Enabling 5G · Next generation wireless solutions
Radio that aims instead of broadcasting.
The transition to 5G mobile is coming, driven by demand for higher-rate broadband at gigabits per second. Such bandwidth is made possible via new radio spectrum at 24 GHz and above, known as millimeter wave (mmWave) because its wavelengths are shorter than existing mobile radio at 6 GHz and below.
While opening much wider bands, this new spectrum is also more attenuated by the atmosphere and other objects. To overcome this attenuation, the propagated power can be aimed directly at each user with beamforming, electronically controlling an array of radios to focus energy only where it’s useful.
What it took
Millimetre wave is a system problem
New spectrum at 24 GHz and above opens much wider bands, but it is more attenuated by the atmosphere and by objects. RF Pixels built radio modules that combine RF integrated circuits, high-speed digital logic and embedded system software.
Phased-array radio
Electronically steered arrays of antennas and radios that aim energy at each user instead of broadcasting it.
RF integrated circuits
Millimetre-wave transceivers: power amplifiers, low-noise amplifiers, mixers, phase shifters, PLLs and VGAs.
High-speed digital
Digital logic and FPGA/ASIC design that turns baseband bits into broadband beams, and back.
Embedded software
Firmware and Linux system software running the radio, with open management interfaces.
The stack
Baseband bits to broadband beams
New open interfaces allow innovation across the radio access network, with mmWave radio modules connecting baseband bits to broadband beams.
Such systems comprise radio frequency integrated circuits, high-speed digital logic, and embedded system software — the company built all three.
The trade
Narrow beams, wide bands
Wider channels mean more capacity. Shorter wavelengths mean more path loss, and more loss means the energy has to be focused: an array of radios, electronically steered, rather than one antenna broadcasting in all directions.
Get in touch
Enabling 5G mmWave
The company was acquired by Skyworks in 2021. This site is a record of what RF Pixels published as an independent company.