s for radar, communications, and electronic warfare from the major research laboratories around the world. The critical bottle-neck issues of life-cycle cost, performance, and reliability will be addressed. Recent research work on passive ESA’s that rely on ferroelectric phase shifters to facilitate low cost beam steering will be included. | |||
| 0800 | - | 1720 | WFF: Wireless Sensor Network Technologies for Emerging Applications |
| The evolution of wireless sensor network (WSN) technologies is creating new possibilities and applications in sensing networks and wireless communication. The technologies have the potential for game-changing impact on mobile, industrial, home, energy, medical/healthcare, safety, security as well as utility sectors. WSN technologies are part of the future “internet of things", and ideas where all the physical objects will communicate to each other. This workshop will explore the many technologies competing for WSN applications many of which are all still in the emerging state. | |||
| 0800 | - | 1720 | WFG: Innovative and Highly Accurate Local Positioning Systems |
| Global positioning systems have already reached a high market volume, and the next great leap forward is systems for local position estimation. There are many different usage scenarios offering new market potentials, ranging from autonomously guided vehicles to cultural guiding, from industrial automation to medical healthcare. The first talk addresses the different possibilities of distance measurement with microwave technology, discussing Received Signal Strength, Angle of Arrival and Time of Flight principles. The second talk focuses on the calculation of a 2D or 3D position based on several distance measurements, addressing Kalman filtering and sensor fusion algorithms. Recent years have shown lots of improvements in local positioning systems like sensor fusion, the usage of synthetic aperture radar concepts, the usage of lossy feeder cable structures; frequency modulated continuous wave UWB systems, highly integrated local positioning chipsets and much more. | |||
| 0800 | - | 1200 | WFH: Recent Advances in Multi-Giga Bit Per Second (Gbps) Data Throughput Techniques for Ka-Band Space-to-Ground Links |
| The demand for high-speed wireless services such as HD/3DTV, remote data storage, desktop virtualization is ever increasing. Today’s 3G cellular and WiMax networks can handle up to a few tens of Mega bits per second. Developing multi-Giga bit per second satellite down links will greatly help in meeting the demands of the next generation broadband satellite services, imaging satellites, and Earth observation spacecrafts. Progress in this area has been slow because of limited bandwidth at Ku-band. In this workshop, the benefits and challenges of migrating to the Ka-band, where the available bandwidth is larger, will be discussed. | |||
| 0800 | - | 1200 | WFI: Advances in RF Imaging Techniques |
| This workshop is an attempt to leverage the rich knowledge base in RF and microwave electronics that IMS provides and focus it on the current problems and developments in the RF Imaging field. The tutorial will present material covering the RF design practice used in the RF Imaging field. The focus will be on ground penetrating radar and through the wall radar imaging, both using RF frequencies at 2500 MHz and below. The tutorial workshop will be geared for RF and microwave engineers wishing gain insight into technology as a means to move these important imaging techniques forward. The tutorial topics range from brief review of the electromagnetics upon which these techniques are based, and then the current technology and future trends in these areas. | |||
| 0800 | - | 1720 | WFJ: Nanotechnology-Enabled RF and Cognitive Devices, Components and Systems |
| Fostered by the continuous qualitative and quantitative progress that nanotechnology enables and prompted by recent breakthroughs in the area of nano-materials, nanoelectronics has shown the potential to introduce a paradigm shift in electronic devices and system design. Since many nanoscale materials and devices exhibit their most interesting properties at radio frequencies, nanotechnology/nanoelectronics has relentlessly entered the microwave engineering research arena. RF nanotechnology driven innovation is expected in the field of: i) RF system miniaturization and diversification; ii) energy efficient RFID devices; iii) extended sensing and cognitive functionalities. This workshop is intended to shed some light on the fundamental enabling factors such as material, process and their impact in defying the limits of present devices and technologies. | |||
| 0800 | - | 1720 | WFK: Practical Design Approaches and Issues in Software Defined Radios |
| Software Defined Radio (SDR) is the culmination of advances on several fronts and probably the most significant area of development in radio systems today. This workshop is intended to bring participants up to speed on recent advances in the key technological areas as well as illustrate actual SDR implementations from different fields. It is a practically oriented workshop with a comprehensive panel of speakers addressing the technology and design aspects of SDR from the antenna to the demodulated output. It is intended to help bridge the gap between analogue and digital perspectives in a field, like few others were the seamlessly integration of the two is essential. | |||
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