Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a method for evaluating and selecting optimal antenna designs for future fifth-generation (5G) cellphones, other wireless devices and base stations.

The new NIST method could boost 5G wireless network capacity and reduce costs.

5G systems will avoid crowded conventional wireless channels by using higher, millimeter-wave frequency bands. Transmissions at these frequencies lose a lot of energy along the way, which weakens received signal strength. One solution is “smart” antennas that can form unusually narrow beams—the area in space where signals are transmitted or received—and rapidly steer them in different directions.

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