Resonant has released more details about its breakthrough resonator technology that holds the potential for a new class of high-performance RF filters for 5G devices.
The new discovery is important because resonators form the building blocks for RF filters and define much of the performance achievable in a filter. Resonant’s XBAR is a new bulk acoustic wave (BAW) structure that can be produced in silicon using standard processes. Simulated utilizing the company’s ISN platform, they believe XBAR outperforms best-in-class film bulk acoustic resonator (FBAR) devices at frequencies above 3 GHz. 5G wireless services for mobile devices are expected to operate at higher frequencies to support high-bandwidth data applications. Today’s filter technologies (surface acoustic wave (SAW), temperature compensated SAW (TC-SAW), BAW and FBAR) have operating limitations at frequencies higher than 3 GHz.
Key performance metrics demonstrated in initial XBAR resonators:
- Extremely large coupling coefficients, greater than 500 MHz at 5 GHz
- Essential for the design of large bandwidth 5G filters
- High Q resonances, greater than 500, as high as 31 GHz
Resonant developed the new resonator using its Infinite Synthesized Network (ISN) design technology, which today provides industry leading filter manufacturers and fabless companies with the ability to design complex filters, duplexers and quadplexers.
Resonant has measured the performance of XBAR resonators up to 38 GHz. The simulated performance accurately models the measured data, indicating that XBAR technology could be used to develop filters for devices used in 5G, both in the 3 to 6 GHz range as well as millimeter wave operating at 28 GHz and higher frequencies.
If successful, XBAR should provide for filter designs for 5G bands with better insertion loss, better rejection levels, higher power handling and wider passbands than currently available filters.
