Anokiwave, Inc., an innovative company providing highly integrated Si ICs for mmWave ICs, and MilliBox, a mmWave test setup manufacturer, announced a collaboration to facilitate development of a unique and efficient over-the-air (OTA) test capability for mmWave phased array antennas that provides an accurate high volume test capability.
mmWave active antennas are an integral part of the emerging mmWave 5G and satcom communications systems. To commercialize mmWave active antennas, two major challenges must be solved—first, build good high performing phased array antennas that are highly efficient, low DC power, small sized and cost effective for mass scale manufacturing and deployment. The second is how to test these antennas to validate good performance before they can be deployed. For years, Anokiwave has been solving the first problem for the market, with its extensive portfolio of industry leading mmWave Si ICs, active antennas and algorithms. And now MilliBox, with its new test solution, is solving the second major challenge—successfully testing active antennas in lab and manufacturing environments. When it comes to validation of mmWave phased array antennas, an efficient, reliable OTA testing solution is required. MilliBox offers a wide range of modular, flexible, and affordable benchtop mmWave test OTA systems that are enabling Anokiwave and its customers to reach market readiness by offering a solution for complex mmWave antenna OTA test.
“Designing mmWave array active antennas is complex and testing them with accuracy in high volume is critical. We recognized the MilliBox solution as the industry leader in this area,” stated Peter Moosbrugger, Anokiwave vice president of advanced antenna technology. “After meeting at IMS2022 in Denver and seeing the MBX33 setup with GIM05, we purchased the demo unit from the floor. Soon after we installed the system in our test lab we became quite impressed by its unique performance-price position. We are now recommending MilliBox to our customers so they may quickly achieve a robust volume test capability for arrays.”
“Anokiwave has been at the forefront of mmWave IC development for years,” said Chinh H Doan, the CEO of MilliBox, “It is a very natural cooperation since we are a both looking at widening the adoption and productization of millimeter-wave technology across many markets.”