Theses›Defence & security›High-speed data converters

High-speed data converters

High-speed data converters: the merchant ADC/DAC layer behind every phased array, and whether a European entrant can get a production design-in

  • Bear
  • Early
  • $7.8B by 2035

The callAnalog Devices has held the converter socket for 20 years and AMD is folding it into the FPGA; a newcomer needs a production award from a prime first.

D1D2D3R1R2R3C1C2foragainst D1D2D3R1R2R3C1C2foragainst
Fig. 1The balance. Drivers and catalysts against restraints, each block sized by its weight; catalysts hang dashed because they have not happened yet, sized by their odds. It tips toward the restraints.
  1. D1Radars, 6G massive-MIMO base stations and satellite payloads move to digitising at every antenna element, thousands per array, so the beam is steered in code.
  2. D2At thousands of elements the energy per conversion blows the thermal budget, and a converter in the FPGA ties the system maker to one vendor; a low-energy chiplet fixes both.
  3. D3Satellite constellations scale, and IRIS² (348 satellites, first launch 2029) is the European payload to watch.
  4. R1Analog Devices has held over 40% for two decades on programme-life design-ins; TI and Teledyne e2v hold most of the rest.
  5. R2AMD is absorbing the converter into Versal RF, and low-orbit volume leans captive: Starlink builds its own silicon.
  6. R3Independent converter companies have sold for $100-800M; Europe's one sovereignty programme, INTERSTELLAR, was delivered to Teledyne e2v. Terrestrial radio spend is flat to down.
  7. C1Fully digital beamforming enters commercial 6G radios in the 7-15 GHz band and proliferated low-orbit payloads, multiplying channels per system.2029
  8. C23GPP Rel-21 Stage-1 freeze, then WRC-27 deciding on 7.125-8.4 GHz for mobile by end-2027: the dated steps toward those radios.Mar 2027
Rests onthe beliefs underneath
Supported by · confidence
What would prove itdated tests, open and resolved
2027202820292030today123456predictionswatch 2027202820292030today123456predictionswatch
Fig. 2Each ring is a dated test: dashed while open, struck through when overdue, ticked or crossed once resolved.
  1. 1By 31 Dec 2027, WRC-27 identifies all or part of 7.125-8.4 GHz for terrestrial IMT (mobile) in at least one ITU region.Dec 2027 · open
  2. 2Omni Design's Series B, design win or sale; imec's 175 GS/s slope converter licensed or spun out by end-2027.Dec 2027 · open
  3. 3No independent high-speed data converter company founded after 2015 exits above $800M before end-2028.Dec 2028 · open
  4. 4By end-2028 no European prime, satellite manufacturer or EU radio vendor names a high-speed converter from a company founded after 2020 in a production phased-array, payload or radio programme.Dec 2028 · open
  5. 5A European prime naming a post-2020 converter supplier in production; a post-2015 independent exiting above $800M.Dec 2028 · open
  6. 6By end-2029 a commercial 6G FR3 (7-15 GHz) massive-MIMO radio with at least 256 direct-RF-sampled converter channels ships to a mobile operator.Dec 2029 · open
Expressionslisted, private, technologies
Private · 8 private companies, 4 of them in the US.

SignalNova · Omni Design Technologies · Alphacore · IQ-Analog · Analog Bits · Renesas · IMEC · Semifive

1 more private company tracked, not shown

Technologies
Who has already bet on itprivate rounds, from public sources

$35M raised by 1 company, $35M of it in the last three years. Early: Little money in so far; a lead investor would set the pace.

  • $35MOmni Design Technologies
    • Founded 2015
     Series A, Sep 2025 $35M (CDIB-TEN Capital, CDIB-Innolux II, FM Capital)
What changedthe record, newest first
  • 7 Sep 2026Every phased array is heading towards a converter behind every antenna element, and the chip that does the converting is one of the most incumbent-held sockets in semiconductors.
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