/PRZWT/In May this year, at the 11th World Radar Expo, two innovative achievements of Bowei Technology won gold and silver awards respectively, which attracted widespread attention in the industry. Recently, Cao Xiangyi, general manager of Sichuan Bowei Technology Co., Ltd. accepted an exclusive interview with Xinhuanet and shared the company's breakthroughs and prospects in the field of radio frequency chips.
"Bowei Technology is committed to the development and production of nationwide, low-cost, high-integration radio frequency chips and microsystems, and provides related market services. Its development and growth are inseparable from the trend of low-altitude e****my. The company's products are widely used in low-cost consumer-grade radar, low-altitude drone countermeasures and other low-altitude e****mic fields." Cao Xiangyi said.
Chip achievements stand out, focusing on core applications
Cao Xiangyi first introduced the two key achievements of Bowei Technology on display at the 11th World Radar Expo.
The first is a multi-channel phased array SoC chip based on the domestic pure silicon-based process. The chip integrates key functions such as RF front-end, power management, and digital control into a single chip, making full use of the high integration and low cost characteristics of the domestic silicon-based process, effectively solving the bottleneck problem of large-scale deployment of phased array systems.
Compared with the traditional solution, the Boer microchip adopts a silicon-based process with high maturity, and the volume, power consumption, and cost are greatly reduced, which promotes the transformation of phased array radar systems from "luxury goods" to consumer electronics equipment. At the same time, it promotes the digital radar architecture, from microwave RF field to digital field. Combined with high-speed ADC/DAC (analog-to-digital/analog converter), it promotes the development of radar architecture to RF direct acquisition, all-digital, and hybrid beamforming, enhancing system flexibility and anti-jamming ability.
Secondly, the tile-type high-power system-in-package module. Through heterogeneous integration technology, the phased array chip, GaAs low-noise amplifier chip, GaN power amplifier chip, power management chip, etc. are packaged into standardized tile units, with a single module output power of more than 10W, supporting flexible assembly and expansion. This technology breaks through the limitations of traditional high-power radar systems, which are bulky and highly customized, significantly reduces the cost of the whole machine, shortens the development cycle, and is competitive in the fields of weather monitoring and low-altitude security.
Cao Xiangyi elaborated on the application direction of the chip, focusing on civil radar and low-altitude e****my. In the field of civil radar (such as meteorological and water conservancy monitoring), Bowei solution has become the first choice for large-scale production with the advantages of national production, miniaturization (80% reduction in volume) and low cost (80% reduction in cost). In the field of low-altitude e****my, the company is developing a city-level drone supervision radar network to meet the safety management and control needs of logistics distribution, emergency rescue, etc. The platform can simultaneously serve multiple scenarios such as drone control, weather monitoring, and emergency communication.
Three major paths to reduce costs and increase efficiency, and build a solid foundation for safety
In response to the high cost problem of traditional phased array radar, Bowei Technology takes "low cost advantage" as its core competitiveness.
Cao Xiangyi system introduced three paths to achieve cost reduction. First, the process innovation, the use of high maturity, yield of over 98% silicon-based process instead of compound semiconductor process, the use of 12-inch wafer to achieve single-chip multi-function integration (RF beamforming, digital analog control, etc.), large-scale production cost is only 10% -20% of the compound solution, volume reduction of 80%.
The second is advanced packaging, which uses heterogeneous and heterogeneous integrated wafer-level packaging technology to reduce costs by 80% compared to traditional packaging.
The third is to empower modular, mass-produced systematic packaging products to greatly simplify customer processes, eliminating micro-assembly and debugging links, and improving production efficiency by more than 10 times.
When it comes to future strategies, Cao Xiangyi emphasizes that based on local teams and independent and controllable national intellectual property rights, R & D insists on "full integration, combination of digital models, and platformization".
The first task is to adopt a national process to ensure supply chain security; followed by the combination of digital and analog, to integrate radio frequency, digital, and analog functions on a single chip with a silicon-based solution to achieve functional modularity and flexible assembly; furthermore, to deepen integration technology and replace traditional module solutions with system-level packaging.
"Focusing on the key links of the low-altitude e****my, we continue to break bottlenecks, reduce costs and improve quality and efficiency through technological innovation," Cao Xiangyi said. "Building a key foundation with domestic chip technology and serving new low-altitude infrastructure is the glorious mission entrusted to technology companies by the times."
