Distinguished Microwave Lecturers’ Talks
Monday, 20 January 2025, 8:00am – 12:00
Organizer: Markus Gardill, Brandenburg University of Technology
RWW and MTT-S is hosting a joint “MTT-S Technical Winter Meeting & RWW DML Special Session” on Monday, 20 January 2025. The new MTT-S Distinguished Microwave Lecturers (DMLs) in the Class of 2025-2027 will present in the session. This session is open to public without requirement on registration.
Power Without Pain: High Power MMIC PA Design, the Pitfalls and how to Avoid Them
Speaker: Michael Roberg, Qorvo
Abstract
This presentation discusses high power monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) power amplifier (PA) design in Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) and Gallium Nitride (GaN). At a high level, GaN versus GaAs semiconductor technology from the perspective of power amplifier design metrics is analyzed to help determine the relative advantages and disadvantages of each technology. This is followed with an introduction of the most prevalent MMIC design topologies for the bulk of microwave applications which include reactively matched, non-uniform distributed, balanced, push-pull, Doherty and serially combined. Following introduction of the main topologies, the presentation focuses on the potential pitfalls the MMIC designer can encounter with detailed discussion on how to avoid them with the goal of first past design success. The presentation relies on experience from the author’s career with over 20 years of experience in the defense and commercial industries as well as academia. MMIC designers will appreciate the candid explanation of the design topologies and pitfalls while non-designers will come away with a good working knowledge of what can be achieved and what to watch out for.
Bio
Michael Roberg received the Ph.D. degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2012. From 2003 to 2009, he was an engineer at Lockheed Martin-MS2 in Moorestown, NJ working on advanced phased array radar systems. From 2012 to 2022 he worked for Qorvo in the High Performance Analog business unit as a MMIC Design Engineering Fellow. In 2021, he received the Outstanding Young Engineer award from MTT-S and in 2022 he won the industry paper competition at IMS in Denver. From 2022-2024 he was an Engineering Fellow at mmTron, Inc. where he focused on MMIC development for millimeter wave systems. Michael re-joined Qorvo as a member of the research organization in 2024 and continues to focus on advanced MMIC development.
Microwave/RF Devices and their Interactions with Novel Nano-Materials for Sensing and Communication Applications
Speaker: Mohammad Hossein Zarifi, University of British Columbia, Canada
Abstract
Microwave and Radio Frequency devices have demonstrated significant potential in non-destructive, non-ionizing, contactless, and wireless sensing applications. Among various structures, the ones with planar form factor are more attractive due to their conformal, inexpensive, and straightforward fabrication process. These microwave/RF sensors operate based on the perturbation of the electromagnetic (EM) field and the interaction of the EM field with materials in their close vicinity. Conventionally, these microwave/RF sensors have been fabricated using metal traces and microstrip lines which gives good microwave response and behavior for those sensors monitoring dielectric properties of solid and liquid materials. However, microwave/RF sensor applications were limited in exposure to gas molecules due to their negligible sensitivities to gas molecules. To address this challenge, secondary materials such as polymers, nanomaterials such as carbon nanotubes and titanium nanotubes, and recently titanium carbide (MXene) were introduced to act as an interface layer to enable gas sensing and even light sensing directly at microwave frequencies. This lecture will mainly focus on different planar microwave/RFID-based structures and their interactions with nanomaterials such as TiO2 nanotubes, mesoporous metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), and MXene in exposure to gas molecules and water vapors. Moreover, conductive polymers such as PEDOT:PSS will be discussed in microwave structures as an alternative to metals in microstrip lines to eliminate the use of extra interface materials for monitoring gases. In addition, the potential of 3D printing and other additive manufacturing techniques will be discussed in the nanomaterials concept to empower the microwave/RFID -based sensors.
Bio
Mohammad Hossein Zarifi (Ph.D. PEng, PRC Tier II, SMIEEE), received the B.Sc., MSc. and Ph.D. degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Tabriz, Iran. He is currently an Associate Professor and Tier II Principal’s Research Chair (PRC) in Sensors and Microelectronics at the University of British Columbia, and the director of Okanagan MicroElectronics and Gigahertz Applications laboratory (OMEGA Lab), Canada. He has authored or coauthored more than 100 papers in peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings as well as 5 issued or pending patents. Dr. Zarifi received CMC-NRC first place award, on industrial collaboration, for the innovative microwave sensors, in Canada, in 2015. Dr Zarifi’s research focuses on applied electromagnetics and smart devices for sensing and communication applications. Dr. Zarifi is a member of IEEE MTT-S TC-26 “RFID, Wireless Sensor and IoT” and, IEEE MTT-S TC-4 “Microwave Passive Components and Transmission Line Structures”, and a senior member of the IEEE Solid-State Circuits Society, and the IEEE Microwave Theory and Technology Society, and serves as a reviewer for several journals and conferences. Dr. Zarifi is the recipient of the Emerging Researcher Award and the Best Teaching Award at UBC’s School of Engineering in 2020 and 2021, respectively.
