Report
Teaser, summary, work performed and final results
Periodic Reporting for period 1 - SAT Phase 1 (A study to assess the feasibility of commercialising a new antenna system, currently at TRL7, for the Global mobile user market.)
Teaser
Smart Antenna Technologies (“SAT“) SAT designs, develops and has patented new smart antenna technologies that offers both size and performance improvements, in excess of those obtained with conventional antenna designs, at a reduced cost. The modular system developed also...
Summary
Smart Antenna Technologies (“SAT“) SAT designs, develops and has patented new smart antenna technologies that offers both size and performance improvements, in excess of those obtained with conventional antenna designs, at a reduced cost. The modular system developed also enables SAT to easily and quickly construct bespoke antenna systems for different applications (laptops, tablets, TVs, mobile phones, vehicles, “internet of things†etc etc ) as well as being future proofed – ie the technology already supports the new and emerging 4G LTE-Advanced market and has future proofing for new markets and new frequencies that emerge over time.
SAT is currently working closely with a small number of global OEM manufacturers on a non exclusive basis, with a prototype which is currently operational (TRL 7), and is now looking to roll this new technology out to a number of other global OEMs in selected markets. With the funding from Horizon 2020 and the limited internal resources, SAT is now conducting this analysis to select the most suitable parties to work with to bring this to market in the most timely and appropriate scenario. The final objective is to have as many of the global mobile device OEMs using SAT’s new more advanced, smaller antenna technology as possible, subject to the optimum commercial terms as finally agreed.
The objective of the project is to write a feasibility study to more accurately assess the market needs and exact technological requirements, and hence commercial potential of the next generation of antenna systems. With this information, SAT will then be in a strong position to prioritise its effort in terms of which sector to initially focus on (phones, laptops, TVs, internet of things etc), what if any are the additional bespoke requirements of clients within each sector, and the relative timing to market, in addition to the financial/economic cost benefit analysis.
The global OEMs in these sectors are demanding antenna systems which are smaller, more technologically advanced than the previous generation, future proofed (Dual-Band MIMO Wi-Fi, 4G LTE-Advanced, 4.5G, 4.9G and 5G etc), and often with additional bespoke specifications, all at reduced cost and power consumption. The benefits to society of reduced power consumption, longer battery life, being future proof and therefore increasing the components/equipment life, less waste, and with a more advanced technology in smaller (less materials) antennas are clearly obvious. In addition, SAT’s new antenna systems will also reduce the number of antennas required in a laptop/tablet (resulting in significant cost reduction), freeing up more space for other components (and/or reduction of the size of the laptop).
On the commercial side, SAT’s objective is to determine the cost benefit analysis more accurately, and ultimately the potential return on investment. With this information SAT will be in a strong position to write an accurate informed and focused business plan to raise further capital via future grant applications, and/or from its current equity investors and/or to secure further investment from new equity investors, as required.
Work performed
The aim of the feasibility study is to achieve an accurate assessment of the commercial potential of the new antenna system and to understand what, if any modifications may be required for each specific laptop/smart phone/TV manufacturer in order to get the new antenna systems into production as soon as possible. With regard to methodology, the work began by re-establishing contact with not only the end users (global laptop and tablet manufacturers/OEMs but also number of companies which manufacture antenna systems/chips for them. SAT had already been in contact with most of these key parties when it started the project 2 years ago, before it selected one global player to work more closely with. Because it does not have an exclusive agreement with this global laptop manufacturer, it is free to reconnect with these other parties. The second stage of the project was to meet/discuss with them to evaluate their key criteria (timing, technical specifications, market size etc) and also the potential commercial terms. With this information SAT is now in a position to produce a comprehensive business plan including a cost/benefit analysis, and presentation material etc. for its Board. Following these preliminary meetings, and armed with this information, in the third stage SAT’s Board is now in a position to decide a strategy to commercialise the technology, on how much capital it will need to execute the selected strategy, the sources of capital it has available, staffing levels, and timing etc in order to go to market as soon as possible to exploit its technological lead.
Final results
As set out above, by developing and ultimately commercialising more advanced, lower power, longer lasting antenna systems for mobile applications (smart phones, laptops, TVs, internet of small things etc etc), where fewer antenna systems are needed in each device, SAT believes that its technology will have a huge positive impact on reducing society’s carbon footprint and waste. With the enhanced technical performance there are also the obvious safety benefits of these new antenna systems, for example in the development of radar sensors for cars with enhanced sensitivity when it comes to potential crash/impact situations and/or driverless cars.
Website & more info
More info: http://www.smartantennatech.com.