Designing RF Front Ends for Next-Generation Drone Communications
From consumer quadcopters to industrial and defense platforms, drones depend on reliable wireless links for control, telemetry, video, and data transmission. But different applications place very different demands on drone communications and RF front-end design.
In this QuickChat, David Maliniak from Microwaves & RF speaks with Jeff Gengler, Director of Applications Engineering at Qorvo, about the technologies shaping modern drone connectivity. Gengler explains how consumer drones typically rely on Wi-Fi and other unlicensed bands, while delivery drones can leverage 4G and 5G cellular networks. Industrial and defense applications introduce additional challenges, including longer range, channel resiliency, and operation across frequencies from UHF through millimeter wave.
The conversation also explores software-defined radio (SDR) architectures and the tradeoffs between flexibility, cost, power consumption, efficiency, and size. Gengler discusses wideband versus narrowband power amplifiers, GaAs and GaN technologies, low-noise amplifiers, filter banks, and BAW filters. He also explains why sub-6 GHz communications remain attractive for extending drone range.
Watch the full QuickChat to learn how RF technology can help engineers balance performance, flexibility, and SWaP requirements in evolving drone communication systems.
About the Author
David MaliniakDavid Maliniak
Executive Editor, Microwaves & RF
I am Executive Editor of Microwaves & RF, an all-digital publication that broadly covers all aspects of wireless communications. More particularly, we're keeping a close eye on technologies in the consumer-oriented 5G, 6G, IoT, M2M, and V2X markets, in which much of the wireless market's growth will occur in this decade and beyond. I work with a great team of editors to provide engineers, developers, and technical managers with interesting and useful articles and videos on a regular basis. Check out our free newsletters to see the latest content.
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About me:
In his long career in the B2B electronics-industry media, David Maliniak has held editorial roles as both generalist and specialist. As Components Editor and, later, as Editor in Chief of EE Product News, David gained breadth of experience in covering the industry at large. In serving as EDA/Test and Measurement Technology Editor at Electronic Design, he developed deep insight into those complex areas of technology. Most recently, David worked in technical marketing communications at Teledyne LeCroy, leaving to rejoin the EOEM B2B publishing world in January 2020. David earned a B.A. in journalism at New York University.