Communications Infrastructure

Antennas will need to be part of many different environments to accelerate 5G deployment. Materials from 3M can help you blend your antennas into more locations — especially indoors — without sacrificing signal strength. Now you can enable transparent antennas for better in-building coverage. You can also wrap radomes with camouflage film while maintaining signal integrity, even at mmWave frequencies, and more.

A base station must withstand heat and weather harsh environments while maintaining optimal signal integrity inside and out. Discover how advanced materials from 3M can help you build high performance 5G antenna systems and protect them with durable, RF-transparent and aesthetically pleasing radomes. Helping you reduce part weight and saving material costs are just a few added benefits.

Network infrastructure is processing huge quantities of data at record rates, with conventional CCL materials struggling to keep up. 3M offers a selection of dielectric materials to help you reduce signal loss and support high data transfer speeds in your CCL designs. In addition to optimizing signal integrity, you can manage heat dissipation and control thermal expansion for enhanced dimensional stability between layers.

Controlling EMI and mitigating PIM is crucial to 5G deployment. 3M can help you combat signal interference by helping you optimize 5G infrastructure, including key assemblies and components impacted most by EMI, with innovative products. Materials include grounding, shielding and absorber solutions as well as an innovative external PIM mitigation kit for rooftop and tower cell sites — all to help you improve your network performance and capacity.

5G network infrastructure is built on a foundation of low loss plastic and composite parts: electrical connectors, housings and frames, cover glass and more. See how RF-transparent materials can enable you to strengthen parts and reduce weight, all while improving signal integrity. 3M provides a spectrum of solutions to help you balance dielectric, thermal and mechanical requirements for your exact 5G design needs.

Connectivity to 5G infrastructure like edge servers, base stations and towers must be optimized to address latency, signal integrity and environmental contamination. Materials originally developed to improve connectivity for data centers can help you deliver a reliable connection. They include cables with innovative folding capabilities and thermal management benefits, and connectors equipped with expanded beam optical technology for contamination resistance.