MIPT, ITMO and MatrixWave: Metasurface Antennas

2024: Representation of a metasurface antenna

Scientists of the Research Center for Telecommunications MIPT, ITMO and the technology company Matrix Wave are developing a fundamentally new type of antennas intended for use in promising domestic telecom systems, namely, the development will make a significant contribution to the development of the Russian satellite Internet. MIPT announced this on March 29, 2024.

source = MIPT

The equipment is supposed to be installed both in user terminals for mobile objects (cars, trains, etc.) and on low-orbit spacecraft. The device is created on the basis of metasurfaces - electromagnetic structures consisting of ordered elements, the size of which is less than the working wavelength. The main quality of the technology is cheapness. Thanks to the idea of ​ ​ scientists, the cost of equipment required by the user to connect to the network is reduced several times in comparison with foreign counterparts that have a cost of more than 1 million rubles.

The metasurface is a mesh structure with emitting elements that are much (5-10 times), less than the wavelength. Their plus lies in the fact that due to their spatial distribution it is possible to obtain unique properties, when changing the characteristics of the structure, radiation can be generated in the required direction. You can also create multi-beam antenna systems that are needed for spacecraft, "said Alexey Kosmynin, an employee of the MIPT Telecommunications Research Center, General Director of Matrix Wave LLC.

An antenna is required to receive and send radio signals between the satellite and the user terminal. The classic version is considered to be a mirror parabolic antenna in the form of a "dish." However, it is difficult to install it on movable objects, since it must always be oriented in a certain direction with high accuracy. And all new satellite networks are built from mobile spacecraft, so even if the terminal itself does not move, the mirror antenna will still have to be continuously rotated to track the satellite.

An alternative to a mirror antenna may be a phased antenna array. It has excellent technical characteristics, but also a high price. A grid-based user terminal will have a cost of about several million rubles, depending on the series and aperture size.

The high cost is explained by the fact that the production of one such antenna requires several hundred complex microcircuits controlling the beam. In addition, in Russia they are not produced for March 2024, and buying abroad is difficult due to sanctions. For these reasons, the team of scientists and engineers had to look for an original technical solution for receiving and transmitting data. Antennas based on metasurfaces can be entirely produced in Russia.

Soon, the first tests of a user antenna system using this technology should begin.

The first antenna instance for the satellite will be slightly more complicated and expensive than the user. At the first stage, laboratory tests are planned. For March 2024, the developers are negotiating with several possible customers of the satellite version.

Antennas on metasurfaces are successfully used in terrestrial communication networks, in particular in fifth generation mobile systems. Metasurface radiating structures are one of the technological candidates for widespread adoption in sixth generation communication networks. Similar research and work is carried out in the world's leading technological laboratories around the world.