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• Published: 20 June 2022

A compact evolved antenna for 5G communications

• I. Marasco 1 , 2   na1 ,
• G. Niro 1 , 2   na1 ,
• V. M. Mastronardi 2 , 3 ,
• F. Rizzi 2 ,
• A. D’Orazio 1 ,
• M. De Vittorio 2 , 3   na1 &
• M. Grande 1   na1  

Scientific Reports volume  12 , Article number:  10327 ( 2022 ) Cite this article

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• Electrical and electronic engineering

Flexible and bendable electronics are gaining a lot of interest in these last years. In this scenario, compact antennas on flexible substrates represent a strategical technological step to pave the way to a new class of wearable systems. A crucial issue to overcome is represented by the poor radiation properties of compact antennas, especially in the case of flexible and thin substrates. In this paper, we propose an innovative design of a miniaturized evolved patch antenna whose radiation properties have been enhanced with a Split Ring Resonator (SRR) placed between the top and the ground plane. The antenna has been realized on a flexible and biocompatible substrate polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) of 250 μm by means of a new fabrication protocol that involves a three-layer 3D-inkjet printing and an alignment step. The antenna has been characterized in terms of the scattering parameter S 11 and the radiation pattern showing a good agreement between simulations and measurements.

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Introduction.

With the advent of 5G and new 6G network infrastructures, flexible and bendable IoT devices are becoming increasingly popular 1 , 2 . In this regard, the conception of wearable and bendable antennas is a crucial issue to overcome 3 , 4 . Scientific efforts concerned the design of miniature flexible antennas to cope with modern requirements such as wearability.

Due to the high demand coming from the market, rapid prototyping and cost-effective technologies for antenna fabrication are becoming crucial and, hence, multiple technologies have to be combined to achieve the very strict goals required by antenna design. From one side, the footprint of the antenna can be reduced increasing the operating frequency 5 . However, the higher is the transmission frequency the more probable is the insurgence of disturbing phenomena such as multipath fading and attenuation 6 . The second alternative is antenna miniaturization. This technique aims to decrease the resonance of antennas by increasing its electrical length, so with the same geometrical dimension antennas can radiate at a lower frequency. The main drawbacks of this strategy are the degrading of the radiation properties and bandwidth reduction. In addition to compact footprints, optimal radiation properties are needed. These requirements increase the difficulty of the design procedure since the geometry of the antenna must be efficiently optimized, typically and especially on very thin substrates.

In this context, artificial intelligence (AI) comes to aid. AI algorithms have been used for years to solve a huge variety of optimization problems, including antennas design. Among other methods, the genetic algorithm (GA) is one of the most used approaches regarding different electromagnetic problems such as photonics 7 and antennas 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 .

The genetic algorithm generates a set of trivial solutions, i.e. antenna geometries, which evolves step by step until the best solution is reached. Antennas generated according to this approach are said to be evolved 12 . Miitra 13 was one of the first authors to exploit this line of research. Reference 8 reports a tutorial about GA applied to this kind of applications while reference 9 details the design of antennas employing GA and the Method of Moments (MoM). In 10 , the GA is applied to miniaturize a patch antenna for cardiac pacemakers operating at 402–405 MHz. The coding scheme used to treat the problem consists of subdividing the patch into smaller sub-patches. Each sub-patch can be either metal or air. The same approach has also been used in 11 , where the genetic algorithm has been applied to a patch antenna shifting its resonance from 4.8 GHz to 2.16 GHz.

It has been demonstrated that the design of antennas by means of genetic algorithms is a good choice; however, only the miniaturization cannot be pushed far without suffering from low radiation efficiencies.

An approach used for improving this feature is the introduction of metamaterials. Each material in nature is composed of atoms and their properties and spatial orientations affect its electrical behavior. The idea behind the metamaterials is the logical expansion of this concept at a macroscopic scale. By creating an array of single cell having specific properties it is possible to generate tailored electrical and magnetic characteristics of the entire structure.

Metamaterials are applied to a huge variety of fields and one of the most promising regards the enhancement of radiation properties of small antennas.

Split Ring Resonators (SRRs) represent an optimal solution since their planar geometry and easy integration simplifies the fabrication process 14 . In particular, SRRs can be used to realized Artificial Magnetic Conductor (AMC) layers having effective permeability near to zero, i.e. Zero Index metamaterials (ZIMs). Recent studies employ ZIMs to improve the radiation properties of antennas by placing such supermaterials between the top layer of the antenna and the ground plane 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 . In this case, the ZIM acts as a very precise mirror that does not introduce phase variations in the reflected electromagnetic waves, improving the radiation characteristics of the ground plane on the bottom of the antenna. A problem arising from the use of metamaterials is that the inclusion of a superstrate adds a metallic layer to the stack composing the antenna, hence an alignment process must be performed.

A very attractive technological process for the fabrication of flexible antennas even of multilayers stacks 23 , 24 , is the ink-jet printing 25 , as it is the most economical, the fastest, and the cleanest solution. By this technique, the antennas are realized by depositing conductive inks through hundreds of nozzles which are mechanically controlled. Despite its optimal characteristics, this method does face some issues: the quality of the prints depends on the viscosity and the size of the droplet of the conductive ink 25 .

In addition, in the case of multilayers antennas fabricated on commercial substrates not direct printable, the alignment step becomes difficult. This happens because it is necessary to perform two different printing processes on both faces of the same dielectric. This last case can be the case of metamaterial antennas designed on stretchable substrates.

In 26 an example of a flexible antenna enhanced with a metamaterial has been reported. The antenna is composed of a polyimide substrate with a top radiating element placed on a second substrate with a 3 × 3 array of metamaterial structures and a ground plane at the bottom. However, in this case, a precise alignment is not strictly necessary since the superstate needs only the metallization of its bottom surface. Moreover, the two layers are not fully integrated but are just placed on each other.

As a consequence, even though in literature there exist a huge number of antennas realized using GA, metamaterials and inkjet printing, to the best of our knowledge, an antenna that exploits these three technologies jointly has not been reported yet.

The biggest issue to overcome is the lack of the rapid prototyping fabrication techniques on flexible substrates of a process characterized by multilayer printing with an optimal alignment between all the parts composing the antenna. In this work, we propose a flexible multilayer ink-jet printed evolved antenna. The stack is composed of five layers (three metallic and two dielectric). The radiative layer (i.e. top layer) is designed by using a genetic algorithm in order to miniaturize its footprint. The gain is enhanced by a split ring resonator which acts as a metamaterial and, at the bottom, the ground plane is placed to minimize the back radiation. The working frequency is in the sub-6 GHz band of the 5G spectrum, in particular, around 4 GHz.

