The December 2024 issue of IEEE Spectrum is here!

Close bar

Glass Antenna Turns Windows Into 5G Base Stations

Compact, inconspicuous antennas could increase cell coverage transparently

3 min read

Tim Hornyak is a Tokyo-based journalist and the author of Loving the Machine: The Art and Science of Japanese Robots.

An interior photo of a rectangular glass device attached to a building's window, with cables going between it and the ceiling.

Electronics inconspicuously attached to transparent conductive layers enable a window to double as a 5G cellular antenna.

JTower

Since 5G began its rollout in 2018 or 2019, fifth-generation wireless networks have spread across the globe to cover hundreds of millions of users. But while it offers lower latency than precursor networks, 5G also requires more base stations. To avoid installing unsightly equipment on more and more shared spaces, Japanese companies are developing transparent glass antennas that allow windows to serve as base stations that can be shared by several carriers.

Because 5G networks include spectrum comprising higher frequencies than 4G, base stations for 5G networks serve a smaller coverage footprint. Which means more base stations are needed compared to 4G. Due to a lack of installation spots and the high cost of rolling out 5G networks, carriers in Japan have been sharing mobile infrastructure.

Last month the Tokyo-based communications company JTower announced the deployment of the new glass antenna, created in part by glassmaker AGC (one of the world’s largest) and the mobile carrier NTT Docomo. The first was installed on a window in Tokyo’s Shinjuku district.

The product is “the world’s first antenna that turns a window into a base station that can be attached to a building window inside and turn the outdoors into a service area without spoiling the cityscape or the exterior appearance of the building,” says Shota Ochiai, a marketing manager at AGC.

NTT Docomo reports that it uses transparent conductive materials as the basis for its antenna, sandwiching the conductive material along with a transparent resin, the kind used in laminated windshields, in between two sheets of glass.

“I don’t think the idea for using transparent conductive materials as an antenna existed before,” said AGC’s Kentaro Oka in a company statement. “The durability of the antenna was significantly increased by placing the conductive materials between glass.”

The transparent antenna can be engineered according to the thickness of the glass to reduce the attenuation and reflection of the radio signals being absorbed and emitted by the window-sized device. “The glass antenna uses our proprietary technology to smooth out the disruption in the direction of radio waves when they pass through a window,” says Ochia.

A brief history of the window antenna

Branded WAVEANTENNA, the antenna is installed on the interior surface of windows. Apart perhaps from its cabling, the WAVEANTENNA is an otherwise inconspicuous piece of equipment that is often tucked out of sight, placed near the top or otherwise at the edges of a window.

It is compatible with frequencies in the 5G Sub6 band—meaning signals that are less than 6 gigahertz (GHz). Sub6 antennas represent critical portions of a 5G deployment, as their lower frequency ranges penetrate barriers like walls and buildings better than the substantially higher-bandwidth millimeter-wave portions of the 5G spectrum.

An earlier version of the product was launched in 2020, while a version that could handle sharing by multiple cell networks was introduced last year, according to AGC. The company says its antenna is optimized for frequencies between 3.7 and 4.5 GHz bands, which still allows for substantial bandwidth—albeit not comparable with what an ideal millimeter-wave 5G deployment could reach. (Millimeter waves can deliver typically between 10 and 50 GHz of bandwidth.)

The glass antenna can help expand 5G coverage as infrastructure sharing will become more important to carriers, AGC says. Besides increasing the number of locations for base stations, the device makes it easier to select the appropriate installation height, according to Ochiai.

AGC has also applied 5G glass antennas to automobiles, where they can help reduce dropped signals. The company reports that users include Halo.Car, an on-demand EV rental service in Las Vegas that relies on high-speed networks for remote drivers to deliver cars to customers.

This article appears in the November 2024 print issue.

The Conversation (4)
William Dawes
William Dawes27 Sep, 2024
M

I have done deployments of (private) of 5G CBRS base stations in warehouses and just want the readers of this article to know that it’s more than just power up the base station and connect the external antenna. That base station will need to be able to use GPS to confirm location, with the SAS (Spectrum Access System) server in the data cloud. We ended up having to extend the GPS antenna via coax cable, through the side of the warehouse wall.

Not sure if GPS penetrates through that glass … perhaps try GPS antenna on glass?

Adam Wrzeski
Adam Wrzeski23 Sep, 2024
INDV

I think it's important to expand upon the term "base station." A base-station is more than just an antenna, and also includes the active electronics feeding the antenna. Buildings may still require rooms with electronics to generate the signal that ends up out at the antenna (although a small cell fed system might reduce room size/qty). This antenna allows flexible placement "remote" of the "base station." Rather than a cluster of standard antennas on a roof or tower. Carriers (after negotiations with building owners) could create more precise antenna placements for a more robust 5G network.

Adam Wrzeski
Adam Wrzeski23 Sep, 2024
INDV

Another potential flaw in this solution is in buildings where the windows are required to be Low-E glass (low emissivity) for energy code reasons. These window coatings help block infrared light from entering a building to save on energy costs. But this also blocks everything else below infrared which includes radio waves on the EM spectrum. This glass works "both ways" -- signals won't get in or out, -- so placing these antennas behind glazing with Low-E coatings won't work unless coatings are reformulated or certain windows are planned to have standard coatings in anticipation of these antennas.

1 Reply