In 2008, Infineon Technologies AG started the volume production of its first bulk-CMOS RF switch. With the dawn of the LTE and 5G their portfolio and products have received an unprecedented welcome from innovators in wireless markets across the world. The company is now shipping over 1 billion bulk-CMOS RF switches every year with the cumulated number being well over five billion since 2008. With its proven expertise and legacy in semiconductor manufacturing, Infineon became a preferred partner of many original equipment and design manufacturers and chipset distributors.
Bulk-CMOS offers multiple product integration advantages. Since the introduction of “solid-state” in the 1960s, design technologies for RF switches fall into two categories: electromechanical switches (MEMS) and solid-state switches. Low switching speed, weak repeatability and reliability of MEMS exclude itself automatically from being an ideal candidate for 5G applications.
In the meanwhile, scientific efforts have furthered solid-state with several technology options. In comparison with gallium arsenide and gallium nitride, transistor-to-transistor logic based on bulk-CMOS manifested best integration capability. This ultimately enables space-constrained designs on printed circuit boards. Unlike other alternatives, bulk-CMOS requires neither extra oxide layer, nor different materials as part of wafer processing, which implies direct economic benefit.
The advent of the 5G telecommunication is placing ambitious challenges on an array of technical parameters in the hands of OEMs and OMDs besides the ever accelerating pace of the industry overall. Infineon is about to develop more products that foster RF-designers’ ambitions.
Infineon is now providing samples of the next-generation bulk-CMOS RF switches - the new antenna swapping devices BGSX22G5A10 and BGSX33MA16. Volume production will start in late summer 2018, guaranteeing continued supply of RF switches.
