Millimetre wave measurement equipment

在过去5年中，智能手机和平板电脑等移动的设备的使用出现了大规模爆炸。这些是需要宽带互联网连接的无线连接设备。预计到2020年，全球范围内的数字将达到400亿，因为家庭、交通、医疗保健、军事和基础设施等领域的嵌入式“智能”功能和用户可操作性水平不断提高。政府首席科学顾问兼政府科学办公室主任Mark Walport爵士认为，“物联网”（IoT）为英国经济提供了巨大的机会，需要越来越多地使用无线通信方法，如Wi-Fi，蓝牙，ZigBee，NFC和其他物联网标准。在移动的等领域，宽带的普及推动了3G/4G技术的发展，并以两位数的速度增长。68%的英国成年人使用移动的手机或便携式电脑上网，目前全球移动宽带用户超过30亿。当前的移动的宽带工作频率高达6 GHz。然而，越来越多的人意识到，低于6 GHz的频谱无法支持未来用户和应用所需的巨大数据速率。下一步是开发利用极高频率的5G技术，即所谓的毫米波频率（mmwave），以提供与未来需求兼容的数据速率。目前，ETSI和ITU等世界许可机构已确定30 GHz至90 GHz的频率最有可能用于频谱扩展。常规地，毫米波技术尚未被用于（或适合于）移动的、低功率、手持产品，相反，其应用集中于固定无线和蜂窝回程基础设施。这是由于成本和高频信号在短距离内传播的事实-后者将通过采用小型本地小区来克服。然而，低成本、高能效和高性能的毫米波收发器将变得至关重要，特别是对于消费者移动的设备而言，电池能量预算和“物料清单”成本至关重要。毫米波系统的关键部件包括材料、天线、晶体管和放大器等器件、电路、组件和滤波器。这些组件需要研究和开发，以降低成本和提高效率，以维持电池寿命。需要为毫米波频率开发新的低损耗材料。实现低成本有效设计的最有效方法是将所有系统组件集成到芯片或晶片上，随后可以以非常高的体积和低成本生产。从战略上讲，英国必须发展无线技术，以在世界舞台上竞争，并提高其竞争力，特别是在与远东的竞争中。超高速5G水平的电信基础设施是英国政府一直倡导并宣布的工业战略绿色文件的核心。所要求的设备将设在谢菲尔德大学，并由该大学提供支持，为毫米波组件提供旗舰测量系统。所有英国大学和行业都可以使用它。它提供对设备、组件、天线、电路、材料和集成系统的测量。对于英国来说，这是独一无二的，它提供了一个在晶圆上测试天线的设施，这将是用于生产低成本系统的技术。测量系统可以分为三个部分-天线测量扫描仪;提供信号传输和接收的矢量网络分析仪;以及与片上组件接触的探针台。

Over the past 5 years there has been a massive explosion in the use of mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets. These are wirelessly connected devices requiring broadband internet connection. Numbers are forecast to reach 40 billion worldwide by 2020 as areas as diverse as the home, transport, healthcare, military and infrastructure experience increasing levels of embedded 'smart' functionality and user operability. The 'Internet of Things' (IoT) was recognised by Sir Mark Walport, the Government Chief Scientific Adviser and Head of the Government Office for Science, as offering great opportunities for the UK economy, requiring increasing use of wireless communication methods such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, ZigBee, NFC, and other IoT standards. In areas such as mobile broadband uptake has driven the development of 3G/4G technologies and is growing at double digit rates. 68% of UK adults use mobile phone or portable computers to access the Internet and there are currently over 3 billion mobile-broadband subscriptions globally. Current mobile broadband operates at frequencies up to 6 GHz. However, there is a growing realisation that the spectrum below 6 GHz cannot support the huge data rates being demanded by future users and applications. The next step is to develop 5G technologies utilising very high frequencies, so called millimetre wave frequencies (mmwave) to give data rates compatible with future demand. Currently world licencing bodies such as ETSI and ITU have identified frequencies from 30 GHz to 90 GHz as most likely for this expansion in the spectrum. Conventionally, mmwave technologies have not been used (or suitable) for mobile, low power, handheld products, instead its applications have been focused on fixed wireless and cellular backhaul infrastructure. This was due to costs and the fact that high frequency signals propagate over short distances - the latter will be overcome by adopting small local cells. However, low cost, power efficient and high performance mmwave transceivers will become vital, especially for use in consumer mobile devices - where the battery energy budget and 'Bill of Materials' costs are of prime importance. Critical components for millimetre wave systems include materials, antennas, devices such as transistors and amplifiers, circuits, components and filters. Such components require research and development to reduce costs and improve efficiency to sustain battery life. New low loss materials need to be developed for millimetre wave frequencies. The most efficient method to achieve low cost efficient designs is to integrate all the system components onto chips or wafers which can subsequently be produced in very high volume and at low cost. Strategically the UK must develop wireless technologies to compete on the world stage and increase its competitiveness particularly in competition with the far east. Superfast 5G level Telecoms infrastructure is central to the Industrial Strategy Green Paper that the UK government have been championing and announced in ten pillars of combined strategy. The requested equipment will be based at and supported by the University of Sheffield and provide a flagship measurement system for millimetre wave components. It will be accessible to all UK universities and industries. It provides for measurements on devices, components, antennas, circuits, materials and integrated systems. Uniquely for the UK, it provides a facility to test antennas on wafer which will be the technology used to produce low cost systems. The measurement system can be split into three components - the antenna measurement scanner; the vector network analyser which provides the signal transmission and reception; and a probe station which makes contact to the on-chip components.