APMC2010

Abstract :
Advances in modern microwave technology are based on a long history of developments in semiconductor devices and circuit technology, which have emerged from the classical theory of the vacuum-tube era. Retaining power gain in the high frequency regions is the most significant figure of merit for active devices. This fact suggests the existence of a universal operating principle related to available power for all kinds of active devices including quantum devices. On the other hand, maximizing the inherent performance of active devices is one of the major missions of circuit technology design, especially in the microwave and millimeter wave fields.

To compensate for the inferior high frequency performance of vacuum tubes relative to active devices, more sophisticated circuit technology had been required in the past. In this sense, vacuum-tube circuit theory can be considered a goldmine. Thus, many of the classical technologies have been revived and incorporated into the design of modern active microwave circuits with appropriate modifications. Doherty amplifiers, class-F amplifiers, Miller frequency dividers, traveling wave amplifiers, and negative feedback amplifiers are good examples of this.

Advances in accuracy of CAD co-simulation techniques both for semiconductor devices and electro-magnetic fields have also enhanced microwave and millimeter wave applications. Advances in linear/nonlinear measurement technology are also playing important roles. In addition, introductions of novel circuit design approaches such as right/left-handed circuits and negative group delay circuits have opened up some new applications. Universal technologies appear repeatedly at the needed time, such as Si bipolar transistor hybrid integrated circuits in the 1970s, GaAs MMIC’s in the 1980s, HBT/HEMT MMIC’s in the 1990s, and GaN/Si MMIC’s in the 2000s. For emerging quantum devices using new materials such as carbon nanotubes (CNT) and graphene in the 2010s, it seems a similar design philosophy is being followed.

This talk will review active microwave device circuit technologies to identify universal technlogies that may be helpful in the future.

Kazuhiko Honjo received the B.E. degree from the University of Electro- Communications, Tokyo, Japan, in 1974, and the M.E. and D.E. degrees in electronic engineering from the Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan, in 1976 and 1983, respectively. From 1976 to 2001, he was with the NEC Corporation, Kawasaki, Japan. In 2001, he joined the University of Electro-Communications, as a Professor with the Information and Communication Engineering Department. He is now a director of the Advance Wireless Communication Research Center of the university. He has been involved in research and development of high-power/ broadband/low-distortion microwave amplifiers, MMICs, GaAs based HBT device and processing technology, GaN device modeling and circuit applications, miniature broadband microwave antennas and FDTD electromagnetic wave and device co-analysis. Prof. Honjo is a Fellow of IEEE and is also a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical, Information and Communication Engineers (IEICE), Japan. He served as an elected AdCom member of IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society (IEEE MTT-S) from 1997 to 2003. He was the recipient of the 1983 Microwave Prize and the 1988 Microwave Prize presented by the IEEE MTT-S. He was also the recipient of the 1980 Young Engineer Award and the 1999 Electronics Award presented by the IEICE.

Abstract :
Where is ICT industry heading for?  High-speed mobile services such as WiMAX and LTE will expand over the globe, especially in Asian regions, in the next several years to meet with broadband and ubiquitous communication demands.

In the future, ICT will presumably be better integrated into many "things" in our society and people will utilize ICT even without recognizing ICT itself. This can be called the realization of "World of Ambient Intelligence."

The speaker who is with KDDI, the Japanese full-range telecom operator, will review these circumstances and present its view on the expectation of the further evolution of wireless technologies. In order to fulfill wide-range of various requirements in the future, hybrid and harmonized cooperation of multiple radio systems, both intra-system and inter-system, would be the key to enhance the capabilities, e.g. higher reliability, lower latency, and huge number of devices. Obviously, SDR (Software-Defined Radio) and CRS (Cognitive Radio System) with flexible microwave devices will play a fundamental role in the arena. Some representative R&D activities are also to be presented.

Shinichi Nomoto received B.E., M.E., and Ph.D degrees, all in electrical engineering, from Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan, in 1980, 1982, and 1993, respectively. He joined Kokusai Denshin Denwa Co., Ltd. (now KDDI Corp.), in 1982. Since 1983, he has been engaged in research and development of radio transmission systems. As a professional assignee at Inmarsat HQ's from 1992 to 1995, he has contributed to the "Inmarsat-P (ICO)" project, which includes development of a global personal communications system using a number of non-geostationary satellites. His current research interests include antennas and propagation, broadband wireless access systems, cognitive radio, cooperative radio and QoE management in communication networks. He received the Shinohara Memorial Young Researchers' Award from IEICE in 1988, the Piero Fanti International Prize from INTELSAT/Telespazio in 1988, and the Radio Distinguished Award from RCR (now ARIB) in 1991. In 2004, two of his published papers received the Best Paper Awards from IEICE, one of which was the recipient of the 10th Inose Award (the very best paper of the year) too. He is an Executive Director of KDDI R&D Laboratories, Inc., a R&D fellow of KDDI, a fellow of IEICE, a senior member of IEEE, and a vice chair of Advanced Wireless Communications Study Committee (ADWICS), ARIB.