Akoustis Technologies has announced that it has received a follow-on development filter order from an initial 5G network infrastructure customer. Akoustis entered into an initial development agreement with this multi-billion-dollar Tier-1 customer late in calendar 2018 with the goal of delivering high performance, high-frequency XBAW filters for 5G massive MIMO base station architectures. Akoustis’ XBAW filters would improve spectral efficiency per cell necessary for the increased capacity requirements of 5G networks.
The 5G massive MIMO sub-6 GHz large array architectures demand RF filter solutions that meet the frequency, bandwidth and power requirements - but in a smaller, lower weight filter solution compared to conventional, expensive cavity filters. Akoustis was chosen to develop micro acoustic XBAW filters for this customer given a combination of providing an ultra-small form factor solution satisfying the difficult RF as well as high-power handling.
With this second development order, the 5G network infrastructure customer has moved beyond the initial test and measurement stage and is validating potential design architectures incorporating Akoustis 5G infrastructure XBAW filters. Given a large number of radios in 5G massive MIMO base stations, this customer relationship is expected to drive significant revenue for Akoustis upon product acceptance and release, which is expected by mid-to-late-2020.
The 5G network infrastructure filters are designed and manufactured using the Company’s patented XBAW process and manufactured in the Company’s Si-MEMS Wafer Fab located in Canandaigua, NY.
Akoustis has introduced several new filters over the past twelve months including a 5.6 GHz Wi-Fi filter (AKF-1256), a 5.2 GHz WiFi filter (AKF-1252), a 4.9 GHz band n79 filter for small cell network infrastructure, a 3.8 GHz filter for defense phased-array radar applications (AKF-1938), a 3.6 GHz filter for the CBRS infrastructure market and band 25 downlink and uplink filters for LTE infrastructure. The company is also developing several new filters for the sub-7 GHz bands targeting 5G mobile devices, network infrastructure, Wi-Fi CPE and defense markets.
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