OREANDA-NEWS. Mitsubishi Electric Corporation and Tohoku University announced their development of a 5GHz/60GHz dual-band receiver RF front-end Si-CMOS IC for a highly dependable and high-speed wireless communication system that Tohoku University has proposed as the "Dependable Air." Technical details of new Si-CMOS IC will be announced during European Microwave Week 2014 from October 2014.

Wireless communication is greatly dependent on high dependability and high speed. But since high-speed wireless communication normally uses millimeter-scale radio waves, communication can be established only in line of sight. In the 5GHz band used for wireless LANs, however, communication is possible over the horizon. Tohoku University is proposing its Dependable Air with wireless handsets that use multiple standards (heterogeneous) to conduct seamless handovers according on the environment.

Mitsubishi Electric's new RF front-end IC is a miniaturized multiband model that uses the 5GHz and 60GHz bands. Size was reduced about 30% by sharing parts of the 5GHz and 60GHz RF front-ends.

Mitsubishi Electric also reduced the extent of trial IC manufacturing by introducing electro-magnetic simulation of performance effects in millimeter-wave bands for assembled ICs.

Going forward, Mitsubishi Electric plans to pursue standardization of this wireless communication, including IEEE802.11 and other standards, as well as develop RF-IC business for millimeter-wave communication devices.

The Dependable Air by Tohoku University is supported by the CREST funding program of the Japan Science and Technology Agency. Under the CREST project named "Fundamental Technologies for Dependable VLSI System" (research supervisor: Dr. Shojiro Asai), research into the "Development of Dependable Wireless Systems and Devices" (principal investigator: Prof. Kazuo Tsubouchi, Tohoku University) is being carried out.