5G and 6G technology require high-speed devices and more bandwidth. Most researchers use III-V compound-based HEMT devices to cope with these challenges. The Internet of Things (IoT) is one trending topic that solves the bandwidth demand in the modern communication system.

What is the Internet of Things?

The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to communication between objects and people and between objects. Short-range communicable transceivers are embedded in everyday objects to establish a network. Real-time physical objects are integrated with technologies to operate them using the internet. The main aim of IoT is to add value to products and provide service to human society.

Advantages of IoT

● Effective, efficient, and dynamic resource utilization

● Provides intelligent and sophisticated industrial automation

● Universal accessibility and real-time problem-solving capability

● Facilitates healthcare monitoring and medical imaging

● Creates surveillance and disaster avoidance system

● Develops an office and home automation system

● Facilitates transport and interconnection

IoT Value Cycle

Semiconductor devices are playing an important role in IoT technology by enabling high-frequency operation, improved power efficiency, and compact designs. As IoT continues to evolve, these devices are expected to advance further, potentially leading to new capabilities and applications in the IoT ecosystem.

Various semiconductor products play a vital role in IoT applications. For instance, packages or chips that can measure variations in the physical status of things are called sensors, which are semiconductor devices. Sensors play a vital role in the IoT environment. Sensors detect environmental or electrical changes. Wireless sensor networks can adapt and respond to the environment by collecting data and creating awareness about content. The following are some of the available semiconductor products for IoT systems, as shown in Table. 1:

Table 1. Semiconductor Products for IoT Systems

As the commercialization of IoT has increased, semiconductor device designers have started developing different design topologies that ensure stability, high gain, better efficiency, and resonating properties.

Challenges Faced by Modern Communication Systems

The present communication spectrum is experiencing large subscriptions, and with the advent of IoT, the number of users or devices will only increase. Licensed and unlicensed communication bands do not effectively handle the high data rate and large capacity requirements. The available communication band finds accommodating the growing number of users and devices challenging.

Though many techniques, algorithms, and methods are employed to improve channel capacity, the problem of limited bandwidth still persists. It is fair to understand that this problem is only going to be elevated by the IoT environment and 5G applications.

Further, the demand for communication channels is expected to increase by 1200 times by 2025. Hence, the next generation needs a band-efficient communication system to cater to the requirements of large capacity and high data rates.

Fig. 1 represents 5G and 6G spectrum consumption from 300 MHz to 300 GHz. As interest in the commercialization of IoT-based devices and products has increased over the past few years, large bandwidth and high data rates have become primary requirements.

Fig. 1: 5G and 6G spectrum and their likely deployment. Source: International Journal of Engineering & Technology 

Future communication, especially in millimeter-wave frequency bands around 60 GHz, has been used in broad-band wireless-access network applications because of their wide range of transmission bandwidth and spectral characteristics. Millimeter frequencies can also be used for imaging and sensing applications to avoid issues related to histopathology.

Role of Gallium Nitride Semiconductor Devices

Gallium nitride (GaN)-based HEMTs are promising for power electronic applications due to their high breakdown voltage and power efficiency compared to Si-based power devices. GaN has a greater figure of merit than silicon carbide (SiC). However, the material is more difficult to crystallize and process than SiC. The electron mobility of GaN is 2000 cm2/V.s., whereas for SiC, it is 1450 cm²/V.s. There is no avalanche breakdown in GaN, as it has a very high critical electric field (10 times that of SiC).

In recent years, III-V compound high electron mobility transistors (HEMT)-based power amplifiers have been used in both transmitters and receivers in space communication. These transistors will not work in the deep regions, i.e., in the negative temperature range. To alleviate this problem, cryogenic transistors are used for space communication. For deep-region space applications, pseudomorphic HEMT (P-HEMT) devices can further improve the performance of cryogenic transistors.

Advantages of HEMT Technology in Modern Communication Systems

HEMT is a technology that is used to form elements only on the surface of a substrate on which GaN crystal growth is carried out. The substrate size of GaN (50 mm) is 3 times smaller than conventional SiC, which is 150 mm. Hence, it is evident that extremely small and highly integrated devices can be fabricated using GaN-HEMT. The device structure of GaN HEMT is represented in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2: GaN HEMT device structure. Source: iganpower.com

The design of the HEMT has a high impact on the performance of the devices. Power HEMT GaN is the latest and most advanced semiconductor device for the design and development of modern communication systems.

The other challenge is designing a semiconductor with a low profile, conformable, low cost, and easily mountable device. The semiconductor GaN-HEMT device perfectly answers the challenges mentioned above.

Summarizing the Key Points

● Next-generation wireless communications are moving toward IoT. Radiating communication devices hide in everyday objects and offer large data rates for trending applications, which require high-speed semiconductor devices.

● GaN-HEMT semiconductor devices are very much in need of the hour, as they answer the high-speed requirements of the modern communication system.

● A compact semiconductor GaN-HEMT device with low profile structure, high-performance parameters, and an easy fabrication technique makes it popular in modern communication systems.