News Article
Microsemi’s Compact WLAN PA Does More Than Most
The firm says its latest small footprint Power Amplifier (PA) based on InGaP HBT technology will be used primarily in handsets and will continue to aid the firm’s expansion in the surging Smartphone Market.
Microsemi Corporation, a manufacturer of high performance analog/mixed signal integrated circuits, has introduced the LX5514M power amplifier (PA). The device comes in a in a compact package that Microsemi says matches the industry's smallest 1.5x1.5mm, 0.4mm-high footprint.
Microsemi's LX5514M power amplifier supports IEEE 802.11b/g/n WLAN applications in the 2.4-2.5GHz frequency range. It joins the company's recently introduced LX5553 and LX5543 front-end modules (FEM) to continue its expansion into the fast-growing market for WLAN products used in space-constrained smartphones and other data-enabled cellular handset designs.
The device is based on the company's proven LX5514 PA, which has been streamlined to fit into a compact, ultra-low-profile package. Like the LX5514, the LX5514M includes fully matched input, simplified output matching, an integrated power detect function that saves board space and reduces total BOM cost.
"Board area in today's smartphones is at a premium, and designers must squeeze more functionality into ever-smaller real estate," said Paul Pickle, VP and General Manager of Microsemi's Analog Mixed Signal Group. "The LX5514M enables designers to add WLAN capability in nearly half the space of the prior generation of 2mmx2mm PAs, and with a much lower profile that enables today's slim, sleek handset designs. Customers get the industry-leading performance and efficiency of our PAs for routers and other networking equipment, in a package optimized for the stringent space requirements of smartphone designs."
Key features include:
-- InGaP HBT process technology for optimal performance and linearity
-- 2.4 -- 2.5GHz operation
-- Single-polarity 3.3V supply
-- Quiescent current 80mA
-- POUT=19dBm 3% EVM
-- Power gain 27dB
-- Total current 130mA
Microsemi's portfolio of IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n WLAN, 802.16e WiMAX and WiBro power amplifiers are used in a variety of applications including wireless access points and half mini-cards for notebooks and netbooks. Reference designs with market-leading WLAN chipset manufacturers are available for many of Microsemi's power amplifiers.
The LX5514M is in volume production and is offered in a RoHS-compliant, 6-pin, 1.5x1.5mm, 0.4mm-high dual flat no lead (DFN) package. Pricing in 10,000-unit quantities is $0.45.
