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RF Technology Division

The RF Technology Division provides metrology resources to facilitate development and commercialization of a broad range of radio-frequency electronic and electromagnetic technologies.

 

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WHO WE ARE

NIST CTL’s Radio Frequency (RF) Technology Division develops theory, metrology and standards for the technologies that drive the future of wireless communications. Our work spans on-chip measurements of the transistors that generate wireless signals, the testing of free-field signals and the antennas that send and receive them, and the characterization of the integrated circuits that receive and process signals. We tackle fundamental radio frequency (RF) measurement problems applicable to a wide array of industry and government players and contribute to three of CTL’s major programs: Spectrum SharingNext-Generation 5G Wireless, and Fundamental Metrology for Communications.

MEETING INCREASED DEMAND

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

 

News and Updates

Projects

5G & Beyond

Ongoing
“5G and beyond” refers to future generations of mobile wireless communication systems. The vision for these next-generation systems are to enable groundbreaking

Advanced Materials Metrology

Ongoing
In this project we measure the fundamental electrical properties of materials from bulk to nanoscale from 1 MHz to 0.3 THz. Understanding the interaction of

Antenna Metrology Project

Ongoing
Antennas are the eyes, ears and voice boxes of everything from cell phones to interplanetary spacecraft. The Antenna Metrology Program carries on NIST's

Events

Awards

Software

On-Wafer Calibration Software

NIST Microwave Uncertainty Framework (Beta version) The NIST Microwave Uncertainty Framework provides a "drag-and-drop" toolkit for managing the calculation of

Contacts