ADSY1100-Series: RF System-on-Module Assemblies

As mentioned in the article, these devices can "help designers of advanced electronic systems in communications, electronic test and measurement, electronic warfare (EW) and radar systems to speed these devices to the production line".

More specifically, these devices can revolutionize electromagnetics or EM waves signals processing and controls. For examples at RF and microwave, these devices operating frequency can cater for both the baseband frequency (signals containing information) and the carrier frequency (higher energy signals to carry the lower energy signals containing information). For RF and microwave the baseband signals are in MHz ranges or lower, while the carrier signals in GHz ranges [1],[2]. RF and microwave are the basis of the wireless comnunication (Wi-Fi and 4G/5G) and radar (weather and military) technology.

For higher signal in milimeter waves or mmWave (30 GHz - 300 GHz), these devices can help directly process and control the baseband signal components but not the carrier frequency (yet). New wireless 5G standards (FR2) utilizes mmWave to increase the baseband information bandwidth but mostly operating in lesser coverage range in urban environment, for examples micro base stations. Although these devices cannot cater for the higher carrier frequency operating at mmWave, they can process and control its relatively lower baseband signals at GHz range. The same applies to THz based waves (0.1 THz - 10 THz), and the baseband signal is in the order of GHz. The same also applies to the photonics based waves in the infra-red and visible light spectrum (30 - 750 THz).

If you're wondering why this is game changing, it's because in analog domain it's very difficult to reliably process and control KHz signals, and basically impossible for MHz (10^3 times higher than KHz) and (10^6 times higher). The processing control of baseband signals is crucial since they control the information (entropy) part of the signals.

With proper processing and controlling many things are possible, one of the very fundamental and important examples is the impedance matching (part of my research thesis). In analog domain it's impractical to provide wide bandwidth impedance matching due to the Fano's limit (physics based limitation) [6]. However, using these devices we can artificially overcome this limitation by performing the process in digital domain by controlling the baseband information in very wide bandwidth (up to GHz). This bandwidth is only limited by the performance of the state-of-the-art digital and mixed-signal electronics provided these types of devices like the ADSY1100 (or more accurately its main engine AD9084 Apollo MxFE 20 GSPS signal converter).

Of course the impedance matching is the most important or killer application, but new capabilities in processing these electromagnetics or EM waves can lead to other important discovery of novel applications for example high accuracy detection of land mines, cancer, earthquake victims under the rubble, etc [7],[8].

[1] Radio spectrum (RF):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_spectrum

[2] Microwave:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microwave

[3] Extremely high frequency (millimeter waves):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extremely_high_frequency

[4] Terahertz radiation (decimillimetric waves):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terahertz_radiation

[5] Photonics:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photonics

[6] Fano limits on matching bandwidth:

https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/1532554

[7] Scientists invent new way to detect skin cancer:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9wzj1m3g4no

[8] At least 15 still alive under Bangkok skyscraper rubble, rescuers say:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gpgylq0qno