Public testbed to speed the path to 5G

The NYU WIRELESS research centre has announced it will build an advanced programmable platform to design, prototype, and validate technologies vital for the millimetre wave (mmWave) radio spectrum, which is claimed to be potentially key to launching 5G.


Funded by a National Science Foundation (NSF) programme that supports exploratory work on potentially transformative research, the platform will be one of the first of its kind available to researchers from academia, government, and industry that are driving the early stages of mmWave technology.

mmWave communication relies on highly directional transmissions in which energy is concentrated in narrow beams. Current mmWave prototyping systems use directional horn antennas mounted on mechanically rotatable gimbals. These mechanical systems are too large and slow for mobile applications. 

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