industry  wireless networks


Figure 3: UltraCMOS technology enables advancement in the RonCoff metric of more than 20 percent year-over-year, whereas GaAs technology has seen improvements of less than 1 percent per year


of LTE has resulted in linearity becoming one of the most difficult requirements in the RFFE. This is due to the worldwide deployment of LTE in a multitude of scattered frequency bands from 699 MHz to 2690 MHz. The consequence is a magnified RF- interference problem on the cellular networks, which has been compounded by co-existence and the simultaneous operation of multiple radios in today’s smartphones, including those for cellular, Bluetooth, WiFi and GPS technology. As a result, consumers experience declines in data rates and dropped calls that stem from harmonic and intermodulation issues.


continued to advance our RF switch portfolio. The latest incarnations incorporate our STeP5 UltraCMOS technology, the die size for which is approximately 83 percent smaller than the module size of a comparable GaAs-based product (see Figure 4). The STeP5 process utilizes a “bonded SOS technology” process. Demand for products based upon this process has driven the fastest new process production ramp in our history. According to an October 12, 2012 report from Navian Inc., we are the market leader for the main RF antenna switch for cellular handsets.


Linearity requirements Perhaps the most prized attribute of SOS over GaAs semiconductor process technology is the high linearity it enables. This is because the introduction


The relatively severe broadband linearity requirements associated with LTE have increased the required performance and complexity of the handset antenna switch, which is already supported by quad-band W-CDMA and quad-band GSM. For example, a typical antenna switch must now have ten or more switch paths, and a third-order Input Intercept Point (IIP3) exceeding +67 dBm. On top of this, to support the use of the handset for simultaneous voice and data – where two transmit paths operate at the same time – cellular service providers are expecting the need for antenna switches to deliver a IIP3 targeting +90 dBm.


These requirements are challenging for many technologies, but UltraCMOS is up to the challenge. We combine UltraCMOS with inventions such as our HaRP linearity enhancements, and mixed-signal design, to create products that meet the linearity requirements of LTE in a single chip.


For example, our SP10T PE426161 switch has a third order Intermodulation Distortion (IMD3) of -125 dBm in Band V (Uplink: 824-849 MHz, Downlink: 869-894 MHz) – an equivalent IIP3 of


Figure 4: Standard CMOS processing has enabled UltraCMOS technology to advance at a pace that exceeds that of other semiconductor technologies,such as GaAs


58 www.compoundsemiconductor.net January / February 2013


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