The company selected is Pivotal Commware Inc. (located in Bellevue, Washington). Overall the company has secured $17 million investment to bring holographic beamforming to market.
Holographic beamforming is a communications technique said to be superior to multiple-input and multiple-output, the method for multiplying the capacity of a radio link using multiple transmit and receive antennas. The new technology is also said to be better than digital beamforming.
With beamforming, the technology is used for directional signal transmission and reception. Here there is provision to change both amplitude and phase which helps in power variation as well as beam steering in the desired directions respectively.
With holographic beamforming, this process enables wireless service providers to continuously reuse the same band of spectrum, at the same time, within a given spatial region. The technique attracts interest since it allows for multiple concurrent transmissions using the same frequency without interference. Holographic refers to the fact that the HBF antenna is analogous to a holographic plate in an optical hologram.
The video below explains more about the technology:
The company Pivotal Commware was formed in 2016, spun off from Intellectual Ventures Management LLC., develops metamaterials technology for terrestrial communications markets. This includes cellular, mobile access and defense.
In terms of the new funding, $17 million Series A round is drawn from Bill Gates and others, such as The Thermo Companies, DIG Investment, Lux Capital, the family office of Barry Sternlicht.
Commenting on the funding and future technological applications, Nathan Myhrvold, who is the chief executive of Intellectual Ventures told EE News: “The promise of metamaterials is to completely change nearly every aspect of electronic communications.”
In terms of applications, Myhrvold adds: “We think that travel – whether by plane, train or ship — shouldn’t be a broadband dead zone.”
