Easing deployments for small cell mobile backhaul

Under the agreement, imec and InterDigital’s 5G research team will work together to develop a high gain, wideband radio and phased array antenna with fast electrical steering in azimuth and elevation. Imec’s fourth generation phased array antenna technology will be combined with InterDigital’s directional mesh backhaul and 5G access link technologies. This will be deployed on  InterDigital’s mmW Hotspot Demonstration Platform, which is being designed for Gb/s rates across small cell backhaul radio links.

Current mmW solutions for backhaul are fixed point-to-point, creating costly installation expenses for installers to align links and capital expenditures for additional radios for each connection. InterDigital and imec will provide radio and phased array technologies to combine the high gain needed to close mmW links with the rapid beam steering that enables reliable and cost-effective mesh network small cell backhaul solutions.

“Imec’s R&D on 60GHz phased-array radios has resulted in small CMOS-based solutions with record low power consumption for 802.11ad/WiGiG. Our collaboration with InterDigital builds on our established technology track record and reflects the value of our expertise. Together, we aim at leveraging our expertise for outdoor backhaul solutions. This collaboration is a reinforcement of our strategy to bring attractive implementations for 5G terminals and networks to the industry,” comments Liesbet Van der Perre, Programme Director, Wireless Communications, imec.

Doug Castor, Principal Engineer, InterDigital, commented: “Phased array antennas are a cornerstone to mmW wireless evolution and we are very excited to be collaborating with imec’s world-renowned research team. I’m confident that their mmW technology, and the expertise of their researchers, will be a great complement to InterDigital’s 5G development projects."