20 May 2015

Freescale launches its first GaN RF power transistor for cellular base-stations

RF power transistors supplier Freescale Semiconductor of Austin, TX, USA has introduced its first gallium nitride (GaN) RF power transistor for cellular base-stations - the A2G22S160-01S for 30W and 40W amplifiers in wireless infrastructure applications - representing the first of what is planned to become a broad portfolio of Airfast family GaN transistors for the cellular market.

The addition of GaN RF solutions expanded Freescale's portfolio of products for wireless infrastructure markets. The launch follows the introduction just last December of the MMRF5014H – Freescale's first GaN RF power transistor for military and industrial applications, which offers thermal and wideband RF performance for 100W-class GaN transistors.

Freescale is aiming to drive the transition of GaN from niche markets to mainstream applications such as cellular infrastructure, says Paul Hart, senior VP & general manager of Freescale's RF business. "The time is right to deliver GaN solutions to our extremely broad base of telecommunications customers," he adds, citing Freescale's high-volume production capability and global customer support. 

Due to its wider bandgap, higher critical electric field and very high-electron-mobility characteristics, GaN delivers higher power conversion efficiencies, faster switching speeds and greater power densities than silicon, enabling the creation of power transistors that are much smaller in size and that outperform traditional devices. While GaN migration has been cost prohibitive in the past, recent commercial and technological advances are driving manufacturing costs lower. Freescale aims to apply the advantages of GaN to some of the biggest markets in the world and enable a large-scale rollout of GaN power amplifiers in mainstream commercial base-station markets.

Freescale's Airfast family of RF power products covers the entire range of wireless cellular spectrum from 600MHz to 3.8GHz, with multiple semiconductor technology options. The A2G22S160-01S has a frequency range of 1800-2200MHz. For example, in a 40W Doherty two-way asymmetrical amplifier employing one A2G22S160-01S in the carrier path and two in the peaking path, maximum output power is 56.2dBm. With 8dB output back-off (OBO), gain is 15.4dB and efficiency is 56.7%. Adjacent-channel power (ACP) is -55dBc with digital pre-distortion (DPD) when driven by two 20MHz LTE carriers with an aggregate 40MHz carrier bandwidth.

The A2G22S160-01S GaN RF power transistor is in production now, with reference designs and other enablement solutions available.

See related items:

Freescale launches ultra-wideband RF power GaN transistors in plastic packages

Freescale launches 100W, 2.5GHz GaN-on-SiC RF power transistor for military and industrial applications

Tags: Freescale GaN RF power transistors

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