Ericsson, PowerLight demo first fully wirelessly-powered 5G base station

Ericsson said that no on-site power generation was involved in this demonstration. The site in Seattle was completely ‘powerless’ until wirelessly powered over the air via PowerLight's laser technology that transmit hundreds of watts over hundreds of meters through the air.

Ericsson and PowerLight Technologies claim to have demonstrated the world's first safe and fully wireless powered 5G base station. The proof-of-concept (PoC) demo milestone was achieved using a laser-based technology called 'optical beaming' that converts electricity into high-intensity light which is then captured and transformed to electricity at the radio base station.

In an official release on Monday, Ericsson said that no street power grid network or on-site power generation was involved in this demonstration. The site in Seattle was completely ‘powerless’ until wirelessly powered over the air via PowerLight's laser technology that transmit hundreds of watts over hundreds of meters through the air. Wireless power was safely distributed to an Ericsson Streetmacro 6701, a 5G mmWave radio base station.

Commenting on this milestone, Kevin Zvokel, Head of Networks for Ericsson North America, said, "The ability to safely transfer power across distances without having to be connected to the power grid eliminates one of the big obstacles we have when building new cell sites. The time savings and flexibility gains will make this an attractive solution for our customers."

This breakthrough demonstration from Ericsson and PowerLight shows how power can be distributed wirelessly and create new and innovative network deployment and use cases such as provisional deployments in case of emergency or time-specific densification demands. Wireless power could also support power-cable-free machines such as automated guided vehicles and drones, as well as devices like IoT sensors and lamps.

With wireless power, CSPs will have the flexibility to position a base station without compromising communication needs in relation to where a power wire is located.

Ericsson and PowerLight Technologies are exploring the possibility of delivering safe wireless power-beaming capabilities, which will be commercially available in the next few years.

"This breakthrough demonstration, which utilized the best innovative technology from PowerLight and Ericsson, underscores the major leaps we have made recently toward the commercialization of safe, wireless power transmission for larger-scale systems," said Claes Olsson, Executive Chairman, PowerLight Technologies.