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TARGET.news 15/2007
Topics
Events
- TARGET Days 2007 - From Ideas to Results
- TARGET at EuMW 2007
- Review of the 3rd and 4th Strategic Exchange
TOPICS
With great pleasure we would like to invite your organisation to become member of the TARGET Society. For more information, please see our brochure and the membership application form.
If you are interested in membership you are cordially invited to join the Society’s Kick-off meeting which is both open to members and to parties interested in becoming a member:
KICK-OFF MEETING of the TARGET SOCIETY
during the TARGET Days (details under http://www.target-net.org)
| Date: | Monday, 17 December 2007, 15.00 – 17.00 |
| Venue: | Villa Mondragone, Frascati, Italy |
If you plan to participate, please send an email to targetinfo(at)ftw.at. We are looking forward to meeting you there!
Sue Ivan and Gottfried Magerl
TARGET lobbying for microwave research
In our mobile and always best connected world microwave radiation as a carrier of data is ubiquitous. Therefore, microwaves can be regarded as THE enabling technology for mobile communication services. Microwave engineering can be found in many branches of industry. Still, the importance of microwave research is frequently overlooked mainly due to the ‘ancillary role’ of our science.TARGET cannot be content with this situation that is particularly true in Europe. Therefore, we started a broad lobbying initiative first by promoting the TARGET Microwave Research Society. The second step was initiated by Franz Dielacher from Infineon Villach and by Jan Grahn from Chalmers University: There was a first informal meeting of industry and university representatives in Munich on October 8, 2007. At this meeting an informal platform was suggested that will write up a position paper on the importance of microwave research for the further development of European ICT-related industry.
This development was seen with sympathy by our project officer who invited us to give a position paper on wireless engineering within a workshop contributing to the Work Programme 2009/2010 of FP7, ‘Micro and Nanoelectronics Design: Future challenges in R&D’ that will be organised in Brussels on January 8 and 9, 2008.
Immediately after this event a joint industry and academia meeting will be organised by Peter Olanders from Chalmer’s GHz Competence Center (www.chalmers.se/ghz) on January 10 in Brussels to discuss and decide how to continue our efforts. The agenda is not yet stable. Already now, we have got agreements from top management at Chalmers, Ericsson, Infineon, NXP, SAAB to appear on the scene. The European Commission has agreed to open and participate at the meeting as well.
So things keep going in the right direction, as we hope…
Gottfried Magerl
EVENTS
TARGET Days 2007 - From Ideas to Results
Date: |
16-17 December 2007 |  |
| Location: | Villa Mondragone Via Frascati, 51 00040 Monte Porzio Catone (Roma) Italy |
It is our pleasure to inform you that the registration for the TARGET Days 2007 is now open and we would like to refer you to the draft programme for more information on this conclusive TARGET conference. We look forward to seeing you there!
Teresa Martín-Guerrero, Paolo Colantonio, Sue Ivan
TARGET at EuMW 2007
We just missed Munich’s Oktoberfest, still it was a very special TARGET fest at this year’s European Microwave Week in Munich. Members of our NoE organised four workshops and short courses on- Wireless Transmitter Design for Future Wireless Systems (WSM1)
- Advanced Nonlinear and Power Characterization of Microwave Devices and Systems (WSW6)
- RF Device Characterisation (SCM1) and on
- Device Level Linearization Techniques (SCM2)
Together with Franco Giannini, the scientific coordinator reported on “Coordinating the NoE PA Efforts in Europe: The TARGET Experience” within the framework of short course SCW3 „Fundamentals of Microwave Power Amplifier Design“.
The highlight for our NoE, however, was the focused session on “PA Design, Modelling and Linearization in the NoE TARGET” with five contributions summarizing the year 3 results on
- Simultaneous Dual-Band High Efficiency Harmonic Tuned Power Amplifier in GaN Technology,
by P. Colantonio et al. - System Level Modelling of RF Power Amplifiers Based on Large-Signal Measurements,
by C. Fager et al. - A FPGA Based Digital Predistorter for RF Power Amplifiers with Memory Effects,
by A. Cesari et al. - A Reconfigurable SiGe HBT for Wideband Step Envelope Tracking Power Amplifier,
by A. Cidronali et al. - Comparison of Four Signal Representations Approaches for the RF Nonlinear PA Bessel-Fourier Behavioural Model for Use in Large Dynamic Range Simulation of OFDM Systems,
by M. O’Droma and Y. Lei.
