Akihabara News (Tokyo) — NTT Docomo and glass manufacturer AGC announced that they have developed a prototype metasurface that allows 5G radio signals to pass through closed windows, solving one of the key limitations of 5G technology.
With the application of the metasurface, tests have shown that 28-GHz 5G radio signals received from outdoors can efficiently pass through building windows to indoor locations with the signals remaining strong.
Although 5G technology is bringing much faster speeds to wireless devices, it has the drawback of not being able to travel over long distances and being relatively easily blocked by large physical objects such as buildings in urban settings. Potentially, the metasurface could thus reduce the number of 5G base stations that are needed to form a network.
The metasurface lens material developed by Docomo and AGC is a transparent film that can cover virtually the entire inside surface of a window. The material has no effect on LTE and sub-6 band radio waves, so it can be used to improve indoor reception of 28 GHz radio signals without affecting the performance of legacy wireless frequencies.
Trials also verify that structural design technology can be deployed to enable the metasurface lenses to allow high-frequency radio signals to penetrate glass that has been coated for heat insulation.
This technology is believed to be a world’s first.