At IMS 2026, everything RF stopped by the Mini-Circuits booth, where the company showcased RF and microwave technologies spanning high-power signal generation and emerging quantum computing applications. Through live demonstrations, Mini-Circuits highlighted how its portfolio of amplifiers, frequency conversion solutions, and RF building blocks can be used in advanced test, measurement, communications, and quantum computing systems.
Khawar Hanif, Product Manager at Mini-Circuits, demonstrated the company's S-band upconverter, integrated with a GaN power amplifier, for RF signal generation applications. The demonstration featured a complete signal chain built entirely using Mini-Circuits components. The solution accepts a 1 GHz IF signal and upconverts it using a 4.1 to 4.5 GHz local oscillator before driving the integrated GNA-63 GaN power amplifier. The platform delivers more than 6 W of output power with consistent performance across its operating range and supports frequency coverage from approximately 110 MHz to 6 GHz. Hanif explained that the complete solution is being developed as a single-board PCB platform to simplify evaluation and integration for customers. He also discussed future versions targeting output power levels up to 10 W and eventually 40 W in additional frequency bands. The GNA-63 is a gallium nitride (GaN) power amplifier designed for high-efficiency, high-power RF amplification, making it suitable for signal generation, test systems, and microwave applications requiring broadband performance.
Angelo Andres, Global Market Manager at Mini-Circuits, showcased the company's RF and microwave solutions for quantum computing using a 3D model of a superconducting quantum computer. During the demonstration, Andres explained the RF infrastructure required throughout a quantum computing system, from room-temperature control electronics to the cryogenic environment where qubits operate. He highlighted Mini-Circuits' portfolio of products for quantum computing applications, including connectorized RF and microwave components, surface-mount devices, amplifiers, attenuators, filters, cables, power dividers, custom RF assemblies, integrated subsystems, and rack-mounted solutions. These products are used to generate, route, condition, and measure the microwave signals required for qubit control and readout. Mini-Circuits also supports quantum computing developers with specialized solutions engineered for low noise, high isolation, phase stability, and reliable operation across the wide temperature variations encountered in cryogenic quantum systems.
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