Qorvo launches small-cell front-end PAs and LNAs for sub-6GHz 5G wireless infrastructure

Qorvo Inc of Greensboro, NC, USA (which provides core technologies and RF solutions for mobile, infrastructure and defense applications) has launched power-efficient, small-cell front-end solutions for the sub-6GHz wireless infrastructure market. The products are said to significantly boost efficiency, enabling base-station manufacturers to enhance existing 4G LTE infrastructure with greater bandwidth, coverage, throughput and capacity – particularly in high-density, high-traffic areas.

“Driven by the explosive growth of emerging 5G networks, the number of new base-station sectors deployed will double between 2018 and 2024,” estimates market research firm Strategy Analytics. “5G relies on network architectures incorporating traditional macrocells and lower-power small cells in sub-6GHz and millimetre-wave frequency bands.”

The new products include the Band 3 QPA9903 power amplifier (PA), the Band 8 QPA9908 power amplifier and the QPL9098 4-6GHz bypass ultra-low-noise amplifier. The PAs offer 34% power-added efficiency, enabling Power over Ethernet (PoE) small-cell architectures targeted for deployments in high-traffic areas, such as subways, train stations and stadiums or for high-quality of service (QoS) enterprise in-building applications.

The PAs are easy to linearize using digital pre-distortion (DPD) algorithms and their performance is optimized for wideband, multi-carrier signals versus a single 20MHz carrier. The highly rugged PAs can handle high levels of signal mismatch at output – up to 20:1 voltage standing wave radio (VSWR). Rugged packaging withstands the impact of a wide range of challenging environments.

“Our new small-cell products further expand Qorvo’s portfolio of economical, system-level architecture solutions for wireless infrastructure,” says Roger Hall, general manager of Qorvo’s High Performance Solutions business. “By extending the bandwidth capacity of the existing network, customers can more cost-effectively transition to 5G and trust in Qorvo’s ability to scale to high-volume manufacturing.”

Qorvo says that it is paving the path to 5G by helping to define 5G standards as a delegate to the 3GPP organization and through collaboration with wireless infrastructure manufacturers, network operators, chipset providers and smartphone makers. Qorvo has helped to conduct dozens of 5G field trials, and its 28GHz products supported the Samsung 5G MIMO demo at the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Qorvo is showcasing its portfolio of RF solutions in booth 806 at the IEEE’s International Microwave Symposium (IMS 2019) in Boston, MA, USA (4–6 June).

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