5G network is being used in different parts worldwide with the promise of faster download speeds, the end of dropped calls and buffering, high bandwidth communication systems that allow for remote surgery, autonomous vehicles, and enhanced virtual reality experiences.
However, 5G technology is still new and is in its infancy stage, with numerous technical challenges ahead. A new study, entitled "Perspective on ceramic materials for 5G wireless communication systems," published in Applied Physics Letters, presents an overview of the role that ceramic oxide and nitride materials will play in the future of 5G.
California-based advanced-semiconductor company Skyworks Solutions technical director, Michael Hill's paper, showed that enhancing ceramic materials could play a pivotal role in advancing the 5G technology.
Frequency Waves Needed for 5G Networks
As 5G technology becomes popular, the need to expand radio frequency bandwidth has also become essential. According to Thermo Fisher Scientific, 5G networks would use frequency waves up to 28 GHz and beyond in the years to come, known as the millimeter wave (mmWave) that sends signals very quickly and able to carry 1,000 times more data.
Accommodating the 4G network is less problematic than the significant changes needed to realize the 5G capability in higher frequency waves fully. The frequency type is tied with the overall signal strength, wherein higher frequency means shorter distances.
However, mmWave networks do not travel in densely populated areas in which buildings could interfere with the signals. To address this, new networks will have "base station" antennas and wireless "last mile" technology that uses Massive Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) technology.
Base stations can then send a focused stream of data to a specific user rather than send signals everywhere. This will allow send-and-receive signals to be sent at the same time rather than one after another.
Enhanced Ceramic Materials Could Spark Revolution of 5G Technology
Ceramic materials have advanced electrical properties that will play a pivotal role in wireless communications networks, like 5G technology.
Enhancing ceramics has been the focus of improving 5G networks, Phys.org reported. Hill and colleagues' study has developed a ceramic that could spark the revolution of 5G technology, a device that is critical for its development known as the circulator.
Ceramic materials are usually made of yttrium iron garnet, and yttrium is used as three-port devices that keep the signal flowing in one direction and allows the receiver and transmitter to share the antenna.
The researchers partially replaced the yttrium with bismuth to accommodate higher frequencies. Bismuth is a heavy element that increases the ceramic's dielectric constant and enables the miniaturization of circulators.
As the battle to enhance 5G continues, circulators could someday be replaced with high-power gallium nitride-based switches, proving how 5G networks are still in their early stage.
Like Hill said: "Millimeter-wave technology is likely to be the wild west for some time, as one technology may dominate only to be quickly supplanted by a different technology."
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