What To Expect At IMS24 – Monday, June 17

By John Oncea, Editor

Monday at the IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium (IMS) will feature workshops, boot camps, technical sessions, and networking opportunities. IMS is the premier annual international meeting for technologists involved in all aspects of microwave theory and practice and it brings together thousands of professionals from various sectors to discuss the latest theories, strategies, and technologies in microwave technology.

Workshops

There is a total of 18 workshops on the schedule, the first batch of four running from 8 – 11:50 a.m. These workshops cover a variety of topics including:

• Highly Reconfigurable Mixed-Signal RF Front-End Approaches for 5G and Beyond
• 3D Heterogeneous Integration and 3D-Packaging Targeting B5G-6G mm-Wave and Sub-THz Communication and Sensing
• Operating at the Extreme: RFIC Design Techniques for Operation Beyond the PDK Limits
• Ultra-Wideband Efficient PAs and Broadband Matching Design Techniques

The next batch of workshops also starts at 8 a.m., but these 11 last all day, ending at 5:20 p.m.:

• Addressing Microwave Measurement and Engineering Challenges in Realizing Practical Quantum Computers
• Latest Developments in RF/MW Devices, Circuits, and System Technology for High-Power Applications in ISM and Aerospace & Defense
• New Trends of R&D of Space Based Solar Power and Beam Wireless Power Technology
• Multi-Functional RF Integrated Passive Components for 6G, Radar Systems, and Beyond
• From Waves to Insights: AI/ML Techniques for Wireless Communications and Radar
• Future of Chiplet Technology and 3D Heterogeneous Integration
• Integrated Circuits for Control and Characterization of Quantum Processors
• Linearity and Efficiency Challenges in Wide Modulation Bandwidth Power Amplifier Design
• mm-Wave and Sub-THz Broadband Phased Array FE for Communication and Sensing
• Phased Arrays and MIMO for mm-Wave 6G/WiFi and Sensing Systems
• Sensing Modalities for the Road to Autonomy and Beyond

A third group of workshops, running from 1:30 p.m. – 5:20 p.m., include:

• Digital Intensive Transmitters From RF to mm-Wave: Empowering Intelligent and High Data-Rate Wireless Communication
• From Prototype to Product: Overcoming Productization Challenges
• Flexible Arrays as the Next Frontier in Wireless Communications

Boot Camps

The RF Boot Camp, organized by Joanne Mistler and Larry Dunleavy and supported by Keysight Technologies, Modelithics, and USF, runs from 8 a.m. until 5:20 p.m. It is designed to grow RFMW skills in an educational forum focused on the fundamentals of Microwave Theory and Techniques.

The intended audience includes technicians, new engineers, engineers who may be changing their career path, marketing and sales professionals seeking a better understanding of microwave technology, and college students looking to learn more about the practical aspects of RF and Microwave technology.

The format is similar to a workshop or short course with multiple presenters from industry and academia presenting on topics including RF/Microwave systems basics, network and spectrum analysis, simulation and matching network design modulation, and signal analysis, antennas, and radar basics.

The WPT (Wireless Power Transfer) Boot Camp runs from 8 – 11:50 a.m. and is organized by Jasmin Grosinger and Nuno Carvalho with support from Graz University of Technology and the University of Aveiro. It will focus on introducing wireless power transfer for wireless devices, which will aid in further advancing the digitalization of society and the economy.

The boot camp will cover two different WPT technologies, the first being one that operates in the near-field and is already in use for wireless charging with its latest addition, near-field communication (NFC) charging. The second focus will be on far-field wireless power transfer, which is gradually entering the market. The WPT boot camp will provide details on both technologies, with experts from academia teaching the basics and principle design methodologies and industry experts offering insight into the different business cases and standards.

The WPT boot camp is designed for engineers who want to learn the fundamentals of WPT or are interested in using it for their applications, marketing and sales professionals who want to understand the basics of WPT technologies, and university students who wish to acquire basic knowledge of WPT.

RFIC Technical Sessions

There are four technical sessions today with the first scheduled to run from 8 – 9:40 a.m. The three concurrent sessions are:

• mm-Wave Transmitters and Receivers
• Advanced Packaging Enabling Heterogeneous Integration of SiGe HBT & III-V mmW ICs
• Unleashing RF Systems: From 5G to Low-Power Sensing

The next group of sessions runs from 10:10 – 11:50 a.m. and covers:

• mm-Wave Transceivers and RF Techniques
• High-Performance Multi-Mode, Multi-Core Oscillators
• Interference Resilient and Energy Efficient Transmitters and Receivers

 The third group of sessions runs from 1:30 – 3:10 p.m. and features:

• mm-Wave Power Amplifiers
• RF and mm-Wave Frequency Multipliers
• Wideband Reconfigurable Beamforming Arrays

The day’s final sessions run from 3:40 – 5:20 p.m. and the topics are:

• Silicon-Based Power Amplifiers for D-Band and Above
• High-Performance RF and mm-Wave CMOS Frequency Synthesis
• Wireline and Localization Systems

Other Key Events

Another Monday event, now in its eighth year, is the Three Minute Thesis Competition (3MT) designed for eligible students and young professionals who indicated upon submission of a paper their desire to enter the competition and whose paper is accepted for either oral or interactive forum presentation.

3MT contestants will make a presentation of three minutes or less, supported only by one static slide, in a language appropriate to a non-specialist audience. The goal of the event is to stimulate interest in the wide range of applications of microwave technology. Such information would help renew public interest in microwaves as a transformative technology that is rewarding both to those who study them and to those whose daily lives benefit from the incorporation of scientific developments in consumer products.

The 3MT committee includes co-chairs Aline Eid and Jimmy Hester, members Erin Kiley and Daniel Tajik, and senior advisor John Bandler.

