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Center for High-Frequency Electronics and Circuits for Communication Systems (CHECCS)

The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the Center author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Center Overview

The mission of the Center for High-Frequency Electronics and Circuits for Communication Systems (CHECCS) is to develop innovative and multidisciplinary solutions to address technical challenges in the increasingly complex area of advanced electronics and circuits for communications systems. CHECCS develops different levels of integrated components, subsystems, and multiscale systems for current and future high-frequency communication systems. CHECCS strives to accelerate technology transfer of research into commercially viable products, stimulate spinoffs and startup companies, and enable the growth of local industries.

High-frequency communication systems have penetrated almost all aspects of our daily life, with applications including autonomous cars, personalized medicine, monitored health care, agricultural sensing, and merchandise inventory systems. The scope of CHECCS’ work includes materials, electronics, devices, circuits, radiation, and their applications.

CHECCS conducts research in radio frequency (RF) communication devices, circuits, and systems. Its work in advanced telecommunications includes 5G and future systems, sensors, drones, high-resolution imaging, and up to terahertz (THz) frequency technology. The RF/microwave/mm-wave industry encompasses a wide range of companies and government facilities engaged in the synthesis, processing, and applications of electronic devices and circuits. Applications include defense systems, personalized medicine and monitored health care, agricultural sensing, and merchandise inventory.

CHECCS aims to satisfy the national need for qualified U.S. engineers and scientists who have deep knowledge of various technically challenging areas supporting high-frequency communications. The center educates students in these advanced topics and equips them with skills that are in high demand to prepare them for careers serving the commercial or defense sectors, national research labs, or academia.

Universities

Florida International University
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
University of Tennessee, Knoxville

View Center Website

Center Personnel

Aly E Fathy
UTK Site Director
+1 865 974 3466
fathy@eecs.utk.edu

John L Volakis
FIU Site Director
+1 305 348 1197
jvolakis@fiu.edu

Samir El-Ghazaly
CHECCS Director and UARK site director
+1 479 575 6048
el-ghazaly@uark.edu

Research Focus

CHECCS helps industry and government members address challenging multidisciplinary research problems in high-frequency communication systems. Center interests are mapped into four areas.

Novel 2D Materials for High-Frequency Communication Devices and Systems

Growth and characterization of quantum 2D materials; fabrication of nano/microfabricated optical and electronic devices, lasers, detectors, and sensors with integrated electronics; physics-based modeling and SPICE modeling of devices; noise theory for electronic systems; analog-based encryption for secure data transmission.

Integrated Microwave Photonics: From Materials and Devices to Fully Integrated Chips

Electrical and photonic materials; passive millimeter-wave cameras, RF-optical modulators, dissimilar material integration; optoelectronics for future integrated photonics; novel optoelectronic devices; high-temperature optoelectronics and its applications.

Global Modeling and Computational Electromagnetics

Advanced simulations of mm-wave devices; high-speed board processing and intelligent systems; performance scaling for electromagnetic (EM) application; large-scale computational EM problems; computational EMAG development.

Next-Generation Antennas and High-Data Rate Processing

Novel antennas; ultra-wideband reconfigurable antenna arrays from UHF up to sub-THz bands; reconfigurable transceiver front-ends; low-power beam forming architectures; radio frequency interference (RFI) mitigation techniques; beam-forming networks; high-power combining; UWB precise localization, see-through wall imaging; radars; high-resolution imaging; wearable electronics and non-contact vital sign detection; human gait analysis; massively distributed antenna systems; large-scale data analytics with real-time signal processing; taming and leveraging challenges in millimeter-wave; RF circuits.

Awards

2052764

IUCRC Phase I: Florida International University: Center for High-Frequency Electronics and Circuits for Communication Systems (CHECCS)

The University of Arkansas, University of Tennessee, and Florida International University have established the Center for High-Frequency Electronics and Circuits for Communication Systems (CHECCS), an Industry-University Cooperative Research Center (IUCRC). The efforts at the three universities will provide cooperative opportunities to develop new research knowledge to support U.S. competitiveness in wireless communications technologies, including 5G/6G and beyond. CHECCS addresses the potential to increase accessibility to high-frequency circuits and communication-system services. The center’s research will be seamlessly integrated with educational activities, and findings will be incorporated into courses for training undergraduate and graduate students. The center is also committed to broadening participation of underrepresented groups. Underrepresented faculty, graduate and undergraduate students will be actively recruited by each site to work on and participate in the center’s research and educational activities including outreach events. The technical area of high-frequency devices, circuits and communication systems is critically important to U.S. industry, its economy, and national security. CHECCS’ mission is in developing different levels of integrated components for future multi-scale systems on a single chip. CHECCS brings strength and expertise from a wide range of disciplines to significantly advance knowledge and bridge the gap between universities and industry. The research areas cover a broad range of disciplines from electrical engineering, to computer engineering, materials science, transportation, and physics. The center will work closely with industry and government agencies in addressing multidisciplinary research challenges by combining knowledge from participating research groups and creating a culture that links engineering research to technological innovation. This linkage will be achieved through sustained partnerships with industry/practitioner organizations and technology transfer offices. Core strengths of CHECCS include a dynamic team that has both academic and industry research experience, with emphasis on comprehensive electromagnetic modeling, monolithic microwave and millimeter-wave integrated circuits, radiofrequency high-power components and systems, antenna design, and digital and analog circuit design up to terahertz frequency. The team has access to advanced fabrication, testing, and high-performance computational resources, as well as strong ties to industry that will enable refinement of the research areas.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria. Read More >

2052780

IUCRC Phase I: University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK) Site: Center for High-Frequency Electronics and Circuits for Communication Systems (CHECCS)

2052807

IUCRC Phase I: University of Arkansas: Center for High-Frequency Electronics and Circuits for Communication Systems (CHECCS)

Member Organizations

IUCRC affiliated member organizations are displayed as submitted by the Center. Non-federal organizations are not selected, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the National Science Foundation.

Ferro / Vibrantz Corporation
MaXcentric
MIT Lincoln Labs (MIT-LL)
MITRE
Nano Dimension
Naval Research Labs (NRL)
Phelps2020
RF Pyramids
Townes Communications