South Korea’s tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. unveiled more milestones to stay at the lead in setting the standard for the next-generation wireless technology dubbed as 5G - a minuscule portable antenna and power amplifier technologies to allow Internet connectivity in any mobile devices while commanding high frequencies over greater distance without losing power efficiency.

The case-integrated antenna incorporates dozens of antenna elements in a module that is less than 1mm thick. The power amplifiers double output power and improve energy efficiency by more than 50 percent, the company said in a statement.

The minuscule prototype is a milestone allowing smaller stationary hot spots in urban areas for mobility 5G must encompass. Many predict 5G standard won’t be commercialized before the next decade, but the race is already hot among technology companies as the new wireless standard could elevate mobile Internet application and connectivity to a new level as to eventually allow real-time self-driving on road.

Hot spots need to be smaller and cost-efficient to be stationed as many places as possible to enable seamless connectivity in dense urban areas at Internet speed of more than 10 gigabits per second as high frequency in millimeter wave (mmWave) is possible in short range. The technology will be applied to 5G base stations using 28GHz mmWave spectrum that the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning has set as standards for 5G test service.

“We are very focused on developing technologies that improve and accelerate the realization of a new generation of mobile networks and devices. Samsung will continue to increase its momentum in the development of exciting new 5G technologies,” said Paul Kyungwhoon Cheun, executive vice president and head of Next Generation Business Team at Samsung Electronics.

The company has started developing 5G technologies since 2011 and recorded the world’s first gigabit per second throughput benchmarks using next-generation prototype technologies in 2013. In 2014, it achieved consistent 1.2Gbps throughputs at speeds of 110km/h. Most recently, it announced the world’s first handover demonstration in a multi-cell mmWave network as a leading mobile communications infrastructure provider.

By Lee Gyung-jin

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