Start-Up Makes Case for Software-Defined Antennas Using Metamaterials
Posted on July 15, 2017
Pivotal Commware, a start-up based in Bellevue, Wash., claims to have cracked the code to affordable phased array antennas that beam communications signals directly into devices, instead of blanketing radio waves over broad areas.
The company’s antennas rely on metamaterials instead of costly components that have confined the technology to the defense and aerospace sectors for decades. The antennas act like a platform for what Pivotal calls holographic beamforming, which acts like a traffic signaling system for radio waves to increase the throughput of 4G and 5G networks.