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Nujira - case study 

A new approach halves the energy cost of taking a call

With a phone in everyone’s pocket, communication has never been so easy – or so power-hungry. With 3G becoming commonplace and 4G emerging, the energy consumption of mobile phones and base stations is set to increase dramatically. The same is true of TV broadcast transmissions as networks switch to digital. With support from the Carbon Trust, Nujira is working on a solution.

 
 

Without the Carbon Trust we certainly wouldn’t have been able to commit significant spend to do the research which was essential to understanding our market. Our work through the Carbon Trust incubator enabled us to go on to sign up two out of four of the biggest potential customers in the market.

Tim Haynes, CEO, Nujira

The challenge

As the broadcast and cellular industries grow, and it becomes possible to send increasing amounts of data much faster than before, energy efficiency is failing to keep up with the pace of change. Independent analyst ABI Research predicts that energy consumption as a result of mobile broadband service delivery will triple from 42.8 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) in 2006, to 124.4 billion kWh in 2011.

Dynamically managing the power feed into a transmitter, so that it changes in line with the demands of the transmitted signal, can cut energy use by up to two thirds. The challenge is to vary the power quickly and accurately enough, without wasting energy or compromising the performance.

Nujira’s Coolteq power modules, the result of seven years of research and development, can double the efficiency of digital broadcast transmitters, and triple that of cellular network base stations. Coolteq modules are being evaluated by manufacturers of mobile phone handsets, and new uses for the technology are regularly found.

Approach

When Nujira was nominated for a Carbon Trust Innovation Award in 2007, the company was offered the opportunity to take part in the Incubator scheme. Working with one of the Carbon Trust’s Incubator partners, TTP (The Technology Partnership), Nujira was able to investigate the size of the emerging market in television transmitters, and the commercial potential for its technology within it.

Support from the Carbon Trust Incubator also helped Nujira to build a demonstrator. Following the investigation, two significant broadcast customers signed up for the new technology within six months, in addition to the 13 manufacturers of cellular base stations who are already on board.

Without the Carbon Trust we certainly wouldn’t have been able to commit significant spend to do the research which was essential to understanding our market. Our work through the Carbon Trust incubator enabled us to go on to sign up two out of four of the biggest potential customers in the market

Carbon Trust Incubator

The objective of the Carbon Trust Incubator is to help promising early stage UK companies achieve the ‘next big step’ in their development, by raising finance, securing licence deals or partnering with a major player in their market.

We work with companies that have developed innovative technologies and services that demonstrate exceptional commercial and carbon-saving potential, with a real appetite for high growth.

To do this, we deliver top-class consulting support, provide specialised training events and open doors to strategic partnerships across a wide range of technologies and markets.


Find out more about Entrepreneurs Fast Track support for entrepreneurs.

 
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