Phazr, the Allen, Texas-based startup that was founded by one of the pioneers in millimeter wave technology, has received FCC and CE certification for its 5G mmWave base stations, meaning it can now offer these for commercial deployments in the U.S. and Europe.
“Phazr is the first 5G solutions provider that have been granted both FCC and CE certification for the millimeter-wave radios,” said Farooq Khan, CEO of Phazr, in a press release. “We are proud to receive these compliance certifications, which allows us to offer 5G products for early commercial deployments with customers in the US and Europe.”
Phazr’s certification covers operation in the 27.5-28.35 GHz, as well as the 31.8-33.4 GHz bands.
Phazr’s 5G New Radio (NR) vRAN mobility portfolio is being trialed today by three major U.S. operators, but Khan declined to name them, as they’re typically covered by non-disclosure agreements. He did tell FierceWirelessTech via email that the company expects 5GNR commercial deployments to start in the second quarter of 2019.
Khan, who left his position as president of Samsung Research America in 2016 to work full-time at Phazr, was instrumental in the early days getting people to take millimeter wave spectrum seriously for wireless deployments. He is one of the authors of a millimeter wave presentation that was introduced at an IEEE show back in 2011. He, along with co-author Jerry Pi, presented a tutorial proposing millimeter waves for mobile cellular communications at IEEE WCNC 2011, where they talked about unleashing the 3-300 GHz spectrum.
Phazr has a unique approach. Its 5G base stations boast what the company calls “Cliff Computing,” where massive antenna arrays, RF and baseband functions are integrated into a single physical unit, reducing latency and eliminating the need for expensive fronthaul. This approach—pushing compute beyond edge to the antenna units—enables fully digital Hyperdense beamforming at millimeter wave frequencies, allowing for multi-user support across a 120-degree sector, according to Phazr.
The company says the RF front-end is highly programmable, capable of supporting frequency bands in the 24 GHz to 40 GHz range with dual polarized multi-antenna arrays.
RELATED: Verizon seeks OK to test Phazr gear at 28, 39 GHz in Texas
Last year, Verizon got the OK (PDF) from the FCC to test equipment from multiple suppliers, including Phazr, around a Verizon office in Euless, Texas, a suburb of Fort Worth. C Spire, a regional carrier in the Southeast, also completed a technical trial with Phazr at C Spire headquarters in Ridgeland, Mississippi.
Samsung, which is supplying fixed wireless access solutions for Verizon’s 5G rollout, announced at Mobile World Congress 2018 in Barcelona that its 5G mmWave equipment had received regulatory approval from the FCC.