Sensing, Tracking, Imaging with Artificial Electromagnetic Materials
Speaker: Chung-Tse Michael Wu, National Taiwan University
Abstract
Metamaterials (MTMs) are synthetic electromagnetic materials possessing unique properties not found in natural materials. Their introduction has spurred the creation of innovative circuits with enhanced components. One notable metamaterial-based design is the composite right/left-handed transmission line (CRLH-TL) leaky-wave antennas (LWAs). These antennas offer continuous frequency-dependent beam scanning from backfire to endfire with a true broadside beam. They also ensure excellent impedance matching throughout their operational range, using a straightforward feeding mechanism. The CRLH LWAs’ ability to map frequency to space means unknown target locations can simply be pinpointed by analyzing the spectral components of the returning wave. This paves the way for real-time detection, with data acquisition speeds mainly determined by the signal source’s frequency sweep rate. The sensor’s field-of-view is also expanded thanks to the wide scanning angle of CRLH LWAs. Such features enable applications like swift 2-D beamforming, expansive real-time remote sensing, vital sign monitoring, motion detection, and microwave imaging. Additionally, applying spatiotemporal modulation to CRLH LWAs can generate harmonic waves and enhance physical layer security, promoting safer wireless communication.
Bio
Chung-Tse Michael Wu‘s research interests span applied electromagnetics, antennas, passive and active microwave and millimeter-wave components, MMIC, RF systems, and metamaterials. He earned his B.S. degree from National Taiwan University (NTU) in 2006, followed by his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 2009 and 2014, respectively. From 2014 to 2017, he was an Assistant Professor in the ECE department at Wayne State University (WSU) in Detroit, Michigan. In 2017, he joined Rutgers University as an Assistant Professor and was promoted to tenured Associate Professor in 2022. Since 2024, he has been an Associate Professor with NTU.
Dr. Wu is a member of the Technical Committee for IEEE MTT-28 and MTT-4. He has received several prestigious awards, including the National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award, the WSU College of Engineering Faculty Research Excellence Award in 2016, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Young Faculty Award (YFA) in 2019, and the DARPA Director’s Fellowship Award in 2021. In 2022, he was also honored with the Board of Trustees Research Fellowship for Scholarly Excellence at Rutgers University. He is the Vice Chair for the joint AP/ED/MTT chapter of the IEEE Princeton Central Jersey Section. Currently, he serves as an Associate Editor for IEEE Microwave and Wireless Components Letters, the IEEE Journal of Electromagnetics, RF and Microwaves in Medicine and Biology, and IEEE Access.
Advanced Methods for Precise and Complete Microwave Component Measurements
Speaker: Joel Dunsmore, Keysight
Abstract
Modern Vector Network Analyzers (VNA) have flexible hardware and software with much higher performance than VNAs of even a few years ago. There are a wide range of measurement applications, beyond simple S-parameters, that a VNA can address, and with precision that cannot be achieved by other test methods. VNAs now act as a multi-functional test system, providing an extremely wide range of device- and signal-characterization capabilities including noise figure, gain-compression, true-mode differential device characterization, two-tone Inter-Modulation Distortion (IMD), phase-noise, mixer and frequency converter gain/phase/delay measurements. Very recently Vector Spectrum Analysis (VSA) capabilities have been added, including measurements of complex modulated signals such as Error Vector Magnitude (EVM), Adjacent Channel Power Ratio (ACPR) and characteristics of Digital Pre-Distortion (DPD). These capabilities, when properly configured, provide the most precise measurements of high-frequency mm-wave and sub-THz modulated signals, beyond the capabilities of stand-alone measurement instruments, as will be demonstrated using 20 GHz bandwidth modulated signals at 250 GHz. This lecture illuminates the methods and capabilities for these advanced measurement methods for characterizing microwave components.
