From start-up to global player

New start, measurements central

In recent years, TU/e's antenna measurement group had been getting more and more requests from large companies to measure their antenna systems, but that didn't really suit TU/e. Their focus is on research and development, not commercialisation, so a spin-off was the best solution to serve the market. ANTENNEX started with measurement services in those systems, in order to use the proceeds for product development. In January 2023, a new team started and the company fully committed to developing a new product with a focus on accelerating measurement processes. "Companies spend a lot of time on testing. We are not only faster, but also offer measurement diagnostics. We are therefore unique in our offering," says Anouk.

Measuring chips and antennas

ANTENNEX is active in the test and measurement market for radio frequency (RF) systems. The applications are endless, as this market targets almost all wireless devices. At the moment, they mainly focus on next-generation devices. This includes applications that have not yet been widely rolled out, for example, wireless data centres or VR and AR. These are applications that require enormously high data rates and different antennas. "Measuring antennas is an incredibly slow and outdated process. Our goal is to be able to characterise them with the speed and precision with which chips are characterised. In fact, the market really needs to move in that direction, because in 5G/6G systems the antennas and chips are integrated, so there is no other way. Both chips and antennas need to be measured together in one go, quickly and accurately," Anouk explains.

5G, 6G

The development of new generations of wireless networks is accelerating. Currently, the transition from 4G to 5G is taking place, but the next generation, the even faster 6G, is already waiting. Anouk talks about the implications of this development for her company: "More and more devices communicate via these wireless networks and contain small antennas - sometimes up to hundreds - that transmit and receive at high frequency. As 5G continues to grow and the subsequent 6G, we expect a big increase in production."

Testing is becoming increasingly complex

Every antenna has to be extensively tested, Anouk explains. "It is very complicated to test wireless equipment properly; especially when it operates at a high frequency. Hardly anyone can do this properly with the latest 5G and 6G systems, but ANTENNEX can do the job thanks to our measurement systems. An interesting development for 6G is that we can put the antennas on-chip (antenna-on-chip), resulting in full integration. This makes testing more complex, because you can only test the chips via a wireless connection, and that includes the influence of the antenna. Also, in many systems, multiple antennas will interact with each other , so even more combinations need to be tested. All this brings many challenges, but we think we now have the right solution for that. We are working with the partners in Program Line 1 to develop measurement equipment suitable for 6G."

Future

Anouk says Future Network Services with the funding of the National Growth Fund offers opportunities as an accelerator and enabler and is already in full discussion with partners in the FNS consortium. "We are a start-up and cannot afford many mistakes. The acceptance of this new technology also requires adaptation time. Now we can also really get full steam ahead. Without the FNS and the National Growth Fund, we really wouldn't have been able to do some things." Anouk laughingly concludes with the ambition for ANTENNEX: "To become a global player with headquarters in Brabant!"