Mitsubishi Electric Corporation has announced that it will begin shipping samples of a new 16 W-average-power Gallium Nitride (GaN) power amplifier module (PAM) for 5G massive MIMO (mMIMO) base stations on June 11. PAMs, which can be used in 32T32R mMIMO antennas to reduce the manufacturing cost and power consumption of 5G mMIMO base stations, are expected to be increasingly deployed as 5G networks expand from urban centers to regional areas. Mitsubishi Electric will exhibit its new 16 W GaN PAM in the USA at IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium (IMS) 2024 in Washington, DC, from June 18-20.
In September 2023, Mitsubishi Electric began providing samples of a GaN PAM that achieves an average output power of 8 W (39 dBm) over a wide frequency range from 3.4 to 3.8 GHz, suitable for 64T64R mMIMO antennas of 5G base stations. The 16 W (42 dBm) GaN PAM announced today achieves even higher average output power over a wide frequency range from 3.3 to 3.8 GHz and is suitable for 32T32R mMIMO antennas, extending the communication range of 5G mMIMO base stations and lowering their manufacturing cost by reducing the required number of PAMs.
Key Product Features
1) Reduces the number of power amplifier modules and extends range of 5G mMIMO base stations
- Compared to an existing 8 W GaN PAM, the new 16 W GaN PAM enables a 32T32R mMIMO antenna to use half the normal number of power amplifiers while achieving the communication range of a 64T64R mMIMO antenna, thus reducing the manufacturing cost of 5G mMIMO base stations.
- The 16 W GaN PAM doubles the power of a 64T64R mMIMO antenna compared to existing 8 W products, extending the communication range of 5G mMIMO base stations.
2) High efficiency of 40% in the 500 MHz band reduces 5G mMIMO base station power consumption
- GaN high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) with an epitaxial growth layer structure achieve high efficiency and low distortion characteristics in 5G environments.
- Mitsubishi Electric’s proprietary wideband Doherty circuit, which mitigates bandwidth limitations caused by the output parasitic capacitance of GaN HEMTs, achieves 40% power-added efficiency in the 500 MHz band to reduce power consumption in 5G mMIMO base stations.
3) Modularization reduces circuit-design burden and manufacturing cost of 5G mMIMO base stations
- Mitsubishi Electric’s proprietary high-density packaging technology realizes a Doherty-circuit PAM that is indispensable to 5G base station power amplifiers.
- Deployment of the new PAM will reduce the number of components required in 5G mMIMO base stations, thereby simplifying circuit design and lowering manufacturing costs.
Model
| MGFS52G38MB
|
Frequency
| 3.3-3.8 GHz
|
Average Output Power
| 16 W (42 dBm)
|
Saturated Output Power
| 125 W (51 dBm minimum)
|
Gain
| 28 dB minimum
|
Power-Added Efficiency (PAE)
| 40% typical
|
Dimensions
| 11.5 x 8.0 x 1.4 mm
|
Shipment Date
| June 11, 2024 |
The use of mMIMO base stations to achieve high-speed, high-capacity communications is progressing mainly in urban areas. To further reduce power consumption and manufacturing costs, there is a growing demand for power amplifiers that offer higher efficiency and modularity. PAMs achieve 3GPP-compliant low-distortion characteristics over a wide frequency range for broad compatibility with mobile networks in different countries. As 5G networks expand from urban centers to regional areas in the future, mMIMO base stations will be required to offer longer communication ranges and lower costs, in part by using power amplifiers capable of extra-high performance.
Click here to view everything RF's comprehensive coverage of IMS 2024.
