The Impacts of Semiconductor on 6G

As 5G technology being rolled out for Sub 6 bands and planned for mmW for the next few years, FCC is considering and will be auctioning additional mmW for licensed and unlicensed bands. ?The higher frequency bands are new to consumer product industry with many challenges to be resolved within short few years.? This in turn opens the door to many business and engineering opportunities to be harvested.? The mmW bands 5G semiconductor devices and their design into a successful product faces significant challenges.?

6G bands are expected to starts around 100 GHz and continue to Sub Terahertz.? At 100 GHz, the free space wavelength is only 3mm, and goes down linearly.? The wavelength also scales down based on the dielectric constant of semiconductor material, which yields feasibility of its integration in the Front End Module, FEM.? Therefore, Hardware design will be challenging and it will be replaced by appropriate package design for not only active but also passive elements such filters and even antennas.?

Antenna in Package, AiP, or Antenna in Semiconductor, AiS, will be the way into integrated intelligence in future.? The FEM will be much smaller and could be integrated into the semiconductor design.? The mmW integration devices at Sub Terahertz will increase the significant of semiconductor technologies into higher gear with many opportunities which only few fabs around world will have necessary skills and capabilities to manage Sub Terahertz devices.

Currently, there are many undefined and unknowns to be understood and resolved for mmW band devices within the next few years, for antenna, power amplifier, switch, and filter manufacturers to address.? Only handful of the investors in this market will be able to capitalize on their investment when the time comes in ~2025, due to necessary mmW and Semiconductor know how skills set.?

ORTENGA is a consulting firm which assists antenna, power amplifier, switch, filter, and semiconductor manufacturers to prepare product conceptualization, design and development of appropriate algorithms controlling the antenna and front end module, study use cases’ feasibility, and execute successful new products for mmW bands and beyond. ??

ORTENGA Subject Matter Experts have both mmW design and semiconductor industry experiences.