Huawei has developed a “CableFree” antenna design for 5G base stations that significantly reduces the internal complexity for multi-band services.
Huawei’s new design features cable-free feeding and integrated phase shifters. This produces a distinct increase in antenna integration, tangibly improving antenna performance.
Highlights:
- Exceptional high-band coverage for 5G. CableFree improves antenna radiation efficiency by approximately 20%, boosting high-quality coverage of the 5G era.
- Higher output power to facilitate 5G multi-band and multi-channel applications. 5G is designed to meet high-capacity and high-speed requirements, and this highlights the necessity of introducing new spectrum and deploying high-order MIMO technology. To adapt to this trend, antennas must accommodate a high power of up to 1 kW, far above 500 to 600 watts of previous radio access technologies. CableFree increases the antenna power capacity by more than 80%, meeting the requirements for higher output power in the 5G era.
- Reduced antenna weight to facilitate installation. A higher level of antenna component integration offers an effective approach to reduce antenna weight. With CableFree, a six-band antenna can be 10 kg lighter. The weight of multi-band antennas can be kept below 50 kg. As a result, a crane is not required during installation, simplifying installation and reducing cost.
- Better PIM performance. PIM is short for passive intermodulation, reflecting signal interaction at the junction of two metal mechanical components of antennas. CableFree reduces screws and soldering points in antennas by 80%, reducing PIM risks while also ensuring long-term PIM stability. The resulting novel architecture and process further improve production automation and consistency among batches.
To date, CableFree has been successfully applied to Huawei’s Munich Pro, Golden Mini, and London Pro series antennas, as well as 32T32R Massive MIMO products, helping customers quickly deploy high-quality 5G networks.
