center for wireless technology eindhoven

1Center for Wireless Technology Eindhoven

Where innovation starts

Department of Electrical Engineering

Center for Wireless Technology Eindhoven

2 3Center for Wireless Technology Eindhoven

Wireless communication

Wireless communication is an integral and increasingly important aspect of our daily lives – for consumers, industry, science and government. The impact it has on the economy is enormous, not only in terms of the value of the market for wireless products and systems that is growing at more than 10% per year, but also in terms of the impact it can have on economic and social developments.


The Center for Wireless Technology The recent establishment of the Center for Wireless Technology (CWTe) has created visibility for one of the three strategic research areas of the Department of Electrical Engineering at TU/e (Eindhoven University of Technology), The Connected World. The research here aims at the design, realization and validation of a coherent broadband and narrowband communications technology. The work of this particular area relates to both wired and wireless technologies, with expertise focused on two important areas: high data rate global communication and wireless short-range communication for local connection to networks and for ultra low-power communication links.

Care and Cure and Smart and Sustainable Society are the other two strategic areas. Care and Cure is concerned with the medical aspect of electrical engineering and aims to reduce the need for expensive hospital cure through prevention and early detection. Smart and Sustainable Society aims at designing, realizing and validating technologies to enable electrical networks and electro-physical devices to transport and manipulate electrical energy in a flexible, controlled and sustainable way in terms of efficiency of costs, power and materials. Research centers for these other two themes are currently being developed.

The Department of Electrical EngineeringThe three themes have a broad, coherent, societal side of the research in common, in which the Department of Electrical Engineering has specialized and boosted its visibility. Within the selected topics, long-term research focuses on building up fundamental knowledge and developing breakthrough technologies. The department consists of nine core technology chairs and concentrates its activities on the analysis, synthesis and management of complex connected systems concerned


with manipulating or guiding electromagnetic quantities. This is achieved by training highly qualified and academic people and by providing the best new knowledge, based on high quality research. The department focuses its research on electrical engineering aspects that have a major impact on society and the quality of our ecosphere with the aim of stimulating an improvement in the quality of life in general by being a leading innovative force behind the economy.

Eindhoven University of TechnologyEindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) is a research-driven, design-oriented university of technology operating at an international level. The primary objective of the university is to provide an excellent academic education to young people within the ‘engineering science & technology’ domain.

Education at the TU/e focuses on training engineers (at Master of Science level) with a sound scientific basis and in-depth knowledge as well as the necessary competences that will enable them to develop successful careers in a wide range of fields and functions within the community. The university also trains designers (for the Professional Doctorate in Engineering) and researchers (to Doctor of Philosophy level) as well as first degree teachers in the exact sciences (at Master of Science level). The Bachelor programs (BSc) are intended to serve as a basis for further education at Master of Science level. In addition, the TU/e provides post-academic programs and courses through the TiasNimbas Business School.

In the research field, TU/e concentrates on those specific areas within the ‘engineering science & technology’ domain in where it is able to take a significant role in the international scientific world and make meaningful contributions to knowledge-intensive industries and other sectors of the community with a high, or rapidly developing, technology intensity.


All in all, it is clear that the increasing complexity, diversity and interdependence of state-of-the-art wireless technologies require a multidisciplinary approach that can cater to the demands of future wireless systems. In other words: cooperation. The Center for Wireless Technology Eindhoven (CWTe) is a multidisciplinary research center made up of five TU/e research groups (see overview below) working together in the field of wireless technologies.

Complexity requires

cooperation

Prof. GeriniElectromagnetism

Prof. TijhuisElectromagnetism

Prof. FledderusElectromagnetism

Prof. SmoldersElectromagnetism

Prof. BaltusMixed-Signal Microelectonics

Prof. van RoermundMixed-Signal Microelectonics

Prof. BergmansSignal Processing Systems

Prof. LinnartzSignal Processing Systems

Prof. CorporaalElectronic Systems

Prof. LiottaElectro-Optical Communication

Prof. KoonenElectro-Optical Communication


FE TRX AD/DA BB MAC Network

Electromagnetism (EM) Mixed-Signal Microelectronics (MsM)

Signal Processing Systems (SPS)

Electro-Optical Communication (ECO)

Electronic Systems (ES)


The focus of the research at CWTe is contained within three programs: ultra-high data-rate systems, ultra-low power systems and short-range THz observation systems. For each of these programs a vision has been developed of the applications and supporting technologies through to 2017 along with a roadmap that shows which technologies will need to be developed during that period in order to enable this vision to be realized. These roadmaps are intended to help define the projects in a structured and consistent way rather than serve as an entirely reliable and accurate description of what will actually happen. As such, these roadmaps will be regularly updated in the light of developments that occur along the way.

The roadmaps are also useful from another point of view. Together with the views and opinions of our partners (external research organizations as well as companies), they can help define the direction the research has to take and ensure that the research is relevant to actual market need. Furthermore, the roadmaps can help establish cooperation and alignment with the research programs of other research organizations, including the other technology universities at home and abroad.

