REALHOLO is a project to develop an advanced micro-mirror-based piston type spatial light modulator SLM for real holographic 3D mixed reality MR display applications, active illumination and sensing. The plan is to create a micro-mirror-array MMA, modulating the phase of visible light with optical features far superior to any liquid crystal-based alternative and to binary micro-mirror SLM. The core technology will be developed in a high bandwidth CMOS backplane design and interfaces, in MEMS mechanics and optics for very small mirrors, in semiconductor micro-mirror fabrication and packaging technologies, in real-time computation and driving of real holographic content, in projection optics. The goal is an application-specific demonstration of the MMA in automotive use in real holographic MR head-up display HUD and active head lamp projection system; enable future applications like real holographic head-mounted displays HMD. To achieve the goals REALHOLO will develop dedicated core hardware concepts and modules for integration in desired phase SLM, based on consortium partners’ selected prior design development, simulation results, practical tests of key technological and optical aspects and use case research. A further development is the corresponding high speed and high bandwidth control hardware and software for generating and driving signals for the new SLM. The developed module solutions will be integrated in a packaged optical system for further integration with validation use case in real holographic 3D image system. With REALHOLO the consortium enables a revolutionary next generation light modulating device for a variety of new and proprietary applications with unique features in natural 3D imaging, highly efficient active illumination, irradiation, sensing, etc. This will strengthen the European research, development and manufacturing in industries and institutions ranging from optical, electronics, automotive to bio/-medical, agricultural and outer space.

Plastic packaging solutions are foreseen as a good candidate to drastically reduce the cost of microwave equipment for future telecom satellite payloads. The objective of PAMPA project is to develop a plastic component technology, from the supply of the packaged microwave component with a reliability level compatible with space constraints up to its assembly on board using SMT (Surface Mount Technology) process. In order to demonstrate the potential of such technology, a flexible, digitally controlled microwave chain, representative of the need for new generation telecom satellite payloads, will be implemented on printed circuit board. Such technologies are particularly appealing for flexible microwave equipment, as the ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) and the microwave components can be assembled on board using the same SMT process. Furthermore, the use of a multilayer printed circuit board for the microwave chain is convenient for the implementation of dense DC routing of the command signals. To achieve the objective, the consortium gathers a manufacturer of satellite equipment, a Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit (MMIC) foundry, an industrial specialized in SMT manufacturing process and an academic partner with valuable knowledge in reliability of microelectronics packaging. It should be outlined that the MMIC foundry involved in the project is a dual foundry as it provides both plastic packaged components for the Automotive market in QFN (Quad-Flat No-leads) housings and bare MMIC with a Space grade quality. The main challenge will be to successfully spin-in a plastic technology coming from another harsh environment market that has drastic cost concerns, the Automotive, to the Space domain.

TA new generation of communications infrastructure is currently in development. The fifth generation (5G) communications technologies will provide internet access to a wide range of applications: from billions of low data rate sensors to high resolution video streaming. The 5G network is designed to scale across these different use cases and will use different radio access technologies for each use case. To support very high data rates 5G will use wide bandwidth spectrum allocation at mm-wave frequencies. The offered bandwidth at the mm-wave frequencies (above 24 GHz) is more than 10 times as large as that in the lower bands (sub 6 GHz). However, the move to mm-waves comes at a cost – increased path loss. This makes it extremely challenging to provide coverage at mm-wave frequencies. A partial remedy is to use beamforming to direct the radio energy to a specific user. For some deployment scenarios beamforming is not enough and the output power must also be increased. A major challenge is to bring affordable, high-performance mm-wave active antenna arrays into production. There is currently a market pull for this systems. The main objectives of the “5G_GaN2” proposal are substantial lowering the cost, power consumption and increase the output power of mm-wave active antenna systems. Advanced Gallium Nitride (GaN) technology will be used to get maximum output power and energy efficiency. High-volume and low-cost packaging and integration techniques developed for digital applications (CMOS) will be used. The capabilities of the developed technology will be shown in a set demonstrators. The application driven demonstrators will be used to guide the technology development towards maximum impact and exploitation in the post project phase. The consortium spans the complete value chain: from wafer suppliers, semiconductor fabrication and system integrators. In addition, key universities and research institutes guarantees academic excellence throughout the project.

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COCHISA aims to foster the European non-dependence in terms of critical RF components for space applications. For this, scalable multi-channel radiation-hard beamforming core-chips operating in X-band (10 GHz) as well as Ka-band (28 GHz) will be developed. The scalable approach will allow to increase the number of beamforming channels as well as to scale the system to higher operational frequencies. COCHISA does not only focus on the IC itself, but also a cost-effective plastic non-hermetic MMIC packaging process supporting space applications by robust encapsulation. Furthermore, a fully European supply chain for the core-chips will be established, based on the European foundry and packaging partners. This includes the availability of a proven radiation-hard SiGe BiCMOS technology with qualified radiation-hard libraries. Due to the establishment of the European supply chain, the mid-term impact will be the wider use of the European radiation-hard technology, increasing the number of ITAR-free European space-grade components. A main objective of COCHISA is to reach at least TRL 7 for the developed and packaged core-chips (X-band and Ka-band). This TRL level will be proven by the scheduled radiation and reliability tests. During the COCHISA project, a dedicated work package will prepare the commercial exploitation and market introduction of the project results, especially to make the developed core-chips available to the European and global space industry.