New applications such as HDTV-streaming over the internet and emerging 3D movies demand portable and mobile devices supporting wireless connectivity with extremely high data rates. From a technical point of view, the storage of the data in these devices is facilitated by the growing capacity of solid-state memories. Equally, technological progress does allow using advanced modulation and coding schemes in new mm-Wave frequency bands at reasonable cost.
In this context, the definition of a very broad industrial, scientific, medical (ISM) band around 60 GHz in virtually all regions of the world offered a unique opportunity to fulfill many user demands by supporting very high data rate wireless communication at affordable prices with little regulatory limitations. Because of the requirement of data rate, the availability of bandwidth and the progress of technologies using the 60 GHz band, a number of standardization bodies have defined communication systems operating at 60 GHz. Currently, there are two released standards, ECMA387 and the IEEE802.15.3c standard. A third standard IEEE802.11ad will be released soon.
All three aspects (a) the requirements for higher data rates, (b) the frequency regulation and standardization processes, and (c) the progress in mm-Wave circuits and technologies also lead to strong academic and industrial interest in 60 GHz communication systems. This trend is supported by publicly funded research projects such as “EASY-A” supported by the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) or “QSTREAM” funded by the European Commission.
This special issue summarizes current research results on 60 GHz communication systems. The contributions published in this issue span the entire range of 60 GHz communications, from channel measurement and modeling, through antenna and front-end design, analog and digital baseband processing, medium access control processing to aspects of system implementations in several scenarios.
We are convinced that within the next few years, 60 GHz communication systems will gain a significant market share. They will be integrated into most wireless local area network (WLAN) access points and into virtually all portable and mobile devices. We hope that this special issue, containing contributions from industry as well as academia can support this development and guide engineers in designing efficient wireless communication systems exploiting the vast opportunities of this exciting and challenging frequency band.
Eckhard Grass received his Dr.-Ing. degree in electronics from the Humboldt-University in Berlin, Germany, in 1993. He worked as a Visiting Research Fellow at Loughborough University of Technology, UK, from 1993 to 1995, and a Senior Lecturer in Microelectronics at the University of Westminster, London, UK, from 1995 to 1999. Since 1999, he is with IHP (www.ihp-microelectronics.com), leading several projects on the implementation of wireless broadband communication systems. Since 2008, E. Grass is responsible for a project on the development and implementation of 60-GHz high-data-rate communication systems. He is team leader of the Wireless Broadband Communications Group at IHP. E. Grass has published about 80 papers at international conferences and journals. His research topics include wireless communication systems, digital signal processing architectures, and asynchronous circuit design.
Hermann Schumacher received his Diplom-Ingenieur and Doktor-Ingenieur degrees from RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Germany, in 1982 and 1986, respectively. After working for Bell Communication Research, Red Bank, New Jersey, as a Member of Technical Staff, he joined Ulm University, Ulm, Germany, as a Professor in the Institute of Electron Devices and Circuits. Since 2010, he has been the director of the institute. His research interests include compound semiconductor devices and their circuit applications. For more than 15 years, his research group has focused on the application of Si/SiGe bipolar devices to micro- and millimeter-wave circuits, lately especially high-data-rate mm-wave systems and impulse-radio ultra-wideband sensors.
Volker Ziegler received his Dipl.-Ing. degree in electrical engineering and his Dr.-Ing. degree (with honors) both from the University of Ulm, Germany, in 1997 and 2001, respectively. From 2002 until 2003, he was member of the “Knowledge Exchange Group for Research and Technology” at the DaimlerChrysler AG in Stuttgart, Germany. During this trainee program, he worked subsequently at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA, and at United Monolithic Semiconductors in Orsay, France. Since January 2003, he is working with EADS Innovation Works, in Ottobrunn, Germany. He is an EADS Expert for “Microwave Technologies and Systems” and is responsible for the acquisition and managing of national and international research projects in the field of key microwave technologies for advanced radar and communication systems.
