Nokia Makes a Play For 5G With Purchase of US Startup Eta Devices

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Nokia has signaled fresh commitment towards 5G infrastructure with the acquisition of Eta Devices -- a small U.S.-based startup that specializes in improving power efficiency at base stations. The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based outfit has around 20 staff, some of whom work at its research and development site in Stockholm, Sweden. Nokia said it hoped the buyout, financial details of which weren't disclosed, allow it "to enhance base station energy efficiency, an increasingly important area for operators on the path to 4.9G and 5G." Eta claims its tech can "drastically" reduce "heat waste" via an "amplifier that works like an automated gearbox" by adjusting energy usage by need. It has tech which claims to improve smartphone battery life, too -- with supposed boosts of up to 50 percent. However, Nokia seems to have acquired it for the "significant" power savings it says it can make at base stations, both in readiness for the Internet of Things, and to improve its carbon footprint and help its "zero emission base station solution." The acquisition includes fixed assets, employees, intellectual property rights, and lease and supplier deals, Nokia said. Nokia said in a statement: "This translates to savings for operators that can be invested as 4.9G and 5G approach. Eta Devices' technology reduces the need for backup power, translating into smaller base station cabinets and reduced equipment breakdown rates, and supporting Nokia's target to continuously strengthen the base station power efficiency of its products."

How much energy...

[unixisc]

How much energy do basestations consume, for power consumption to be such a critical factor in the adaption/migration to '5G'? Also, as an aside, I know that 3G was WCDMA/CDMA2000, while 4G is OFDMA. What exactly is 5G?

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[rfengr]

Yeah, but they are not using Class A, rather AB with digital pre-distortion, feed forward, or Doherty. The base station PA are probably running about 40% PAE.

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[thebes]

Thank you for returning sanity to the discussion.

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[rfengr]

Probably massive MIMO and mmWave.

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[thebes]

Or another company trying to implement envelope tracking for base stations.

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[rfengr]

Yeah, probably something similar to that. Every few years there is some proposed technology to boost linearity or PAE, and they never pan out: https://www.thefreelibrary.com... [thefreelibrary.com] There was some marketing drivel from MA/COM years ago about "digital RF" revolutionizing this and that. I can't find it, but it was quite entertaining.

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[thebes]

Hmm, it appears even the trolls didn't know what to say about this article...