News

11 March 2010

 

RFHIC launches GaN pallet amplifier for LTE/WCDMA RRH systems

RFHIC Corp of Suwon, South Korea (a manufacturer of gallium nitride and gallium arsenide active RF & microwave components and hybrid modules mainly for the telecom and broadcast markets) has launched the RTP-21010 GaN pallet amplifier — based on internally matched GaN-on-SiC device and Doherty technology — for LTE/WCDMA remote radio head (RRH) systems.

When combined with DPD interlocking, the amplifier produces over 40% efficiency over the entire frequency band of 2100–2180MHz , 45dB gain and 10W at LTE/WCDMA 4-channel at 28V.

The RTP-21010 has a built-in DC/DC function, isolator, coupler, thermo pad and connectors all within small dimensions of 2.4-inch x 4.5-inch x 0.86-inch. The amplifier produces different output powers according to input voltage: 10W@28V, 16W@36V, and 20W@47V.

Doherty amplifiers based on LDMOS silicon show irregular efficiency at 80MHz bandwidth, and require various models for various systems due to the different requirements on ACPR (adjacent channel power ratio) when the power level is lower than 10, according to chief technical officer Dr Samuel Cho. Also, LDMOS has a low efficiency of 20–24 % (even with DPD interlocking) and device size is large, he adds.

However, the barrier to the telecoms market for GaN has always been its cost, says Cho. RFHIC has hence aimed to cut GaN amplifier cost by using die supplied by Cree Inc of Durham, NC, USA for almost all the GaN transistor processes. Such cost reduction enables GaN solutions to be viable for telecom applications such as RRH, while the small size of the devices and heat-sinks contributes to greatly improved efficiency, adds Cho.

The RTP-21010 is applicable to RRH, BTS and repeaters with 80MHz bandwidth coverage and various outputs from 35dBm to 40dBm for operating conditions of 1-channel to 6-channel LTE/WCDMA.

See related item:

RFHIC launches 20W GaN-on-SiC power amplifier covering 20–1000MHz

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Visit: www.rfhic.com