The metallic layers are fabricated by means of a multi-material 3D printer which requires a precise alignment process on a 250 μm Polyethilene Naphtalate (PEN) substrate. The dielectric layers are attached to each other by a Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) adhesive interlayer of 40 μm.

Finally, the antenna has been characterized in terms of the S 11 parameter and 2D radiation patterns by means of VNA. The paper is organized as follows: in “ Genetic algorithm ” we described briefly the principal steps of the GA, in “ Antenna design and Split ring resonator ”, the antenna design is reported, in “Fabrication” the fabrication steps are described, in “Characterization” the characterization of the prototype is detailed and, finally, in “ Conclusion ” conclusions are presented.

Genetic algorithm

The Genetic Algorithm first formalized in 27 is a robust global optimization method based on Darwinian laws. The process starts from an initial random binary population (parents) that evolves iteratively towards the optimal solution under the selective influence of a cost function. The genetic algorithm works through eight main steps, as shown in Fig.  1 .

Flowchart of the Genetic Algorithm.

(1) Encoding the problem is schematized as a function of general parameters. A single parameter is treated as a gene. Generally, binary values are preferable to be used for the genes. Their arrangement (i.e. all the genes) forms the chromosome which describes the partial solution.

(2) Initialization the initial population is generated. The set of trivial solution is composed of random chromosomes.

(3) Evaluation of the population at this step, the fitness function is applied to all the elements of the population. At the end of this process, a direct correspondence between each chromosome and its relative fitness value is obtained, which quantifies the proximity of the trivial to the real solution of the problem.

(4) Chromosomes rank and selection process the chromosomes are grouped two by two. The selection can be performed randomly or by considering their fitness values.

(5) Crossover from each couple of chromosomes, the offsprings are generated. The descendants are created by mutual recombination of the genes of the initial chromosomes forming a new set of gene values starting from the parents.

(6) Mutation the set of trivial solutions is perturbated by the insertion of random variations which can speed up the convergence of the algorithm. Mutations can be applied to a single gene or multiple chromosomes and are strictly dependent on the nature of the problem. In general, the presence of mutations avoids stalling the solver in local minimum, however, a rate too high can degrade the performance.

(7) Reordering the fitness function is evaluated as in step 3, on the new offspring. The population is then rearranged by eliminating the chromosomes with the worst fitness values.

(8) Loop statement the best fitness value is compared to the threshold value and if the condition is matched the algorithm stops, while otherwise the entire process is repeated from step 3.

Antenna design

Figure  2 a reports the structure of the evolved antenna.

Sketches of the proposed antenna: ( a ) Exploded representation of the multilayer antenna, ( b ) top-view of the evolved patch antenna. Software used: Rhino 6, https://www.rhino3d.com/it/ .

The antenna is composed of 5 layers: from the top, the patch radiating element (level 1) which is on a dielectric substrate (level 2), then the metamaterial split ring resonator (level 3) placed on a second dielectric substrate (level 4) and the ground plane (level 5).

The dielectric substrates, made of PEN, have a thickness of 125 µm, a dielectric constant of 2.9 and a loss tangent equal to 0.005. PEN presents very good properties as a substrate for flexible electronics: it is a transparent and low-cost material. It is also characterized by a very high heat shrinkage coefficient and good resistance to acids and basis 28 , 29 .

Evolved patch antenna miniaturization

The miniaturization is carried out starting from a classical patch antenna operating at 6 GHz with a bandwidth of 50 MHz and a gain equal to 5.8 dBi. The classical patch antenna can be realized by using the algorithm detailed in Ref. 30 . However, it is not possible to control and engineer the bandwidth or the gain of the device but only the geometrical parameters. Conversely, our optimization problem can be treated using a binary coding scheme, hence, the genetic algorithm is the most straightforward to be implemented. The geometrical parameters of the antenna (Fig.  2 b) used in the simulation are listed in Table 1 .

The simulations have been performed considering the substrate as a loss-free dielectric layer having thickness equal to 125 µm.

The genetic algorithm implemented to miniaturize the antenna consists of the main steps described below.

(1) Encoding the encoding scheme used consists of subdividing the patch antenna into 32 pixels. A single pixel is treated as a gene and is encoded with a binary value, 1 if it is a metal pixel (yellow), 0 if it made of air (blue), as shown in Fig.  1 b. Each pixel has a square form and an edge length of 2 µm.

(2) Initialization the starting elements are generated randomly. The population size is strictly linked to the nature of the problem and its degrees of freedom. By considering a huge population, it could be possible to obtain better results but at the cost of higher computational times; on the contrary, by using a small size for the population the execution speeds up but the optimizer may get stacked in local minima. To minimize the convergence time avoiding the insurgence of partial solutions, the possible elements of the population can be restricted to delete pointless individuals. In this case, since the radiation efficiency is directly linked to the size of the radiating area, each element of the population must be made of metal in a percentage greater than 60%.

(3) Evaluation of the population the value of the cost function ( \(\mathrm{C}\left({f}_{R}\right)\) ) of each antenna is evaluated by calculating the resonance f R and the corresponding impedance value Z(f R ), by means of a finite difference time domain (FDTD) solver using the Eq. ( 1 ):

where f c is the objective frequency equal to 4 GHz, δ represents the tolerance to the resonant frequency and Z(f R ) is the value of the impedance assumed by the patch at its resonance. The exponential term assumes lower values when the resonance f R is near to the objective frequency. In addition, this function takes into account the impedance of the resonant peaks in order to discard antennas having a value of the real part of the impedance far from 50 Ω.

(4) Chromosomes rank and selection process the elements of the population are then grouped two by two using a roulette selection process. The probability associated with the selection of the single element π i follows a Boltzmann distribution, hence is evaluated by means of Eq. ( 2 ):

where c i is the value of the fitness function of the ith element of the population and β is a normalization factor equal to \(\upbeta =\frac{1}{\mathrm{N}}\sum_{\mathrm{i}=1}^{\mathrm{N}}{\mathrm{c}}_{\mathrm{i}}\) .

Elements characterized by a lower cost function, hence nearer to the final solution, result more attractive than the others; however, it is worth stressing that by using this selection process the probability of selecting the worse elements is not deprecated at all.

(5) Crossover two offsprings are then generated from each group by a single point cross-over.

(6) Mutation occasionally, a mutation event has occurred with a probability equal to 1%. The mutation corresponds to a variation of a single gene of an element of the population.