There are also two panel sessions on Monday’s schedule, both running from Noon – 1:30 p.m. The first – Meeting IEEE Division IV Society Presidents – is organized by Alistari Duffy and Ke Wu with support from Division IV and Polytechnique Montréal. Panelists include Branislav Notaros, Wen-Chung Kao, Gregory Durgin, John La Salle, Maurizio Bozzi, and Vesna Sossi.

This panel session offers a chance to engage in dialogue with the Presidents of IEEE Societies within IEEE Division IV Electromagnetics and Radiation. Given their shared research domains, this session presents a valuable opportunity to exchange perspectives on forthcoming technological challenges and foster avenues for future inter-society collaboration.

The second panel – RF and Microwave League of Champions – is organized by James Buckwatler and Shahriar Shahramian with support from the University of California, Santa Barbara and Nokia-Bell Labs. Featured panelists include Ramesh Harjani, Payam Heydari, Donald Lie, Debabani Choudhury, Osamu Kusano, and Bodhisatwa Sadhu.

Rather than a traditional panel, the RF and Microwave League of Champions will be a quiz show pitting a team of academics against a team of industry veterans to answer technical riddles sourced from RF and microwave history. Each three-member team will answer questions about RF/microwave theory, circuits, and systems. This event will be an entertaining diversion from the typical technical panel and hopefully a great deal of fun for participants.

Industry Showcase, Plenary Session, And Networking

The IMS Industry Showcase runs from 3:10 – 5 p.m. in the Walter E. Washington Convention Center’s Ballroom Foyer and showcases selected IMS paper authors presenting their work. These presenters and their topics are:

• Nizar Messaoudi, Keysight Technologies: Enhanced Accuracy in On-Wafer Noise Figure Measurements at Sub-Terahertz Frequencies 
• Qiang Yu, Intel Corporation: Advancements in 300mm GaN-on-Si Technology with Industry’s First Circuit Demonstration of Monolithically Integrated GaN and Si Transistors 
• Stefan Lepkowski, Sandia National Laboratories: A 6.8 - 9.4 GHz LNA Achieving 36.5 dB Peak Gain, Consuming 4.28 mW with an Adjustable Threshold Limiter for IR-UWB Applications 
• Malgorzata Celuch, QWED Sp. z o.o.: A Novel Q-Choked Resonator for Microwave Material Measurements Alleviating Sample Thickness Limitations of Existing Techniques 
• Maurio Grando, Invictus Animus Research and Design: Incorporating Resistive Foil RF Attenuators and Equalizers on and within PCBs from DC to 60 GHz: Design, Analysis, and Experimental Validation 
• Yuuichi Aoki, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.: Machine-Learning Assisted Digital Predistortion Using Feedback via Dual-Polarized Antenna Arrays 
• Hung Che Fu, MPI Corporation: Improve RF Dual Probe Calibration Accuracy with Peer-Terminated Standards 
• Laila Salman, ANSYS, Inc.: Additively Manufactured High-Power Light Weight Millimetre-Wave Band Pass Filter Optimized with AI Tuning Algorithm for 5G Space Applications 
• Jun Kamioka, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation: A 0.9 to 4.0 GHz High Efficiency Reactively Matched GaN Power Amplifier MMIC 
• Zach Griffith, Teledyne Scientific: 220-GHz High-Efficiency Power Amplifiers in 250-nm and 130-nm InP HBT Technologies having 14.4-25.0% PAE and 40-60 mW Pout 
• Chris Thomas, Boeing: 2: An All-Digital Synthesizer Enabled by a Convolutional Neural Network 
• Wolfgang Wendler, Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Co KG: Measurement of Residual Phase Noise of Amplifiers at 80 GHz Using Interferometric Measurement Technique

Monday’s Plenary Session originally featured Heidi Shyu, the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering but, due to unforeseen circumstances, Dr. Peter Highnam, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Critical Technologies, Office of the Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering will represent her.

Higham will speak from 5:30 – 7 p.m. on “Redundancy from the Sea Floor to Space: Building Reliable Capabilities for the Joint Force.” More specifically, he will discuss how microelectronics forms the backbone of modern electronic systems, essential for both military and commercial applications. However, challenges such as diminishing domestic manufacturing and supply chain vulnerabilities have underscored national security risks.

The abstract continues, “In response, the Department of Defense (DoD) is collaborating with industry and academia to ensure secure and robust sources of microelectronics. Leveraging innovative commercial developments, the DoD aims to bolster defense microelectronic solutions.

“Furthermore, the DoD is spearheading FutureG, a suite of advanced wireless network technologies, in partnership with commercial entities. This initiative not only supports military operations but also contributes to maintaining a free and open internet. As Fifth Generation (5G) technology evolves, FutureG will provide innovative solutions, guiding future standards and cementing U.S. leadership in information technology.

“The importance of wideband sensors in highly contested environments will be discussed as will how the DoD is prioritizing the development of multifunctional sensors capable of addressing cyber, electronic warfare, radar, and communication threats. Highnam will argue this integrated approach, from the ocean floor to space, will ensure reliability, adaptability, and superiority for the joint force in confronting advanced adversaries.”

Networking events are taking place throughout IMS, including Monday’s Welcome Reception which runs from 7:30 – 11:30 at The National Museum of African American History and Culture. The National Museum of African American History and Culture is the only national museum devoted exclusively to the documentation of African American life, history, and culture.

It was established by an Act of Congress in 2003, following decades of efforts to promote and highlight the contributions of African Americans. To date, the Museum has collected more than 40,000 artifacts and nearly 100,000 individuals have become members. The Museum opened to the public on 24 September 2016, as the 19th museum of the Smithsonian Institution.