Toward Direct RF Sampling: Implications for Digital Communications

According to a recent report [1], the United States is expected to see a fourfold increase in mobile data traffic between 2016 and 2021. Notably, the report suggests that an investment of roughly US$130-150 billion could be required over the next seven years, given that the current infrastructure is not adequate to support the expected growth in wireless data. Further, current transceiver architectures [2] are bulky, inefficient, and expensive.