Akoustis Technologies, Inc. Receives Second 5G Network Infrastructure Development Filter Order from Tier-1 Customer for 5G Massive MIMO Architecture
January 14, 2020 at 05:30 pm IST
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Akoustis Technologies, Inc. announced it has received a follow-on development filter order from its initial 5G network infrastructure customer. Akoustis entered into an initial development agreement with this multi-billion-dollar Tier-1 customer late in calendar 2018 with the goal of delivering high performance, high frequency XBAW filters for 5G massive MIMO base station architectures. Akoustis’ XBAW filters would improve spectral efficiency per cell necessary for the increased capacity requirements of 5G networks. The 5G massive MIMO sub-6 GHz large array architectures demand RF filter solutions that meet the frequency, bandwidth and power requirements - but in a smaller, lower weight filter solution compared to conventional, expensive cavity filters. Akoustis was chosen to develop micro acoustic XBAW filters for this customer given a combination of providing an ultra-small form factor solution satisfying the difficult RF as well as high-power handling. With this second development order, the 5G network infrastructure customer has moved beyond the initial test and measurement stage and is validating potential design architectures incorporating Akoustis 5G infrastructure XBAW filters. Given the large number of radios in 5G massive MIMO base stations, this customer relationship is expected to drive significant revenue for Akoustis upon product acceptance and release, which is expected by mid-to-late-2020.
Akoustis Technologies, Inc. is a commercial product company. The Company operates through two segments: Fabrication Services and RF Filters. Its Fabrication Services segment consists of engineering review services and backend packaging services. Its RF Filters segment consists of amplifier and filter product sales. The Company develops RF filters for fifth generation (5G), wireless fidelity (WiFi) and defense bands through its resonator device models and product design kits (PDKs). It is focused on developing, designing, and manufacturing RF filter solutions for the wireless industry for products, including smartphones and tablets, network infrastructure equipment, WiFi Customer Premise Equipment (CPE), automotive, industrial and defense applications. The Company has developed a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) based bulk acoustic wave (BAW) technology. It is also engaged in providing back-end semiconductor supply chain services.