Akoustis has shipped its first 5G mobile filter samples to a multi-billion-dollar tier-1 wireless telecommunications customer. The shipment is related to a recently announced order to develop a co-existence BAW RF filter for 5G spectrum addressing mobile handsets and other wireless devices.
The mobile industry represents the largest potential market for Akoustis by volume and revenue, with approximately 1.5 billion smartphones shipped in 2018 according to a February 2019 Gartner report. Akoustis received the order to develop a co-existence BAW RF filter for 5G mobile in May 2019 given the unique ability of its XBAW technology to deliver BAW filter solutions up to 7 GHz that can offer the performance necessary to handle the co-existence challenges of closely spaced frequency bands.
The filter solution shipped meets the form factor required for mobile applications. Akoustis expects its customer to evaluate the new filter over the next few months. In addition to the 5G mobile filter opportunity, the company remains focused on providing BAW filter solutions for multiple wireless markets including WiFi, 4G/5G infrastructure and defense.
According to Jeff Shealy, Founder and CEO of Akoustis, as the sub-6 GHz 5G New Radio (NR) mid-band resides between 3.3 GHz to 5 GHz, future filter solutions to resolve co-existence issues in 5G mobile handsets are right in our sweet spot. Akoustis has already developed commercial filter products at 3.8 GHz, 5.2 GHz and 5.6 GHz, proving that it can produce BAW RF filters at the higher frequencies associated with 5G. As a result, the company continues discussions with multiple large mobile communications companies seeking access to high frequency co-existence filter technology.
Akoustis’ filters are designed and manufactured using the Company’s patented XBAW process and manufactured in its Si-MEMS Wafer Fab located in Canandaigua, NY. The company has introduced several new filters over the past twelve months using its proprietary XBAW manufacturing process including a 5.6 GHz WiFi filter, a 5.2 GHz WiFi filter, a 3.8 GHz filter for defense phased-array radar applications, a 3.6 GHz filter for the CBRS infrastructure market and Band 25 downlink and uplink filters for LTE infrastructure. It is also developing several new filters for the sub 7 GHz bands targeting 5G mobile device, network infrastructure, WiFi CPE and defense markets.
