UAB and EPCOS sign an agreement to develop new technologies for 4G smartphones

Óscar Menéndez and Pedro de Paco, researchers in the Aerials and Microwave Systems group of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona's Telecommunication and Systems Engineering Department, have made a knowledge transfer agreement with the German company ECOS AG, a member of the TDK-EPC corporation. This company will provide the research and development funding for new solutions for filters and duplexers based on micro-acoustic technologies for wireless applications. The project focuses on solutions for deploying the new LTE-4G bands for user devices, mainly smartphones.

Filters and duplexers are band selection elements and play a crucial role in the new 4G smart devices. There will be an increase in these cutting-edge devices' frequency bands, up to 21 in the case of the most advanced ones.

These new LTE (Long Term Evolution) bands for fourth generation (4G) mobiles reach transmission speeds up to 10 times greater than with present-day 3G technology, reaching 100 Mb a second in movement. This will allow, for example, the transmission and reception of HD video in real time from moving vehicles.

The UAB team has been able to sign this deal thanks to their considerable experience and knowledge of filtering devices based on micro-acoustic technologies for wireless applications. The group is concentrating on advanced synthesis methods and design techniques that are optimised for developing both filters and multimode and multiband duplexers.

Provided by Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona