Gapwaves has completed the first phase of development of a 28 GHz active antenna with integrated chipset and analog beamforming. The antenna incorporates a high-performance filter and a transition from the printed circuit board containing the chipset to the gap waveguide. The company said this design is an iteration of the first prototype presented at Mobile World Congress in February (2018).

Simulations and measurements on the prototype show good agreement, with high antenna efficiency and low loss. The structure of the active antenna provides excellent thermal performance, according to the company.

The architecture of the Gapwaves antenna solution provides a platform to develop millimeter wave products. Future development will include digital beamforming and integration of high-efficiency power amplifiers.

The current version of the antenna with integrated chipset will be tested further and demonstrated to potential customers for 5G fixed wireless access applications.

“The antenna shows excellent performance with low losses and high-efficiency, proving the advantages of the gap waveguide technology. The results are in the absolute forefront, and for 28 GHz systems such as 5G networks and fixed wireless access solutions, they can contribute to development of solutions combining very long reach with low energy consumption.” — Thomas Emanuelsson, CTO of Gapwaves

“Gapwaves technology and the advantages that can be achieved at 28 GHz received a lot of attention at the Barcelona fair, and we are very pleased to present a prototype meeting the expectations. Further development to present a fully digital beamforming antenna for 5G is required, but I am convinced that the customers that will test and evaluate our current solution will be very impressed.” — Lars-Inge Sjöqvist, CEO of Gapwaves