28 February 2012

RFMD expands PowerSmart product family

At the 2012 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain (27 February to 1 March), RF Micro Devices Inc of Greensboro, NC, USA has announced the expansion of its family of PowerSmart power platforms to include multiple new 3G and 4G LTE PowerSmart product variants. The firm’s PowerSmart power platforms are part of the technology shift to converged front ends in multi-mode, multi-band applications, including smartphones, tablets, and other data-centric mobile broadband devices.

The newest PowerSmart power platforms include PowerSmart 4G, a converged multimode multi-band power platform (capable of up to 12 bands of 4G LTE, 3G and 2G) that is designed specifically for 4G LTE operation and expands upon the first-generation PowerSmart power platform by adding three additional bands of 3G or 4G LTE coverage. PowerSmart 4G also includes all necessary switch and signal conditioning functionality in a compact reference design, providing smartphone makers a single scalable source for the entire front end.

RFMD’s expanded PowerSmart product family also includes a new power platform optimized for emerging 3G entry (3Ge) applications and capable of multi-mode multi-band coverage of up to seven bands of 3G or 2G. Similar to PowerSmart 4G, the PowerSmart power platform for emerging 3Ge applications includes all necessary switch and signal conditioning functionality in a compact reference design.

RFMD is also expanding the PowerSmart product family to include multiple 3G and 4G discrete power amplifiers (PAs), which can be placed optionally with any PowerSmart power platform to achieve additional band or mode coverage. Architected in tandem with the RF Configurable Power Core in each PowerSmart power platform, the discrete PAs can deliver significantly improved PA efficiency at backed-off power, the firm says.

“As the world’s only truly converged solution with single-die multi-mode performance, RFMD’s PowerSmart is positioned to drive the cellular wide-area network (WAN) experience across a broad range of mobile devices, including tablets, notebooks, ultra-books, e-readers and next-generation in-vehicle networking,” claims Eric Creviston, president of RFMD's Cellular Products Group (CPG). “We expect these new products to support multiple cellular handset and smartphone manufacturers this calendar year,” he adds.

Tags: RFMD PAs

Visit: www.rfmd.com