EEWebPULSE_2012_i0044.pdf

EE Web

PULSE

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Issue 44

May 1, 2012

Laurent Desclos

Ethertronics

Electrical Engineering Community

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Laurent Desclos

ETHERTRONICS

Interview with Laurent Desclos - President and CEO

Featured Products

Understanding Wireless Power - Part II

BY DAVE BAARMAN AND JOSHUA SCHWANNECKE WITH VLSI

Adaptive inductive coupled mid-range systems provide the flexibility needed for a dynamic

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Characterize Linear Voltage Regulators

with an SMU

BY ROBERT GREEN WITH KEITHLEY

How source measurement unit instruments can make the job of characterizing linear

voltage regulators much easier.

RTZ - Return to Zero Comic

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INTERVIEW

Laurent

Desclos

Ethertronics

Can you give us background

about yourself and how you

got into engineering?

When I was in high school, my older

brother brought some electronic kits

home. I was following him, trying to

understand how they worked. Later

on, in order to have some pocket

money in college, I went to work for

a friend in an appliance and radio

repair shop. Sometimes I would

use what I was learning during the

day, and try to implement it during

the weekends. I learned a lot at that

time from my teachers and friends.

I graduated from the National

Institute of Applied Sciences in

France with a degree in electronics.

After that, I went on to perform my

civil duties in Gabon, Africa for

a year and half. I was there as a

teacher, helping students prepare

for French engineering schools’

entrance exams. At the same time,

I was given the opportunity to work

on the national telecommunications

network and earth stations in Africa.

It was fun and I had the chance to go

into the jungle to check on telecom

sites and perform maintenance, as

well as become familiarized with

basic telecom knowledge. It was

my first taste of being abroad and

getting to know a different culture.

Laurent Desclos - President and CEO

I then came back to France for

three years to pursue a PhD in

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INTERVIEW

electromagnetism, applied to radar

cross section. At the same time, to

support my family as well as my

curiosity, I taught electronics at

the same college that I graduated

from. Additionally, I took a job in IT

support and worked for fun on the

design of some chip on GaAs.

Was this the irst time you

became self-employed?

We worked independently, but were

funded by NEC. It was a really

fun time. We were the first ones to

develop a working solution, which

was an RF transceiver for 2.4 -5

GHZ applications. My boss at that

time gave me a lot of freedom and

We started as a company focused

on providing good support for our

customers (OEMs, ODMs) by

manufacturing antennas to meet

their mobile device needs. It was

around the 2005-2007 timeframe

when we saw that the device

form factor was shrinking while

the number of bands to cover

was increasing. We needed to

develop better antennas to deal

with these smaller form factors. We

knew that we needed to transition

from traditional passive antennas

to antennas that had more of a

systems perspective in mind, since

this is critical for next-generation

devices. We knew that we needed

to support our customers not

only on the antenna side but also

on the system side. Much of our

focus since that time has been on

developing active antenna systems,

whereby the antenna system and

modem interact with each other to

provide more “smarts” to the RF

system. On the system side, it is

interesting to bridge the gap for

us on the multidisciplinary level,

including antenna software, chip

and communication system levels. I

am very much convinced that there

is a place for a company creating

this ecosystem.

At the end of my PhD, I wanted to

work abroad again. I got a job as

a researcher at NEC Japan and

designed a few components at 24

GHz and 60 GHz for their wireless

LAN division. I had a lot of support

and freedom to do really cool stuff,

but at that time, I think I was young

and not ready for the cultural shock.

I stayed there for about one and half

years and then decided to come

back to France, where I worked

for two years for the French Army

through a consulting company.

I was studying Electromagnetic

compatibility for new systems and

their influence on the civilian world,

as well as the implication of the

newly deployed DCS system on

the radio relays already in the field.

I learned a lot on the propagation

models and systems at that time.

I also had a few interactions with

SFR, or Bouygues Telecom, when

they just started their deployment.

Nobody at that time had a cell phone

in France, which was funny. After

two years in France, I was contacted

by NEC Japan to come back. Since

I was a better negotiator and also

a bit more mature, I negotiated a

position doing GaAs design at 60

GHz, managing a group designing

front-end and components in CMOS

and BiCMOS, and also started my

own little lab on antenna research.

Ethertronics is like

a big university

for new engineers

with support from

proprietary tools and

experienced engineers.

I learned and produced quite a

lot. We had several successes

and published and patented a few

things that are still used. Then we

transferred the lab to the research

center in Princeton, New Jersey.

I went to Princeton for a year, and

then was contacted by one of my

former students to join Ethertronics.

I accepted right after meeting the

two founders. That’s pretty much

where I started with Ethertronics in

2000.

Do you ind that most of

the antennas you design

are custom designs for an

application, or inal products

that people design in?

We offer both custom and standard

antennas. Most of the designs

are custom, based on the OEM’s

needs. Cell phones all have different

designs, with components such as

the speaker and camera in different

locations. We consult with the OEM

to come up with the best antenna

Tell me a little about

Ethertronics--what’s your

mission and the industry you

are targeting?

We are targeting the whole wireless

industry. All wireless devices need

antennas. From the beginning, the

vision of the company has been to

create a better user experience.

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