(7) Reordering the cost function is evaluated for each element of the new population. The elements are then reordered in an ascendent order with respect to their costs. The latest elements are discarded, and the best value is compared with the threshold value of the algorithm to decide on the convergence of the solution.

(8) Loop statement the process is repeated starting from step 3 until the condition on the threshold is reached.

In our implementation, the algorithm converged after 12 iterations giving as result an evolved patch antenna with a footprint of 16.88 × 13.76 mm 2 resonating at around 3.89 GHz with an S 11 dip of − 24.47 dB and a bandwidth of about 14 MHz.

The realized gain at the resonant frequency is equal to -0.647 dBi. The reduction of the dimensions of the antenna and, more important, of the ground plane always leads to worse radiation properties; to improve the antenna radiation pattern a mu-negative metamaterial composed of a square split ring resonator has been added between the top and the ground plane 31 .

Split ring resonator

The square split ring resonator is composed of two concentric etched split rings separated by a gap and having their apertures placed in the opposite direction (Fig.  3 a).

( a ) Geometry and ( b ) equivalent circuit, of the SRR.

The SRR behaves like an LC circuit as shown in Fig.  3 b 32 . The value of the inductance \({L}_{RING}\) of each ring can be expressed as in Eq. ( 3 ):

D represents the gap between two rings, W is the ring thickness, R2 and R1 are the outer and inner radius of the rings, respectively.

As regards the capacitance, \({C}_{RING}\) represents the capacitance of the single ring while \({C}_{GAP}\) the capacitance between the rings, respectively. \({C}_{RING}\) can be defined as in the following expression, Eq. ( 4 )

where t is the thickness of the ring and G the aperture of the ring.

Finally, \({C}_{GAP}\) can be expressed as in Eq. ( 5 ):

A is an equilibrium constant.

By considering the geometrical parameters of the SRR, the resonant frequency \({f}_{0}\) can be evaluated as in Eq. ( 6 ):

In this work, the geometry of the square split ring resonator has been properly designed to increase the gain at the working frequency of the antenna.

The geometrical dimensions of the square SRR are listed in Table 2 .

After this procedure, the entire structure is composed of 5 layers as shown in Fig.  2 a.

The results of the simulations are shown in Fig.  4 .

( a ) Simulated S 11 parameter of the multilayer antenna, ( b ) front perspective and ( c ) side perspective of 3D radiation patterns at 3.985 GHz; simulated polar plot for the plane ( d ) ϕ = 0° and ( e ) ϕ = 90°. Software used: figure a Matlab R2020a; ( b – d ) CST Microwave Studio 2021. https://it.mathworks.com/ , https://www.3ds.com/products-services/simulia/products/cst-studio-suite/ .

In Fig.  4 a the trend of S 11 parameter is shown; there is a dip of − 14.2 dB at 3.984 GHz with a bandwidth of about 15 MHz. The narrow-band could be increased by redesigning the cost-function of our algorithm or considering a circular patch 33 . In Fig.  4 b,c two different perspective of the 3D realized gain of the patch antenna at the resonant frequency are reported. The maximum value is equal to 1.89 dBi.

In Fig.  4 d,e the radiation pattern in the E-plane and H-plane are reported, respectively. In particular, for the E-plane ( \(\phi =0^\circ\) ) the main lobe magnitude is equal to 1.89 dBi and the main lobe direction is equal to 3.0° with an angular width (3 dB) equals to 93.2°. Whereas the H-plane ( \(\phi =90^\circ\) ) the main lobe magnitude is equal to 1.88 dBi and the main lobe direction is equal to 0° with an angular width (3 dB) equals to 92°.

It is worth stressing that with the insertion of the dielectric layer with an SRR, it is possible to observe an increase of the gain from –0.647 dBi to 1.89 dBi without modifying the footprint of the patch antenna. The directivity is equal to 6.48 dBi at the resonant frequency.

Table 3 shows a comparison between the 6 GHz starting patch antenna, the 4 GHz evolved one and the 4 GHz classical patch antenna.

The Genetic Algorithm allows to retain the starting patch antenna footprint (17 × 14 mm 2 ) at a lower working frequency of 3.96 GHz. In comparison with a classical patch antenna at the same frequency (whose physical dimension are 27 × 22 mm 2 ), we got a reduction in size of 60%. Besides, the evolved patch antenna presents a reduction in terms of gain and bandwidth, in line with the behaviour of miniaturized and electrically small antennas 34 .

Fabrication

The designed antenna has been fabricated by means of NanoDimesion’s DragonFly LDM™ 3D printer.

During the fabrication process, a material jetting of conductive ink through hundreds of nozzles has been performed. In particular, the metallic parts are made of AgCite, which is an Ag nanoparticles-based ink. All the process has been realized at a temperature of 140 °C necessary for the ink curing and sintering. The starting point of the print process is a complex 2D schematic of the device that is imported as a Gerber file and then converted into a layer-by-layer print instruction for multi-material 3D printer. Figure  5 exploits the fabrications steps.

( a ) Steps of the 3D printing process, ( b ) result of the alignment between patch and SRR and printed ground planes, ( c) representation of the multilayer antenna with the interlayer of PDMS, ( d ) flat and ( e ) bent fabricated prototype with SMA connector. Software used: Rhino 6.

More in detail, at the first stage the patch has been printed and then, a backside automated alignment follows for SRR printing on the bottom side. In parallel, the ground plane is printed near to the self-aligned SRR (Fig.  5 a). The radiating elements have a thickness equal to 35 µm; as a technological constraint, the metal thickness should be at least equal to 17 µm to guarantee perfect electrical conductivity. In Fig.  5 b, the alignment step realized on PEN substrate is reported. The two dielectric layers are cut by means of a laser cutter (Universal Laser System vls2.30) and then are joined with an adhesive interlayer of around 40 µm of Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), as reported in Fig.  5 c. It is worth pointing out that the choice of this elastomer guarantees the flexibility of the antenna. Finally, Fig.  5 d,e show the fabricated prototype.

Characterization

The antenna has been characterized in terms of the scattering parameter S 11 and the radiation pattern.

The return loss has been measured by means of a Vector Network Analyzer (VNA, Anritsu MS46122B).

Figure  6 a shows a comparison between the trends of the simulated (blue curve) and the measured (red curve) scattering parameter S 11 .

( a ) Simulated (blue curve) and measured (red curve) S 11 parameter of the multilayer antenna, measured ( b ) front perspective and ( c ) side perspective 3D radiation patterns; polar plot at ( d ) ϕ = 0° and ( e ) ϕ = 90° at 4 GHz; simulated (blue curve) and measured (red curve) ( f ) gain and ( g ) efficiency of the evolved patch antenna. Software used: proprietary software by Starlab from Satimo 18 GHz anechoic chamber, https://www.mvg-world.com/en/products/antenna-measurement/multi-probe-systems/starlab .

