RF and mm-Wave Systems and Circuits for Communications and Sensing

Abstract

In the last decade wireless communications experienced a nearly exponential growth. The number of connected devices exceeds the number of people on earth and the data rates can be as high as several GB/s. 5G already incorporates mm-wave frequencies. The next wave in wireless technology will be about sensing the environment and combining with communications. The applications are very versatile, like driver monitoring, autonomous driving, industry applications related to non-destructive material testing, food control and improving efficiency in agriculture. The future 6G standards will further extend the use of mm-wave bands for increasing data rates and incorporating sensing functionality. From semiconductor technology and design perspective significant progress has been made to gain speed, reliability and design flows that guarantee first-time right mm-wave circuits. This paper approaches mm-wave communications and sensing from application, system and circuit perspectives, while identifying challenges and finally showing examples how to address them from circuit perspective.