As the use of 5G and 6G next-generation communication technologies expands, the concept of intelligent adaptive beamforming technology that compensates for path loss caused by the highly direct nature of millimeter wave (mmWave) waves has been presented and garnered attention.

A technical webinar sponsored by Mouser Korea was held online on the e4ds EEwebinar platform on the 18th. In this webinar, designed to assist IT industry engineers, SkyChips CEO Kang-Yoon Lee presented on the topic of "5G wireless communication chips and AI solutions."

SKAI Chips is a fabless company that possesses semiconductor design and development solutions in power ICs, RF ICs, and analog-digital mixed-signal. It is focusing on developing low-power RF chips by applying AI neuromorphic technology.

In this webinar, CEO Kang-Yoon Lee also focused on neuromorphic-based adaptive beamforming technology that is essential for use in the millimeter wave band.

With recent changes in the communications environment, data traffic is rapidly increasing at an average annual rate of 47% worldwide. Key factors include high transmission speeds of gigabit, low latency of less than 1 ms, and connection stability.
Because millimeter waves have narrow coverage, small cell base stations must be used to expand coverage and improve communication quality. Starting with 4G (LTE), data rates have increased and MIMO (Multiple-Input and Multiple-Output, multi-antenna technology) and beamforming have begun to be applied. MIMO technology is essential to cope with path loss that occurs as the frequency band increases.

The representative emphasized the importance of antenna technology in the millimeter-wave challenge, explaining, "We need to increase the number of antennas in the antenna array to sufficiently increase the transmission power." Because the power level that can be transmitted from an antenna is limited, using multiple antennas can overcome this limitation.

Furthermore, scanning and moving target capabilities are required in environments where targets, such as user devices and connected cars, are moving, and blocking by obstacles must be considered. In terms of communication beam steering, 4G has a relatively wide steering angle of 70 to 90 degrees and boasts high peripheral propagation. In contrast, millimeter wave has a narrower steering angle of 2 to 3 degrees, but its average data rate reaches 50 Gbps, a significant difference compared to 4G's 50 Mbps.

In response, CEO Lee stated, "It's crucial for millimeter-wave small cells to accurately direct beams to the desired device," and proposed the concept of adaptive beamforming technology. He explained that by applying AI technology to beamforming, rapid connection is possible as soon as the user device's location is identified.

He noted that one of the key technologies is compensating for the distance and time differences between signals coming from the wavefront and combining them into a single signal. He also explained that time delays between adjacent antennas also occur, and this must be compensated for.

The AI applied to beamforming was designed to perform calculations with low power by applying neuromorphic technology. In addition, analog processors lacked flexibility in real-time changes, but by applying AI beamforming technology to wireless communication chips, they can be equipped with characteristics that maximize flexibility in real-time changes.
CEO Lee Kang-yoon, who stated that AI can be applied to a wide range of fields, emphasized that the government is investing heavily in Process-In-Memory (PIM) technology and that there is a high possibility that 5G communications and PIM technology can be combined.

The 5G wireless communications market is expected to have high future growth and usability not only in mobile and automotive, but also in healthcare and IoT, and it appears necessary to develop technologies that cover the shortcomings of millimeter-wave characteristics and maximize their advantages.

Meanwhile, e4ds is committed to providing diverse and in-depth technical webinars to enhance the capabilities of engineers and developers and contribute to the advancement of the IT industry.