In particular, it is possible to see a dip of − 14.2 dB at 3.984 GHz and a dip of -13.41 dB at 3.962 GHz for the simulated and the measured evolved patch antenna, respectively. There is a shift of few tens of MHz due to the introduction of a SMA connector which introduces a static capacitance, therefore increasing the electrical length of the device 35 . Both curves present a dip around 4 GHz, the desired operating frequency, where the realized gain is equal to -0.8 dBi for the simulated antenna and -1.5 dBi for the fabricated one, when the losses are taken into account. Figure  6 b,c show the measured 3D radiation patterns that are in agreement with the simulated ones (Fig.  4 b,c). 2D polar plots and 3D radiation diagram were measured by means of the combination of an anechoic chamber (StarLab from Satimo) and a home-made setup. In Fig.  6 d,e the measured radiation patterns for E-plane and H-plane are reported. For the planes ϕ = 0° and ϕ = 90°, there is a very good agreement between simulations (Fig.  4 d,e) and measurements (Fig.  6 d,e). Figure  6 f shows the gain around the resonant frequency equal to 3.9 GHz: as it can be inferred by the plot, there is a good agreement between the numerical and experimental results. As regards the efficiency shown in Fig.  6 g, it is possible to note a higher value of the simulated one with respect to the measured one at the resonant frequency. It is worth stressing that this mismatch is due to multiple factors such as: the soldering of the connector, the presence of solvent mixed with the conductive part used in the 3D printing process and finally, the losses of the substrate at the resonant frequency that has been extrapolated from the lower frequencies value tabulated in the PEN datasheet (1 kHz-1 GHz) [Teonex Q51].

A multi-layer 3D-printed metamaterial-based evolved patch antenna has been presented. The genetic algorithm has proven to be a powerful method to optimize antenna miniaturization and the radiation properties have been improved with the insertion of the split-ring resonator. The fabrication protocol turns out to be very fast and capable of realizing antennas with a precise alignment step between the layers. The measurements of the S 11 parameter and the radiation patterns are in agreement with the simulations. The main resonance of the fabricated prototype is in the sub-6 GHz of 5G spectrum, showing a dip of S 11 parameter of − 27.41 dB at 3.962 GHz, with a bandwidth of 14.7 MHz. In case directivity and gain need to be enhanced, an array configuration of this patch can be implemented . We believe that the proposed approach could be a valid choice for the realization of compact, flexible and wearable IoT devices.

Data availability

All the data supporting the results of this study can be found within the article or upon request from the corresponding authors.

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These authors contributed equally: I. Marasco, G. Niro, M. De Vittorio, and M. Grande.

Authors and Affiliations

Politecnico di Bari, Via E. Orabona 4, 70125, Bari (BA), Italy

I. Marasco, G. Niro, A. D’Orazio & M. Grande

Center for Biomolecular Nanotechnologies, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), Via E. Barsanti 14, 73010, Arnesano (LE), Italy

I. Marasco, G. Niro, V. M. Mastronardi, F. Rizzi & M. De Vittorio

Dipartimento di Ingegneria Dell’innovazione, Università del Salento, Campus Ecotekne, Via Monteroni, Lecce (LE), Italy

V. M. Mastronardi & M. De Vittorio

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Contributions

I.M and G.N. performed the simulations, I.M., G.N. and V.M., fabricated the prototype, A.D., F.R., M.D.V. and M.G. supervised the work. I.M and G.N. drafted the manuscript. I.M., G.N., V.M., A.D., F.R., M.D.V. and M.G. contributed in preparation of the manuscript and revised the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to I. Marasco .

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Marasco, I., Niro, G., Mastronardi, V.M. et al. A compact evolved antenna for 5G communications. Sci Rep 12 , 10327 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-14447-9

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Private 5G gets bigger (and smaller) – why the hype is real

Note, this article is taken from a new editorial report from RCR Wireless about ‘private 5G in Industry 4.0 – hype versus reality’. It follows on from an intro section, trailed here previously. The full report extends the discussion further, and is available to download for free here .  It draws (and expands) on various interviews and articles over the past couple of months, which are linked in the below text.

A step removed from the equipment makers, and the unique jeopardy that may or may not face (see coverage here and here , and variously), there is another noisy rank of ‘vendors’ interfacing directly with enterprises, composed mostly of system integrators and specialist providers – plus certain progressive operators lately, and a glut of large IT resellers potentially. They represent the default sales channel for private 5G, and proclaim to “understand this technology”, or talk like they do . And if you want the flipside-story about how the hype is real then they will tell it. 

NTT DATA, selling enterprise 5G from Celona and Cisco (plus Nokia in more ad-hoc fashion), claims a “$500 million pipeline of opportunities with some of the world’s most disruptive brands”. For reference, it quotes Global Market Insights that the private 5G market will reach $42 billion in global revenue by 2032, up by 40 percent from 2024 and roughly in line with ABI’s top-end forecast (see coverage here ). Its own research says 86 percent of firms are “gearing up”. It has a new two-way sales deal with Schneider Electric to bundle private 5G with the French firm’s ‘modular data centre’ (EcoStruxure) product – like a data-centre in a shipping container, with power and climate controls, and so on. 

NTT has been installing 5G all across Schneider Electric’s ‘smart factories’ in the US. The two companies have just deployed their joint system at a 30-hectare multi-tenant industrial campus at Marienpark Berlin, in the German capital. NTT reels-off big-ticket Industry 4.0 wins with chemicals companies Albemarle and LyondellBasell in the US, auto-maker BMW in Germany (and maybe in the US, if NTT is involved in BMW’s new 5G plant there), and Cologne and Frankfurt airports in Germany, plus a couple of others for good measure (the City of Las Vegas, the RAI Amsterdam). “We go after large-site / multi-site verticals,” says Parm Sandhu, in charge of enterprise 5G at the firm.

“Anything over 500,000 square feet, $5 billion in turnover, and $50 million in annual IT spend,” he adds. NTT is most interested in, and 5G is most successful in, mega-sized industrial setups, the message goes. Sandhu cites discrete and process manufacturers as key targets, plus “large-scale” logistics in seaports and airports. “That’s the sweet spot,” he says. “That’s where private 5G shines – where it translates into significant ROI savings. Because it provides cost-efficient coverage in complex environments, plus quality-of-service and support for mission-critical applications. We are starting to see double-digit million-dollar deals. They take time and effort, for sure; but they are coming in.”

