RF Micro Devices Inc. (RFMD) is targeting the CDMA components market with the introduction of multiple CDMA front end products this year. This is in line with RFMD's plans to update its CDMA product portfolio, marking its first new offerings for CDMA handsets in approximately five years.
RFMD CDMA front end products to be launched in 2009 include power amplifiers (PAs), discrete switches and GPS low noise amplifier (LNA) modules with integrated filters. New products recently launched by RFMD include the RF73xx family of linear CDMA PAs, the RF1126 and RF1136 discrete switches and the RF2815 GPS LNA module with integrated surface acoustic wave (SAW) filter, designed for GPS-enabled CDMA mobile devices.
"We are very pleased to expand our industry-leading portfolio of cellular front end components to address the many opportunities in CDMA handsets," says Eric Creviston, President of RFMD's Cellular Products Group. "CDMA handsets totaled approximately 170 million units in 2008 and continue to represent a large segment of the overall handset market. We expect our CDMA product refresh will extend our reach to new customers and new design teams and expand our total available market by approximately 150 million units in calendar year 2009."
Bob Bruggeworth, President and CEO of RFMD, comments, "RFMD is diversifying its customer base and product portfolio through a significant increase in new product introductions. We are particularly focused on new standard products for the open market, and the CDMA market greatly increases the scope of our open market opportunities."
The RF73xx product family is compatible with the commercially available CDMA baseband and covers all high-volume CDMA frequency bands. RFMD's RF73xx family consists of three single-band PA modules covering the cellular, PCS and AWS bands as well as a dual-band PA that combines the cellular and PCS bands, thereby enabling a size reduction in dual-band implementations. In each PA, individual bands of amplification are addressed with a band-specific, high-efficiency, linear PA that is designed to lower current consumption as output power levels decrease. The improved low-power efficiency is made possible through the use of three digital power modes that adjust bias current and optimize the PA for the desired output power range while maintaining linearity. Each PA in the RF73xx family integrates an output power coupler. The integrated coupler eliminates the need for external couplers in chipset implementations that monitor PA output power in order to make transmit power adjustments.
The RF2815 integrates a low noise-figure LNA, SAW filter and supporting components in a compact 3.3x2.1x1mm module. The highly integrated RF2815 is optimized for both solution size and performance and is especially suited for battery-powered mobile devices, such as portable navigation devices (PNDs) and GPS-enabled CDMA handsets. The RF1126 single-pole double throw (SPDT) and RF1136 single-pole triple throw (SP3T) symmetric pHEMT switches offer industry-leading insertion loss and linearity, making them ideal for signal routing in multi-band CDMA designs implementing receive (Rx) diversity.
Technical features of the RF73xx Family include:
- Compact, low profile packages:
Single-band - 3x3x1mm; Dual-band - 4x5x1mm
- Excellent low-power efficiency
- Three power-mode states with chipset-specific digital control interfaces
- Integrated voltage regulator (Vreg)
- Integrated output power couplers
- Highly integrated modules requiring no external blocking or decoupling capacitors
Technical features of the RF2815 include:
- Low noise-figure: 0.85 dB typical
- High gain: 13.5 dB
- High IIP3: +8 dBm
- CMOS compatible shutdown mode
- Current consumption is tunable via a single resistor
- No external DC-blocking capacitors needed
Technical features of the RF1126 and RF1136 include:
- Very small footprint:
RF1126 - 2x1.3x0.35mm QFN package, RF1136 - 2.5x2.5x0.45mm QFN package
- Very low insertion loss
- Ideal for use in multi-band CDMA Rx diversity applications
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