Millimeter-wave communication systems promise to make possible new applications in virtual reality, mobile robotics, and globally aware autonomous driving by unlocking the millimeter-wave spectrum, and its unlimited potential for broadband low-latency communication channels. I will describe a new program at NIST to develop metrology for these emerging 5G millimeter-wave communications systems. The program includes projects to develop traceable modulated signals at millimeter-wave frequencies, accurate millimeter-wave channel models, free-field test methods for connector-less wireless devices, and large-signal measurements for characterizing millimeter-wave transistors.
Dylan F. Williams received a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley in 1986. He joined the Electromagnetic Fields Division of the National Institute of Standards and Technology in 1989 where he develops electrical waveform and microwave metrology. He has published over 100 technical papers, is a Fellow of the IEEE, is the recipient of the 2013 IEEE Joseph F. Keithley Award, and served as Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques. He is currently President of the IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society.