The Smart Antenna Market Soaring Thanks to 5G

Antennas are used for a huge range of applications, from mobile phones and “smart” Wi-Fi-connected appliances to GPS and systems that track aircraft and help pilots land safely.

These systems usually have a few things in common:

• The antenna itself, which manipulates electromagnetic radiation in the radio and microwave parts of the spectrum
• A receiver (if the system receives signals)
• A transmitter (if the system transmits)

Over the years, several distinct types of antennas have come into common use, with designs, frequencies and operating power levels that depend strongly on their purpose. This would include things like patch antennas in mobile phones, wire antennas in household radio receivers, and reflector antennas for satellite TV.

The smart antenna market has benefited significantly from the development and operation of 5G networks. Experts in this area predict 5G cellular will facilitate considerable advancement in communications, applications, content and commerce. One of the most important aspects of 5G is the New Radio (NR) portion that utilizes millimeter wave radio frequency (RF) propagation.

5G NR (5GNR) involves a much lower wavelength (millimeter as compared to centimeter to a meter for LTE) and therefore a higher frequency.

Physics dictates that higher frequencies need more power and/or more coverage as an RF signal fades more than a lower frequency signal. This is why there will need to be at least an order of magnitude more antennas than required for LTE.

Putting this into perspective, the United States is likely going from roughly 30,000 antennas to 300,000 or more nationally.

Mind Commerce sees the global market for single input multiple output 5G smart antenna solutions reaching $3.5 billion by 2028.

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