SiGe unveil Wi-Fi integrated IC for mobile devices
SiGe Semiconductor introduces its new single-chip solution which utilizes an integrated CMOS power amplifier. It addresses the increasing demands of connectivity requirements needed for the new generations of smartphones, netbooks, personal media players and digital cameras.
Commenting on the new device, Sanjiv Shah,Marketing Director of Embedded Productssaid, “With the SE2601T we are providing our customers with a single-chip solution integrating a SP3T RF switchand Wi-Fi receive path low noise amplifier(LNA)”.
He continued, “The SE2601T, which integrates features that until now have been discrete on the device motherboard or inside of a module solution, occupies less board space and offers significant advantages for designers of today’s cool, feature-rich mobile devices”.
The 2601T leverages the performance and functional integration strengths of silicon-based RF solutions. It is claimed to improve the connectivity range of the Wi-Fi solution by placing a high-performance LNA between the antenna and the RF receiver that is part of chipsets from vendors such as CSR, Marvell, Broadcom and Atheros.
Often the LNA function is omitted in embedded applications such as smartphones due to physical space constraints on the Wi-Fi solution, thus degrading connectivity performance. This LNA is claimed to significantly increase the sensitivity of the Wi-Fi receiving system – critical in embedded applications where physically small antennas are limited in their contribution to signal quality.
The RF switch supports antenna sharing between Bluetooth and 802.11bgn functions and is typically a discrete device requiring additional passives. The 2601T incorporates this function but has a much smaller footprint (2mm x 2mm x 0.6mm) than conventional solutions.
It also integrates the required DC blocking capacitors through the use of a silicon-based IC process. The GaAs-based competition for the 2601T requires external capacitors consuming additional circuit board space and causing incremental increase in bill of materials cost for the Wi-Fi solution.
Utilizing a 2x2mm QFN package, the 2601T is part of a family of SiGe’s silicon-based RF switch/LNA products, complementing the recently released SE2600S chip-scale package (CSP) FEIC. While the 2600S is designed for module vendors, the 2601T is best suited to direct placement on the embedded device’s motherboard.
The SE2601Tcomes is a compact lead and halogen free ROHS-compliant QFN package and is priced at $0.35 in quantities of 10,000 units. It is sampling now and is offered with product and evaluation board datasheets and extensive application notes surroundingthe use and implementation of the device.
