RF Technology Division

WHO WE ARE

The National Institute of Standards and Technology Communications Technology Laboratory (NIST CTL) Radio Frequency (RF) Technology Division develops theory, metrology, and standards for the technologies that drive the future of communications. Its work spans from measurements to support traceability of fundamental RF quantities, to on-chip measurements of integrated circuits, testing of free-field signals and the antennas that send and receive them. The RF Technology Division tackles fundamental RF measurement problems applicable to a wide array of industry and government players and contribute to the CTL Fundamental Metrology for Communications program.

MEETING INCREASED DEMAND

An added challenge is that wireless systems of all sorts must operate in increasingly crowded, complex RF environments. In part, this is a function of inexorable wireless demand growth. But there are also concerted efforts – in particular with spectrum sharing – to squeeze more users into the same spectrum bands.

CUTTING-EDGE TECHNOLOGY

For decades, NIST have been developing new theories, algorithms, software, and hardware to advance the metrological state-of-the-art for the U.S. wireless industry. The RF Technology Division continues to invent new ways to accomplish this mission, including the first robotic-arm antenna testing system, the electro-optic sampling system for on-chip metrology, the quantum field probe for antenna testing, and the new NIST Broadband Interoperability Test Bed (NBIT), among others. As the longstanding collaborations with the wireless industry identify new focus areas for the unique CTL capabilities, this list will continue to grow.