Anokiwave and MilliBox partner to accelerate market adoption of mmW active antenna technologies with robust and accurate testability.

November 15, 2022 | Boston, MA:   Anokiwave, an innovative company providing highly integrated silicon ICs for millimeter-wave (mmW) ICs, and MilliBox, a mmW test setup manufacturer, today announced a collaboration to facilitate development of a unique and efficient Over the Air (OTA) test capability for mmW phased array antennas that provides an accurate high-volume test capability.

Millimeter-wave active antennas are an integral part of the emerging mmW 5G and SATCOM communications systems. To commercialize mmW active antennas, two major challenges must be solved – first, build good high performing phased array antennas that are highly efficient, low DC power, small sized, and cost effective for mass scale manufacturing and deployment. The second is how to test these antennas to validate good performance before they can be deployed. For years, Anokiwave has been solving the first problem for the market, with its extensive portfolio of industry leading mmW silicon ICs, active antennas, and algorithms. And now MilliBox, with its new test solution, is solving the second major challenge – successfully testing active antennas in lab and manufacturing environments. When it comes to validation of mmW phased array antennas, an efficient, reliable OTA testing solution is required. MilliBox offers a wide range of modular, flexible, and affordable benchtop mmW test OTA systems that are enabling Anokiwave and its customers to reach market readiness by offering a solution for complex mmW antenna OTA test.

“Designing mmW array active antennas is complex and testing them with accuracy in high volume is critical. We recognized the MilliBox solution as the industry leader in this area,” states Peter Moosbrugger, Anokiwave VP of Advanced Antenna Technology. “After meeting at IMS2022 in Denver and seeing the MBX33 setup with GIM05, we purchased the demo unit from the floor. Soon after we installed the system in our test lab we became quite impressed by its unique performance-price position. We are now recommending MilliBox to our customers so they may quickly achieve a robust volume test capability for arrays.”

“Anokiwave has been at the forefront of mmW IC development for years,” said Chinh H Doan, the CEO of MilliBox. “It is a very natural cooperation since we are a both looking at widening the adoption and productization of millimeter-wave technology across many markets.”