Vision and roadmaps

An increasingly influential trend in recent years in the field of wireless technology is the drive for more wireless. In other words, to get more complexity and robustness into a smaller and cheaper device, not only for the purpose of practicability but also affordability. Only then can wireless systems continue to proliferate and fulfill the ever-increasing demands being made of them. Like the ubiquitous mobile phone that functions as a camera, dictaphone, mp3 player, mini-computer, television … and even a telephone! The desire of consumers to get the very latest technological development in their pockets seems to be inexhaustible – as long as the product fits the pocket in more ways than one. A related key trend is a shift towards robust and efficient sharing of wireless communication to allow the increasing number of systems to communicate reliably over the shared channel and so compensate for the lack of spectrum to cope with the ever-increasing demand for capacity.

“The desire of consumers to get the very latest technological development in their pockets seems to be inexhaustible – as long as the product fits the pocket in more ways than one.” Prof. Baltus

More for less

While there has been rapid growth in the complexity of wireless systems since the days of Marconi when simple devices used no more than ten components, modern transceivers comprise millions of components and megabytes of software. The most tangible evidence of this trend is, paradoxically, intangible. As these increasingly complex devices have become smaller (and cheaper), the complexity has almost by definition become more and more ‘invisible’. A huge diversity of technology for modern wireless systems, with software and digital processors, is needed to implement complex wireless protocols along with signal processing algorithms for the advanced and bandwidth-efficient modulation schemes. In addition, mixed-signal and RF electronics are essential for the high frequencies, bandwidths and dynamic ranges of the radio signals as well as the complex antennas and antenna interfaces such systems require.


The ultra-high data-rate systems and flexible transceivers (software-defined radio and cognitive radio) program centers on managing the complexity and trade-offs among the elements in this system. An initial goal of this program is to investigate technologies for applications in homes, offices, hospitals and the like that will allow up to 100 Gbps wireless in-house communication by 2017. These technologies include advanced and cost-effective beam steering transceivers, multi-room architectures, cost-effective on-chip antenna arrays and front-end integration as well as the automatic configuration at all granularities of the transceiver for optimum adaptation to requirements and environment.

Two technologies are likely to be used for connecting future access points: wireless backbone and fiber optics. The latter is likely to be used for new or refurbished buildings while wireless backbones will tend to be used in existing homes where people prefer the ease of a wireless network. However, the need to penetrate walls is key and CWTe will be exploring the potential of ‘wall vias’ to connect radio signals in adjoining rooms. The high data rates at high frequencies and at acceptable transmitter power levels will require the radio signals to be focused in narrow, or pencil, beams. Antenna arrays offer a possibility and CWTe will be investigating the monolithic co-integration of these antennas and related electronics to reduce size and cost while optimizing the performance of these transceivers.

• Electromagnetics (EM)The best antennas for the future using the best algorithms and modeling software as well as propagation of antennas through fundamental modeling and penetrative theoretical insight.

• Mixed-signal Microelectronics (MsM)Circuit design for RF and data conversion – pushing the envelope for high-frequency and AD/DA conversion with higher sampling rates and higher frequency.

• Signal Processing Systems (SPS)Algorithms for baseband processing, signal processing for wireless body sensors plus signal conditioning for signal refinement.

• Electronic Systems (ES)The science behind digital design methods (mapping functionalities) and architectures.

• Electro-optical Communication (ECO)Smart network protocols – machine learning adapting touser demand for complete systems (e.g., streaming video) to optimize quality of experience – and fiber optics.

Ultra-high data-rate program

“Speed will be of the essence since the people of the future are not likely to have any more patience than people today, so a much larger storage memory will have to be synchronized in the same, or less, time as in today’s devices.” Prof. Van Roermund

Ultra-High data rates roadmap

Application 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Backbone 500 Mbps 2 Gbps 10 Gbps 11n wHDMI, UWB WiHD WiHD2* 50 Gbps

Multi-room yes hybrid not native 11n 11n+WiHD WiHD2* not native

Fixed client 500 Mbps 2 Gbps 10 Gbps 11n WiHD WiHD2* 10 Gbps

Mobile client 400 Mbps 500 Mbps 10 Gbps 10Gbps 3.5G + 11n LTE + 11n 4G + WiHD2* 4.5 G

Technology Baseline

Air interface 2.5/5/10 GHz 60GHz Wideband 60 GHz 90 GHz AoC or free-space optics

Networks Separate/bridged Mobile/home convergence UMA, VoIP Autoconfiguration Wall Vias

Architecture Combo MIMO, Multi-mode < 10GHz SDR Cognitiveelements Diversity Separate 60GHz Unified Wideband TRX Co-existence Post-distortion Massive beam-forming Mitola Vector processing SDR FE Adaptive antenna match SDR (Limit Cycle) PA


The second program covers ultra low-power systems: pico-burst systems, low power at high frequencies, automatic configuration, location awareness and physical mapping, unified RF communication and power, and low-power interferer management. The future is likely to see many applications that incorporate large sensor networks and given the expense of wired connections, it makes sense to use wireless sensor networks. The drawback is power, so wireless links will have to operate at very low power dissipation.

