The GRF5509 4-watt high-efficiency power amplifier from Guerrilla RF was selected by Impinj for use in their enterprise-grade RAIN RFID reader module reference design. This integration allows customers to quickly go to market and efficiently develop new readers built on Impinj’s industry-leading E family reader ICs.
“Guerrilla RF’s pioneering high-performance power amplifier solutions extend read range and enhance the ability to interrogate passive tags embedded in packaging or pallets,” according to Jim Ahne, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Guerrilla RF. “Pairing Guerrilla RF’s best-in-class power amplifiers with Impinj’s leading RAIN RFID reader ICs helps to accelerate the development of feature-rich capabilities across the market. The GRF5509 delivers up to 2 watts of linear power while meeting the stringent spectral mask requirements required for these reader applications. Guerrilla RF has a full suite of alternative amplifiers as well for applications that might require lower output power levels.”
Vikas Dhurka, Senior Director of Product Management for Reader ICs at Impinj, commented, “Accurately and reliably reading RAIN tags is critical to successful deployments. By integrating Guerrilla RF’s GRF5509 high-performance amplifier, the Impinj E family based RAIN RFID reader module reference design with Impinj Gen2X support delivers the highest possible transmit power, enhancing read range and enabling our customers to successfully read detuned tags.”
The RAIN Market Research Report from VDC Research predicts tag integrated circuit (IC) shipments are expected to grow at a CAGR of 25.1% up to 2028. Supply chain upgrades and the use of more sustainable solutions is helping to drive the increases in adoption of RAIN solutions. Application areas of growth include enhancing accuracy and visibility of retail inventories, asset management, logistics, medical, air baggage and cargo, vehicle identification, warehousing operations, and monitoring product lifecycles.
The GRF5509 is an InGaP HBT PA that can be tuned to operate over select bands within the 700 to 1000 MHz frequency range. When tuned for the RFID UHF bands of 866 MHz to 928 MHz, the PA delivers 38 dB of gain, 36 dBm of OP1dB compression, and 46 dBm of OIP3 linearity. Like other GRF amplifier cores, the GRF5509 features a flexible biasing architecture allowing customizable trade-offs between linearity and power consumption. Supply voltages can vary between 3.0 and 5.5 V, although most customers will elect to use a standard 5V supply with 248 mA of biasing current.
Packaged in a compact 3 x 3 mm QFN-16 package, the GRF5509 shares a pinout and matching layout with many of the company’s linear drivers and power amplifier cores.
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