Bio
Joel Dunsmore is a Keysight R&D Fellow working at the Santa Rosa Site. He received his Ph.D. from Leeds University in 2004. He was a principal contributor to PNA family of network analyzers, with recent work in non-linear test, including differential devices, and mixer measurements, as well as modulated and spectrum measurements. He has received 36 patents and authored the “Handbook of Microwave Component Measurements, 2nd Edition (John Wiley, 2020)”, and has the YouTube Channel @DrJoelVNA, email at jdunsmore@gmail.com
Wireless Power Transmission based on Retro-reflective Beamforming
Speaker: Mingyu Lu, West Virginia University
Abstract
With the rapid development of Internet of Things, a vast number of small, low-cost, and low-power mobile electronic devices, such as radio frequency identification tags and wireless sensors, will become integral parts of our society in the near future. Supplying electrical power to these devices wirelessly would eliminate/relieve their battery life limitation, and therefore is envisioned to be one of the enabling technologies for the next-generation Internet of Things. Since wireless power delivery must be dedicated to the designated receivers in space, it is inevitable to employ one narrow electromagnetic beam as the carrier of wireless power toward each mobile device. The retro-reflective beamforming technique has excellent potential to accomplish efficient wireless power transmission in the context of Internet of Things, as it is capable of keeping track of multiple mobile devices and then generating wireless power beams to the devices accordingly. The primary merit of retro-reflective beamforming technique is that wireless power transmission is augmented by radar tracking. Specifically, wireless power transmission is initiated by pilot signals broadcasted from wireless power receiver(s); and in response to the pilot signals, a wireless power transmitter delivers directional microwave power beams to the receiver(s). This presentation reviews our past, ongoing, and future research efforts on wireless power transmission based on retro-reflective beamforming. This talk starts with the fundamental principles and a brief history of retro-reflective beamforming technique. Next, the pros and cons of retro-reflective beamforming are analyzed via comparison with other wireless power transmission techniques. Plentiful theoretical and experimental results collected in our research demonstrate that the retro-reflective beamforming scheme enables microwave power beams to follow the location of mobile wireless power receiver(s) dynamically as long as the receiver(s) broadcast pilot signals periodically. The last part of the presentation discusses the challenges pertinent to the practical application of retro-reflective beamforming technique.
Bio
Mingyu Lu received the B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering from Tsinghua University, Beijing, China in 1995 and 1997 respectively, and the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2002. From 2002 to 2005, he was a postdoctoral research associate at the Electromagnetics Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He was an assistant professor with the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Texas at Arlington from 2005 to 2012. He joined the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, West Virginia University Institute of Technology in 2012, and he is currently a professor. His research interest includes wireless power transmission, the Internet of Things, radar systems, antenna design, and computational electromagnetics. Dr. Lu was the recipient of the first prize award in the student paper competition of the IEEE International Antennas and Propagation Symposium, Boston, MA in 2001. He served as the chair of the Antennas and Propagation Chapter of the IEEE Fort Worth Section from 2006 to 2011. He is currently serving as the treasurer of the IEEE West Virginia Section.
The Role of millimeter-wave Beamforming and Integration Technologies on Non-Terrestrial Networks
Speaker: Luigi Boccia, University of Calabria, Italy
Abstract
The emergence of Non-terrestrial networks (NTN) has become a crucial driver for the next generation of wireless communication systems. NTN encompasses satellite and aerial segments, which can function either as relay nodes or base stations. In the upcoming years, NTN will play a crucial role in supporting universal connectivity where everyone and everything will need to be connected: from any geographic location and including every application from consumer broadband to mobile gaming. These requirements will lead to the development of advanced microwave systems that provide superior connectivity, while minimizing costs. This sector is expected to experience significant growth in the near future. Consequently, researchers worldwide are actively engaged in devising innovative technological solutions that can adapt to diverse scenarios, satisfy performance requirements, and conform to cost, size, and power consumption limitations. The impact of these efforts will be broad, encompassing research and development on antennas, RF integrated systems, integration and semiconductor technology, as well as system design. This presentation reports a multidisciplinary perspective on this topic, which includes a review of current solutions and an examination of emerging configurations from both architectural and technological viewpoints.
Bio
Luigi Boccia (S’00–M’03) was heart born in Lungro (Italy), in 1975. He received the MSc degree (cum laude) in Information Technology Engineering from the University of Calabria, Italy, and the Ph.D in Electronic Engineering from the University “Mediterranea” of Reggio Calabria, Italy, in 2000 and 2003, respectively. Since January 2005 he has been with the Department of Computer Engineering, Modeling, Electronics, and Systems Science of the University of Calabria, where he become Associate Professor in 2021. He has taught courses of antennas, microwaves and electronic circuits. He held research positions in several European institutions, including the European Space Research and Technology Centre of the European Space Agency (The Netherland), the University of Birmingham (UK), the University of Surrey (UK) and the University of Grenoble (FR).
His main research interests are: i) antenna for mobile and satellite communications, radar and Earth observation applications; ii) monolithically integrated RF circuits for phased array applications; iii) RF system integration technologies. He co-edited the “Space Antenna Handbook” (Wiley, 2012). He serves as associate editor for IEEE AWCL and MWCL as well as for the EuMA journal and he has been involved in the organization of several conferences, workshops and doctoral courses. In 2022 he was general chair of the Mediterranean Microwave Symposium and Workshop chair of the EuMW. Dr. Boccia has been involved, also with coordination roles, in several R&D research projects funded by EU, ESA or by leading industries mainly for 5G and satellite communications.