Most radio designers anticipate an increase in power dissipation with increased radio frequency. Hence their research focuses on relatively low frequencies. The implication is a converse correlation – the higher the frequency the smaller the antenna. However, if the size of the transmitting and receiving antenna can be kept constant, the path loss between two omni-directional antennas at a fixed distanceand increasing frequency can actually be reduced. This is a new direction for ultra low-power wireless systems thatwill be pursued by CWTe.

Ultra low-power program

“The CWTe roadmap for ultra low-power systems has been aligned with that of the Holst Centre/IMEC WATS program. This facilitates further cooperation as well as boosts visibility and impact. This research alignment thus facilitates common interests.” Prof. Bergmans


The third program, short-range terahertz observation (SRTO), is a long-term investigation into systems and applications for generating 3D images using very-high-frequency radio signals. Research in such systems is in the early stages worldwide, but we expect this to become a very important technology in the future that will be at the basis of many applications in gaming, security, medical and robotics areas, especially with technologies that enable 3D image generation of the near environment with a low-cost, small device. Further into the future, terahertz observation offers other potential benefits as well, such as information about the velocity and chemical composition of the objects in the image.

Our research goal is to develop a technology that allows the implementation of small, inexpensive THz observation sensors and a way to use a narrow scanning radio beam. This program also contains a great deal of synergy with the other two programs, which is good reason to move in this direction. In view of the very early phase of this program, a roadmap is currently being developed.

Short-rangeterahertz observation

“We expect this to become a crucial technology in the future. Applications from gaming and security to medicineand robotics will have this technology as an indispensable feature.” Prof. Gerini


The synergy of fundamental science and industrial application can generate substantial gains for partners collaborating within the Center for Wireless Technology. Such a collaborative approach ensures that the scientific research keeps a focus on the various technological, economic and regulatory demands that influence the application framework. The outcome is a virtuous circle whereby science and application reinforce and enhance each other.

There are three levels of CWTe participation:

The value of CWTe partnerships

• Strategic partnerThis form of partnership involves a commitment to structural and shared funding in program(s) for a period of six years. Partners have the opportunity to exert their influence on the goals, development and structure of a particular program and to ensure that optimum support is provided to achieving the joint set of targets. There is an entry fee that provides free access to consultation on accumulated knowledge. This access is distributed according to the accumulated shares a partner holds.

• Project partnerThis form of partnership concerns a commitment to individual projects and is by invitation only. Typically these projects are defined in cooperation with the project partner.

• Research partnerA research partner has a similar role to that of internal CWTe groups in which roadmaps are aligned or shared. These are preferred partners in Dutch or European programs.

Funding and sharesThe amount of “shares” that can be acquired in a particular program is dependent on the level of participation (in terms of funding, human resources, knowledge contribution, etc). All the income that is derived from the results of the program will be distributed pro rata according to the amount of shares held.

Joint control by program boardEach of the CWTe research programs has a program board. The program board is responsible for selecting the projects and project partners as well as drawing up a roadmap and program in which the project aims and procedures will be defined and detailed.

For further information, please contact Jan Haagh, CWTe Business Developer. Email: [email protected] Phone: +31 (0)40 247 48 77


The major, long-term trends in wireless systems – like higher data rates, lower power dissipation, higher capacity and reliability as well as lower cost and miniaturization – will set the tone for research in the coming years. CWTe offers the opportunity for all the key players in the field, from research students to policymakers and from innovative thinkers to industry, to embrace and help shape the future now.

CWTe stands for knowledge sharing and synergy. It creates the opportunity for mutual benefit, bringing research and application together in a dynamic environment where development is driven by creativity, knowledge and energy. Embedded systems, ambient assisted living, sensor networks – these are all examples of areas where the future is fast approaching the present. Areas where growth can be characterized as exponential and where opportunity is almost limitless. The future of these areas and the future of wireless systems are inextricably linked. A center that is at the interface of such key worlds has a vital role to play, both for industry and in society.

For further information, please contact Peter Baltus, scientific director CWTe. Email: [email protected] Phone: +31 (0)40 247 33 93

The future of wireless systems

CreditsEditor: Chris HorganDesign: vanRixtelvanderPut ontwerpersPhotography: Bart van OverbeekePrint: drukkerij Snep

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Eindhoven University of Technology

Centre for Wireless Technology

Visiting addressPotentiaal 5.28Den Dolech 25612 AZ EindhovenThe NetherlandsTel. +31 (0)40 247 33 93www.tue.nl/cwte

Postal addressP.O. Box 5135600 MB EindhovenThe Netherlands

center for wireless technology eindhoven

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