29 March 2012

Fujitsu adds 4G LTE (TDD and FDD)-optimized multiband single IC to transceiver family

Fujitsu Semiconductor Wireless Products Inc (FSWP) of Tempe, AZ, USA - a subsidiary of Japan’s Fujitsu Semiconductor Ltd (FSL) that provides RF transceivers for mobile cellular handsets and other portable wireless devices - has introduced the MB86L13A LTE (FDD and TDD)-optimized multiband transceiver IC, covering 700-2700MHz frequencies. Developed for LTE-only applications, it features the architecture pioneered by Fujitsu that eliminates the need for external low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) and inter-stage surface acoustic wave (SAW) filters. The MB86L13A is sampling now and will be available in volume in second-quarter 2012.

Fujitsu began shipping the industry’s first SAW-less transceiver for 2G/3G networks, the MB86L01A, in 2009. In 2010, it launched the MB86L10A, the first 3G and LTE SAW-less transceiver, which has been integrated into dongles, tablets and multimode 2G/3G/4G smartphones. The MB86L12A, the third production-ready Fujitsu 2G/3G/4G SAW-less transceiver, supports the upgraded MIPI DigRF standard. In February, Fujitsu launched the MB86L11A 2G/3G/4G multimode, multiband (MMMB) SAW-less transceiver with several advanced transmit features, including enhanced power control, envelope tracking, and antenna tuning. The MB86Lxxx family transceivers are deployed by multiple baseband providers worldwide, with millions of units shipped to date.

The MB86L13A LTE transceiver now augments the rest of the family to support existing 2G/3G platform vendors. Its addition enhances the Fujitsu family of transceivers, providing the quick time-to-market solutions required by device makers, the firm claims.

“The MB86L13A can speed time to market for baseband providers looking to add robust LTE capabilities to their existing 2G/3G solution,” says FSWP vice president Vivek Bhan. “The new device provides multiband LTE support on a single IC, complementing the 2G/3G-only solutions offered by platform partners for the growing LTE market,” he adds.

The advanced application programming interface (API), which is also available on the other Fujitsu transceivers, minimizes factory calibration time, provides flexible port mapping, and adds monitoring of customized key performance indicators (KPIs).

The availability of multiple transmit, receive and diversity ports on the MB86L13A offers the flexibility to map ports and bands for roaming requirements. The transceiver uses an open-standard MIPI DigRF 4G v1.1Rev0.06 interface to the baseband, and supports all global FDD bands 1-21, 23-25, and TDD bands 33-41, as well as all LTE bandwidths up to 20MHz. Future transceivers on the roadmap for this year include a 3GPP Release 10-compliant, single RFIC solution.

“The Fujitsu MB86Lxxx family transceivers offer advanced features, low power consumption, a small footprint and a highly flexible API to bring down the total cost of the device and dramatically speed up time to market for new products,” says Bhan.

Tags: Fujitsu Semiconductor RF transceivers

Visit: http://us.fujitsu.com/micro/rftransceiver