NTT is not the only one. IBM spinoff Kyndryl has talked in these pages before about scaling 5G to multiple sites at Dow Chemical and Chevron Phillips Chemical (CPChem), among a bunch of unnamed references. US system integrator Future Technologies, a Nokia favourite with a lower profile (but a wide influence, and a hand in the above-mentioned Kyndryl integrations), said in January it had secured “several multi-million dollar” wins among Fortune 100 and 500 industrial firms, and a $150 million pipeline of new sales. At press (April 2024), it issued a note about taking $14 million of orders from the US energy sector in 2023; in conversation, it says it might go vertical-by-vertical through its spiralling 2023 win-totals, as well.

So, is this hype ? Or is this real business? Because the boots-on-the-ground in Industry 4.0 are delivering, in notable volume. Peter Cappiello, chief executive at Future Technologies, reflects: “It’s so frustrating to see these companies put out statements about pilots they’re selling. I mean, we’re getting paid to do these; they are real networks. We’re private; we have no debt. Lots of other companies [which talk about enterprise deployments] have raised capital, and don’t even have enterprise customers. We’re doing network transformation with customers we’ve worked with for years. We’ve been doing private cellular for 14 years – so we’re way more mature than most others.” 

He lists a bunch of customer references (which must remain private, he says) and it reads-back like a who’s-who of stateside early-adopter industrialists in the private LTE/5G sector – to the point, almost, that its fingerprints appear like they are across most serious private networks in the US. It includes factories, refineries, mines, ports, army bases, plus a bunch of others. He says: “We have gone from a regular $30-$40 million pipeline, to burst it over the $150 million mark. And you know, we’ve been around for 25 years; some of these others talk about their pipelines, and it’s nonsense. But we are adding seven figures to it every week – because we have this proven methodology.”

What methodology ? It is worth hearing him out just because the implication is that, away from the hype and bluster, parts of the private 5G market have settled on a deliberate process to scope the problem, articulate the value, and deploy the solution. Cappiello explains: “We get introduced, we get the idea, we retrieve the blueprint: vendor X for the radio, vendor Y for the core; or maybe X for both. We look at the use cases, we look at the devices; and then we set up a 30-minute call where I present a couple slides about the company, and then handover to the former CTO of Georgia-Pacific to walk through a series of live use cases and applications in our own living lab.”

Some context, here: Cappiello recruited Gary Hill from US pulp-and-paper manufacturer Georgia-Pacific four years ago as chief operating / innovation officer with a brief to “build a living lab”. Future Technologies has invested about $2 million in the site, says Cappiello. “Because use-cases are what drives this,” he explains. Hill has the right profile, he says; at Georgia-Pacific, Hill effectively ranked among the top manufacturing customers for Intel, Verizon, AWS. “This stuff matters to customers – that someone on our side has worked on their side.” He goes on: “So we say, ‘Right, we are going to show you what we do’. And we show them a 5G core network, and they see it and they get it.”

He replays the conversation: “‘Oh, it’s a server,’ they say. ‘Yep, and the core is a telco workload’. ‘Okay. I got it.’ Okay, so good; and then we show simple carpeted use cases, like some Zebra tablets and scanners. They’re like, ‘Right, yeah; we have them, too’. Okay; yeah; we’re tracking . And so we show them the training space, three 25-person classrooms; we show them the training towers. We explain that our goal is to train them, and enable them. And then we show them all these high-runner use cases – connected worker, remote worker, with every device you can imagine; a HoloLens running Tactile, RealWear running Librestream. They’re like, ‘Okay. We like that.’ 

“And then, we have an IoT health sensor running AI/ML, and a 5G AMR running around in the background. But we also have a conveyor belt with a Cognex camera connected on fibre. ‘ But I thought you’re selling us 5G?’ And we say: ‘ No ; in this environment, we have everything. Because you have everything. We have wired, because you have wired. We have Wi-Fi, because you have Wi-Fi. We have fixed-wireless broadband and public cellular.’ Because this is like a blue-collar lab. There are no white lab coats. We’re not trying to show what’s possible in 2030. ‘You’re a real business,’ we say, ‘with real operations’. We will show everything the customer might deploy – today, in 30 minutes.”

All of which says that, even with just 0.0003 percent of the addressable market covered, private LTE/5G is finding its mark with certain enterprises; it says that resellers like Future Technologies, plus NTT and others – plus equipment vendors like Nokia and Celona, and others – can explain its value to enterprises in language they understand, and make its value stick. It is not hype, then, that cellular has a job to do in large enterprise venues; the question is just how much of a job it has, in how much of the market. And if you want a glimpse of the future, of how 5G finds its groove beyond the Industry 4.0 vanguard, then you could do worse than ask a test company. Which is what we did. 

MIDDLE MARKET

Across the workbenches at UK-based Spirent, the clearest trend is for smaller and simpler systems , says Stephen Douglas, the firm’s head of strategy. “We’re seeing lower-cost, smaller-footprint private networks-in-a-box, particularly in North America; and development of capabilities so they can be deployed in an automated fashion.” The point is to jettison functions, reduce costs, and automate complexity – and thereby to open new markets. The ambition is to make private 5G accessible to more than just big firms with deep pockets, with which it has tended to find a natural home until this point. “The supply industry wants to sell to smaller businesses,” he says.

Smaller businesses – as in the mass-market ? Douglas qualifies his previous statement. “Well, probably less-small sized and more medium-sized, at this point,” he says. “[But] there has been a whole change in mindset – from slow and complex 5G installations to lighter-touch 5G offerings, comprising just a few radio cells and a stripped-back core network, with only the network functions that you actually need, rather than all the stuff that goes into a public network.” This is the line from Verizon Business, also, which has refocused and retooled its global sales operation (‘5G acceleration’ team) over the last 18 months, and is suddenly hoovering up ‘mid-market’ sales in the US.

Jennifer Artrley, in charge of the edge-5G enterprise team at the US operator, comments: “We have closed as many private network instances in the US mid-market to date in 2024 as we did all of last year. The funnel has more than doubled; the late stage opportunities in the funnel have more than tripled. We are out there, and I am adding salespeople to the team.” Of course, that sum – as many sales in a quarter of 2024 as in four quarters of 2023 – might just be four-times not-very-much. But the headcount in Artley’s unit stands at 250-odd, up from about 150 in early 2023, and Verizon Business is in the game – mostly, perhaps surprisingly – via the US “middle-market”.

