Key enabling technologies for future wireless, wired, optical and satcom applications

This book presents the latest research roadmaps and achievements from the European ecosystem (industry, research, and academia) driving the development of future wireless, wired, optical and satcom applications utilising the mm-wave and sub-THz bands. It covers the entire value chain, including technologies, devices, characterisation, architectures, circuits, 3D heterogeneous integration and packaging.

As the interconnectedness of our world continues to expand, the importance of global innovation in communication systems and technologies grows significantly. The increasing reliance on digital communication necessitates systems that can manage higher data traffic, provide faster and more reliable connectivity, and sustainably support a diverse range of applications. Achieving these goals requires a shift towards higher frequency bands (mm-wave and sub-THz) and the adoption of disruptive technologies. Heterogeneous integration of (Bi)CMOS, SOI, and III/V components such as GaN or InP, along with advanced packaging techniques, is essential to realise ubiquitous, ultra-high bandwidth, and low latency networks. To ensure that future communication systems are not only technologically advanced but also sustainable and responsible, it is crucial to minimize their environmental impact by considering the materials used, manufacturing processes, operational efficiency, and recyclability.

The book captures the synergetic interactions between European Chips JU projects SHIFT and Move2THz, the European 3D heterogenous integration and packaging community and the MTT-TC9 society. These interactions were forged during the International Workshop on "Key Enabling Technologies for Future Wireless, Wired, Optical and Satcom Applications" at the European Microwave Week in Paris, France, on 22 September, 2024.

Whether you are a professional in the field or simply interested in the future of communication technologies, this book offers invaluable insights into the technological breakthroughs shaping our digital future.

The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial (CC-BY-NC) 4.0 license.

Björn Debaillie (Senior, IEEE) leads imec’s collaborative R&D program on cutting-edge connected computing, covering high speed communications, high resolution sensing, and neuromorphic computing. As a seasoned researcher & manager, he is responsible for strategic collaborations and partnerships, innovation management, and public funding policies as well as the operational management and coordination across imec’s collaborative programs and projects. Björn Debaillie coordinates public funded projects and seeds new initiatives. He holds patents, received awards and authored books and international papers published in various journals and conference proceedings.

Philippe Ferrari (Senior, IEEE) received the Ph. D. degree from the "Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble" (INPG), France, in 1992, with honors. Since 2004, he is a professor at the University Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France. His main research interest concerns tunable and miniaturized devices, such as filters, phase shifters, matching networks, couplers, power dividers and VCOs. These devices are developed in many technologies, PCB, CMOS/BiCMOS, and nanowires, at RF and mm-wave frequencies. He has worked towards the development of slow-wave CPW, and developed new topologies of slow-wave transmission lines, based on microstrip lines and SIWs, respectively. He is author or co-author of more than 300 papers published in international journals or conferences, and co-holder of six patents. He is a member of the Editorial Board of the International Journal on RF and Microwave Computer-Aided Engineering (Wiley), an Associate Editor of the International Journal of Microwave and Wireless Technologies (EuMA) and member of the Editorial Board of Electronics Letters.

Didier Belot first spent 30 years in ST Technology R&D, where he worked initially on characterization-modeling of bipolar transistors before moving to high frequency analog design to develop optical-electronic interfaces. In 1995, he moved to Analog-RF design to work on cellular and Bluetooth transceivers, in SiGe and CMOS respectively. In 2006, he created a joint team with LETI, to initiate the development of mmW R&D prototypes at 60GHz in CMOS-65, which led to a demonstration of a 4Gbs wireless link at 60GHz over 1m. In 2014, he joined CEA-LETI, to continue his research work, on mmW CMOS, on mmW plastic guides, and, on very high speed mmW (1Gbs -> 10GBs and more). He has also played an important role in the orientation of the RF & mmW roadmaps, and in the management of programs such as IPCEI within LETI. Beginning of 2023 he came back to ST in the Technology Design Platform group, in charge of Wireless strategy and Innovation. Moreover, he has participated and is participating in the elaboration of European and worldwide Roadmaps on Wireless, (NEREID, CORENECT, ECS-SRIA, IRDS ...). His current research interests include millimeter wave propagation through plastic, sub-THz communications, III-V devices on silicon for mmW and THz applications, and the use of RF for quantum computing. He was a member of the French National Scientific Council ""Micro and Nanotechnologies"" from 2012 to 2016, a member of various conference program committees such as RFIC, ESSCIRC, ISSCC, IEDM. He is a member of the IEEE-MTT-9 (mmW & THz Devices to System) technology committee and the EuMW technical committee. He is a reviewer for the IEEE MTT and SSC journals, and author or co-author of more than 400 publications and 70 patents.

François Brunier (Member, IEEE) graduated as physics and electronics Engineer from Centrale-Supelec in 1997. From 1998 to 2002, he worked as device integration engineer for embedded DRAM products in STMicroelectronics Crolles. In 2002, he joined Soitec as head of advanced characterization laboratory. From 2009 to 2011, as a product manager, he led the RF-SOI and power SOI product development and offering. Since 2012, as a partnership program manager, he is in charge of European collaborative Chips JU programs, IPCEI and public relations.

Christophe Gaquière is currently full professor at the University of Lille and carries out his research activity at the Institut d’Electronique de Microélectronique et de Nanotechnology (IEMN). The topics concern design, fabrication, characterization and modeling of HEMT’s and HBT devices. He works on GaAs, InP, metamorphic HEMT’s and now he is involved in the GaN activities. His main activities are microwave characterizations (small and large signal between 1 and 500 GHz) in order to correlate the microwave performances with the technological and topology parameters. Today, his activities concern mainly the investigation of two-dimensional electronic plasmons and gunn like effects for THz solid state GaN based detectors and emitters (HEMT and SSD), AlGaN/GaN nano-wires for microwave applications and MEMS activities based also on GaN. He was responsible for the microwave characterization part of the common laboratory between Thales TRT and IEMN focus on wide band gap semiconductor (GaN, SiC, and Diamond) rom 2003 up to 2007. He is in the TPC of several European conferences. He had in charge the Silicon millimeter wave advanced technologies part of the common lab between ST microelectronics and IEMN. He co-founded the company MC2-technolgies in 2004 (95 peoples) and he is actually general manager. Christophe Gaquière is the author or co-author of more than 150 publications and 300 communications.

Pierre Busson (Senior, IEEE) received M.S. degree from the "Ecole Centrale d’Electronique" of Paris France in 1985 and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Rennes, France. In 1993, he worked for CELAR, national military research center, where he was involved in realization of propagation channel simulator for spread spectrum and frequency hopping. In 1995, he worked for CNET Rennes, national telecommunication research center, for the realization of the first integrated demonstrator for terrestrial digital TV with COFDM link. In 1997, he joined STMicroelectronics where he was involved in set-top boxes circuits for terrestrial, satellite and cable. He is currently Wireless RF System/Architect and a Fellow of ST Technical Staff, working on the development of the next generation for wireless system.

Urtė Steikūnienė earned her M.S.S. degree from the University of Warwick and began her career as a public sector auditor for PriceWaterhouseCoopers in London. In 2019, she co-founded a start-up focused on developing an FDA-registered medical device for diabetes patients. She holds four patents and is currently a Senior Project Manager at Teraglobus, where she oversees the execution of large collaborative projects co-funded by the Chips Joint Undertaking and Horizon Europe programmes.