The funding will help expand CSA Catapult’s activities across the future telecoms landscape and develop new compound semiconductor technologies to improve the speed, energy efficiency and security of our communications networks.
The announcement, made in the Autumn Statement, coincides with the launch of CSA Catapult’s new Future Telecoms Hub, which was officially opened today by Sir John Whittingdale MP.
Funded through an initial £2.5m investment by Innovate UK and based at the Bristol and Bath Science Park, the Future Telecoms Hub combines state-of-the-art equipment with leading expertise to test and develop new telecoms hardware made using compound semiconductors.
Compound semiconductors are at the heart of the UK’s future telecoms networks and are used to build devices that process and transmit data at extremely high speeds and require much less power to operate.
Compound semiconductors are also used in quantum devices that allow us to securely transfer data from one place to another.
A priority of the Future Telecoms Hub will be to improve the performance of power amplifiers— components that boost signals before they are transmitted from a base station to smartphones and computers.
Analysis from CSA Catapult has revealed that in a typical base station, power amplifiers can account for up to 80% of the power consumed1.