[Editor's Note] As the communications landscape transitions to 5G, the utilization of millimeter wave (mmWave) bands is beginning. With the rapid emergence of 5G-enabled products, including autonomous vehicles, connected cars, various smart devices, and IoT, mmWave signals require careful consideration due to their strong linearity and significant diffraction and transmission loss from obstacles. Therefore, minimizing path loss is crucial. Solutions leveraging AI to enhance communication efficiency are being developed, with low-power solutions utilizing neuromorphic AI technology expected to maximize efficiency.

We met with SkyChips CEO Lee Kang-yoon to hear about 5G wireless communication chips and AI solutions.

▲Lee Kang-yoon, CEO of Sky Chips

■ Please introduce Sky Chips.

SkyChips is a fabless company founded in 2019 based on the Integrated Circuit Research Laboratory at Sungkyunkwan University. △The goal is to design and sell intelligent IP and ICs that combine Power IC, RF IC, Analog IC, and low-power AI IC technologies.

Currently, approximately 90 employees are working at the company, and the company is dedicated to product development with an organization for product planning, design, and mass production.

Its main products include low-power RF transmitters and receivers, long-distance and short-distance wireless charging ICs, and energy harvesting ICs. It also develops and sells high-performance analog, RF, and power IPs.

■ What are neuromorphic semiconductors?

Neuromorphic semiconductor technology is an artificial intelligence hardware that mimics the human brain, combining components, circuits, architecture, and algorithms. It is also called Processing-In-Memory (PIM) technology.

This technology implements a neural network similar to the network of neurons and synapses in the human brain, either analog or digital, to process data in parallel while minimizing power consumption.

Analog PIM technology can perform analog operations such as addition and multiplication using CMOS-based SRAM, and can process large amounts of data with only a small amount of power.

■ What are the trends in 5G communication technology with AI?

Among 5G communication technologies, MIMO-based beamforming technology is being used to compensate for path loss according to the distance between the transmitter and receiver, particularly in millimeter wave (mmWave) communication methods that use a carrier frequency of 30 gigahertz (GHz) band.

AI technology can be applied here, and AI technology can also be applied to adaptive matching of RF Front-End (RFFE) to support the wide frequency bandwidth of 5G communications.

■ What are the key topics covered in '5G Wireless Communication Chips and AI Solutions' with Mouser?

In millimeter wave 5G communications, the distance and location between the transmitter and receiver dynamically change, and MIMO-based beamforming technology is widely used to amplify the signal reaching the receiver.

To secure the degree of freedom according to the location and distance between the transmitter and receiver, it is necessary to implement beamforming based on the receiver location in a short period of time, and this is possible through learning using AI technology.

Low-power AI-based beamforming and RFFE Adaptive Ma using SRAM-based neuromorphic technologyThe ability to implement tching is a key technology.

thank you

Meanwhile, on the 18th, SkyChips CEO Kang-Yoon Lee will present a technology webinar sponsored by Mouser on "5G Wireless Communication Chips and AI Solutions." This webinar, expected to share the concept of neuromorphic circuits that can implement AI with low power consumption and their applicability to 5G communication systems, can be viewed on the e4ds EEWebinar platform.