In other words, even as deep-pocketed global enterprises ($5 billion firms with $50 million budgets, say) kick the tyres on complex Industry 4.0 integrations, as a precursor to mass-market adoption, Verizon Business is switching on light-touch LTE/5G in small- and mid-sized firms (SMEs), in shared-access CBRS airwaves and localised tranches of its own spectrum. It is not supposed to go like this, of course; the mass market is supposed to follow the early market, and the early private-5G market was supposed to be about production-line pyrotechnics in Industry 4.0. “Honestly, we’d written-off that part of the market. We just didn’t think the SME sector was the right target for private networks.” 

The fact the SME market is the right target, already – in sales, latterly, and in test, presciently – suggests the hype has substance. Back to Douglas, who says the test products in the Spirent labs do more than just strip-back technology and abstract complexity into automation software; vendors are bundling-in edge compute hardware and application software, as well, he says. This is Nokia’s strategy with its MXIE system, built to run Industry 4.0 apps next to the core network, as well as with its multi-layered private 5G connectivity portfolio, set to be bolstered (post-summer) by a new ‘ultra-compact’ version of its Digital Automation Cloud (DAC) product. 

The Finnish vendor wants an early shot at the mass market, composed mainly of SMEs, forming the engine room of the global economy. The statistics are hard to judge, but the Small Business Administration (SBA) says SMEs make up 99 percent of all private businesses and 47 percent of the private workforce in the US; the numbers tell the same story in most ‘industrial’ nations. “We said 14 million [industrial] sites – which is one million large sites, two or three million mid-sized ones, and everything else is small or very small,” explains Stephane Daeuble, responsible for enterprise solutions marketing in Nokia’s enterprise division. “So we need to tap into those markets.”

The ‘ultra-compact’ DAC product, as yet unnamed, will support a couple of radios, and compete with Wi-Fi in small venues. Its DAC Compact version, launched last year, supports up to four radios in small-to-mid sized indoor venues (up to 20,000 square metres). The original DAC solution, which has fuelled most of Nokia’s sales, supports up to 100 cells in campus setups (over 20,000 square metres). The DAC portfolio is complemented by its macro-sized Modular Private Wireless (MPW) product for wide-area projects, and micro-sized Perimeter Network (NPN) product, which fits in a bag (like Spirent’s test cases) and is customised and resold by specialist partners.

In reality, Nokia’s sales lens is still trained on bigger enterprises; it is just that these firms want a lighter-touch solution to flow-into their smaller sites. But logic says the mass SME market will follow in Nokia’s Industry 4.0 offensive, as it will for its rivals, and the hype will gain credence again. Daeuble says: “More and more large companies ask us for smaller sites. We’ve done their large sites and we’ve done their medium sites, and they’re now asking us to cover 2,000 small distribution centres with the same solution… Or they say, ‘Okay, we’ve done the 40 big ports; I want to do the next 60 medium-sized ports, and then the next 200 small-sized ports’. But they want something cheaper.”

He adds: “Those markets were not very aware of private wireless before, or willing to do much with it. But now we can present them with a single radio and a single blade, and cover the entire [small-sized] port.” The sense is Nokia is out on its own; but the word from the test labs is that rivals are readying similar options. “Certainly this trend for bundling is coming into the test arena,” says Douglas. In ways, the bent for simplification is a direct response almost to the stop-start progress in the manufacturing sector, the original Industry 4.0 poster child for private 5G. It is not quite; it is a natural evolution and logical response to scale the technology in the mass market. 

But manufacturing is hard, notes Douglas, and private 5G remains a developing technology, which, as yet, does not quite deliver sufficient features or confidence for manufacturing companies to fully get behind. That will happen, but it will take time, the message goes. “It is a more complex environment; the use cases are more challenging. A lot are dependent on Release 16 and 17 feature sets; and Release 16 features only started to come available to equipment makers last year; 17 will come this year. So there is a time lag in manufacturing; and an issue, as well, because of the focus on smartphones and [then on] CPE units… We are only now starting to see proper focus on industrial devices.” 

There is a rush of interest in RedCap for industrial IoT, he notes; but again, it is a future technology, which does not hold enough immediate value for manufacturing companies, generally, to scale their private 5G experiments into loaded multi-site systems. “RedCap is not really going to be available in the market for another year, at best. So manufacturing is stuck in trial-mode, to a greater extent – just because of the availability of technology,” he says. And because of the difficult terrain in manufacturing, also; all good for test companies, it would appear. But Verizon Business, as part of its own strategy-shift, has recategorised manufacturing as a “horizon-two/three opportunity”.  

Arvin Singh, recruited as global head of 5G solutions and innovation in late 2022 as Artley’s private 5G unit paused to take stock, reflects: “The team had been looking at all these complex areas – all this manufacturing with robotics, and so on. Which is exciting. But there is a roadmap and a sales cycle, and a whole ecosystem that goes with it. So frankly, Industry 4.0 has lagged two-to-three years behind the hype on private networks. And the mission Jen (Artley) tasked us all with 18 months ago was to land-and-expand – without losing sight of those horizon-two/three possibilities. The question was: what can we do now to get in the game?” 

As discussed, its way into the game, three years after it first planted its flag in foreign soil with Associated British Ports, and 18 months after it took its own organisational structure in hand, has been via the US ‘mid-market’. Which is not to say Verizon Business has eschewed big-ticket Industry 4.0 affairs for “mom-and-pop” deals in CBRS spectrum. I mean, that can’t be right, surely – when there is a chance, suddenly, to set up as a 5G provider to businesses in any market (spectrum permitting) in the world? “Not at all,” responds Artley. “We run the whole gamut. We’re finding applications for more basic CBRS deployments, but the most exciting opportunities are in global enterprise.” 

She offers up its multi-core installation at an Audi test track in Germany, to duplicate global network conditions at a single site, as an example. “That was a long development cycle because we were working to see what was possible. And what’s possible is pretty phenomenal.” Coverage of the Audi setup can be found on the RCR Wireless website; the conversation skips to other (uncited) deals, and to how the company’s “land-and-expand” motto translates to large enterprises. “In the mid-market, it means volume – getting lots of wins on the board. In global enterprise, it is about selling the first location, and then expanding the use cases on top, or else expanding to more locations.”

Verizon Business sold its first private LTE/5G ( probably LTE? ) network to an oil and gas refinery in August, she says; it sold five more to the same customer in October, and seven more in December. “They see the benefit, and want more of it – and so it scales geographically. Similarly, she tells how a pharmaceutical company, another industrial ‘first’ for the team, has taken a private LTE/5G network from Verizon Business in the last few months, and returned “two months later” with a much more complex brief. “It is a more complex network, and a more complex solution,” she says. “And more complex than the oil and gas example.”

