Palucca chip series
Analog mixed-signal radio chips at BI
The Barkhausen Institut develops analog mixed-signal radio chips as a foundation for innovative and trustworthy hardware solutions.
The RF Design Enablement group covers the whole process, from circuit and antenna design through layout to packaging and PCB co-design. After fabrication, the chips are tested and evaluated at system level in the BI laboratories. Palucca is the platform in this field.
How the platform works
Palucca is a platform for analog mixed-signal radio chips, designed to be evaluated together with researchers across Europe.
- Palucca enables researchers to validate signal processing and hardware methodologies in collaboration.
- Palucca is evaluated with open-source signal processing tools such as HermesPy from BI, and with SDR systems that support them.
- Standard components are replaced by custom ones, one at a time, by BI and its collaborators.
The Status as of Today
- Palucca 1 (2024–2027): multi-mode transceivers at 26 GHz, with versions 1.0, 1.1 and 1.2
- Palucca 2 (coming 2027): multi-mode transceivers for FR3
- Palucca 3 (coming 2029): MIMO-ready transceivers at 60 GHz
Who is working on it
The research groups RF Design Enablement and Wireless Connectivity and Sensing are working on this platform, with help from BI's Connected Robotics Lab during evaluation.
References
- Padmanava Sen, Florian Gast, Sandra George, Gerhard Fettweis: Gearbox RF – the Backbone of Privacy and Energy Efficiency in 6G? APMC, Jeju, Republic of Korea, 2025.
- Sandra George, Padmanava Sen, Mehrab Ramzan, Muhammad Umar, Yash Richhariya, Jan Adler, Corrado Carta: Hardware-Software Platform Enabling Joint Communication and Radar Sensing at 25 GHz with 1 GHz Bandwidth. IMS, San Francisco, CA, USA, 2025.