Blog

What is AI Triple-Antenna Wi-Fi Technology of HONOR View20？

February 21, 2019

What is AI Triple-Antenna Wi-Fi Technology of HONOR View20？

February 21, 2019

Ever lost a game because your Wi-Fi suddenly cut out? The betrayal is hurtful, but that's just how it is.

Well, actually there's more to it than just a flaky network. Another culprit often goes unnoticed -- it's how you hold your phone.

Try holding your phone in landscape position like you're going to play a game. Look at where your hands are. Your index fingers are wrapped around the top of the frame, while your ring or little fingers support the bottom, right? Unfortunately your hands are covering exactly where the Wi-Fi antennas are traditionally placed in a phone, effectively blocking your phone's Wi-Fi reception. The phenomenon has a nickname, the death grip.

HONOR engineers discovered this issue early on and began researching a viable solution. After performing countless user tests and experimentation, they finally came up with “AI Triple-Antenna Wi-Fi”. The HONOR View20 is the first phone to use this technology.

1. Triple-antenna design

Since the problem is caused by users blocking the antennas with their hands, engineers started by figuring out how users hold their phones. They analyzed and combined the data from over 10,000 users to create thermal maps of users’ grip for both portrait and landscape mode. The darker the spot on the map, the stronger the grip on that part of the phone, meaning more interference.

By looking at the first map (portrait), you can see the entire top part of the phone is white, meaning there is no interference. This works perfectly for the earliest design where the antennas were placed at the top.

What is AI Triple-Antenna Wi-Fi Technology of HONOR View20?

Now look at what happens when you turn it sideways to play a game or stream a video.

What is AI Triple-Antenna Wi-Fi Technology of HONOR View20?

Even with dual antennas, both are blocked.

HONOR engineers quickly realized they needed to think outside the box. Their solution was to place an additional square antenna in the center.

What is AI Triple-Antenna Wi-Fi Technology of HONOR View20?

Adding another antenna may sound elementary -- I mean it makes sense that adding more would mean that you have more chances at better reception. There's no way you could accidently cover them all. Well, that's not quite how it works. They need to be strategically placed, because signals are easily affected by metal. Not only do they need to avoid the dark spots on the maps but the pesky metal hardware inside as well. After heavy analysis, thousands of experiments, and prototyping, the engineers created the most efficient design.

What is AI Triple-Antenna Wi-Fi Technology of HONOR View20?

2. Kirin 980 and AI computing

However, breaking out of the death grip takes more than just upgraded hardware. An algorithm is used to determine the most optimal antenna combination at all times and switches between them accordingly. If there are too many antennas, more computing needs to be done, and there is the potential of your phone switching between the antennas too often, slowing your Wi-Fi down even more.

The HONOR View20 takes full advantage of the new Kirin 980 Dual-NPU' AI computation abilities, creating an entire set of algorithms just for handling the triple antennas.

What is AI Triple-Antenna Wi-Fi Technology of HONOR View20?

Here's an idea of how it works. The system is automatically activated when you use your phone in landscape mode, calculating which combination of antennas have the best reception. Once it detects the signal weakening for the two main antennas (top and bottom) it enables the third antenna to boost the signal. This isn't merely a mechanical switch. In the event when router Wi-Fi signal is weak, switching antennas on HONOR View20 can make your connection worse and reduce battery life unnecessarily. Luckily, HONOR View20's AI is able to determine the cause of the weakened signal and decide how to keep you happily connected.

This is just part of the package. The HONOR View20 also has all new 48MP Ultra Clarity mode, a TOF 3D Camera, and world leading Liquid Cooling System. We hope there's something that catches your eye!