Samsung today announced the development of breakthrough 5G-ready antenna and power amplifier technologies to enable smaller, more energy efficient 5G equipment and devices. The new technologies are intended to be applied to both 5G base stations and end-user devices using 28GHz millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum. mmWave frequencies are widely expected to be one of the primary enablers of next-generation networks. Due to the naturally short range of the high frequency mmWave spectrum, network coverage strategies will likely require dense deployments of 5G small cells mounted in inconspicuous locations on walls and utility poles. These small cells thus need to be as small, light and efficient as possible.
With these RF technologies, Samsung developed a new case-integrated antenna, which incorporates dozens of antenna elements in a module that is less than 1mm thick – a critical step towards engineering both compact small cell base stations and user devices. Samsung also developed industry-leading efficient power amplifiers for use with mmWave signals to drive each antenna. These power amplifiers – the primary point of energy consumption in the radio module of a device – convert the low-power signal of a device into a high-power signal suitable for transmission over the air. Samsung’s breakthrough power amplifiers simultaneously double output power and improve energy efficiency by more than 50 percent.
