Telecommunications

Telecommunication infrastructure and next generation satellite communication technologies are continuing to evolve at a fast pace. Analog and RF devices have saturated the communication spectrum and so millimeter wave technological know how has come to the fore.

Millimeter wave is also identified as extremely high frequency or very high frequency and can be used for high-speed wireless communication devices. Millimeter wave is an undeveloped band of spectrum that can be used in a broad range of products and services like high speed, point-to-point wireless local area networks (WLANs) and broadband access. In telecommunications, millimeter wave is used for a variety of services on mobile and wireless networks, as it allows for higher data rates up to 10 Gbps. The millimeter-wave region of the electromagnetic spectrum is usually considered to be the range of wavelengths from 10 millimeters (0.4 inches) to 1 millimeter (0.04 inches).

This means millimeter waves are longer than infrared waves or x-rays, for example, but shorter than radio waves or microwaves. The millimeter-wave region of the electromagnetic spectrum corresponds to radio band frequencies of 30 GHz to 300 GHz and is sometimes called the Extremely High Frequency (EHF) range.

The high frequency of millimeters waves as well as their propagation characteristics (that is, the ways they change or interact with the atmosphere as they travel) make them useful for a variety of applications including transmitting large amounts of computer data, cellular communications, and radar.

One of the greatest and most important uses of millimeter waves is in transmitting large amounts of data. Every kind of wireless communication, such as the radio, cell phone, or satellite, uses specific range of wavelengths or frequencies. Each application provider (such as a local television or radio broadcaster) has a unique “channel” assignment, so that they can all communicate at the same time without interfering with each other. These channels have “bandwidths” (also measured in either wavelength or frequency) that must be large enough to pass the information from the broadcaster’s transmitter to the user. For example, a telephone conversation requires only about 6 kHz of bandwidth, while a TV broadcast, which carries much larger amounts of information, requires about 6 MHz.

Chipright has delivered design services within the telecommunication technological domain by utilizing a proven pool of highly skilled senior level engineering resources. Chipright provides engineers and teams that are expert in their fields on-site or remotely. We have the capacity to supply the market with the right skill at the right price in the right location at the right time.

New clients often ask us about projects we have worked on and implemented over time in the telecoms market space. They also ask us about the resource pool we use on these projects. We respect the curiosity but also respect our clients NDA’s. Thus, whilst we are restricted from conveying specific information about the R&D technological projects we continually work on, we can provide a brief snapshot of some of the work without disclosing our customers detailed project information here.

Case Study – RF Millimeter IP – Design and Verification 

• Review of client requirements
  • Breakdown of the work from specification to IP design
  • Agreed a design service delivery model of the IP to the end client
  • Agreed Milestones in the IP design, validation and delivery cycles to the client
• IP design architecture
  • Review of detailed functional design intent
    • High Level requirements
    • Low level requirements
• IP Verification
  • SystemVerilog verification environment solution
  • Verified functionality as set out in the agreed milestones
• Delivered the IP design in agreed milestones to the end client
  • Client successfully integrated the IP design within their own subsystem

Our engineers have experience with Low Power RF Systems, discrete design and component selection for RF PCB’s including Design for Manufacture consideration. They have worked with RF transceivers related to broadband wireless communication systems, WiFi or LTE on a nano-metre scale RF-CMOS technology. The engineers have worked with:

• RF transceiver design
• Microwave test (Debug, Calibration, DeEmbedding)
• Micro filters and RF hardware
• RF Telemetry
• Antenna Design
• LTE, UMTS, WiMax, WCDMA
• 3G
• WiFi
• ATE
• RF simulation
• Labview and schematic capture
• Complete radio and RF block characterization in a lab