Cree, Inc. and Eta Devices, Inc. demonstrated the world’s most efficient reported power amplifier for mobile base stations at the 2013 Mobile World Congress, February 24-28, in Barcelona, Spain.
Current-generation mobile-base-station amplifiers employing silicon LDMOS transistors can provide amplifier efficiencies up to 45 percent. By contrast, Eta Devices’ next-generation power amplifiers are able to deliver efficiencies higher than 70 percent under a 4G LTE modulation format and are thus poised to revolutionize current industry efficiency standards.
“Eta Devices’ next-generation power amplifiers leverage the performance and reliability advantages of Cree’s GaN HEMT RF transistors to realize game-changing efficiency benefits for the mobile-base-station industry,” said Jim Milligan, business director, Cree RF. “Our transistors have been instrumental in demonstrating Eta Devices’ amplifiers, which perform 50 percent more efficiently than the best incumbent silicon power amplifiers currently available in the 4G LTE market.”
The world’s mobile networks consume approximately 120 TWh of electricity per year, and 50–80 percent of these networks’ power is consumed by their power amplifiers and associated components. Implementing Eta Devices’ new power amplifier solution on a global level could save mobile operators 60 TWh of energy per year, which is equivalent to the amount of power produced by more than seven average-sized American nuclear power plants. It could also save up to 50 percent of the $36.5 billion spent to power mobile base stations each year.
“Mobile operators gain dramatic advantages by adopting our new technology,” said Mattias Astrom, CEO of Eta Devices. “In addition to cost savings, our power amplifiers provide operators with a significantly reduced carbon footprint, which contributes to a more sustainable planet. In fact, if implemented on a global basis, our solution would reduce carbon emissions by approximately 36 million tons per year, which is equivalent to eliminating the annual greenhouse gas emissions produced by 7 million cars.”
