Plasma Antennas, the inventors of plasma silicon technology, have joined the Small Cell Forum (SCF), the global industry body driving the wide-scale adoption of small cells and heterogeneous networks.
The new generation of 5G cellular networks will provide massive, instantly steerable bandwidth in mmWave frequencies, and will rely on a much denser network topology, where small cells will play a major part. But the drive to making 5G a commercial reality is being held back by today’s phased array antennas. Once considered state of the art, phased array technology does not provide the required range and has not developed to the point that it makes a commercial mmWave 5G service viable. These shortcomings are exacerbated when miniaturising base stations into small cells.
Plasma Antennas has solved the 5G antenna challenge, and unlocked the 5G small cell potential at the same time. Proven for the UK defence industry, their patented plasma beam-forming technology is a market-defining innovation for mmWave applications; transforming performance, costs and simplicity. It has very low loss, low power consumption, no moving parts, no power limits, it can switch direction in just a few hundred nanoseconds and costs a fraction of phased array technology.
Small Cell Forum supports, promotes and helps drive the development and adoption of small cell technologies to improve the coverage, capacity and services delivered by mobile networks.
By promoting their use in operator networks, the ever-increasing consumer requirement for using mobile devices wherever we are, with ubiquitous coverage and an uninterrupted service, can become a reality. In 5G, URLLC (Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communications) over mmWave links present particular challenges. Innovation will be required to meet the cost and performance goals that will make 5G attractive, usable and affordable. Click here to learn more about this technology.
