Akoustis Technologies, Inc., an integrated device manufacturer (IDM) of patented bulk acoustic wave (BAW) high-band RF filters for mobile and other wireless applications, announced that it has achieved design lock and shipped its C-band filter for the drone market supporting unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). The filters will be used for control and non-payload communication (CNPC) links.
This announcement marks the 12th design locked XBAW filter that Akoustis has produced, a six-fold increase in catalog filters in the last year. The catalog now includes three 5G network infrastructure filters, two high-band WiFi filters and seven defense filters including the drone/UAS filter.
Jeff Shealy, founder and CEO of Akoustis, stated,
“As we continue to leverage our proprietary and patented XBAW process for new high frequency RF filter applications, we are shortening our modeling and design times, which has led to a rapidly expanding product catalog. We expect to continue growing our product portfolio as we push into new frequency bands and new markets. We are excited to add the cutting-edge drone market as a new business vertical.”
Originally expected to be delivered in the September quarter, the new drone filter was designed, developed and delivered by Akoustis in under three months. The Company expects to deliver a qualified XBAW drone filter and expects to receive commercial orders by the end of March 2021.
The new filter will operate in a key C-band frequency (within the 4-8 GHz frequency spectrum), that is under consideration for licensing by the FCC, where Akoustis has historically focused its development efforts and has delivered its first designs for high-band WiFi, 5G infrastructure, 5G mobile devices and defense applications. The filter is expected to use the same supply chain and packaging as the current 5 GHz WiFi filters and 5G infrastructure filters.
CNPC is Command and Control (C2) frequency modulated radio intended for point-to-point or networked UAS operations for Beyond Line of Sight Operation (BLOS). The shipments were to a new defense customer, but the filter is expected to have wider market applications for commercial and consumer drones and other aircraft.
The XBAW UAS filter features:
• Low insertion loss passband filter
• High frequency C-Band operation
• High rejection
• Single ended Tx/Rx ports
• High power rating, maximum +30dBm
• Ultra small form factor 2.5mm x 2.0mm x 0.9mm
• Performance over -40C to +85C
• RoHS compliant, Pb-free package
The UAS filter is manufactured using the Company’s patented XBAW process housed within the Company’s Si-MEMS Wafer Fab located in Canandaigua, NY.
Akoustis has introduced several new filters over the past twelve months including a 5.6 GHz WiFi filter, a 5.2 GHz WiFi filter, two small cell network infrastructure filters including a 4.9 GHz band n79 filter , a 3.8 GHz filter and five S-Band filters for defense phased-array radar applications, a 3.6 GHz filter for the CBRS infrastructure market and a C-Band filter for the unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) market. The Company is also developing several new filters for the sub-7 GHz bands targeting 5G mobile device, network infrastructure, WiFi CPE and defense markets.
Source: Press Release