“This success story explores the validation of Visionox’s leading AoD technology (the world's thinnest AoD co-layered with touch sensors) using TMYTEK's advanced mmW-SDR platform. This demonstration showcases interactive real-time, high-data-rate wireless video transmission through 5G mmWave band n261 centered at 28 GHz.”

Dr. Huan-Chu Huang (IET Fellow & EMA Fellow), Senior Antenna Technology Expert, Visionox Technology Inc., China

Introduction

This success story explores the validation of Visionox’s leading AoD technology (the world's thinnest AoD co-layered with touch sensors) using TMYTEK's advanced mmW-SDR platform. This demonstration showcases interactive real-time, high-data-rate wireless video transmission through 5G mmWave band n261 centered at 28 GHz.

For smartphones utilizing 5G and beyond 5G (B5G) technologies, such as 6G, the number of antennas is significantly higher than in legacy 4G phones. The screen-to-body ratios of 5G and B5G smartphones are also increasing. As a result, significant design challenges have emerged in integrating antennas with displays, driving the development of innovative antenna technologies.

User interference and metallic obstructions typically easily impact traditional handset antennas, leading to poor wireless communication quality. Antenna-on-Display (AoD) technology effectively mitigates these issues by relocating and embedding visually transparent antennas onto the display. This reduces blockage (e.g., users’ hands, especially in landscape mode for games or videos; or by metal tables) and broadens antenna beam coverage, thus enhancing wireless communication quality.

Image 1: Dr. Huan-Chu Huang introducing Visionox’s Antenna-on-Display (AoD) technology using TMYTEK mmW-SDR platform.

Image 2: Visionox’s world-leading thinnest AoD design architecture reduces blockage caused by hands and metal, significantly widening beam coverage.

Challenge

Traditional built-in mobile phone antennas are highly susceptible to performance degradation due to user interference and obstructions such as hands or metal objects. This degradation leads to poor wireless communication quality, which is an increasingly difficult challenge as more smartphones adopt higher screen-to-body ratios.

In view of this issue, based on the AoD technology, Visionox proposed the industry-leading design. Specifically, they needed to verify beam management and transmission characteristics to ensure that the AoD could provide reliable and robust wireless communication. Without proper validation, demonstrating the full potential and advantages of AoD technology over conventional antenna systems would be very difficult.

Solution: Validation with TMYTEK mmW-SDR

To validate the efficacy of AoD technology, Dr. Huan-Chu Huang and his team leveraged TMYTEK's mmW-SDR platform, which integrates mmWave technology with software-defined radio (SDR) capabilities, providing a versatile testbed for wireless research and development. This innovative mmW-SDR solution features the full capability of the antenna systems with beamforming, enabling rapid prototyping and algorithm testing, and thus offering an adaptable testbed for developing versatile wireless communication applications.

Image 3: The combination of mmWave technology with software-defined radio (SDR) capabilities offers a versatile testbed for wireless research and development.

Key Components of mmW-SDR:

mmWave Beamformers (BBox): Comprises RF components: T/R switches, PA, LNA and phase shifters for beam steering, management and tracking
Broadband Frequency Converter (UD Box): Extends research capabilities to mmWave frequencies, covering RF spectrum ranges of 24‒44 GHz
NI USRP 2974: A multi-channel SDR capable of handling frequencies from 10 MHz to 6 GHz with two independent TX and RX channels

Success story Implementation:

1.Setup:

Visionox’s AoD prototype, incorporating a visually transparent 1 x 4 antenna array, was connected to the mmW-SDR testbed
The UD Box converted the baseband frequencies to mmWave frequencies, while the USRP 2974 generated baseband signals for communication
A horn antenna was used as part of the receiver setup to monitor signal transmission and reception

2.Testing Scenarios:

Obstruction Testing: Dr. Huang demonstrated how blocking the antenna with a user’s hand significantly dropped the signal gain. Upon removing the hand, the performance recovered instantly, highlighting the excellent sensitivity and real-time adaptability of the AoD
Signal Integrity: Continuous signal transmission was tested under various conditions, including different hand positions and movements, to simulate real-world usage
Beam Management: Utilizing TMYTEK's beamformers, the team conducted beam management and tracking tests to ensure the AoD maintained optimal performance across different orientations and positions

Image 4: Scenarios with and without hand blocking.

Results

The validation process confirmed that AoD technology, when integrated with the TMYTEK mmW-SDR platform, delivered stable real-time wireless performance. Key observations included:

Improved Signal Integrity: The AoD maintained high signal integrity even under challenging usage conditions (e.g., landscape mode held by both hands for playing games or watching videos) that would easily block conventional antennas, especially mmWave types, severely impacting wireless performance
Enhanced User Experience: By relocating the antenna(s) to the display, higher data rates and lower drop-call rates were effectively achieved for a vastly improved user experience, especially during gaming or video streaming
Effective Beam Management: TMYTEK's beamformers enabled precise beam steering and management, ensuring optimal signal delivery and reception

Conclusion

Visionox's innovative AoD design was awarded the “People’s Choice Award” for Best New Display Component at SID 2023, a globally renowned conference covering the latest in display technologies. The successful demonstration and validation of Visionox’s Antenna-on-Display (AoD) technology using TMYTEK's mmW-SDR platform underscores the potential of this innovation in enhancing wireless communication. For engineers and researchers in relevant fields, this use case demonstrates a practical application of integrating advanced antenna systems with display technology to overcome common challenges in wireless signal transmission. TMYTEK's mmW-SDR platform proved instrumental in validating the performance and reliability of AoD, paving the way for future advancements in 5G and beyond.

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