Akoustis Technologies, an integrated device manufacturer (IDM) of patented bulk acoustic wave (BAW) high-band RF filters for mobile and other wireless applications, announced that it has shipped a fourth XBAW filter solution to an existing tier-1 5G small cell network infrastructure customer. The Company expects this new filter solution to enter commercial production in the first half of calendar 2021. This fourth XBAW filter solution operates within the new radio (NR) band n79 spectrum and follows the Company’s two design wins in-band n77 and one design win in-band n79 with its tier-1 5G small cell network infrastructure customer.
5G small cell base stations are low power, short-range cellular transmission devices, capable of providing extended coverage for consumers, enterprises, or to augment cellular coverage for 5G mobile service providers. They offer all the standard characteristics of a traditional tower base station and can handle high data throughput. 5G networks are expected to employ small cells in greater quantity than prior networks to help mitigate the shorter wavelengths associated with higher frequencies. In an April 2019 report, Zion Market Research estimated the global small cell 5G network market was valued at around $381 million in 2018 and is expected to reach approximately $3.5 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of approximately 37% between 2019 and 2025.
Akoustis’ high frequency, high-performance XBAW process and filters are experiencing growing interest as the Company prepares to enter production in multiple markets in calendar 2020, including 5G network infrastructure, high-band WiFi and phased-array radar applications.
Akoustis has added 15 filters to its product catalog including a 5.6 GHz WiFi filter, a 5.2 GHz WiFi filter, a 5.5 GHz WiFi-6E filter, four small cell 5G network infrastructure filters including two Band n77 filters and two Band n79 filters, a 3.8 GHz filter and five S-Band filters for defense phased-array radar applications, a 3.6 GHz filter for the CBRS 5G infrastructure market and a C-Band filter for the unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) market. The Company is also developing several new filters for the sub-7 GHz bands targeting 5G mobile device, network infrastructure, WiFi CPE and defense markets.
