Peraso Technologies today announced its new PER-PAx patented series of phased array antenna solutions that complement the company’s 802.11ad chipsets.
The Toronto-based company said the antennas provide a cost-effective means to increase system performance and cover the extremely wide bandwidth allowed in the unlicensed 60 GHz band.
Peraso’s solution fits into a segment of the industry that has been offering fixed wireless services for years using unlicensed spectrum versus the fixed wireless access (FWA) being offered these days via 5G licensed spectrum.
The company believes FWA using unlicensed spectrum is the way to go. For one thing, operators can use the spectrum without paying expensive license fees, according to Ron Glibbery, founder and SVP of corporate development.
In terms of fixed wireless in unlicensed, “Our chipset combined with our antenna strategy makes us by far and away the most dominant chipset provider in this marketplace,” and that includes Qualcomm, he said.
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Peraso’s innovation is building the phased array millimeter antenna technology to be put right into the printed circuit board (PCB), thereby reducing the total bill of materials. In fact, the company believes it to be the most cost-effective solution in the market for unlicensed fixed wireless, according to Glibbery.
The company has been working on mmWave antennas for 10 years now and parlayed that experience to come up with its latest invention. As for the specific designs, it worked on that for probably 18 months, he said.
Its business model is unique in the sense that it doesn’t make money per se from the antenna, but licenses the technology to customers. When the company sells a chipset, it’s selling a license for its antenna technology.
Equipment vendors are Peraso’s primary customers, but some Wireless Internet Service Providers (WISPs) are taking it upon themselves to build their own equipment. Those currently are under non-disclosure agreements (NDA), but those names are likely to emerge in the weeks or months to come.
A strong feature of these products is the ability to operate up to 71 GHz, according to Glibbery The 60 GHz spectrum is notoriously susceptible to oxygen absorption, but as you get into the high 60s, such as 67-71 GHz, that attenuation essentially disappears, he said.
Peraso will be at Mobile World Congress 2020 in Barcelona later this month where it will be giving private demonstrations of its latest solutions.