Arralis

As the Aerospace and Defence (A&D) landscape continues to evolve rapidly, it is becoming imperative for leading organisations in the industry to transcend the boundaries set in terms of technology and traditional frequency restraints. Let’s consider the millimetre wave technology. The millimetre wave technology has many benefits, including small size, wide bandwidths (high data rate), high resolution, and antennas that can be barely seen. The challenge so far has been that millimetre wave has long been the preserve of the military due to its high cost and difficulty in manufacturing. However, the scenario is changing fast with companies like Arralis.

As a successful technology company, Arralis brings this cutting-edge technology to the masses, including commercial and non-governmental organisations, with low cost, high-performance solutions. These have multiple applications including radar for rotorcraft, aircraft, spacecraft and terrestrial vehicles, antennas and systems for satellite communications. Along with world-leading expertise in radio frequency (RF) and micro and millimetre-wave, Arralis brings in a suite of robust products comprising Ka-band transceiver, high power amplifier Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuits (MMIC), E band radar (helicopter function) and Flat Panel antenna applications. The new alternative frequency bands are presenting the A&D companies and their CIOs with new opportunities to resolve issues such as cost-effective satellite communication system, thereby narrowing down the technological gap between the defence and commercial landscape. From MMIC development, sub-system technology, to system front end and full systems, Arralis prides itself on being the company of choice for many of the leading A&D companies.

Arralis specialises in the design and manufacture of the world’s widest range high-frequency semiconductor chips (MMICs) up to 110GHz. Stuart Hepburn, Head of International Sales at Arralis, explains, “Our Chips are fabricated using gallium arsenide (GaAs), a III-V compound semiconductor. It has two fundamental advantages over silicon (Si)—the traditional material for IC realisation: device (transistor) speed and a semi-insulating substrate. Both factors help with the design of high-frequency circuit functions, producing high power and very low noise devices. We also design high power amplifiers using gallium Nitrite (GaN), which has a wider band gap than silicon. They can sustain higher voltages than silicon and significantly reduce the size of the MMIC while improving performance.” Moreover, with SpaceX launching 240 Ka band broadband CubeSats in 2019 and its planned launch of 12,000 satellites by the end of 2020, Ka band communication is at the forefront of modern communication, which can be linked to air, defence and space applications.

Being a highly customer-focused company, Arralis works closely with its customers and partners to develop products that exceed expectations. “Our aim is to involve our customers in the design process, so that we can collaborate with them as a stakeholder within the design team, rather than just building a customer/vendor relationship,” says Hepburn. “We have been, to date, a ‘low revenue-high R&D’ company that has made substantial investments in microwave and millimetre wave technology. Our products have, in recent months, moved rapidly up the TRL scale to put us in a position to lead the A&D market in several key high growth areas such as 5G and small satellite constellations.”

A major challenge for Arralis or any other millimetre wave company is packaging components into modules and systems such that mass production is realisable. To that end, Arralis has some revolutionary technologies in the pipeline that can make this a real possibility. In addition, the company has patented a new technique to take the signal off the chip at 94GHz—a real leap forward. Although predominately based in Europe, Arralis is poised to tap into the benefits of a wide geographical reach and as such, has opened new offices in the U.S. and the Far East recently.