Aperture Tuning: An Essential Technology in 5G Smartphones

Antenna aperture tuning is essential to enable smartphones to operate efficiently over the ever-increasing range of RF frequency bands and support the transition to 5G. Smartphones need more antennas to support growing RF requirements such as new 5G bands, MIMO, and carrier aggregation (CA), but there is less space for these antennas due to changes in smartphone industrial design. As a result, antennas are becoming smaller, potentially reducing antenna efficiency and bandwidth.

Aperture tuning compensates for this problem by allowing antennas to be tuned to operate efficiently on multiple bands and increasing Tx and Rx performance by 3 dB or more. It is implemented with switches combined with other tuning components; switches with low RON and low COFF are critical to maximize efficiency. It also lets antennas communicate on multiple bands simultaneously to support CA. Implementing aperture tuning requires in-depth knowledge of how to apply the technology for each application.