She adds some colour. “It is 15 million square feet and 30 buildings; 1,800 radios and one network. It is the whole campus, expanded from a small-scale setup at a different location.” In a market that has found upwards- and outwards-scalability (applications and premises) difficult over several years, these deployments represent real two-way ‘expansion’ – and tell of a licensed operator embracing unlicensed spectrum in global markets. But while they are prime examples of private LTE/5G at-scale, they are not what you might call conventional manufacturing – as in the kind of discrete assembly-line discipline that gets conflated with Industry 4.0 in popular legend. 

Indeed, the conclusion from this anecdotal, mostly uncited, rush of sales is that (discrete) manufacturing is a hard-sell for private 5G, and that any disillusionment in the wider market is probably because of this; plus that the impossible task to make an undercooked version of industrial 5G relevant to manufacturers has forced the vendor market to look elsewhere. Which is what has happened. Precipitated by the anti-complexity trend, 5G has landed in other climes. “Most growth over the last 12 months has not been in manufacturing, but in seaports, public venues, and the government and defence sector,” says Douglas. “And it has mostly been to provide coverage to large campus areas.” 

This is echoed by everyone. For perspective: Nokia, which claims an almost-50 percent (GSA) share of the private LTE/5G market, has 710 customers (at March 2024); half (49 percent) are mostly for legacy wide-area MPW networks, which pre-date its DAC assault on liberalised ‘vertical’ bands. They are, to a greater extent, in the government and utilities sectors, where macro LTE/5G is still required. About a quarter (23 percent) are in manufacturing and a fifth (20 percent) are in transport/logistics; both markets have grown from nothing four years ago, when the DAC system was introduced. But the fastest growth, says Nokia, is not in discrete (parts and assembly) manufacturing – where the hype has focused – but in process (ingredients and recipes) manufacturing. 

In other words, it is in the making of beverages, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, and so on, plus in seaports and airports (logistics) – rather than in the more iconic production of vehicles and machinery. Daeuble says: “We ignored some markets – like process manufacturing, which splits into a dozen segments – where our stuff makes lots of sense, and brings lots of value. Because they’re less advanced in terms of automation, say. So we’ve put a lot of focus on that and we are getting a lot of big deals.” High-profile clients like BASF, Chevron Phillips, and Dow fall into this basket. “But we have 10 new markets this year as well,” he adds. “Which shows we are covering new ground.”

This article is taken from a new editorial report from RCR Wireless about ‘private 5G in Industry 4.0 – hype versus reality’. The full report extends the discussion further, and is available to download for free here .  

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• R. Sathishkumar, M. Govindarajan, R. Dhivyasri

An Empirical Study of Rainfall Prediction Using Various Regression Models

• Deepika Vodnala, Vemula Laxmi Sathvika, Kodithyala Sai Venkat, Dasari Joseph Anand Chowdary

A Novel Ensemble Approach for Colon Cancer Detection Over the Multiclass Colon Dataset

• Puneshkumar U. Tembhare, Raj Thaneeghaivel, Versha Namdeo

Other volumes

• Cellular Systems
• 2G/2.5G/3G/4G/5G and LTE
• Small Cells And Femtocell Networks
• Vehicular Wireless Networks
• Green Wireless Networks
• Cognitive Radio Networks
• Software-Defined Wireless Networks
• Proceedings of MRCN 2023

About this book

This book features selected high-quality papers from the Forth International Conference on Mobile Radio Communications and 5G Networks (MRCN 2023), held at University Institute of Engineering and Technology, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, India, during August 25–26, 2023. The book features original papers by active researchers presented at the International Conference on Mobile Radio Communications and 5G Networks. It includes recent advances and upcoming technologies in the field of cellular systems, 2G/2.5G/3G/4G/5G, and beyond, LTE, WiMAX, WMAN, and other emerging broadband wireless networks, WLAN, WPAN, and various home/personal networking technologies, pervasive and wearable computing and networking, small cells and femtocell networks, wireless mesh networks, vehicular wireless networks, cognitive radio networks and their applications, wireless multimedia networks, green wireless networks, standardization of emerging wireless technologies, power management and energy conservation techniques.

Editors and Affiliations

Nikhil Kumar Marriwala, Sunil Dhingra

Shruti Jain

Dinesh Kumar

About the editors

Dr. Nikhil Marriwala is working as Assistant Professor Electronics and Communication Engineering Department, University Institute of Engineering and Technology, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra. He did his Ph.D. from National Institute of Technology (NIT), Kurukshetra, in the department of ECE. He has more than 20 years of experience teaching graduate and postgraduate students. He has more than 20 years of experience teaching graduate and postgraduate students. More than 33 students have completed their M-Tech dissertation under his guidance. He has published more than 05 book chapters in different International books, has authored more than 10-books with Pearson, Wiley, etc. and has more than 40 publications to his credit in reputed International Journals (SCI, SCIE, ESCI, and Scopus) and 20 papers in International/National conferences. He has been granted 08 Patents with 02 Indian patents and 06 International Patents. He has been Chairman of Special Sessions in more than 22 International/National Conferences and has delivered a keynote address at more than 7 International conferences. He has also acted as organizing secretary for more than 05 International conferences and 01 National Conference. He has delivered more than 70 Invited Talks/ Guest Lectures in leading Universities/Colleges PAN India. He is having additional charge of Training and Placement Officer, UIET, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra for more than 11 years now. He is editor of more than 05 book proceedings with Springer and guest editor for special session in Journal Measurement and Sensors, Elsevier. He has also been awarded as the “Career Guru of the Month” award by Aspiring Minds. His areas of interests are Software Defined Radios, Cognitive Radios, Soft Computing, Wireless Communications, Wireless Sensor Networks, Fuzzy system design, and Advanced Microprocessors.

Dr. Sunil Dhingra is currently serving as Dean of Faculty of Engineering & Technology, Kurukshetra University Kurukshetra, and Director of University Institute of Engineering & Technology (UIET), KUK. He completed his Ph.D. in the area of Semiconductor Electronics and Instrumentation. He is also having the charge of Proctor and Chief Vigilance Officer at Kurukshetra University. He is constantly at fore front lines for students and for their careers; he is serving as a Professor Incharge, Kurukshetra University Centre for Training, internship and employment. He also held roles such as Director of IT Cell and Chairman of the Department of Instrumentation in the past. His primary aim is always to make various institutions of university to be recognized as a globally centre of academic excellence.

