Partnership evaluate 60-GHz mmWave performance in SOTA reverberation chamber

AntenneX’s reverberation chamber will be used to validate the design of PTM1060 and characterise its performance to deliver data quality and shorten time to market.

AntenneX offers products for mm-wave device and material measurements, which are also used for in-house antenna measurements and material characterisation for applications including wireless communications, car radar, 5G/6G, internet of things (IoT), medical imaging, remote sensing, and more.

The collaboration with AntenneX improves Pharrowtech’s ability to deliver mmWave integrated circuit (IC) and RF modules such as the PTM1060 by using state-of-the-art (SOTA) measurement methodologies to perform device characterisation.

The chip’s performance and capabilities make it possible to realise the full potential of Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) deployments, 5G and WiFi infrastructure backhauling, and next-gen consumer electronics products including VR, and IoT devices requiring high-speed low-latency links, all while streamlining the design process and reducing the total system cost.

The CMOS RFIC integrated in the PTM1060 RF module supports six channels rather than just the lowest four, from 54GHz through to 71GHz, therefore offering significantly improved signal performance when compared to other products on the market.

Through the use of Pharrowtech’s Evaluation Kit (EVK), built around the PTM1060 RF module, inside AntenneX’s reverberation chamber, over-the-air tests can be performed without any RF connectors, thus reducing the complexity of the test setup and increasing the confidence in the obtained results. The demonstration setup of Pharrowtech’s Evaluation Kit inside the AntenneX reverberation chamber will be on display at AntenneX booth at the event.

Carl de Ranter, VP of Engineering, Pharrowtech, comments: “Our product can consistently deliver fibre-like throughput without the disruption to the environment or the high costs of fibre deployments. With our chip, wireless solutions can now provide last-mile connectivity on par with fibre. Our deep tech expertise combined with AntenneX’s testing capabilities will create a device characterisation methodology based on our standard EVK delivering the enhanced data quality needed for network architecture development of today. As a result, customers can begin independent evaluations with confidence knowing they will receive the quality, reliability, and performance they need for high-speed wireless communications and IoT.”

Anouk Hubrechsen, Project Leader, AntenneX, adds: “The AntenneX mmWave reverberation chamber is a unique solution for OTA testing because it can measure important wireless-device metrics such as total radiated power, but significantly faster, cheaper and more accurately as compared to traditional anechoic approaches, for any type of mm-wave device up to 140GHz. The special design of the chamber allows customers such as Pharrowtech to test many different settings in a single measurement campaign, and at different stages in the design process. Our products give clients a competitive advantage since we provide a guaranteed measurement quality with uncertainty budget. This leads to a reduced product time-to-market: no more unnecessary redesigns or time-costly debugging of home-made measurement setups.”

Pharrowtech was founded in 2019 as a spin off from imec, where the founding team led CMOS IP generation and prototype development in mmWave wireless systems for more than 15 years. To date, the company has secured more than €22m in venture capital funding from imec-Xpand, Bloc Ventures, Innovation Industries, and the KBC Focus Fund.