14:00 - 16:00

WiC Technical talks

 

Introduction to "Breaking Frequency Barriers: From RF to mmWave Circuits & Systems Design"

Rafaella Fiorelli (IMSE, ES) & Marta Ferreras (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, ES)

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Secure, Energy-Constrained Wireless Systems: Cross-Layer Optimization of RF Architectures & Algorithms

Rabia Yazicigil (Boston University, US)

As wireless systems evolve toward higher data rates, broader bandwidths, and greater spectral coexistence, RF front ends are increasingly constrained by power consumption, linearity, quantization, and other hardware nonidealities, creating a widening gap between algorithmic performance predictions and practical implementations. This talk presents a hardware–algorithm co-design approach for bridging this gap and enabling more energy-efficient, resilient, and adaptive wireless systems. Two representative examples will be highlighted: a task-specific MIMO receiver that adapts signal recovery to severe front-end constraints, including low-resolution ADCs, strong spatial interferers, and limited-resolution analog processing; and an energy-efficient transmitter architecture based on optimal modulation, employing non-uniform constellations and variable-length bit-to-symbol mapping together with a GRAND-inspired decoding framework to improve error-rate performance while supporting deep power back-off operation. These examples demonstrate how jointly designing communication algorithms and RF integrated circuits can fundamentally reshape system architectures and unlock new operating regimes beyond the limitations of conventional front-end design.

 

Recent trends and open challenges in microwave and mm-wave power amplifiers

Anna Piacibello (Politecnico Torino, IT)

Microwave and millimeter-wave power amplifiers are at the forefront of the evolution of wireless communication systems toward increasingly pervasive connectivity and higher data throughput. To meet the demands of the evolving networks, they must operate at higher frequencies and over wider bandwidths, while accommodating dynamically varying operating conditions without compromising efficiency or linearity. This talk will provide an overview of key research directions addressing these challenging and often competing requirements, with a particular focus on high-power III-V transistor technologies and load-modulated power  amplifier architectures.

 

The RF world above the cut-off frequencies

Dovilė Čibiraitė-Lukenskienė (FTMC, LT)

This talk will explore the challenges and opportunities of designing RF and mmWave circuits operating beyond conventional device cut-off frequencies - a regime increasingly relevant for next-generation communication and sensing systems. The talk highlights circuit-level techniques that enable functionality in the “forbidden” frequency domain, where traditional gain limitations are overcome through innovative transistor-antenna design. Emphasis is placed on leveraging distributed-resistive mixing effects to extend usable bandwidth and achieve efficient operation above fT and fmax. The talk aims to provide insights spanning behind the classical RF/MW approaches and open new directions for high-frequency integrated optoelectronic systems.

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N-Path systems for RF transceivers in an IoT world

Florence Podevin (Institut Polytechnique de Grenoble (Grenoble- INP, FR)

​For three decades now, reducing the power consumption of analog RF frontends has been one of the main pillars of economic growth in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector. This goal of low energy consumption is essential for the deployment of Internet of Things (IoT), which are key to improving management and comfort across all sectors of society: agriculture, personal care, energy efficiency, better resource allocation, reducing travel, … . Low power consumption manifests itself at several levels. It involves the choice of technology (low-level layer), the type of circuit, the intended system, the protocol used (high-level layer), and even policy decisions regarding the intended use of the device (stratospheric layer). Here, we focus on the circuit level with the presentation of a very simple circuit tool: the N-path structure, which consists of the skillfully orchestrated switching of capacitors. N-path-based devices are remarkable in that they are frequency-agile and can perform functions such as filtering, mixing, voltage passive gain, impedance matching, baluns, and more, without consuming power beyond that required to generate the control signals for the switches. The purpose of this presentation is to illustrate all of these so-called Npath techniques and their associated models. The most widely recognized works in the literature, as well as some results obtained at the TIMA laboratory of the University Grenoble-Alpes, will serve to illustrate this point.

 

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16:00 - 16:30

Coffee Break
 

16:30 - 17:30

WiC/WiEDS Non-technical forum and panel discussion ​