Nujira, a manufacturer of high-efficiency power amplifier technology for radio transmitters, has been urged to expand into the broadcast television market more quickly than it otherwise might have.

It was encouraged to do so by The Technology Partnership (TTP), one of the incubators that runs the Carbon Trust’s company incubator scheme.

Nujira, a Cambridge-based firm, has been supplying mobile telephone transmitter equipment manufacturers with radio frequency power amplifiers that modulate the power supply to mobile phone base stations, according to the strength of the transmitted signal.

Until recently the power supply to such stations has been set at a constant level to support maximum signal strength. However, the amplitude of the signal varies according to the nature of the data being transmitted. This means that surplus energy is often produced, which is wasted as dissipated heat.

By modulating the power supply to mobile phone base stations according to the strength of the transmitted signal, Nujira estimates that it is able to reduce power consumption by as much as 50 per cent. A typical European operator with 20,000 base stations can save 28MW, reducing costs by about £15 million and CO2 emissions by about 110,000 tonnes.

TTP approached Nujira and suggested that it should move into the broadcast market. TTP had experience of this market and was able to estimate how many broadcast antennae or base stations there were and, therefore, how large the market for the modulating device might be.

With TTP’s help, Nujira built a demonstration device, which it then showed to manufacturers of broadcast equipment. Now it is working with two manufacturers to build highly efficient amplifiers for the television broadcast market. Potentially this could be worth £200-£250 million to Nujira — as much in fact as the telephony market.

Tim Haynes, Nujira’s chief executive and founder, said that TTP’s intervention had accelerated his company’s entry into the broadcast market and brought with it expertise in the industry that Nujira did not have.

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