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Antennas are at the heart of 5G infrastructure. Deliver better 5G coverage with antenna materials that can help you address key performance and aesthetic needs.
3M materials for 5G antennas and assemblies
5G aims to deliver a new age of data processing speed, ultra-low latency and ubiquitous connectivity to applications everywhere. That means more antennas need to be designed to accelerate deployment, especially indoors. You face challenges like signal integrity, improving inconspicuousness, heat dissipation for critical components, EMI and PIM mitigation, and need the right materials for the job.
At 3M, we offer solutions that help you optimise 5G antennas and assemblies. Solutions like a transparent conductive film that allows for powerful in-building antennas to be hidden in plain sight — so you can enable stronger, more reliable signals in more locations.
3M solutions to 5G infrastructure design challenges
Aesthetics/camouflage
New antennas shouldn’t be an eyesore. Materials from 3M can help you blend your 5G antennas and base station assemblies into different environments by design.
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3M™ Transparent Conductor Film
3M™ Transparent Conductor Film uses proprietary technology to help you enable transparent antenna designs with 50W continuous power. You can now design antennas that help accelerate network deployments and improve in-building coverage, all while maintaining a low visual profile.3M™ Envision™ Print Wrap Film
For antenna radomes, 3M™ Envision™ Print Wrap Film is a digitally printed solution that helps you blend your wireless infrastructure into the surrounding built environment. Solutions are easy to install and resist water, soil, UV light and graffiti, without affecting your signal transmission, even at mmWave frequencies.
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EMI/PIM mitigation
Noise from EMI and PIM can negatively impact network performance, leaving end users with reduced wireless coverage. Address 5G signal interference with innovative products for antennas and assemblies that can help you control EMI and PIM
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EMI shielding and grounding products
Reduce noise and see the benefits in higher data rates and increased network capacity. Depending on your specific issue, 3M can help you improve grounding and shielding in antennas and assemblies with conductive tapes and other innovations. Think better bondline gap shielding, more reliable contacts to small grounding areas and more.PIM mitigation products
PIM solutions from 3M have specific compositions to help you reduce internal and external PIM in your 5G antennas and assemblies. Tactics are endless — replace screws within antennas with a conductive adhesive to help improve your PIM performance or even shield corrosion in nearby metal structures — all to get a better signal.3M™ Electrically Conductive Adhesive Transfer Tape 3304BC-S
3M™ PIM Reduction Kit
The 3M™ PIM Reduction Kit addresses PIM mitigation by absorbing PIM rather than shielding, while also providing you with the possibility of easier installation, zero site downtime and no impediment to antenna adjustment or replacement. Magnetic absorbers are placed adjacent to noise sources (e.g., mounting brackets) and are protected by weatherproofing tapes, so you can address 5G signal interference while standing up to the elements.
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Lightweighting
As more antennas and assemblies are needed across 5G infrastructure, you need to consider less weight wherever possible. 3M materials can help you reduce weight in different structures and components.
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Conductive gaskets
Shed weight with foam conductive gaskets used in many different 5G applications — from small cells to repeaters. Gaskets from 3M can replace screws, helping you drive down costs by cutting assembly time.
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Thermal management
Keep your 5G equipment cool and improve your overall network reliability. Antennas and assemblies can benefit from heat management solutions from 3M, with many available in different form factors.
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3M™ Thermally Conductive Tapes
Thermal tapes, heat-spreading tapes and other innovative materials can help you bond stainless steel, low-surface-energy substrates and more. Products are relevant for 5G equipment including active antennas, small cells, remote radio units, mobile edge server hardware, repeaters, CPEs and P2P microwave antennas.
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Key application: transparent 5G antennas
Introducing 3M™ Transparent Conductor Film — a transparent, conformable, lightweight and highly conductive copper grid film for transparent 5G antennas
5G network densification is accelerating due to new spectrum allocated by the FCC. The new capacity, combined with an increase in data use — 80% of which is indoors(1) — means a growing need for in-building antennas. Our new 3M™ Transparent Conductor Film uses proprietary metal mesh technology to help you enable inconspicuous antennas with significant power. These antennas, intended for use in locations originally considered inaccessible for aesthetic reasons, allow wireless service providers to improve in-building coverage. Now you can bring 5G speed to more indoor spaces without being a distraction.
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Featured product:
3M™ Transparent Conductor FilmFeatures and benefits:
- High power capability (50W continuous power)
- High transparency (>80% open area)
- High efficiency (<0.1 ohms per square sheet resistance)
- Grid performance similar to solid copper
- High adhesion which allows for small bend radius
- Darkening treatment for all copper surfaces
Resources:
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Webinar: Transparent Antennas for 5G Infrastructure ApplicationsLearn about our new 3M™ Transparent Conductor Film and how it helps you enable efficient transparent antenna designs from Jeff Tostenrude, a 3M Advanced Application Development Specialist.
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eBook: 3M™ Transparent Conductor FilmRead about the evolving 5G landscape and how you can bring better coverage indoors.
Keep up to date with all the latest industry trends and 3M's solutions for communication infrastructure.
See how 3M can help you address your different challenges across the communications infrastructure.
Podcast: Have you seen my 5G antenna?
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As the 5G rollout continues around the world, one thing is certain – it’s going to take a lot of antennas for the upgraded signal to reach everyone. And that means a lot of visual disruption – or maybe not, if 3M's Taesung Kim has anything to say about it.
He's working on a few new product introductions tied to the broader 5G rollout, and one of them – a transparent antenna – sounds like it's straight science fiction.
(16 minute duration)
Let’s talk antennas
