News: Microelectronics
24 June 2022
Guerrilla RF launches PA delivering 18dBm of wideband linear power without DPD
Guerrilla RF Inc (GRF) of Greensboro, NC, USA – a provider of radio-frequency integrated circuits (RFICs) and monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) for wireless applications – is now sampling the GRF5317, the first of a series of new 0.1W linear power amplifiers being developed. The latest indium gallium phosphide (InGaP) heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) amplifiers were designed specifically for 5G wireless infrastructure applications requiring exceptional native linearity over large 500MHz bandwidths and temperature extremes of -40°C to 85°C.
Spanning a frequency range of 1.5–2.0GHz, the GRF5317 is tuned to operate within the n1, n2, n3, n25, n34, n39, n65, n66, n70, n80, n84 and n86 5G new radio (NR) bands. The devices typically deliver 18dBm of linear power over the entire -40°C to 85°C temperature range while maintaining ACLR (adjacent-channel leakage ratio) levels of better than -45dBc and IMD3 (third-order intermodulation distortion) levels <-25dBm – all without the aid of supplemental linearization schemes like digital pre-distortion (DPD).
The ability to beat the -45dBc ACLR performance metric without DPD is critical for cellular applications like home and commercial repeaters/boosters, femtocells and picocells, as well as cable loss compensators which are used in conjunction with automotive ‘shark fin’ antennas. In each of these use cases, the sensitivity to cost, power and size constraints prohibits the use of elaborate linearization techniques like DPD. Instead, designers must rely on the power amplifier’s native linearity to meet the stringent emissions mask requirements imposed by the latest 5G standards.
During the development of the GRF53xx series, Guerrilla RF consulted directly with its customers to ensure that the devices delivered the best blend of power and linearity, thus maximizing the effective range and throughput for their cellular systems. The firm also designed the family of devices to be fully footprint compatible, enabling its customer base to rapidly customize their designs for a myriad of cellular frequencies.
“As the first of a new series of 0.1W linear PAs, the GRF5317 will serve our customers well as they round out their own cellular offerings,” says CEO & founder Ryan Pratt. “GRF now provides pin-pin compatible linear PAs that can cover the 0.1W, 0.25W and 0.5W power spectrum, giving customers the ability to simply swap in different devices to address a variety of output power scenarios. The GRF53xx series can also work in conjunction with its 0.5W cousins, serving as linear drivers for the higher-power cores.”
The GRF5317 comes in a 3mm x 3mm, 16-pin QFN package. Samples and evaluation boards are available now. Prices start at $1.43 (in 10,000-unit quantities, EXW USA).
Guerrilla RF launches 2.5–2.7 and 3.3-4.2GHz ¼W PAs deliver for 5G without DPD
