Digitizing the Invisible: How Qualynx is Bringing Radio Frequency Back to Moore’s Law
From 1-Milliwatt Power to Anti-Spoofing: The Future of GNSS and Semiconductor Scaling
What happens when a breakthrough in semiconductor design makes satellite positioning smaller, smarter, cheaper, and dramatically more power-efficient?
In this episode of Industry Ignited, Dr. Leeanne Aguilar is joined by Tom Trill of Qualynx, a Delft University spinoff that is redefining Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) technology through scalable digital RF innovation. Tom shares his personal evolution as a leader, how Qualynx is breaking the semiconductor scaling wall, and why relying on AI to manage hardware security might be a dangerous misstep.
From Manager to Leader: Hiring for the “Fire in the Belly”
Tom’s journey in the semiconductor industry taught him a vital lesson about leadership. Early in his career, he viewed management as giving his team a strict “to-do list.” Over time, he realized that true leadership means delegating autonomy and “shape-shifting” around the core competencies of the team to get the most out of them.
This philosophy is the foundation of Qualynx. The company is pioneering “Digital RF” technology—a field so new it isn’t taught in engineering schools. Even highly educated engineers require up to two quarters of training to understand the company’s approach. Because of this, Tom’s first principle for hiring is cultural fit. With over 50% of their Delft headquarters relocating internationally, Qualynx relies on the entrepreneurial spirit and “fire in the belly” of its diverse team to drive a culture of change.
The Core Insight: Rescuing RF with Moore’s Law
For decades, Moore’s Law has dictated that as transistors shrink, they double in performance while consuming less power and space. However, traditional analog Radio Frequency (RF) components hit a “scaling wall,” making further integration economically unviable.
Qualynx solved this by digitizing the RF receiver. By migrating 90% of the analog circuitry into the digital domain, their GNSS receiver chips can finally follow Moore’s Law. This allows devices to consume just 1 milliwatt of power while tracking—between 5 and 20 times lower than closest competitors.
For downstream customers building wearables or smart glasses, this frees up critical space on the motherboard. Designers can use that reclaimed real estate to make the device smaller, add new sensors, or install a larger battery, extending battery life by up to 10 times.
The Challenge: The Civilian Threat of Spoofing
Signal spoofing—tricking a receiver into displaying false location or timing data—used to be a problem isolated to aerospace and defense. Today, it is a critical civilian threat. From smart cities requiring exact microsecond synchronization to avoid traffic catastrophe, to 5G and 6G network backhaul, unauthenticated positioning is a massive liability.
Strategy: Multi-Dimensional Hopping and Ecosystem Partnerships
To secure their chips, Qualynx partnered directly with the European Space Agency and EUSPA to embed the Galileo constellation’s authentication services directly into their silicon, rather than layering it as software on top of hardware.
To outsmart sophisticated spoofers, they use a multi-dimensional approach. Instead of relying solely on single-dimensional “frequency hopping,” Qualynx utilizes orbital hopping. Their dynamically reconfigurable chips can hop between different frequencies and different satellite orbits—from GEO (high altitude) to MEO (medium) to LEO (low earth orbit, like Starlink).
Furthermore, rather than trying to invent every component, Qualynx relies on strategic partnerships for things like sensor fusion (such as IMUs from InvenSense), allowing them to focus entirely on their core competency: ultra-low power, secure GNSS receivers.
Differentiator: The Danger of the AI Trap
As the industry pushes for lower power consumption, some competitors are introducing AI agents to autonomously manage connectivity. If an AI detects an “open sky” environment, it lowers power and accepts weaker signals.
Tom strongly warns against this philosophy because AI lacks real-world context. He uses the example of a stolen bicycle: if a thief rides your stolen bike out of a dense city and into the open countryside, an AI agent might decide it is a “low-risk environment” and drop the power, grabbing the weakest signals to save a few milliwatts. Qualynx’s design philosophy dictates that context is critical, and safety and security should never be sacrificed for power savings.
Conclusion: Execution and the Road Ahead
As Qualynx transitions from product development to mass production, Tom emphasizes that scaling requires operationalizing just in time—or as he describes it, “laying the road in front of you just before you take that step.” By executing precisely and delivering the highest grade of secure connectivity across all devices, Qualynx aims to drive downstream innovation for the next two decades.
🎧 Listen to the Full Episode
To hear Tom’s full breakdown on the future of GNSS, semiconductor scaling, and his complete leadership philosophy, listen to the full episode of Industry Ignited.
👉 Visit the podcast and listen here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2514972/episodes/19008240
And as always—stay bold, stay curious, and keep igniting industry.
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