British scientists have developed an innovative antenna for wireless communication. This prototype of a Digitally Coded Dynamic Metasurface Array (DMA) combines the unique properties of metamaterials with complex signal processing capabilities, offering new performance peaks for data transmission and promising to aid in the realization of future 6G communication networks. The related research paper was published in the latest issue of the "IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters."
Researchers point out that this antenna is the world's first DMA designed and demonstrated in the 60 gigahertz (GHz) millimeter-wave band. The 60GHz spectrum is internationally reserved for industrial, scientific, and medical applications.
This DMA utilizes specially designed and fully tunable metamaterial elements. These elements can manipulate electromagnetic waves through software, creating advanced leaky-wave antennas capable of high-frequency reconfigurable operations. The matchbox-sized DMA prototype uses high-speed interconnects and is programmed via FPGA to control individual metamaterial elements in parallel simultaneously. The DMA can also shape communication beam patterns and create multiple beams at once, switching within nanoseconds to ensure stable network coverage.
The latest research is expected to provide reliable ultra-fast data transmission for future 6G networks, ensuring high-quality data services and seamless connectivity, excelling in communication, sensing, and imaging fields. This DMA can directly monitor patients' vital signs and track their movements; enhance the performance of integrated sensing and communication devices; and "escort" the safe flight of autonomous vehicles and drones. The increase in data transmission speed may even help create holographic imaging, allowing real-time projection of 3D models of people and objects anywhere in the world.
The research team indicates that the latest high-frequency intelligent and highly adaptive antennas may be one of the technological cornerstones for the next generation of millimeter-wave reconfigurable antennas.
