Communications Technology Laboratory

NIST’s Communications Technology Laboratory (CTL) advances the measurement science underlying wireless technologies ranging from the microchips that generate and process signals to the antennas that send and receive them. Our work establishes the metrological foundations for higher speeds, better connections and more ubiquitous access amid rising wireless demand from governments, businesses, and you.

What do smartphones, radar, military and public-safety radios, satellite phones, mobile video, wearable devices, the Internet of things, and smart vehicles have in common? They all depend on wireless spectrum. With insatiable demand from these and countless other wireless applications, there’s an unprecedented crowding of the airwaves. That’s driving the development of increasingly sophisticated technologies and applications capable of transmitting and receiving signals at higher frequencies and in shared frequency bands.

With expertise honed over decades of theoretical and experimental work in antennas and wireless propagation, materials science and electronics measurement and testing, CTL serves an independent, unbiased arbiter of trusted measurements and standards to government and industry. We focus our efforts in three primary program areas, all of which are establishing vital technological foundations for the ongoing wireless revolution.

Our Programs

Spectrum Sharing and Optimization

Next-Generation (5G) Wireless

Public Safety Communication