Connectivity Technology Blog

For nearly a year, NTT Docomo has been working with the glass manufacturer AGC to create a new transparent antenna that can work with a base station to become an antenna. We know that as we move towards higher frequency, the penetration of radio waves in building is affected. While this is not obvious in C band, it is very visible in case of mmWaves. In a recent publication titled " An Unobtrusive Antenna ", Osamu Sawaji interviewed NTT Docomo and AGC engineers about this development To solve these problems, NTT DOCOMO entered into joint development with major glass manufacturer AGC, presenting a new glass antenna in November 2018. The antenna is 85 cm wide, 21.2 cm high and 6.6 mm thick, and on first glance appears to be normal transparent glass. However, the antenna becomes a base station when connected to cables and a wireless transceiver in the ceiling and attached to indoor window glass. The antenna makes use of the laminated glass manufacturing technique used

When I last wrote about 802.11ax (a.k.a. Wi-Fi 6), I mentioned that the 5G Frequency Range 1 (FR1) has been updated to 7.125 GHz. This brought it in line with the proposed frequency for next generation Wi-Fi called 802.11be. While in theory this is great, different regions would have to release the frequency above their current 5GHz Wi-Fi frequencies. I came across this good summary regarding the road to 6 GHz in Europe. I guess once we reach 6GHz, we can go further to 7.125 GHz, in the next 3-5 years. From the description provided by the author: In Europe as well as the USA, the 6 GHz band is considered for unlicensed use. This can enable the use of Wi-Fi (WLAN) in the band. The presentation introduces you to the domain of regulatory and spectrum processes, with a deep dive on the European institutions (CEPT, ECC, ETSI). Furthermore, the incumbents of the 6 GHz band are briefly introduced. The slides and the video is embedded below. 2019 - Road to 6 GHz in Europe

A passive optical network ( PON ) is a fiber-optic telecommunications technology for delivering broadband network access to end-customers. Its architecture implements a point-to-multipoint topology, in which a single optical fiber serves multiple endpoints by using unpowered (passive) fiber optic splitters to divide the fiber bandwidth between multiple access points. Passive optical networks are often referred to as the "last mile" between an Internet service provider (ISP) and its customers. GPON stands for Gigabit Passive Optical Networks. GPON is a point-to-multi point access mechanism. Its main characteristic is the use of passive splitters in the fibre distribution network, enabling one single feeding fibre from the provider’s central office to serve multiple homes and small businesses. I first wrote about the GPON standard 12 years back, in 2007. Since then it has evolved and has different flavours. Source So while we are still using GPON heavily today, t