mmWave/Sub-mmWave
Applications and Technologies

Tour Registration: Northrop Grumman Facilities

Tour: Northrop Grumman Facilities

• Weather Environmental Monitoring Lab

• THz Lab

• Foundry Tour

Social and Networking

Reception and Registration

Opening Remarks and Self-Introductions

Each person will be asked to introduce him/herself share what they hope to learn and contribute to the process.

Host Keynote Opening Remarks and Presentation

• Objectives for the Workshop
• Where are the Commercial Business Opportunities for mmWave and Sub-mmWave Technologies?
• How Can mmWave and THz Technology Innovators Leverage Aerospace and Defense Programs to Address Future Commercial Opportunities?
• Building on Expertise Gained Developing and Delivering Systems from 180GHz to 700GHz

Networking Break

DARPA Perspective

*Presentation will be restricted to workshop only and will NOT be available on the IWPC website.

Imaging, radar, spectroscopy, and communications systems operating in the millimeter wave sub-MMW frequency bands have been elusive due to a lack of effective means to generate, detect, process, and radiate the necessary high frequency signals. In order to control and manipulate radiation in this especially challenging portion of the RF spectrum, electronics must be developed that can operated at frequencies past 1 THz.

The objective of the Terahertz (THz) Electronics program is to develop the critical device and integration technologies necessary to realize compact, high-performance electronic circuits that operate at center frequencies exceeding 1.0 THz. The program will focus on the developments of two critical THz technical areas.

Applications - Security

• Evolving Requirements for Security Systems

• The Evolution of Millimeter Security Images from Market Entry to Present Day

• The Trends in Enabling Technology and Their Influence on System Performance

• Projections of the Performance of Semiconductor Devices in 5 Years

  • How This Will Impact System Performance

• Exploring State-of-the-Art Active mmWave Imaging Systems

• Considering Technology Realization and Challenges

• Assessing Advanced Multistatic Operation and Cost Factors

• Defining the Role of Semiconductor Solutions

  • Analog and Digital Domains

Networking Lunch

Applications - Communications

• mmWave Already Widely Used for Point-to-Point Links

  • Increasingly Being Deployed for High-Capacity Backhaul

  • Beginning to be Offered as Embedded Short Range Connectivity Solution

• Global Spectrum is a Finite Resource

  • Operators Look to Support Ever Increasing Traffic and Bandwidth Demands

  • Higher Frequency Bands are Now Being Considered for Cellular Access

• How Will mmWave Fit into a 5G Future?

• Considering the Current Challenge for Small Cell Deployment, is Use of mmWave Access a Pipe Dream?

• Considering Propagation Limitations, Architectural Demands and Topology Considerations

• What are the Opportunities, Benefits, Challenges and Limitations of Moving to Higher Bands?

Networking Break

Applications - Communications/Security (Continued)

• Understanding the Basic SNR Challenge

• Challenges of Complex Modulation

• Lessons Learned

• Imaging and Radar for Personal Security Screening

• THz Imaging/Radar Comparisons

• Physics - Standoff, Resolution, Penetration

• CMOS Based Sensors for Dielectric Spectroscopy of Biological Cell Suspension

• World-to-Chip Interface Challenge (Microfluidics)

• Microwave Biosensors for Plaque-Sensing

• Gas Sensing in the GHz Frequency Range

Applications - Medical

• Has the Application of THz for Medical Matured Enough to Attract Both Interest and Federal Funding?

• How Can High Frequency Technology Impact Gene Structure?

• By Exposing Cells to Low Power Radiation (Low/No Heat Effects) from THz Laser Sources, Can Somatic Stem Cells Be Changed?

• Could We Reprogram Specific Sets of Genes by Using a Defined Laser Source (Centered at a Gene Specific THz)?

• Reprogramming of Somatic Cells for Treatment of Cell-Related Diseases

  • Parkinson's Disease, Diabetes, Spinal Cord Injuries, Wound Healing, Arthritis

• Can Low-Power THz High Field Laser Sources Impact the Personalized Medicine, Wound Healing and Bacterial Growth-Based Industry?

Applications Panel Session

Adjourn for Day

Leave for Dinner - Cafe del Rey

Networking Breakfast

Enabling Technologies - Semiconductors

Presentations and Panel

• What Are the Trends and Tradeoffs of the Many High Frequency Semiconductor Technologies?

  • InP

  • GaAs

  • GaN

  • SiGe

  • CMOS

• What are the Roadmaps of Each of these Semiconductor Technologies Which Will Enable Future High Frequency Applications?

Networking Break

Enabling Technologies - Packaging

• Shifting the Current View and Establishing LTCC as a Viable Packaging Platform

• Wide Range of Interconnect Compatibility

  • Soldering, Wirebound, Brazing, ENG Plating, etc.

Networking Lunch

Enabling Technologies - Testing

• Test Types

  • Reflectivity

  • Insertion Loss

  • Parameters (Permittivity, Permeability)

• Test Methods - Quasi-optical Test Bench

  • Description

  • Why It Is Needed at High Frequencies

  • Measurement Examples

• Characterization

  • Computer Modeling of Applications

  • Comparison with Measured Results

• The Demand for Improved Efficiencies in Microwave and Millimeter-wave Communication System Stresses the Need for Improved Device Characterization and Model Accuracy

• At the Core of Accurate Models: Accurate Measurements

• Summarizing Latest Advancements in On-Wafer Measurements and Details of the Latest Technology

Networking Break

Closing Panel - Next Steps

• Considering Key Findings from the Workshop and Next Steps

Takeaways and Closing Remarks

Adjourn

Dinner (Dutch*)
* = in this context, Dutch is a term which means that each person will be responsible for their own dinner costs.