IHP's Circuit Design department conducts research and development for silicon-based broadband and high-frequency circuits up to 500 GHz.
Currently the main research areas are silicon-based high-frequency and high-speed as well as low-power integrated circuits and microsystems for communication and automotive, industrial, security and biomedical sensing applications.
These mainly include SiGe BiCMOS RF components and transceivers for WiFi, frontend circuits for automotive radar, low-power UWB and sensor network transceivers, high-data rate A/D- and D/A converters, and broadband electro-optical transmit and receive components.
The activities of the circuit design department are closely coordinated with those of the system design department where these RF circuits are used as key integrated elements in high-speed and robust wireless communication solutions and high-performance sensor systems.