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Sam Benzacar of Anatech Electronics, an RF and microwave filter company, has published
his August 2021 newsletter that features his short op-ed entitled "The Millimeter-Wave
Debacle Revisited," where he notes, "there are good reasons why few have dared to
tread there, not the least of which are extremely challenging propagation characteristics,
very short range, and the need to rely on complex technologies to make communications
possible. I found it interesting that, except for a few bold journalists, hardly
anyone has asked whether, with all these challenges, it will be economically feasible,
at least initially, to use these frequencies." Sam also presents some relevant industry
news items as well.
A Word from Sam Benzacar
The Millimeter-Wave Debacle Revisited
 By Sam Benzacar
One of the big reveals when the 5G standards were released was that it would
expand the frequencies used by wireless carriers well into the millimeter-wave spectrum,
a region previously used only by satellite communications, defense systems, point-to-point
microwave links, and some scientific applications. As I've noted previously in this
column, there are good reasons why few have dared to tread there, not the least
of which are extremely challenging propagation characteristics, very short range,
and the need to rely on complex technologies to make communications possible. I
found it interesting that, except for a few bold journalists, hardly anyone has
asked whether, with all these challenges, it will be economically feasible, at least
initially, to use these frequencies. But some researchers and financial organizations
have begun to ask this question, finally.
For proof of how expensive millimeter-wave deployment will actually be, consider
that back in 2019 Google conducted a study for the Defense Innovation Board to determine
how many millimeter-wave base stations will be needed. The researchers used 425
MHz of spectrum at 28 GHz and compared it with 250 MHz of spectrum at 3.4 GHz. They
deployed millimeter-wave infrastructure on 72,325 macro cell towers and rooftops,
and deduced that coverage would be available to just 11.6% of the U.S. population
at speeds at 100 Mb/s and 3.9% coverage at 1 Gb/s.
In comparison, at frequencies below 6 GHz, the same tower sites covered 57.4%
of the population at 100 Mb/s and 21.2% of the population at 1 Gb/s. Using a database
of utility poles in the U.S., they determined that using 28 GHz as the study frequency
about 13 million and $400 billion in capital expenditures will be required to deliver
100 Mb's to 72% of the U.S. population and 1 Gb/s to 55% of the population. Even
with the deep pockets of wireless carriers, this is an astronomical amount of money.
What's more disturbing is that the U.S. is an outlier as it concerns the use
of millimeter-wave frequencies, being almost the only country that is so heavily
invested in this region of the spectrum. This being said, the FCC has been feverishly
finding ways to squeeze more out of the frequencies below about 7 GHz as it is becoming
more clear than ever that relying on very high frequencies as a fundamental element
of 5G might be a great idea in the long run, but for the near future it's a Sisyphean
challenge.
Anatech Electronics has been providing standard and custom RF and microwave filters
and other filter-based components to solve interference problems for utilities,
oil and gas companies, and organization with similar requirements for more than
30 years, and we can solve yours as well. So, reach out to us with your most challenging
problems at (973) 442-7272 or visit our website at
anatechelectronics.com. Below
are same links to products that helps Technically RF filters are in most cases specifically
designed as a narrow band frequency selective device in the design of communication
systems or to remove interference coming from a co-site transmitter, satellites,
wireless communication site.
We can always find a solution! Standard Band Pass Filters library
5G Infrastructure Market Is Accelerating
 By any yardstick,
deployment of 5G wireless infrastructure is booming. The CTIA reports that the industry
spent $30 billion in networks last year, a 5-year high and the third year of increased
capital expenditures. And in the past five years, wireless carriers have spent nearly
$140 billion for a total investment of more than $600 billion, not including spectrum
acquired at auction. In the last two years, more cell sites have been added than
the previous 7 years combined. The research group IDTechEx predicts that by 2031
45 million cells will have been deployed, primarily for millimeter-wave frequencies.
Energy Harvesting Tag Start-up Gets Cash
 Wiliot, an IoT startup
that has developed low-cost Bluetooth sensors to manage inventory and reduce waste
across grocery, medicine, apparel and myriad other industries, has raised $200 million
from SoftBank Vision Fund 2. The company's battery-free sensor is the size of a
postage stamp and attaches to food packaging, vaccine vials, clothes, pill bottles,
and thousands of other products. The tags harvest power from Wi-Fi, cellular, and
Bluetooth signals and the stickers can sense temperature, fill level, motion, location
changes, humidity and proximity in real-time. Data is fed into a private Wiliot
cloud server for analysis.
Part of Arlington, VA is Getting "Smart"
 AT&T and JBG Smith,
a developer of upscale, mixed-use properties in the Washington, DC market, plan
to create the first 5G smart city at scale in National Landing1 in Arlington, VA,
with first network infrastructure deployments planned for the first half of next
year. JBG Smith's National Landing portfolio spans 6.8 million square feet of existing
office space, 2,856 residential units, and 7.2 million square feet of commercial,
multi-family and retail development. The company is also the development partner
for Amazon's second headquarters and master developer for Virginia Tech's forthcoming
$1 billion Innovation Campus
Vertical (Z-axis) Location Technology from NextNav
 Vertical (Z-axis) location
technology from NextNav is coming to the nation's FirstNet nationwide public safety
broadband networks soon, according to the company. The solution is one of very few
that have solved this long-standing gap in positioning required so first responders
can accelerate their responses. Currently, cell site triangulation for 911 callers
using mobile phones from multi-story buildings is extremely difficult because the
Z-axis accuracy is wholly inadequate. Wireless carriers have agreed with the FCC
to implement Z-axis solutions from companies like NextNav and Polaris Wireless by
April of next year.
E
T
Getting Ready for 5G:
Anatech Electronics introduce New Ka band 30.5 GHz Waveguide Band Pass Filter.
Featuring a center frequency of 30.5 GHz, a bandwidth of 1000 MHz, an Insertion
Loss 1 dB Max, and a Power Handling is 20 watts.
Anatech Electronics Introduces a New Line of Suspended Stripline and
Waveguide Type RF Filters
Check out Our Filter Products
Cavity Band Pass Filters
LC Band Pass Filters Cavity Bandstop/Notch Filter
About Anatech Electronics
Anatech Electronics, Inc. (AEI) specializes in the design and manufacture of
standard and custom RF and microwave filters and other passive components and subsystems
employed in commercial, industrial, and aerospace and applications. Products are
available from an operating frequency range of 10 kHz to 30 GHz and include cavity,
ceramic, crystal, LC, and surface acoustic wave (SAW), as well as power combiners/dividers,
duplexers and diplexers, directional couplers, terminations, attenuators, circulators,
EMI filters, and lightning arrestors. The company's custom products and capabilities
are available at www.anatechelectronics.com.
Contact:
Anatech Electronics, Inc. 70 Outwater Lane Garfield, NJ 07026 (973)
772-4242
sales@anatechelectronics.com
Posted August 18, 2021
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