About BWRC

About BWRC 

Nearly 20 years ago, two UC Berkeley professors, Bob Brodersen and Jan Rabaey, envisioned a world with ubiquitous connectivity using wireless technology. To demonstrate this, they came up with a small portable hub they called the Infopad and built an entire wireless network which the Infopad used to communicate with other devices.  The Infopad was the world's first ever wireless multimedia terminal but it required a highly collaborative effort that yielded significant research contributions up and down the stack in wireless network protocols, communications theory, low-power digital design, system design methodology, signal processing, radio architecture, analog RF design and physical packaging. And so the Berkeley Wireless Research Center was born with a mission to create future systems, rather than just future technology. 

BWRC has continued to push the boundaries of future wireless systems since its origin.  We believe that the future of wireless, 5G and beyond, will be driven by application technology and that this kind of technology is being driven today in labs such as the BWRC. Just as the Infopad heralded the ubiquitous touch screen terminals of today, so some of the work we are currently pursuing will lead to the next “must-have” technology 20 years from now. 

PRE-BWRC TIMELINE 

1972: A team led by EECS professor Donald Pederson develops the Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis (SPICE)

1980-1982: First RISC (Reduced Instruction-Set Computing) Microprocessor : Berkeley, California, U.S.A., Dedicated 12 February 2015 - IEEE Oakland-East Bay Section

1992: Infopad project starts

1995: Working Infopad: Preceded iPad by 15 years! 

First ever wireless multimedia terminal. Highly collaborative effort yielded significant research contributions up and down the stack: wireless network protocols communications theory low-power digital system design methodology signal processing radio architecture analog RF design physical packaging.  

January 29, 1999: BWRC Dedication/ Opening

OUR RESEARCH 

The UC Berkeley Wireless Research Center is an established leader in university-industry-government research partnerships resulting in pioneering circuits and system-on-chip innovations for high-performance analog, digital, and mixed-signal applications. The Center has forged deep relationships with industry leaders to facilitate rapid technology transfer since being founded in 1999. BWRC provides an environment for research into core issues for future generations of wireless and wireline communication systems as well as a platform to expand graduate student instructional programs. Research focuses on highly-integrated CMOS implementations optimized for lowest energy consumption leveraging advanced communication algorithms and architectures. ASIC proof-of-concept prototype chips are fabricated using leading-edge process technologies and are evaluated in a state-of-the-art, in-house laboratory. Center membership provides access to faculty and graduate students involved in a large interdisciplinary research effort for a modest investment. The critical-mass combination of UC Berkeley researchers, government funding, and industry-leading sponsors has the potential for making truly significant advances possible. The BWRC consists of PhD graduate students, post-doctoral researchers, and faculty engaged in pre-competitive, public domain research. Research areas of interest include:

  • Energy efficient analog, digital, and mixed-signal circuits;
  • Enhanced design automation and design methodologies for analog, digital and mixed-signal chips;
  • RF, mm-Wave, and Terahertz circuits; advanced data converters and analog signal chain design;
  • New radio system architectures from very small scale to long-range 5G+ applications, focusing on energy efficiency with low latency and high robustness;
  • Algorithms and signal processing for next generation wireless system-on-chip design;
  • High speed, high efficiency, wireline communication circuits;
  • Bio-medical and neurobiological circuits and systems;
  • Highly integrated wearable technology for future human intranet;
  • Human-machine interactions;
  • New materials and technologies, including photonics, and flexible electronics.