Ethertronics has announced an expansion to its portfolio of active antenna RF switches with high linearity for LTE smartphones, devices and other Internet of Things (IoT) applications. In addition to the exceptional linearity and small footprint, these fully integrated switch solutions support high data rates and broad frequency ranges. The EC686 and EC646 are designed to meet the market demand for smart Active Steering™ antenna systems which dramatically improve performance by increasing data throughput, reducing dropped calls and minimizing the antenna footprint needed for today’s multiband LTE and LTE Advanced smartphones.
With the proliferation of worldwide mobile spectrum, smartphone manufacturers are seeking new smart antenna solutions that can efficiently handle more than 20 cellular frequency bands, in addition to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth®. Ethertronics’ new RF antenna switches provide antenna tuning and band switching which are both key elements to solving these challenges.
The EC646 and EC686 can also be used to actively band switch cellular antennas to cover additional frequency bands. By combining the extensive antenna systems expertise, RFICs and proprietary algorithms, the devices can seamlessly adjust the characteristics of a wireless antenna including covering all 2G/3G/4G cellular, Bluetooth, GSM, ISM, RFID, Wi-Fi bands, correcting the impedance mismatch and reducing the antenna’s physical volume by up to 50 percent without performance tradeoffs.
These switches, along with antenna technology and algorithms, enable Ethertronics Active Steering technology providing revolutionary link margin improvements in cellular RF links.
EC686 – Designed for industry leading antenna system performance with best in class RON for increased efficiency and performance. EC686 offers a flexible control interface, compliant with the Qualcomm MIPI protocol, SPI and GPIO. It supports a broad frequency range (100 MHz to 3000+ GHz), has excellent linearity performance (IIP3 > +80 dBm) and an ultra-low loss shuntless SP4T architecture for antenna tuning applications. The device is packaged in a compact, leadless, QFN 16-pin 2.0 x 2.0 x 0.5 mm3 package.
EC646 – Designed with ultra-small packaging for extremely space constrained products. It supports a broad frequency range (100 MHz to 3000+ GHz) and has an ultra-low loss shuntless SP4T architecture for antenna tuning applications with exceptional linearity performance (IIP3 +80 dBM). The device is packaged in a compact, leadless, 1.10 x 1.50 x 0.453 mm package.
Ethertronics will be showcasing its Active Steering antenna system solutions at Mobile World Congress being held February 22-25 in Barcelona, Spain.
Pricing and Availability
The EC686 and EC646 are currently available for sampling and production.
