A new beam-steering antenna that increases data transmission efficiency has been developed by researchers at the University of Birmingham’s School of Engineering in the UK, according to a presentation made at the 3rd International Union of Radio Science Atlantic/Asia-Pacific Radio Science Meeting, currently being held in Spain.
The experimental device provides continuous “wide-angle” beam-steering, allowing it to track a moving mobile phone user similar to current beamforming technology. However, it tracks the moving object with significantly enhanced speeds, compared with today’s slow, mechanically steered antenna solutions, according to the university. Compatible with the 5G protocol, the new technology was designed for fixed, base station antennas, where current technology shows reduced efficiency at higher frequencies.
“The new technology does not require the complex and inefficient feeding networks required for commonly deployed antenna systems, instead using a low complexity system which improves performance and is simple to fabricate,” the University said.
The beam-steering antenna was developed by Dr. James Churm, Dr. Muhammad Rabbani, and Professor Alexandros Feresidis, Head of the Metamaterials Engineering Laboratory. It is the size of a smartphone and uses metamaterial made from a metal sheet with an array of regularly spaced holes that are micrometers in diameter.
“An actuator controls the height of a cavity within the metamaterial, delivers micrometer movements, and, according to its position, the antenna will control the deflection of the team of a radio wave – effectively ‘concentrating’ the beam into a highly directive signal, and then ‘redirecting this energy as desired’ – whilst also increasing the efficiency of transmission,” the university said.
The University of Birmingham team is now developing and testing prototypes at higher frequencies and in applications that take it beyond 5G mobile communications.
Churm said, “Although we developed the technology for use in 5G, our current models show that our beam steering technology may be capable of 94 percent efficiency at 300 GHz. The technology can also be adapted for use in vehicle-to-vehicle, vehicle-to-infrastructure, vehicular radar, and satellite communications, making it good for next generation use in automotive, radar, space and defense applications.”
By J. Sharpe Smith, Inside Towers Technology Editor
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