LG Uplus Boosts Home Wi-Fi Quality with Transparent Antenna Attached Next to TV

The photo shows a prototype of a transparent Wi-Fi antenna attached to a TV. Photo by LG Uplus

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Su-yeon] LG Uplus announced on the 14th that it has developed a film-type transparent antenna that attaches to the side of a TV to improve home WiFi signal in collaboration with chemical materials specialist Dongwoo Fine-Chem.

Recently, as large-screen wall-mounted TVs for home use have significantly increased, WiFi routers are mainly installed on the back of TVs for interior aesthetics, causing cases where signals do not reach rooms far from the living room well.

The home WiFi transparent antenna developed by LG Uplus allows signals to reach rooms far from the home WiFi router in the living room. Fine electrode lines are drawn in a mesh pattern on a transparent film, and antenna elements are arranged like a Go board, designed with a length of 30 cm and a width of 1 cm. LG Uplus explained that the newly developed transparent antenna has an optimal form that maximizes radiation efficiency while not damaging the interior.

During the development process, the performance of the transparent antenna was closely verified in the Daejeon R&D Center customer environment test room, which was set up to simulate a home environment. Test results confirmed that the data transmission processing efficiency was at the same level as when the WiFi router was installed in front of the TV.

LG Uplus plans to expand its WiFi router lineup through the transparent antenna and distribute it to the Sejong Smart City currently under development.

In addition to home WiFi antennas, LG Uplus plans to install transparent antennas for industrial Internet of Things (IoT) such as 5G, LTE, and Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) communication on the exterior of metal cabinets along roadsides to improve wireless communication quality. Furthermore, it is also developing ‘Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface (RIS)’ antenna technology that transmits specific high-frequency bands through building interior glass windows.

Jeon Young-seo, head of the Corporate Service Development Lab under the CTO organization at LG Uplus, said, “As remote work spreads, interest in home communication quality is increasing, and the transparent antenna is expected to help improve not only quality but also interior aesthetics,” adding, “We will continue to develop transparent antenna technology to improve customer-perceived quality not only for home WiFi but also for 5G and LTE mobile communications in customers’ daily lives.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.