Smaller and With More Bars: A Relay Transceiver for IoT/5G Applications

Computers and smartphones have become indispensable parts of human daily life. Driven by various modern applications, the demand for high-speed Internet connection is always growing. Because Internet speed strongly depends on signal strength and quality, a great deal of effort has been spent to increase the number of "bars" displayed on the screen of wireless devices. One effective approach toward "more bars" is deploying microwave relay systems to provide stronger signals, and thus higher data rates, to end users. Microwave relay links facilitate the transmission of signals from one point to another by receiving, recovering, and retransmitting wireless signals with enhanced quality and strength. With more bars on the end-user side, handheld wireless devices also become smaller because of reduced power consumption in their receivers. With the help of sophisticated radio relay links in the last mile of communications networks [1], wireless data can be efficiently communicated among a variety of devices, such as home appliances, smart Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, and autonomous vehicles [2], [3].