Page 100 - SAMENA Trends - January-February 2023

TECHNOLOGY UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

technique outperformed other state-of-the- and 75 mW at frequencies of 28 GHz, 39 are better than 50dB and over 36dB for the
art multi-band receivers. The harmonic- GHz, 47.2 GHz, and 60.1 GHz, respectively). entire supported (24–71) GHz operation
selection technique enabled operation "By combining a dual-mode multi-band LNA region. With new 5G frequency bands on
between (24.25—71) GHz while showing with a polyphase filter, the device realizes the horizon, such low-noise broadband
above 36-dB inter-band blocker rejection. rejections to inter-band blockers better than receivers will prove to be useful," concludes
Additionally, the power consumed by the other state-of-the-art filters. This means Prof. Okada.
receiver was low (36 mW, 32 mW, 51 mW, that for currently used bands, the rejections

3D-Printed Antennas Could Bring 5G and 6G to Remote Communities by

University of Sheffield

3D-printed radio antennas that could help up access to the technologies for people with similar performance capabilities as
bring stronger mobile phone signals and living in remote areas, both in the U.K. and antennas manufactured in the conventional
faster internet connections to people living in around the world. Antennas currently used way which usually cost hundreds of pounds
remote communities have been developed to build telecommunication networks are to create. Below are some 3D surface
by researchers at the University of Sheffield. typically slow and costly to manufacture. plots created at the measurement lab—
The millimeter wave (mmWave) aerials, This is hindering innovation, delaying the these plots show a comparison between
which have been designed, made and development of prototypes and making a traditionally manufactured example,
tested by researchers from the University it difficult to build new infrastructure. The and the 3D printed antenna created by the
of Sheffield's Department of Electronic and researchers at Sheffield have developed a team at the University of Sheffield. The
Electrical Engineering, have radio frequency new design that enables radio antennas antennas use silver nanoparticles, which
performance that matches those produced to be made much cheaper and faster have excellent electrical properties for
using conventional manufacturing using 3D printing without compromising radio frequency, and have been tested at
techniques. The 3D-printed antennas could on performance. The technique means various frequencies used by 5G and 6G
speed up the development of new 5G and antennas can be produced in as little as networks, up to 48 GHz. Their gain and time
6G infrastructure as well as help to open a few hours, for only a few pounds, but domain response—affecting the direction
and strength of signal they can receive and
transmit—is almost indistinguishable from
those manufactured traditionally. Eddie
Ball, from the Communications Research
Group at the University of Sheffield, said,
"This 3D-printed design could be a game
changer for the telecommunications
industry. It enables us to prototype and
produce antennas for 5G and 6G networks
at a far lower cost and much quicker than
the current manufacturing techniques.
The design could also be used to produce
antennas on a much larger scale and
therefore have the capability to cover
more areas and bring the fastest mobile
networks to parts of the world that have not
yet had access." Radio frequency testing
of the antenna was performed using the
University of Sheffield's industry-leading
UKRI National mmWave Measurement
Lab. The mmWave measurement facility
can measure systems on chip and
antennas to 110GHz, which is invaluable
for communications research, such as that
carried out on the 3D-printed antenna.

100 JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2023