INITIATE = InNovatIve acTIve integrATEd antennas

Purpose and goal

The project has successfully developed (i) a research framework for co-design of integrated Doherty Power Amplifier (DPA) - antenna modules that allows to minimize the power consumption, size, and cost of 5G MIMO wireless communication transmitters; (ii) a fully-operational Antenna - DPA transmitter module, where all the desired functionalities (e.g. active load modulation, tailored power combining, and RF filtering) are realized ON-antenna, i.e. without any intermediate and potentially lossy components; and (iii) wideband perfect magnetic conductor (PMC) based packaging.

Expected results and effects

The project started from a very low TRL and generated early-on an innovative concept of Integrated Active Doherty Antenna Transmitters that can significantly improve cost- and energy efficiency of 5G wireless communication transmitters. The proof-of-concept has been successfully completed, including in-depth understanding of its fundamentals and experimental verification through a small-scale testbed. The results have been fed in product development lines at Ericsson and Gapwaves. The total global market for such multi-element antennas is in the order of GSEK.

Planned approach and implementation

The project started from a very low TRL. Nevertheless, thanks to the innovation which we generated early on (during our pre-study), we could build fast on the momentum of this innovation. The project has been truly successful both for academia and industries, where the strong involvement of both industrial partners (Gapwaves and Ericsson) from the very beginning of the project was an essential success factor. Another important factor was the inter-disciplinarity of the research expertise of the project team (antennas and circuits) the developed innovation was the result of this.