Grant: Collaborative Research and Development Grants

Fifth generation (5G) wireless technology collectively refers to an assemblage of revolutionary hardware, infrastructure, and communication air interfaces that will usher in a digital society in which anyone (people) or anything (machines) can access information anywhere, at any time. Although it has the potential to transform Canadian lives significantly, the realization of 5G is predicated on the availability of highly efficient (and hence, nonlinear) circuits and systems that we are ill-equipped to characterize and validate using currently available test and measurement tools, especially at the frequencies and modulation bandwidths envisioned for 5G radio communication. In collaboration with Keysight Technologies, the world's leading electronic measurement company, the proposed project aims to address the unmistakable shortcomings of current microwave/millimeter-wave test and measurement tools. By developing atypical hardware configurations, signal processing routines and calibration schemes to enable reliable, ultra-wideband and ultra-high frequency measurements of 5G circuits and systems, the project will advance the current state of the art in microwave/millimeter-wave test and measurement, thus providing Canadian industry and academia with a head start in the characterization, development and validation of 5G radio communication hardware, and placing Canada further along the path to becoming a digital nation.