Airgain has launched a 5G millimeter wave (mmWave) beamforming antenna that supports 5G frequency bands from 24 GHz to 40 GHz and is scalable for rays in up to 64 elements.
Airgain said that beamforming is critical for increasing spectral efficiencies because mmWave, which allows faster speeds and latency, is hampered by high propagation loss and demands high bandwidth in 5G new radio (NR) systems. The newly announced antenna uses a reference design that supports both passive and active beamforming architectures. It allows for the rapid development of integrated antenna solutions for 5G devices that use mmWave frequency bands including small cells and fixed wireless access gateways.
“We have timed the introduction of this antenna to align with the anticipated ramp in the availability of 5G NR baseband chipsets in 2020,” said Kevin Thill, senior vice president of engineering at Airgain. “The 5G baseband chipset market is expected to open up in 2020. The introduction of our mmWave beamforming antenna means we are capable of supporting OEM's rapid integration of 5G NR capable devices.”
Airgain will demonstrate the new 5G mmWave beamforming antenna array during CES 2020, which will be held Jan. 7-10 in Las Vegas.
