Global Excellence 2020

210 Acquisition International - Global Excellence 2020 18 Acquisit on International - Issue 11 2020 Making Mobile Devices More Magnificent Resonant is changing the way that radio frequency (RF) filters are designed and, in the process, has disrupted and transformed the market and supply chain for RF front-ends (RFFE). The company has used these tools to develop XBAR, a new resonator technology that is equally revolutionary because it is the technology foundation needed to develop higher frequency 5G filters that utilize the cost-effective manufacturing techniques of today’s SAW filters. Discover why the firm has won the title of Most Innovative RF Filter Design Company 2020 - California. Company: Resonant Inc. Contact: Jeff Akuamoah-Boateng - Corporate Communications [email protected] (562) 607-7408 Website: www.resonant.com hat exactly are RF filters? And why are they important? Radio frequencies occupy the range of electromagnetic spectrum designated for broadcasting over distance. Billions upon billions of mobile devices send and receive signals using chunks of RF spectrum, known as bands. Filters select specific signals from specific bands, whilst rejecting unwanted signals that would otherwise interfere with the selected bands. In a modern smartphone, there are currently more than fifty such RF filters, allowing operation anywhere in the world. As the number of filters increases, so too does the design challenge, both in the number of new filters and the complexity of those designs., all of which must work together seamlessly. Currently, there are seven major players responsible for providing 98% of the RF filter production for mobile phones. These companies design, fabricate, and package the filters. However, the limited number of filter suppliers constrain the growth of the mobile phone market. With the impending transition to 5G networks and technology looming large on the horizon, the capacity to generate new designs and more RF filters than ever before will no doubt inhibit the success of the mobile phone industry and market. That is where Resonant comes into the picture. The genesis for Resonant started in the early days of the cellular industry, when existing filter systems for cellular base stations took up an entire seven-foot high telecom rack. The company’s founders developed the design tools and manufacturing techniques to perfect a new kind of filter system that was roughly the size of a loaf of bread, whilst also doubling the area covered by the cell tower. In 2012, those engineers founded Resonant to apply their development expertise to filters in smartphones, which were growing in design complexity and in cost. Resonant’s core values are transparency, accountability, and a sense of urgency. Transparency is about the firm being upfront and visible about the actions is takes, whilst the accountability focus is very much on being clear about Resonant’s vision for where it is going and what needs to be accomplished along the way. Finally, the sense of urgency lies in creating an atmosphere of urgency that can be embraced, and in turn bring about an atmosphere of achievement. The company was incorporated also in 2012, giving it the ability to develop new tools and technology to better design the filters. Resonant’s founders were also able to raise bridge financing from their investment banker, and this paved the way for success which they may never have considered before. Resonant went public on Nasdaq in 2014, which in turn enabled it to create the first of many ground-breaking filters. Each one of these W new innovations lent credence to Resonant as a company, and gave the company credibility, showing the industry that its technology could help to meet the challenges with design complexity that the industry faces today. RF filter design is a deeply complex combination of physics and electronics, but it is a combination that is done by most manufacturers using internal tools. However, invariably, the results depend on trial and error to support the right frequency band. This means that the process is often a very long and arduous one which does not suit the speed at which new mobile devices are being released every year. A filter must be designed, fabricated, and tested, as well as tweaked which means conducting the whole process all over again. With the entire process taking upwards of months, or even years, this is too long given the wealth of new and advanced RF filters – which are the most complicated ones to develop – are needed in mass quantities for modern 5G mobile devices. This is where Resonant delivers outstanding results. The firm’s Infinite Synthesized Networks (ISN®) addresses this problematic design process by providing the ability to design and simulate the filter electronically hundreds of times within a single second. Therefore, once the filter has been fabricated and tested only once or twice, ISN can ensure that it is ready for manufacturing. Aug20699 A filter must be designed, fabricated, and tested, as well as tweaked which means conducting the whole process all over again. Most Innovative RF Filter Design Company 2020 - California