5G fuels millimeter-wave opportunities
5G proposals for enhanced broadband services leverage millimeter-wave technologies, with the aim of capitalizing on vast radio spectrum resources in the vicinity of 30 GHz and above. Historically millimeter wave spectrum has seen limited use, primarily because it has challenging radio propagation characteristics and requires costly radio components.
Conventional wisdom, and what the “learned” refer to as the “laws of physics”, tells us that when the carrier frequency of a radio system is increased, all other things being equal, the system has reduced coverage. It is for this reason that a cellular network operating for example in the 900-MHz band can achieve the same coverage as another cellular network using 1800-MHz spectrum, with the less radio base stations.
Based on this conventional wisdom, millimeter-wave solutions would have pathetic coverage, unless highly directional antennas are used to focus the signal between the transmitting and receiving devices.
While this conventional wisdom holds true when standard technologies and system designs are used, it is not the full story. Ironically, the laws of physics come to the rescue, with advanced technologies to enable millimeter wave coverage that is sufficient for 5G.
Performance gains
Firstly, with advancements in signal processing, tremendous radio performance gains can be achieved using advanced antenna arrays that consist of many antenna elements to independently capture multi-path (scattered) signals (the “techies” call this massive MIMO) and adaptive beam-forming to direct the antenna gain towards the strongest signal components.
However there is a catch. The performance of these advanced antenna systems generally increases with the number of antenna elements that are used. The length of each antenna element is proportional to wavelength of the radio signals; and for an antenna array to be effective, the antenna elements must be sufficiently spaced relative to the wavelength.
In the past, designers have not capitalized on these reflected and scattered signals, but rather have relied on line-of-sight (LOS) transmission paths with highly directional antennas. More recently, researchers, have demonstrated that when advanced antenna technologies are used in urban environments, reliable millimeter wave coverage can be achieved over several hundred meters with non-LOS connectivity.
This coverage is comparable to that of conventional cellular small-cells. In LOS scenarios, researchers have observed millimeter wave coverage of up to several kilometers when advanced antenna technologies are used.
The opportunities that 5G creates for millimeter-wave technologies and solutions has not gone unnoticed by mobile industry players and the investment community. Technology vendors, network operators, and even government regulators and incubators are aggressively pursuing technology trials. Investors are targeting players with millimeter wave spectrum holdings and startup technology companies with semiconductor and digital and analog solutions for millimeter wave implementations.
