China-based Comlent develops RF transceiver
Comlent, a fabless RFIC design house based in Shanghai, claims to be sampling the first RFIC transceiver to have been developed by a Chinese company.
Designed for PHS/PAS cell phone handsets, which are used by around 70 million subscribers in the country, the module comprises both a transceiver and a power amplifier chipset.
The chips used in the 1.9 GHz transceiver were manufactured at Jazz Semiconductor, the pure-play SiGe BiCMOS and CMOS foundry in Newport Beach, California.
According to Comlent, its design eliminates the surface acoustic wave (SAW) filter that is required in many existing transceivers.
The Shanghai-based company is largely funded by US venture groups, including Intel Capital and 3i.
"Comlent has invested millions of dollars to develop proprietary intellectual property for RFIC transceiver and power amplifier designs in both CMOS and BiCMOS technologies," said Comlent CEO Kai Chen.
China s PHS/PAS sector has experienced rapid expansion in the past two years, with annual growth of 25 to 30 million handsets.