Dr. Shruti Jain is Associate Professor in the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering at Jaypee University of Information Technology, Waknaghat, H.P, India, and has received her Ph.D. in Biomedical Image Processing. She has a teaching experience of around 15 years. Her research interests are Image and Signal Processing, Soft Computing, Bio-inspired Computing, and Computer-Aided Design of FPGA and VLSI circuits. She has published more than 10 book chapters, 60 papers in reputed journals, and 40 papers in international conferences. She has also published five books. She is Senior Member of IEEE, Life Member and Editor-in-Chief of Biomedical Engineering Society of India, and Member of IAENG. She has completed one externally funded project and one in the pipeline. She has guided 01 Ph.D. student and now has 06 registered students. She is Member of the Editorial Board of many reputed journals. She is also Reviewer of many journals and Member of TPC of different conferences. She was awarded by Nation Builder Award in 2018-19.

Prof. Dinesh Kumar completed B.Tech. from IIT Madras and Ph.D. from IIT Delhi and is Professor at RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia. He has published over 400 papers, authored 5 books, and is on a range of Australian and international committees for Biomedical Engineering. His passion is for affordable diagnostics and making a difference for his students. His work has been cited over 5600 times, and he has also had multiple successes with technology translation. He is Member of Therapeutics Goods Administration (TGA), Ministry of Health (Australia) for medical devices. He is also on the editorial boards for IEEE Transactions of Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering and Biomedical Signals and Controls. He has been Chair of large number of conferences and given over 50 keynotes speeches.

Bibliographic Information

Book Title : Mobile Radio Communications and 5G Networks

Book Subtitle : Proceedings of Fourth MRCN 2023

Editors : Nikhil Kumar Marriwala, Sunil Dhingra, Shruti Jain, Dinesh Kumar

Series Title : Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-0700-3

Publisher : Springer Singapore

eBook Packages : Engineering , Engineering (R0)

Copyright Information : The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2024

Softcover ISBN : 978-981-97-0699-0 Published: 30 April 2024

eBook ISBN : 978-981-97-0700-3 Published: 29 April 2024

Series ISSN : 2367-3370

Series E-ISSN : 2367-3389

Edition Number : 1

Number of Pages : XXVIII, 803

Number of Illustrations : 57 b/w illustrations, 362 illustrations in colour

Topics : Communications Engineering, Networks , Wireless and Mobile Communication , Cyber-physical systems, IoT , Professional Computing , Multimedia Information Systems

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NYS grants $10M to Orbic Electronics to bring 1,000 jobs to Long Island from China

Workers at the Orbic facility on Wireless Road in Hauppauge assemble and test phones and hotspot devices that have come in for repair or refurbishment. Credit: Newsday/John Paraskevas

A manufacturer’s plan to bring up to 1,000 factory jobs to Long Island from China over the next five years has won $10 million in state tax credits, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced.

The funding will help Orbic Electronics Manufacturing LLC in Hauppauge to open the first of what it hopes will be four factories in Suffolk County.

Work to retrofit 60,000 square feet at 555 Wireless Blvd., also in Hauppauge, for production will cost $30.8 million and is expected to begin soon, executives said this week.

Orbic supplies cellphones, laptops, mobile hot spots and other telecommunications equipment to Verizon and others. Orbic's customers increasingly want products that are made domestically to avoid a repeat of the shipping backlogs seen during the COVID-19 pandemic with imported goods, and to stand out from their competitors, according to Orbic CEO Mike Narula.

WHAT TO KNOW

• Orbic Electronics Manufacturing LLC has won $10 million in state tax credits for a plan to shift 1,000 factory jobs from China to Suffolk County.
• The move is in response to Orbic's customers wanting secure supply chains and a competitive edge, according to CEO Mike Narula.
• Orbic is among 51 local businesses and nonprofits to share nearly $25 million from statewide Regional Economic Development Councils' competition for 2023-24.

“China has dominated [the telecommunications industry] when it comes to manufacturing and supply chain … We decided to go down a different path in building the Orbic brand and to set ourselves apart from the competition by having ‘Made in USA’ on our products,” he told Newsday in December. “Also, our top customers, like Verizon, are asking us to do this.”

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While production work will move to Long Island, Narula said Orbic will continue to rely on engineers in India for research and development activities.

Orbic's bestselling items are mobile hot spots used in school buses and elsewhere by students doing their homework, cellphones for senior citizens and Chromebook computers for students, he said, adding that he hopes to begin turning out 5 million products per year on Long Island this fall. Orbic, with annual sales of about $100 million, is owned by Narula's wife, Ashima, an architect, according to records.

The $10 million in tax credits for Orbic is the largest award so far to a Long Island-based business or nonprofit in the statewide Regional Economic Development Councils’ competition for 2023-24. More than 50 entities in Nassau and Suffolk counties have won nearly $25 million in tax credits and grants to date, based on a data analysis by Newsday.

Besides Orbic, the biggest aid amounts are for the new National Offshore Wind Training Center Inc. in Brentwood, $3 million grant; the AR Hicksville apartment building near the Long Island Rail Road Station in downtown Hicksville, $1 million grant, and equipment for transit software developer Clever Devices LLC in Woodbury, $1 million in tax credits.

Companies receive tax credits based on the number of jobs that they create.

Orbic’s plan to shift its production from China to Suffolk “highlights the area’s skilled workforce, business-friendly environment and strategic location and will strengthen Long Island’s position as a hub for advanced manufacturing and technology,” said Linda Armyn, CEO of Bethpage Federal Credit Union and John Nader, president of Farmingdale State College. They lead the Long Island Regional Economic Development Council, which recommends local projects for state funding.

Diana O’Brien, head of marketing at Orbic, said work to convert the Wireless Boulevard building into a factory “will commence in the coming weeks as we finalize our design plans and secure the necessary construction permits.”

In addition to the state tax credits, the Suffolk County Industrial Development Agency in January gave final approval for $2 million in local tax breaks over 20 years for the Orbic factory. In return, the company has pledged to add more than 500 people to its payroll of 73 in the next two years.

The new jobs will pay, on average, $46,250 per year, according to the application for IDA aid.

In February, Orbic unveiled a 5G-enabled e-bike with artificial intelligence technology to help riders avoid collisions. The electric bicycle also is equipped with cameras for video calls, a touch screen monitor with maps and other information, and an internet hot spot.

“Our ultimate goal is to manufacture the e-bike right here in New York as well,” O’Brien said on Tuesday.

James T. Madore writes about Long Island business news including the economy, development, and the relationship between government and business. He previously served as Albany bureau chief.

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