MaxLinear, a leading provider of radio frequency (RF), analog, digital, and mixed-signal integrated circuits, and RFHIC, a leader in the design and manufacture of high-performance active RF and microwave components and hybrid modules recently verified that RFHIC’s Gallium Nitride (GaN) transistor for 5G macro base stations and hybrid power amplifier module (PAM) for 5G massive MIMO base stations achieved breakthrough linearization performance when combined with MaxLinear’s MaxLIN linearization technology, exceeding 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) requirements for ultra-wideband 5G New Radio (5G NR).
RFHIC and MaxLinear are collaborating to optimize the combined performance of power amplifiers, transceivers, and linearization for key 5G bands (3.4 to 3.8 GHz and 3.7 to 3.98 GHz). The collaboration entails RFHIC’s highly efficient GaN solutions for 5G telecom infrastructure, MaxLinear’s high-performance transceivers, and MaxLinear’s ultra-wideband linearization solution (MaxLIN), achieving outstanding efficiency and linearity performance.
MaxLinear’s transceiver portfolio includes:
- MxL16xx, a 4T4R family-supporting full wideband with 400 MHz of instantaneous bandwidth (IBW) for a wide variety of Macro and small cell applications
- MxL155x, a high-density 8T8R family-supporting full wideband with 400 MHz of instantaneous bandwidth (IBW) optimized for high antenna count massive MIMO applications
These transceivers are software compatible, creating a single platform solution that customers can leverage for any application. By providing the transceiver and the linearization solution, along with test data that includes the full transmit lineup, MaxLinear customers can move quickly to production without performance surprises.
RFHIC’s GaN transistors for 5G macro base stations, ID36411D operating at 3.4 to 3.8 GHz and ID38411DR operating at 3.7 to 3.98 GHz, are designed to achieve the highest efficiency with 100 MHz, 200 MHz, and 300 MHz IBW. The ID36411D achieves over 47% power efficiency for the average output power of 47.41 dBm (55 W). MaxLIN improves linearity by over 25 dB to exceed 3GPP and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requirements with margin.
“Our GaN power amplifier solution will accelerate the size reduction of 5G base station equipment because of its outstanding power efficiency and high integration. Also, its breakthrough wide bandwidth performance will enable one radio unit to support multiple wireless service providers,” said Sam Kim, Vice President at RFHIC.
“Combining RFHIC technology with MaxLinear transceivers and MaxLIN ultra-wideband linearization provides the highest performance solution available on the market for wideband use cases, such as the crucial C-Band which was recently auctioned in the U.S.,” said Helen Kim, Vice President of MaxLinear’s Wireless Technologies & IP. “With our automated lineup optimization tool, we can quickly customize the full transmit line-up and provide our customers a market-ready solution in days, rather than months.”
The collaboration of RFHIC and MaxLinear will support all global sub-6 GHz 5G spectrums and contribute to the continued innovation of both conventional base station equipment and O-RAN technology.
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