SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SkyCross announced today that it has launched a new initiative to accelerate the ability of ODMs (original design manufacturers) and OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) to utilize its iMAT technology for emerging and advanced wireless products and platforms, particularly WiFi and LTE-A (LTE-Advanced), by leveraging R&D and IP from its Center of Excellence for Mobile Data.
A critical obstacle to improving the data rates and performance of smart phones and portable devices is the challenge of locating isolated, uncorrelated, multiple antennas closely together inside a device. SkyCross’s iMAT technology overcomes this challenge by utilizing co-location techniques to address such spatial constraints while meeting the requirements of protocols such as LTE-A and WiFi. Deutsche Telekom demonstrated the potential of the iMAT technology in a field test conducted last year, showing the viability of 4x4 MIMO in a smartphone form factor. In that test, network speeds of Deutsche Telekom’s LTE network reached 580 Mbps, more than 3x faster than today’s LTE’s network throughput. More recent carrier studies conducted in late 2014 demonstrated additional network benefits from employing higher order MIMO for smartphones. However, such benefits are not achievable unless multiple antennas can be collocated in a small device.
“ODMs and OEMs must turn to new antenna technology to meet the performance demands that customers expect from their mobile and portable platforms; traditional techniques such as spatial diversity are ineffective in today’s smaller devices,” said John Marshall, Chief Marketing Officer of SkyCross. “SkyCross iMAT technology employs pattern diversity, which allows designers to locate multiple antennas in close proximity while still achieving the high isolation/low correlation needed for MIMO architectures. It combines two or more antennas electrically to enable smaller, more compact, high-performance antennas for multi-antenna applications in WiFi and LTE-A products.”
Manufacturers have employed WiFi in multi-antenna architectures for many years, typically from 2 to 4 antennas. With the advent of 2.4/5 GHz dual-band architectures employing MIMO, there are platforms that today include as many as 12 WiFi antennas at a time. Even smart phones include a larger number of WiFi antennas, employing 2x2 solutions broadly in 2014, which will increase to 3x3 and 4x4 in the future.
LTE-Advanced has accelerated the need for multiple antennas as well. Emerging LTE-A products employ multiple antennas in support of operators’ use of different bands for data and voice, different operators’/regions’/countries’ frequency bands (North America vs. Europe vs. Asia) and recently for higher-order MIMO applications (3xN, 4xN). Many operators launched 4x4 and 8x8 support in their networks in 2014, along with wireless broadband services and CPE (customer premise equipment) to match. Industry experts expect mass availability of 4xN mobile and portable devices in 1-2 years.
About SkyCross Licensing & Development Initiative
SkyCross will accelerate the ability of ODMs and OEMs to integrate its patented iMAT technology into their products by offering technology, module and manufacturing licenses. Technology licenses will enable OEMs to integrate iMAT directly into specified products and product lines, permitting manufacturing at the OEM’s discretion. Module licenses will enable module makers to integrate iMAT into front-end modules for manufacturing by ODMs and distribution to OEMs. And manufacturing licenses will enable OEMs to have a SkyCross designed iMAT antenna to be manufactured at the OEM’s discretion.
SkyCross will continue to offer antennas and will start to offer advanced modules as well. SkyCross will help ODMs and OEMs build in higher-order MIMO in WiFi and LTE-A products through a MIMO partnership program to accelerate adoption of higher-order MIMO in WiFi and LTE-A products. SkyCross will work cooperatively with ecosystem leaders for MIMO in WiFi and LTE-A, employing SkyCross iMAT technology aboard various reference platforms.
To learn more about SkyCross’ licensing and partnership programs, contact SkyCross business development here or contact its North American leadership.
SkyCross’s iMAT Technology
iMAT technology works by enabling manufacturers to combine two or more antennas electrically to reduce the interference between antennas in close proximity or improve the radiation performance by enlarging the radiating aperture. iMAT utilizes a pattern diversity technique of controlling the radiating patterns of the antenna, rather than traditional spatial diversity techniques (separating antennas with distance). SkyCross is the only company that combines pattern diversity technology and the essential IP required for designing and manufacturing compact antenna solutions. It enables ODMs and OEMs to design and manufacture smart phones and portable devices that are smaller and thinner, while at the same time offering better connectivity and performance.
To read a white paper on SkyCross’ iMAT technology, please click here.
About SkyCross Center of Excellence for Mobile Data
SkyCross’ Center of Excellence serves as a focal point for developing advanced WiFi, LTE and HetNet solutions that play an integral role in meeting soaring global demand for high-speed wireless coverage. The center focuses on both increasing coverage and boosting data communication rates. These advances give device manufacturers a new competitive advantage, and enable operator’s greater efficiency as well as additional services currently impractical due to bandwidth and coverage constraints.
To read the announcement of SkyCross’ Center of Excellence for Mobile Data, click here.
About SkyCross
SkyCross is a leading global designer and manufacturer of advanced antenna and RF solutions. SkyCross offers complete consultative RF design services and antenna solutions ranging from integrated modules, to traditional and advanced antenna solutions, to reference designs for advanced antenna and integrated RFFE solutions. Its consultative RF design process combines industry-leading technology expertise with highly experienced engineering to enable next-generation wireless solutions for mobile and connectivity applications.
The company is headquartered in San Jose, California, with full-service manufacturing facilities in South Korea and Greater China. Additional information is available at http://www.skycross.com/.
