3G show blitzed by power amplifier deluge
The sun might be shining on the 3GSM World Congress in Cannes this week, but it is raining power amplifier (PA) modules thanks to a raft of new products from many of the leading GaAs IC manufacturers in town.
Anadigics, RF Micro Devices, Skyworks Solutions and TriQuint Semiconductor are all doing their best to impress handset manufacturers with improved module performance and devices that simplify the design process.
Anadigics unveiled new modules for wideband-CDMA, enhanced data for global evolution (EDGE) and GSM/GPRS applications.
The Warren, NJ, company has brought out a family of four high-efficiency PA modules for W-CDMA, under the high-efficiency-at-low-power (HELP) banner. These are said to reduce average power consumption by 50%.
According to Anadigics, this means that new 3G phones using the PAs will have the same battery life as older phones, despite all the extra functionality putting an increasing demand on power.
Anadigics is also targeting the "2.5G" market with an InGaP HBT quad-band PA module that it says is the lowest-cost PA option for dual mode GSM/EDGE handsets.
And in the low-end GSM/GPRS sector, the company says that its PowerPlexer module, which integrates an InGaP HBT PA, a PHEMT antenna switch, harmonic filters and CMOS power control circuitry, is the industry's smallest transmit module.
Meanwhile RF Micro Devices, the leading PA supplier currently, launched what it calls the world's smallest linear PA module to include an on-chip power detector.
The Greensboro, NC, company says that integrating this function in a 3 x 3 x 0.9 mm module makes handset design a much less complex task.
Manufactured using RFMD's third-generation InGaP HBT process, the module is set for mass production in the spring.
TriQuint and Skyworks also launched new products in Cannes.
TriQuint says that its quad-band PA module, which is manufactured using flip-chip assembly, is 30% smaller than any other quad-band PA module for GSM, measuring 5 x 5 x 1.1 mm.
It integrates two InGaP PA die with a CMOS controller and a GaAs passive die. All four die are flip-chip mounted to minimize thermal excursions.
Also claiming "world's smallest" plaudits was Skyworks, whose Helios Mini dual-chip radio subsystem is said to improve phone talk time by 10% by increasing PA efficiency in EDGE mode.
