Simply put, Resonant is the only company that offers an in-house simulation platform (ISN), allowing filter developers to make full-chip performance predictions. “This is the watershed moment that propels big firms to partner with us. Nobody else allows them to accurately simulate the whole chip, fab it, sample it, and put it together seamlessly,” adds Kelly.

The Benefits of Optimization to Boot

By allowing filter manufacturers to predict performance accurately, Resonant radically improves designer productivity, which in turn leads to lower costs, faster time-to-market and better performance.

Since ISN is a multi-physics design and simulation platform, the designer can visualize where the acoustic energy (of the structure) is and gather real insights into the performance of the filter. Kelly details, “Imagine knowing what is happening inside the filter and where to focus the optimization. The manufacturer can control costs this way.”

In several cases, Resonant collaborates with a client’s design team that may require assistance with complex modules with a large number of filters. To that end, Holmes candidly admits that a customer’s engineering team is its only true competition, “We do not have traditional competitors since nobody else has such a software toolset as ISN.” As for organizations that do not have their design and engineering teams, Resonant offers its Foundry Partner Program to design and develop products on their behalf.

New Advisory Board and Exciting Future

Almost becoming “a necessity” for both established and aspiring players in the RF filters segment, Resonant is just scratching the surface of the heights it wants to reach.

Backed by a group of investors, the publicly listed Resonant recently formed an advisory board, which includes Jeff Ball, the former Global Head of Semiconductor Investment Banking at JP Morgan, Rubén Caballero, ex-VP of Engineering at Apple, and Clint Brown, Director of Business Development Mobility Wireless Connectivity at Broadcom, Brian Crutcher, who had a long career at Texas Instruments including serving as CEO; Josh Jacobs who is on the board of several other companies and Luis Pineda, who headed up marketing for Qualcomm’s semiconductor business. “They see the opportunity that is represented through our hard work, and want to help us get to the next level,” says Holmes.

To Resonant, the so-called “next level” is not restricted to 5G filters. Instead, it will look to tackle the problem of 5G filters and Wi-Fi co-existing. Presently, 5G and Wi-Fi are in adjacent frequency bands with little guard band to separate them. As such, there is a need for a filter that can prevent signal bleed and allow maximum bandwidth operation. To fulfill this requirement, Resonant will develop XBAR resonators that provide the high Q factor necessary to ensure the rejection of Wi-Fi signals that operate in adjacent bands.

As part of its technology roadmap, Resonant plans to drive more innovation at the architectural level, especially with the emergence of new technology and frequency bands such as Wi-Fi6E. “Soon, various radio frequencies will have to operate with one another, and our XBAR technology is the only answer,” says Kelly. He goes on to add that by operating multiple radios simultaneously, handset manufacturers will no longer have to sacrifice bandwidth or spectrum.

Over the next few years, Resonant will also collaborate with foundries and mobile semiconductor manufacturers across the world that intend to enter the complex world of 5G filters. Holmes reveals, “We have deals in place with foundries that will either deliver products directly to the market or provide white label services.”

Resonant is convinced that it will eventually emerge as “the principal vehicle for RF filter manufactures to enter the 5G market.”