Attention all Star Trek Fans! Japan’s NTT Docomo Inc. has successfully redirected 28 GHz RF waves coming from an antenna inside of a building to the sidewalk outside using a film-based transmissive metasurface attached to a window surface. This “cloaking” technology was trialed last fall at the Docomo R&D Center in Yokosuka, Japan. It is aimed at enhancing the coverage of 5G Evolution and 6G, which will use high frequencies that can be easily blocked and need to be redirected to hit dead spots.
The transmissive metasurface for the 28 GHz band used in the trial is designed and processed to bend mmWave bands passing through a glass window in a specific direction. In this trial, waves were directed toward the bottom of a building’s exterior. The metasurface film was attached to the window glass on the interior side, making it easier to install. Its transparency did not spoil the view of the landscape.
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