Long- and Short-Range Communication Solutions

Mobile communication has been around for 30 years. We have done and still do development and integration projects for our customers in all generations of digital mobile communications from GSM (2G), UMTS (3G), LTE (4G) and 5G. For example, we developed the mobile radio modem for the D and E networks in the first Radiophone for Blaupunkt, the RF parts of some mobile phones for Siemens Mobile, RF amplifiers for mobile phones with Renesas and many other mobile radio solutions. We are currently building up know-how in the area of 6G in several large research projects and are working on the first preliminary developments in order to be able to offer developments for customers in this area as well.

For satellite communication, we have been working on the so-called ground segment and the space segment since the beginning. One focus of our satellite topics are diverse antenna concepts and antennas in different frequency bands for installation on vehicles of all kinds. Today, we are one of the recognised experts for (active) phased array antennas. We have also developed an RF distribution network under space conditions for an earth observation satellite, downconverters for various satellite bands and radiation-resistant RF components and integrated circuits.

Since the end of the 1990s, IMST engineers have been developing so-called short range devices or integrating short range communication modules into customer applications. In most cases, these are standardised radio technologies such as LoRaWAN, Wireless M-Bus, WLAN, Bluetooth, Nearfield Communication (NFC), EnOcean, etc., but also proprietary radio solutions in the licence-free ISM bands. With our wealth of experience in the various standards, we can implement almost all short-range communication solutions.

Standardised communication systems always require an overhead in the data packet to fulfil interoperability within the standard. Since the overhead uses data and consumes energy, a standard may be unsuitable for applications with very low energy budgets, real-time requirements or large amounts of useful data. In these cases, or in cases for which no standard exists at all, we develop proprietary communication systems from scratch according to customer requirements, which does not conform to a standard. For example, we offer proprietary protocol stacks based on LoRa modulation that use the advantages of LoRa modulation and are optimally matched to the requirements of the application. We also develop high data rate radio systems for industrial automation.