Luigi Boccia

Luigi Boccia (S’00–M’03) was heart born in Lungro (Italy), in 1975. He received the MSc degree (cum laude) in Information Technology Engineering from the University of Calabria, Italy, and the Ph.D in Electronic Engineering from the University “Mediterranea” of Reggio Calabria, Italy, in 2000 and 2003, respectively. Since January 2005 he has been with the Department of Computer Engineering, Modeling, Electronics, and Systems Science of the University of Calabria, where he become Associate Professor in 2021. He has taught courses of antennas, microwaves and electronic circuits. He held research positions in several European institutions, including the European Space Research and Technology Centre of the European Space Agency (The Netherland), the University of Birmingham (UK), the University of Surrey (UK) and the University of Grenoble (FR).

His main research interests are: i) antenna for mobile and satellite communications, radar and Earth observation applications; ii) monolithically integrated RF circuits for phased array applications; iii) RF system integration technologies. He co-edited the “Space Antenna Handbook” (Wiley, 2012). He serves as associate editor for IEEE AWCL and MWCL as well as for the EuMA journal and he has been involved in the organization of several conferences, workshops and doctoral courses. In 2022 he was general chair of the Mediterranean Microwave Symposium and Workshop chair of the EuMW. Dr. Boccia has been involved, also with coordination roles, in several R&D research projects funded by EU, ESA or by leading industries mainly for 5G and satellite communications.

The emergence of Non-terrestrial networks (NTN) has become a crucial driver for the next generation of wireless communication systems. NTN encompasses satellite and aerial segments, which can function either as relay nodes or base stations. In the upcoming years, NTN will play a crucial role in supporting universal connectivity where everyone and everything will need to be connected: from any geographic location and including every application from consumer broadband to mobile gaming. These requirements will lead to the development of advanced microwave systems that provide superior connectivity, while minimizing costs. This sector is expected to experience significant growth in the near future. Consequently, researchers worldwide are actively engaged in devising innovative technological solutions that can adapt to diverse scenarios, satisfy performance requirements, and conform to cost, size, and power consumption limitations. The impact of these efforts will be broad, encompassing research and development on antennas, RF integrated systems, integration and semiconductor technology, as well as system design. This presentation reports a multidisciplinary perspective on this topic, which includes a review of current solutions and an examination of emerging configurations from both architectural and technological viewpoints.