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Isn't the issue that this kind of RF is a lot like designing CPUs? There aren't many economically viable products that don't just use a COTS highly integrated c
by saltcured 6mo ago
Isn't the issue that this kind of RF is a lot like designing CPUs? There aren't many economically viable products that don't just use a COTS highly integrated circuit, so there aren't that many full on design jobs to go along with all the usage.
The product work is higher level system packaging, such as antennas and application-level manipulation of the whole RF block. But since so much is digital now, that is more software/computer architecture work rather than RF. The COTS RF circuit itself may have standardized serial or even packet interfaces to the rest of the product.
- willis936 6mo agoI'm not an RF insider, but RFSoCs and deep budgets are a thing. I don't really see this as a constraint. If you are budget constrained then you just design your signal chain in discretes like everyone else.
- saltcured 6mo agoMy point was that the examples above like WiFi and 5G are solved with highly integrated COTS modules, not small players designing their own radios. The fact that there is a large market for end-user products does not translate into lots of design teams in a global sense. Much like there are lots of computer use cases but not that many CPU design teams you can really hire into.