For the first time in TARGET’s life one of our top scientists won the EuMIC best paper award: Paolo Colantonio! This is a wonderful reward both for his personal effort and for working in an excellent team. Congratulations, dear Paolo!
You may think now that this was the last appearance of TARGET at a European Microwave Week in a while. If you think so, you are simply wrong! Next year, come to Amsterdam and you’ll see…
Gottfried Magerl
Review of the 3rd and 4th Strategic Exchange
3rd Strategic Exchange: III-Arsenide and III-nitride based MMICs
The 3rd TARGET Strategic Exchange was organized by the Microelectronics Research Group (MRG) of the Institute of Electronic Structure & Lasers (IESL) of the Foundation for Research & Technology Hellas (FORTH) in the period October 22nd till October 26th 2007 at the premises of MRG in Heraklion, Crete, Greece. This exchange widely differed from the previous ones due to the fact that the TARGET exchangers, on top of the focused lectures, had the chance to work in the clean room facilities of MRG for two full days.
The thematic area was MMICs based on III-arsenides and III-nitrides. The structure of the lectures was such as to cover issues ranging from basic MMIC design principles, to layout design and mask fabrication, to fabrication techniques (lithography, metalisations, plasma processes, etc) with the emphasis on III-arsenide based MMICs. A very comprehensive review of the status of III-nitride based MMICs was also given.
Following the lectures, the exchangers put on their clean room garments and worked intensively in the clean room for two full days. Initially they were shown how equipment such as mask aligners or e-beam evaporators operate but in the end of the day there were performing wet gate recess for GaAs based FET devices grown by MBE on semi-insulating GaAs substrates. The training was concluded by the DC characterization of the fabricated FET transistors.
Beside the technical part, participants gathered at a social dinner on the 3rd day.
A CD with all the lecture notes was circulated to all the participants. Several attendees expressed their thanks for a great experience and a very successful Strategic Exchange.
The organizers would like to express their deepest thanks to all the attendees, to the lecturers Prof. Evaggelia Kariagianni (Hellenic Naval Academy), Dr. Kostis Michelakis (Imperial College) and Dr. Joachim Würfl (FBH), to Prof. Zacharias Chatzopoulos (FORTH) for growing the MBE wafers and to Mr. Thanasis Kostopoulos and Mr. Antonis Stavrinidis (FORTH) for assisting in the clean room training. All these people contributed to the successful realisation of the exchange.
George Konstantinidis and Rodoula Makri
4th Strategic Exchange: Nonlinear Model Development and Microwave CAD Design
We have the pleasure to give you a review of the 4th TARGET Strategic Exchange ‘Hands-on Nonlinear Model Development and Microwave CAD Design’, which was successfully held by E.T.S. Ingeniería de Telecomunicación (Universidad de Málaga) in Málaga, Spain, on 5-9 November 2007.
6 PhD students from different TARGET partners used this opportunity to come to the Universidad de Málaga where lectures were given by 8 researchers, 6 from TARGET partners and 2 from external institutions (AWR Inc. and Universidad de Sevilla). Also 8 participants from the hosting institution took advantage of the presence of highest level lecturers in Málaga. During the whole week participants attended lectures as well as hands-on tutorials.
The lectures included the following topics:
- Basics on Electron Device Modelling
- Bench Tools for Device Modelling
- An introduction to the AWR Design Environment
- Nonlinear Measurements
- Nonlinear model for a GaN HEMT
- Nonlinear Analysis
- Harmonic Balance versus Time Domain Simulation
- Power Amplifiers Design
- Design of Class E PA based on GaN device
As part of the hands-on training, participants experienced the AWR Design Environment CAD tool. The organisers acknowledge AWR for its definitive support of this event, providing not only the software but also the presence of an expert which gave a comprehensive non-linear circuit oriented tutorial. Beside the technical part, participants gathered at a social dinner on Thursday evening.
The organisers would like to express their gratitude to all the attendees and lecturers, in particular to those coming from non-TARGET institutions, and to all the people who helped us with this nice event.
Teresa M. Martín and Markus Mayer
