Research | Emerging Radio Systems Group

The Emerging Radio Systems Group (EmRG) studies radio hardware from the semiconductor device to the complete system, along four connected lines of research.

Broadband Communication

Linear, efficient multi-band and wideband power amplifiers in gallium nitride (GaN) technology.

Efficiency and Linearity

Amplification and linearization schemes that improve the energy and spectral efficiency of wireless links under demanding transmission conditions.

Modelling and Measurement

Nonlinear circuit modelling and measurement methods that shorten radio-frequency hardware design and reduce costly design iterations.

Standards Interoperability

Reconfigurable power amplifiers for multi-standard transmitters, which support interoperability and lower the cost of future network migrations.

Our Research Groups

EmRG is organized into three groups that work on one continuous problem, spanning device, circuit and system design. The Circuit Group develops the amplifiers, beamformers and frequency-conversion circuits; the Antenna Systems Group integrates them into phased arrays and massive MIMO systems; and the Digital Signal Processing Group develops the modelling, linearization and calibration algorithms that allow that hardware to meet its specifications. Each group sets the constraints against which the others design, and every prototype is characterized in the same laboratory.

Die photograph of the D-band frequency doubler with driver amplifier

Amplifiers, beamformers, frequency-conversion and electronically tunable circuits, together with circuit-level linearization, for terrestrial and non-terrestrial radios from a few GHz up to sub-THz.

Rendering of a modular large-scale active phased array antenna for SATCOM with heatsink

PCB-based active phased arrays, digital beamforming massive MIMO and 3D-printed antenna systems, with packaging, system integration and electrothermal-mechanical co-design.

16-element phased array under test in the EmRG anechoic chamber

Algorithms and their hardware implementations — behavioural modelling, linearization, calibration and MIMO signal processing — that let RF front-ends and beamforming systems meet their specifications.

From 5G to 6G

Building on its work on fifth-generation (5G) wireless systems in the areas above, the group has launched new projects on the research challenges of the sixth generation (6G), and is recruiting candidates to join them.

In the Laboratory

The test and measurement equipment in the EmRG laboratory allows the group to take a design from concept to measured prototype. Because the research is carried out with industry partners, students and researchers train on the problems and tools they will meet in industry.

Publications

The group’s complete record — journal articles, conference papers, graduate theses and patents from 2002 onward — is on the Publications page, arranged by category and, within each, by year.